The conflict between Superman’s father, Jor-El, and General Zod ultimately comes down to a dispute about how to best order a society. Jor-El hopes for a society in which the individual is free to pursue his or her interests and calling (“What if a child dreamed of becoming something other than what society had intended? What if a child aspired to something greater?”), a society in which individuals determine their own destinies.
Finally someone who gets the movie. I'm very happy to come across this article. Zack Snyder is the perfect person to make The Fountainhead movie. All three of his superhero movies have been highly philosophical and deep (I'm not counting Jhosstice League as a Snyder movie).
Those who don't know about the book mentioned can read more at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_(Plato)
But there is another way in which The Republic can help us make sense of Man of Steel (and even of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice) that might not be as obvious. In Book II, Plato says that a truly just man is bound to be misunderstood and finally killed in this world: he “will be scourged, racked, fettered, will have his eyes burned out, and at last, after all manner of suffering, will be crucified” (in some translations, the word is “impaled”).
This, it seems to me, has been the major theme of Man of Steel and BvS: how the world would really treat a Superman—not just because of his power or his origin, but because of his goodness. As Clark tells Lois Lane, “My father believed that if the world found out who I really was, they’d reject me out of fear. . . I let my father die because I trusted him. Because he was convinced that I had to wait. That the world was not ready. What do you think?” And as Perry White says, “Can you imagine how people on this planet would react if they knew there was someone like this out there?” Well, Plato answered that question for us 2,400 years ago.
MoS and BvS were flawed movies. But they were also great movies. Watchmen on the other hand was a perfect movie. All three movies are realistic movies that put a mirror infront of a society that go to the theater wanting to see and entertaining escape. This was actually best brought up in Sucker Punch which is also a misunderstood masterpiece
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I have only anecdotal evidence to back this up, but I believe that Plato’s theory has proven true of Superman not only in the universe of Zack Snyder’s movies, but also in real-world fan reaction to Superman. Browse internet discussions of Man of Steel and BvS, and you’ll run into a lot of hatred not just for the films, but for the character of Superman himself. For example, I once heard him characterized as an “over-powered space Jesus” by a fan who professed to prefer Batman because he’s “flawed.” This guy’s attitude seems to typify what a lot of people think about Superman. He’s too good.
Also Read:
https://aclashofheroes.wordpress.com/2016/09/07/what-critics-have-gotten-wrong-about-bvs/
https://aclashofheroes.wordpress.com/2017/05/26/now-can-we-finally-rethink-man-of-steel-and-batman-v-superman/
I have seen more than one critic say, “Zack Snyder loves Batman and hates Superman.” I wonder if those critics and I saw the same movie. I would argue that far from being a pro-Batman, anti-Superman movie, BvS is the exact opposite. It’s a repudiation of fans who favor Batman over Superman. Batman fans often criticize Supes by saying that he’s “too powerful” and that he “can’t be brave like Batman because he’s invincible.” If anything, BvS is a rebuke of that kind of talk. It puts those same arguments in Batman’s mouth and shows them to be the hogwash that they are.
