Two Jewish kids named Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster were the sons of immigrants who went to America (Thanks God Trump wasn´t there).
Who would have thought then? that they would create one of the most important American icons, one of the most important characters in modern pop culture. The men of steel himself, Superman.
There are a lot of theories about his creation; one that I find very interesting is the need of a “Jew messiah” and the symbol of hope than he would represent. If we stop to think about it makes a lot of sense, two Jewish kids in a foreign land escaping from World War I and witnessing the horrors of World War II. We could aume that Europe in the time would be similar to krypton Exploiting and we find this “Alien” who has to adapt to this new culture “Earth” as Siegel and Shuster did in the US.
Also we can theorize about the psychological need for a Messiah, an all-powerful being capable of stopping the Bad Guys and the suffering of the Jewish people.
Another interesting fact about Siegel and Shuster comes in the name of the character “Superman” too similar to the “Super-Man” of Nietzsche, philosopher who both writers admired. A super-man is someone capable to surpass all his limitations with his ethics and tons of humanity.
Humanity, i believe this is the keyword for this character. Even the great Quentin Tarantino has his theory about Kal-El. In Kill Bill vol2. When Bill says that Superman doesn´t assume his true identity so he disguises as a human, clumsy and weak ´cause that’s how he perceives humanity.
I agree to disagree with Quentin. I believe his true identity is Clark Kent, the noble Kansas boy raised by two farmers in such a humble town called Smallville. And two of the most important Characters Jonathan and Martha Kent adopted him and teach him the difference between good and evil, the value of all life (yes superman even becomes a vegan sometimes) and all about moral and ethics
Those are the values that transform the men of steel from an alien with the potential to be a dictator (there are many excellent storylines that explores this possibility) to be a humble human being who will become the symbol of Hope.
Zack Snyder and Henry Cavill have a different approach. In men of steel they present us Clark Kent in a journey to know and accept his Kyptonian legacy, through brief conversations with his father Jor-El.
I think is a good idea but overshadows The importance of the father figure of Jonathan Kent. Jor El is guy who appears from nowhere and how can he guide him better than his actual parents who raised him. For me this is underestimating the importance of Martha and Jonathan in his decision to be a hero instead of a tyrant. And ok I understand the intentions of doing "Men of steel" a movie about fathers, "BvS" about mothers (won't even start with the Martha thing, that would be a huge rant) and Justice League about families.
Also there's the murdering problem. Spolier alert (but if you are reading this probably you already watched the movies) Superman ends up killing Zod, crossing an important line for Dc heroes (excluding Wonder Woman) and then appears in BvS without any guilt or any other consequences.
Superman doesn´t kill because of his values and if he does cross the line and doesn’t have any psychological, ethical even criminal impact. what would stop him from doing it again? Why wouldn´t he just kill lex luthor or batman in BvS? what if it's not his own conscience would be able to stop him?
Truth be told it seems to me that Snyder is sacrificing important things about the characters for the sake of explosions and action, for example Batman using guns, he looks more like a guy in the cast of the "Expendables 5" than the batman we all know and love. Superman destroying his city without caring about his citizens, macho fights stopped ‘cause Martha (could be there any dumber decision in the history of cinema than the Martha thing?) and killing Zod with his bare hands “may be this are a more cool shots”.
In my opinion a good Superman story lays in his humanity. Is always fun to watch an all-powerful being facing the difficulties of the everyday man for example Clark being nervous about a date with Lois, or handling ex-girlfriends and scared of Lois and her jelousy…not even godlike characters are saved from women and their mysteries.
We must be thankful to all those writers who along the way have given us beautiful stories that seem simple at first but they truely are so deep and complex.
All those writers who made the character what it is. Let’s hope in the next movies we may see his essence back. That Humble farmer who represents everything that is good, or as batman would say a Big Blue Boy Scout.
