Let’s start with the illegal immigrant alien from Kansas.
If you haven’t already inferred, I’m talking about Superman, Clark Kent. If you spend any time listening to people’s opinions on pop culture, like I do, you will often hear people whine about Superman. They maintain that he is overpowered and stale, that he wants for flaws, both moral and otherwise, and that he is not a three-dimensional character. This has spawned much debate, and some even opine that he would naturally see humanity as lesser, or that Clark Kent is, or should be, the mask and Superman his “real self”.
I don’t have enough time to get into all of that here, but I feel that many stories that attempt to deconstruct Superman miss what make him compelling in the first place. Clark Kent, despite his Kryptonian heritage considers himself a Kansas farm boy, because that’s what he is. He deeply loves humanity. This is not only because these are the values instilled into him by his adoptive parents, but the fact that he believes in our capacity for goodness, and chooses to be of symbol of hope, to do as much good as possible with the extraordinary abilities that he’s been given, despite the fact that he could choose not to. He chooses to be optimistic and empathy, and always gets back up even when he is discouraged.
Pair him with a great foil as a villain, like Lex Luthor, who could do all the good in the world, but chooses not to, and who Superman can’t fight his way past, because of his seemingly unlimited resources and obsession with taking Clark down, despite the good that he is doing. No matter how hard you try, you can’t force someone to choose to be good. What does Superman do when those in power don’t share his values of tolerance, truth, justice, etc, just because they don’t want to? What if some don’t want to be saved, and are content with others suffering, as long as it benefits them and have no incentive to change, especially because it’s made them rich? On top of all that, he is one of the smartest people in the multiverse, and a raging narcissist for good measure.
In one of my most treasured Superman comics, All Star Superman by Grant Morrison, on an alternate earth in which Superman is running out of time to live, but, paradoxically is even stronger, more intelligent, and powerful. Through comic book shenanigans Lex gains Superman’s powers for 24 hours. In typical megalomaniac fashion, he immediately starts his hostile takeover. I love how it illustrates the difference between the two men, and that the power that Lex receives only reveals his true nature, as it does with Clark, as it is our choices that define us. Here’s how the scene plays out in the pretty solid film adaptation, which even makes a couple of changes to this scene that make me adore it even more.
(Also, it’s extremely rad that we have a very anti-Nazi ubermensch, created by two Jewish men.)
That’s not even my favorite moment from the comic, though. I’ll just let it speak for itself.
That’s what Superman means to me. He gives us an ideal, an example to aspire to. He is a symbol of hope and kindness. In this often troubling world, that is more than enough. I can’t wait to continue this series in later weeks!