Please be forewarned
that this article discusses plot points from the new movie “Man of Steel”, and other
Superman related movies, games and comics and reveals many spoilers. If you have not seen the film, I highly recommend
that you see the movie first.This past weekend the much anticipated movie, the Man of Steel opened in theaters. With its release came some of the most emotional and varied opinions on a Comic Book inspired film that I have personally ever seen. Within this particular genre there have always been a group of very vocal and passionate moviegoers, the Fanboy and Fangirl. I am very proud to consider myself a part of this particular group, which consists of women and men who are coming to the film experience usually with a lifetime of appreciation and love for the characters appearing on the screen before us. We are the people Michael Keaton told to “Grow up!” when his casting as Batman was criticized, we are the people who get upset when the movies don’t adhere to strict Comic Book continuity (even though the comics themselves don’t), and we are the people who wait at the end of every Marvel Comics movie to catch a glimpse of what the studio has planned for the next films in the franchises. We are a group that is usually universally united in our outrage and passion. This weekend that unity dissolved as Fangirls and Fanboys either fell completely in love with Superman reboot, or walked out deflated over what was done to their beloved hero.
Prior to the movie’s release, the anticipation on part of
the Comic Book community was very guarded.
Reaction to Bryan Singer’s tribute of the Donner films, Superman
Returns, was not positive and many fans seemed to be adopting a “wait and see”
approach to the new film. Up until the
ending of the film reaction seemed universally positive. Indeed, it is the
ending that has divided the comic book community as never before.
Superman kills. This act,
the central issue of the controversy, has made the rest of the film irrelevant for
much of the public. In a scene at the
end of the film, in a situation where the writers have given him no other option,
Kal-el is locked in a struggle with General Zod who, while immobilized in a
head lock by Superman, attempts to use his heat vision to incinerate a family
trapped in a corner of the train station where he Superman are doing
battle. Pleading with Zod to stop,
Superman fails to convince his opponent to relent and violently snaps Zod’s
neck to prevent the death of the human family in front of him. Superman releases a gut wrenching, primal
scream of anguish what he has done. At this point, Synder has Lois Lane comfort
Superman in a very touching and very refreshing moment which shows strong male
figure in the grips of emotional pain, anguish and vulnerability. It is this scene that has fandom divided.
The reasons people give for their negative reactions are
very clear and perfectly reasonable;
“Superman shouldn’t kill, Superheroes
don’t kill.”
“Superhero movies have become too
violent”
“I can’t bring my daughter or son to see a
film like this”
I firmly believe all of these arguments are valid, and
completely understand all of them.
However I also feel very strongly that “The Man of Steel” was one of the
best Superhero movies ever made.
I grew up reading Comic Books and idolized Superheroes. Superman was the first movie I saw in the
theaters as a child, after Star Wars. My
father brought me to the film as a surprise after he and my mother had gone
earlier that week to check it out and make sure it OK for me to watch. I have always loved those movies and very
much enjoyed Singer’s homage to those films in “Superman Returns”.
The comics I read growing up were mostly Silver Age comics, comics
created in the post “Seduction of the Innocent” era. For those not familiar with “Seduction”, it
was a book written by Fredric Wertham that placed much of the blame for juvenile
delinquency on comic books. The end
result was the creation of the Comics Code Authority that regulated everything
that could be done, said or shown in comic books. If you didn’t adhere to their strict
guidelines, you didn’t receive their seal of approval. It wasn’t until the late 1960’s when Marvel
put out a series of three Spiderman comics without the seal, that people
started to realize how little people cared about the code.
As a child growing up, these books were enjoyable to me and
completely appropriate, and I read them over and over again. I know that in my
parents’ place I would not have wanted my six or seven year old child reading comic
books that featured drug use, sex or extreme violence. As I got older and more mature though, my
taste in comics and other media changed.
I no longer wanted to read the campy stories that I read when first
became a comic book reader.
O’Neil and Adams “Green Lantern/Green Arrow” and Moore’s Watchman
changed what I looked for in Comics and became prime examples I gave to my
peers when I was called immature for reading comics. I still enjoyed the books that I read when I
was younger and read them to this day. I
read them with fondness and great nostalgia and believe they hold a very real
and very important place in the world of Comic Books today.
In the same way that my tastes in Comics Books has changed,
so has my taste in Comic Book films. I
felt very much invested in the “Man of Steel”. It is a mature film for a mature
audience that gives us a story that has grown up along with its fans. It is not campy and takes itself very
seriously. What ultimately divides us on
the film is each individual’s philosophy on what a hero is be and how should
they behave.
When I open a comic book, I want the heroes that I see in
the pages of Comic Books to be a reflection of who we are as a society. They should embody our values and they should
strive to be the best of who we are. I
want to emphasize that last statement, Superheroes should strive to be
the best of who we are. I say this
because there is nothing interesting about flawless characters in any
form. What makes Peter Parker one of the
most sympathetic characters in comics is the fact that he made a mistake that
haunts him his whole life. A good story is
built on conflict and struggle and the consequences there of.
A hero who always does the right thing is not interesting,
or very human. We as human beings make
mistakes, we sometimes act without thinking, make rash decisions and sometimes
make the wrong choices.
Real heroes deserve a much higher place in our culture. Real heroes like the women and men in our
armed forces. Like those in Fire
Departments and Police Forces. Teachers and nurses and doctors. Religious and secular leaders who dedicate
their lives and spare time to lift up others.
These are the individuals who should be celebrated and we need to see
them reflected in our Superheroes. How
many police officers or soldiers have had to kill to save a life? It is a sad truth that sometimes there is no other
choice or option presented to those in their line of work. It is wholly appropriate
that Superheroes reflect the men and women who have to make life and death.
It does not bother me that Superman ends Zod’s life in the
Man of Steel. Had it been handled any differently,
I may have responded the same as so many others. For those that were bothered, I certainly
understand and in no way feel that your reactions are not valid.
What does bother
me is that Superhero movies as a medium have
become too violent, and it is driving many people away from the medium and
keeping parents from introducing their children to these great characters. Violence does have a place in mature storytelling,
but a film should never be violent simply for the sake of violence. That appeals to a side of us that is antithetical
to what Superheroes are all about. There
need to be films that we can bring our young children to. If we don’t have Superhero movies and
animation that appeal to the younger set, they will never get to experience the
great feelings of nostalgia that those of us who grew up with the Superfriends,
Adam West and Saturday morning Spiderman cartoons did. Being able to share with our children the interests
and experiences we had when we were their age, is something far too valuable
for us as a society to abandon.
A world where all versions of our heroes are the same as
those of our youth is as bleak as it’s opposite. As we mature, so too must our heroes. We need to see ourselves reflected in the Man
of Steel, otherwise he becomes a caricature as two dimensional as the drawings he
came from.
The world needed to see a film like “Man of Steel”. If not for the mature, refreshing look at a
character that after 75 years has become as much a part of the world’s folklore
as any other fictional character, then the world needed this movie for the
discussions it has initiated about heroes and our expections of them.
