Clark Kent is not the alter ego. Superman is.
He was Clark Kent first. From when he was a baby. He grew up on a Kansas farm, lived as an ordinary human being, and experienced ordinary human experiences.
Hes a well brought up American man, who also just happens to be a Demi-god. He doesnt save people because he thinks he has too. He isnt burdened by his power. He saves people because he wants to. Because its how he was raised.
Im very much hoping that at some point a film maker will remember this, because you make Superman more relevant, more interesting, and more compelling with more Clark Kent. Not less.
I agree with M1ll3r, great post.
One way they could do it , assuming they reboot it ,is for their to be three personas , much like Bale's Wayne had three personas.
There's Clark, the guy from raised in Smallville who the Kent's Lana, and Pete know,basically who Clark/Kal El really is ,
There's Clark Kent's journalist Persona at the DP and in Metropolis. His image to Lois, Perry, Jimmy , Lex and the rest of the press.
There's the Superman's Persona. The image he gives to Metropolis and the world.
It's so reductive.
Most of this, but in particular the "Clark Kent is who I am, Superman is what I can do" thing (to summarise it), totally misses (and
alters) the point of the character. It waters him down ala John Byrne and his "Marvelization" reboot of him in '86-- which, while full of great art and a bunch of fun, surprisingly well-interconnected, overarching stories-- has contributed to muddling him and his audience. It's done more long term damage than good.
The most important aspect of Superman is his Krypton brain. He's raised and nurtured by the Kents, yes. He has their idealised Midwestern values, yes. But he does not process them like a normal American man-- He processes them like a Kryptonian. He sees and hears MUCH more than any human ever will, from little microscopic things only he can see, to macro scale things only he can comprehend. This all combines makes him totally unique among both other Kryptonians and humanity-- He's the perfect mix of both.
This is the character as he was over his natural development from '38-'86. He quite naturally evolved from the rough and tumble social crusader to the epic space adventurer of truth and justice. From stopping crooked landlords and politicians who were trying to always beating down the average joe for their own gain... to handling them on the side while him main missions were battling nefarious inter-dimensional space tyrants who would enslave the innocent for their own power. All with, again, his unique perspective.
Where the relatable thing comes in is his emotions-- He still has them. Of course he still has them. Happiness, sadness. Everything in between. He's happy talking to Ma and Pa, Lois and Jimmy, Supergirl, the man on the street. He loves them, they love him.
He's lonely because in-spite of all that, there's a separation there... Deep down, they cant
quite relate on some fundamental levels. Ma, Pa, Lois and Jimmy are human-- they don't relate to his Kryptonian experiences. He doesn't blame them. How could they? Supergirl is a Kryptonian, raised by Kryptonians on Krypton. Time with her can satisfy that side of him, but they're very different people. But she doesn't necessarily understand his human side... How could she?
We've all got stuff like that. I'm not the exact same person as when I'm talking to my mother or nephew as I am when I go out on the town with my friends. Those different people satisfy the different parts of me.
As for "farm Clark", well, he doesn't exist. Not in the way you guys are intimating, and not in the way Bruce has those three distinct personas. "Farm Clark" is Superman, in plainer clothes and able to express his private hopes and desires and failings and worries to those who care about him. That doesn't make "Public Superman" a fake or a persona, it's just him not bringing his **** to work. Like the rest of us. He's not going to talk about his worries to a random cop after he hands over a burglar. If I've just had a fight with family, I don't tell everyone at work. It's not me being fake, it's me on the job.
Together and apart. Fighting for everyone just the same. That's Superman. And that doesn't even get into the big emotional and practical stuff his Clark Kent disguise has. I say disguise, yes, but he's not
totally false. There's a bunch of real stuff he's drawing on there, much of it from his childhood (being considered weird because his powers made him behave somewhat differently, and some couldn't see past it). Whenever he begins to feel
slightlydetached from the human perspective, he throws on the glasses to remind himself what it's all about. He also uses Clark to affect change via his writing, which is something he can't otherwise do as because-- Ugh, if I get into Metropolis Clark Kent, this thing's going to be twice as long.
Also keep in mind the original teenage power fantasy of Jerry and Joe. They were often bullied, for being skinny nerds, for being Jewish, for being immigrants. People would ignore them, not give them a chance. They wanted to be able to "rip off their shirts and have everyone see them for the real them underneath". The REAL them... (or at least, what they wished were the real them). Not put on a costume and
pretend to be better/different. This also speaks to the "ultimate immigrant" angle.
The Byrne reboot (and the L&C show, and whatever else in that era) turns him into a just a boring "nice man with powers", which are dime a dozen. It ironically
fulfills the "boring, vanilla character" complaints of the detractors that they'd be railing against.
Also worth pointing out that it only really lasted until about '03/'04. Since then, each reboot/retcon has brought more and more Pre-Crisis stuff back. So out of an 80 year history, we're talking like '17 or so years where he was foolishly made into it.
EDIT: I honestly never intend for these posts about "Who Superman really is" to become essays, it just happens. There's just SO much to him, I can't believe so many seem to miss it.
