Why certain people criticizing the latest SuperMan have completely lost the plot
BY: CARRINGTON C. DAVIS
Staff Writer
Superman or “Superwoke” according to Fox News and other right wing media, is the story of pro-immigration, radical un-American ideology, and is anti-Israel in favor of Palestine.
“We don’t go to the movie theater to be lectured to and to have somebody throw their ideology onto us. I wonder if it will be successful,” said Kellyanne Conway from Fox News.
Frankly, I don’t agree. The story of Superman to me is the pinnacle of hope and compassion for others. With the rise of the phrase “kindness is the new punk rock,” Superman as a character and a concept is revealing the best and worst in people.
Let’s talk a little bit about history. Superman, also known by his alias Clark Kent, was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Jerry Siegel’s parents left their motherland, Lithuania, due to rising antisemitism. Jerry’s father Michael (or Mikhel), much like Clark whose given name was Kal El, adopted an Americanized name to blend in with the people around him. Jerry and Joe met in Glenville High School. During that time, Jerry suffered the tragic loss of his father when he had a heart attack attempting to stop a shoplifter in his own clothing store. This pushed Jerry away from college and into comics with Joe. They started the groundwork for Superman. Inspired by the Jewish stories of Moses, Hercules, Samson and 1930s strongmen, Superman was born.
Someone to fight against social injustices, someone that helps old ladies cross the road, or save squirrels in trees, someone to bring hope.
“It’s not that Superman went ‘woke,’ it’s that the more hateful members of our society decided that human kindness and empathy are their mortal enemy,” said Cooper Barnes, an actor from the television series “Henry Danger.”
Superman is an alien. Not just by crash landing on earth, but also in the same way that immigrants fleeing to our country are. His adoptive parents forged his documents to keep him safe from the government and give him the chance at a good life. Superman has been “woke” since his pen to paper conception.
In his 1946 radio show “The Adventures of Superman,” he exposed Ku Klux Klan (KKK) practices and rituals. This, combined with the efforts of civil rights activists, helped expose and lower the membership of the KKK. Some people may think that the Superman from the 2013 “Man of Steel” film is what Superman should be. A dark, brooding, christlike figure, but that’s not who he is. Superman is empathetic. Maybe even to a fault.
Some of the most obvious empathy shown from Superman in this movie is between him and the people of Jarhanpur from Boravia. Him going against usual protocol to try to end the war by threatening the leader of Boravia causes a lot of tension for Superman’s reputation in the film.
To relate it to what’s happening in Gaza: I see Superman as the Israel teenagers who are burning their war documents and refusing to particuate willingly in a genocide. In the film, Superman is given a message from his parents to take over and harm the planet earth. Instead of taking that message as a whole and acting on it because it’s where he came from, he chose to help.
As Jonathan Kent says to Clark in the movie, “Your choices, Clark. Your actions… that’s what makes you who you are.”
