Political response to SUPERMAN RETURNS

[JulianPerez]

There has been a lot of angry reaction to the movie by people on the right-of-center side of the political spectrum. The critiques have three major problems with the film: its "acceptance" of gayness (or gay agenda), Superman having a child with an unmarried Lois Lane, and the absence of the "American Way" from dialogue.

Have a look for yourself:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=superman

Obviously the response to Superman is off for three reasons:

1) Superman isn't gay. Director Bryan Singer said that of all the characters he's ever done, Superman is one of the straightest. Superman has been characterized as heterosexual for decades: Superman has had a lot - a LOT - of girlfriends: Sally Sellwyn, that girl from Krypton he was into during "The War Between Krypton and Earth," Triplicate Girl/Duo Damsel, Lois Lane, Lana Lang, that mermaid chick, and so on, ad infinitum. And saying that Superman is gay would deny the very real passion that he obviously has with Lois Lane in the movie.

It is true, however, that the gay cable television network, Logo, has been hyping up the Superman movie - but this has more to do with the fact that Superman is a character leading a double-life, which many people that are gay can empathize with (and many that aren't gay do as well; even this isn't an intrinsically "gay" theme).

Many call Supeman a "Metrosexual girly-man," however, I think this says more about our culture's unrealistic and unattainable concept of masculinity than anything about someone as obviously macho as Superman.


2) The absence of the "American Way" line. It is true that a kind of old school Americanism was a big part of Superman, however, Superman has gradually been creeping away from signs of red-blooded nationalism into a "citizen of the world" status as a character for DECADES now, that it just isn't fair to focus exclusively on SUPERMAN RETURNS for doing so. Arguably, the move away from the "American Way" started in the Weisenger Years, when Dorfman, Binder and other writers wrote Superman more and more as a lonely alien being who, because he was not from Earth, thus did not see the distinctions that we human beings make amongst ourselves as being truly meaningful.


3) Lois isn't a "slut." Of all the critiques of the film, this one gets my goat the most, because it is the most ugly, degrading, and hypocritical. The fact that Lois Lane had a child by Superman does not make her an immoral woman. Clearly, she loves the child and raises him, and together with Cyclops she gives the kid a home. Lois even married some square so that the kid could grow up with a Daddy.


Ultimately, I think the problem with these critiques is they have a flawed view of what it is that entertainment is supposed to do. Their view is that escapist entertainment is a platform for moral instruction. This is not to say that you can't learn quite a bit from entertainment (I doubt I'd be unique in this board if I said that I probably learned more from Superman in my life than I did from anyone else except my Father). However, ultimately, the goal of entertainment and fiction is NOT to provide role models or how to live one's life - that's what responsible parents, educators and religious leaders are for.

And finally, one person had THIS to say:

"I have no clue about modern Superman continuity. The last Superman comics I picked up was shortly after the Byrne reset. It left me cold at the time. That's coming up on 20 years now? I'm almost 2 decades behind the times when it comes to both Marvel & DC Comics."

I absolutely love how, in the sea of phobia for "the queer lobby" and the Lois Lane slut-calling, somebody took the time out to slam John Byrne.

[Permanus]

Hey, Byrne-slamming is always good. He's such a -- whoops, that's not what you were talking about, was it?

It's interesting that part of the Superman revamp in 1986 was to make him left of centre; Byrne (that sonofa, whoops, sorry) actually mentioned in an interview in the British press that Superman would now be the equivalent to what was then called the Liberal-SDP Party over here, now just the Lib-Dems in the vernacular. (Personally, I welcomed this, because my own political views are leftish; I don't mean to start a debate here, because I'm sure that there are people here with differing views. I'm just saying, is all.) It's interesting, though, because he started off pretty unambiguously as a New Dealer, but seemed to gravitate to the right as time went on. By bringing him back to the left, I feel that DC wanted to accentuate the caring side of his nature, but maybe that's just me.

Anyway, the comments brought about by the Superman Returns film are obviously very knee-jerk stuff. I haven't seen the film yet (it's still one week from release over here), but it's fairly obvious to me that it does not portray Superman as gay, Lois as a slut or anything like that. I certainly don't mind the American Way thing, because I'm not American and want him to be my hero too. As you say, Julian, this is entertainment and it is not meant to be your bible; you don't have to agree with all of it, and the one point it is trying to make is that the good guys win in the end. If you disagree with that, well, where does that put you?

[Super Monkey]

Some people simply have nothing going on in their lives so they have to worry about everyone's private lives and personal opinions (countless times more important to them than facts), rather than trying to make their own lives more meaningful, but I suppose that would be much harder to do than to go on TV shows, type in Internet blogs and even write books and make complete fools of themselves.

