World Superman is Americana

[Booznian]

I have a semester long paper to write. Everyone has to choose something that is Americana (ex. Apple Pie, Ford). I chose Superman. I have to write a paper why/how Superman represents America and our culture, and how it impacted our society today. Anyone have any information on it? I haven't found anything yet on the web. =/

 

[CLARKY]

Well, I don't want to be flamed but I think Superman is really beyond Americana. I would be the teacher, I would understand what make part of America, but there are things that can't be attribute to America or can't be anymore. I think part of the beauty of the character is, indeed, that he is a super-man. And in this, I think he is universal. I think he represent the world and work better as a symbol of the whole world. I know he is american, but I think he doesn't represent america.

 

[afan]

I have a semester long paper to write. Everyone has to choose something that is Americana (ex. Apple Pie, Ford). I chose Superman. I have to write a paper why/how Superman represents America and our culture, and how it impacted our society today. Anyone have any information on it? I haven't found anything yet on the web. =/

Excellant choice.

My advice is to first research and outline the paper on what "America" is; define it's identities.

Then apply Superman to that............
for instance.......America is recognized for being the Great Melting Pot, a nation where everyone is from someplace else, and that they traveled to America, frequently to escape a dreary future.

It's no coincidence that Superman is also from someplace else, and traveled to Earth to escape what most certainly was a dreary future; landing in America.

 

[Franklin Richards]

Well, I don't want to be flamed but I think Superman is really beyond Americana. I would be the teacher, I would understand what make part of America, but there are things that can't be attribute to America or can't be anymore. I think part of the beauty of the character is, indeed, that he is a super-man. And in this, I think he is universal. I think he represent the world and work better as a symbol of the whole world. I know he is american, but I think he doesn't represent america.

No. He is Americana. Just like the thread starter says. The dream of America may have taken a PR hit this decade but the idea still remains. And Superman is a product AND an inspiration for all of those people who bleed and fought to make the American Dream a reality.

There's a reason why Superman is an immigrant. There's a reason he was raised in the Heartland. There's a reason his story rose in popularity during WWII when fascism was threatening to destroy the land.

These themes aren't exclusively American but no other nation on the Earth started with the ideals and dreams that America did. So America is ripe with these themes.

What if an american went up to a Scot and started telling him how much William Wallace belonged to the world and that for him to take so much pride in and ownership the character is jingoist and narrow minded? He'd tell the American to **** off.

Superman is American and my country needs an example like him now more than ever. So don't try to separate me from my pride in Superman.

 

[Nightwing1977]

Supes isn't American. He's Kryptonian American.

 

[Andy C.]

Franklin Richards hit it right on the head. Superman is an icon meant specifically to appeal to and inspire pride in the American people and our way of life. And while snarky cynicism and self-loathing have become the order of the day, the fact that the ideals embodied in the Superman persona are still attractive enough for other cultures to try and lay claim to him as well goes to show how desirable 'The American Way' itself can be, even in times when our government doesn't live by it.

There's the idea of the American melting-pot, as Kal came to the country as a foreigner in its truest sense. And while he upholds and shows pride in his alien heritage, there's a reason he's not fighting for Truth, Justice, and the Kryptonian Way.

There's the reverence to the traditional honest working family, as he was raised not by some wealthy socialites or political activists, but a kindly farmer and his wife. They instilled in him the courage and strong moral compass that would allow him to make even the most difficult choices. And even in adulthood and at the height of his powers, he chooses to work for a living at a blue-collar job.

Most of all, there's the idea that the individual life is sacred and meaningful, the individual mind is worth fighting for, and the individual man--not the government, not the upper-crust elites, not big business, not the collective, but the individual free man with a good idea and the backbone to see it through--can change the world for the better. Even when Superman has the power to break all the world's armies and set himself up as dictator, he instead labors against tyranny and acts as a servant to the people he protects.

Those are the ideals that, while they had been flirted with during periods like the Enlightenment in Europe, were first truly pioneered and brought into reality in America. And while politicians and semanticists can squabble forever over whether the Left or the Right is out to destroy or restore said values, our people as a whole have every right to be proud of ourselves for being the ones who lit the flame. To that end, we have every right to consider the Superman character a personification of Americana.