So I was trying to put into words how I feel about this film, when another poster asked me what Superman stands for to me.
This is what I came up with:
'Somewhere in our darkest night, we made up the story of a man who will never let us down.' - Grant Morrison
I think that's a pretty good starting point.
I grew up without a Dad around. And you know that way that a lot of kids look up to their Dad's like they are Supermen? Well I guess that's how I felt about Superman.
He is good, brave, kind, intelligent, authoritative, and someone to look up to because he has a moral code that is unwavering.
There is something consistent about him. He will never let us down. He always shows up just in the nick of time. He always beats the bad guy, and he always does it in a way that doesn't mean compromising what he stands for, and what he's trying to teach the rest of the world to act like.
What does he stand for?
Knowing and sticking to what you believe in. Standing up and fighting for your dream even when your just one man and it'll take years if ever to get there. Never loosing sight of how much good and beauty there is out there, and how much kindness there is in the human spirit.
And because this man was someone I was looking up to like a Dad, those are all the things that I try aspire too. Those are the things that I respect in other people.
I guess that's why it's devestating to me that an entire generation of kids just doesnt have that.
And they could have...
What a load of crap. Here's what I like about Superman:
Dude can fly. Hard, fast.
Dude can beat up almost anybody.
Uses his powers for good, even when it isn't easy. Cuz it isn't always easy.
Heat vision. Awesome.
Cape. Billowing, beautiful, scarlet cape.
I don't love Superman because he's a righteous role model who always makes the morally correct choice. That kind of Superman gives me spiritual and intellectual indigestion. He's actually a sanctimonious prick. The kind who blows out people's cigarettes because he doesn't respect their right to make the bad choice, or he doesn't even try to understand the weakness that leads people to make bad choices. Then he says 'Lois, I never lie', even though his whole damn life is a concealment of his own true identity from the world, and yes, from the very woman he is promising never to lie to.
I want a Superman like the one in Man of Steel. One whose unique position requires him to make difficult, even impossible choices. One who isn't afraid to make those choices, even when he might have been wrong. His reaction to killing Zod shows how dismayed he was by what he did.
You don't have to be perfect - you don't have to be the kind that 'would never let us down' - in order to be a beacon of hope. In fact, perfection rarely inspires hope. More often it inspires disbelief, envy, or suspicion. Superman can inspire not only in spite of being wrong sometimes, but maybe most of all in how he responds to making mistakes. Because his mistakes are super, too, right? How does he respond? Does he get back on the proverbial horse, make the necessary adjustments, try to learn and do it better next time around? That's what makes him, or anyone, a hero.
One that I could actually believe in.