Some people find political angles for every little thing you can think of and some you couldn't, these people are idiotic and annoying.

That goes for both sides. I am not picking on just one.

Obviously the response to Superman is off for three reasons:

Superman isn't gay

Gay people liking something doesn't make it gay. You have to be incredibly homophobic to even think that way. To quote Shakespeare  "doth protest too much, methinks"

Here is a good chance to plug the supermanica
http://superman.nu/wiki/index.php/Superman#The_Women_of_the_Chronicles

The absence of the "American Way" line

That was more of a War Years phase, which was phased out as Superman become a hero to the whole universe starting with the Sliver Age. The 1960's folks.

Lois isn't a "slut."

Of course she is not, but any depiction of a strong, smart woman scares of holy you know what out of some people.

And finally, one person had THIS to say:

Freeper wrote:
"I have no clue about modern Superman continuity. The last Superman comics I picked up was shortly after the Byrne reset. It left me cold at the time. That's coming up on 20 years now? I'm almost 2 decades behind the times when it comes to both Marvel & DC Comics."

Well, at least we can all agree on some universal truths

[Uncle Mxy]

IIRC, the first time Superman ever directly said he was fighting for the American Way was in the original movie.  I suspect that was largely so Lois could quip about him fighting every elected official.

[Permanus]

Sorry, as a complete aside here, Mxy, what does IIRC mean? I'm a bit hit-and-miss about all these acronyms.

[Uncle Mxy]

IIRC = If I Recall Correctly

[MatterEaterLad]

"truth, justice, and the American way" was such a important part of the introduction segment of the Superman TV series, and the series ran in syndication for so many years that it seems kind of natural that people would notice it whether they agree with it today or not...

[JulianPerez]

Some people find political angles for every little thing you can think of and some you couldn't, these people are idiotic and annoying.

This is ultimately why it's not wise to read the perspective of political blogs on pop culture events like movies: everything is viewed through a lens, and so consequently people see things that just aren't there.

And the whole harping on the "Superman is gay" topic brings to mind the first characteristic of the fanatic: the inability to change the subject.

Gay people liking something doesn't make it gay.

I wonder: do comics and superheroes have an unusually strong gay audience? I would think they would, especially among the segment of gays into pop culture and camp. Superhero comics have many similarities to the over the top theatrics of Broadway musicals.

IIRC, the first time Superman ever directly said he was fighting for the American Way was in the original movie. I suspect that was largely so Lois could quip about him fighting every elected official.

That was indeed a very powerful moment - it was right then that people stopped laughing, stopped looking at the picture as camp, and took it seriously, as many people, notably Nightwing, have pointed out.

It was meant to show Superman as an idealistic person with a great deal of faith in others - Chris Reeves's Superman was more bright-eyed than the others in many ways.

However, I can understand why the film-makers of SUPERMAN RETURNS left that part out: Superman's heroism and mission ought to be broadly defined so that EVERYONE can see heroism in him, and the definition of the phrase "American Way" has been narrowed in recent times. The decision to leave it off is many things, but it isn't "gutless." And it was one line by Frank Langella, that I can't help but feel this is being blown out of proportion.  

It's interesting that part of the Superman revamp in 1986 was to make him left of centre; Byrne (that sonofa, whoops, sorry) actually mentioned in an interview in the British press that Superman would now be the equivalent to what was then called the Liberal-SDP Party over here, now just the Lib-Dems in the vernacular.

If Byrne gave this statement, he went back on it. Reimagining Terra-Man as an eco-terrorist? Hey, I've got a great idea: why don't we create MORE villains based on phobias of the extreme right? Here's one: the Unionist. He's five men, that merge Voltron-style, to form a giant monster!

Am I the only one to find it more than a little loopy to have environmentalists as supervillains? Surely there are more dastardly and charismatic groups than harmless college girls that don't shave their pits. Only in the fevered brains of Kesel and Byrne would environmentalists pick up machine guns instead of bongs.

Anyway, the comments brought about by the Superman Returns film are obviously very knee-jerk stuff.

Well, yeah, but what's strange is that this is happening to SUPERMAN. Has there become such an anxiety about the mass media that even something that should be below the radar like SUPERMAN RETURNS now suddenly acquires suspicion and scrutiny? I mean, this isn't exactly SYRIANA here. This is an escapist adventure movie, which works precisely because it is detached from contemporary current events in a way more than any other recent movie than maybe SHREK II.