A SERIOUS TAKE ON SOMETHING NON-SERIOUS
My Fear of Superman
This is something I want to try: I often over-analyze things that quite honestly don't matter. Superman is super popular right now. He has been for years, really. Superman is one of those heroes that is not only incredibly well known, but is ridiculously powerful.
Most geeks wish that super heroes were real. It's a common wish, that I do indeed share. But, ....... I'm afraid of Superman being real. I do NOT want Superman to be real. I repeat, please don't hate me, but I do NOT want Superman to be real.
Here's a brief, general summation of his background (DC has changed details constantly over the years, so this is the most generally accepted background):
First of all, I'm not a Superman hater. I loved Man of Steel. I'm very excited about the sequel. He has definitely revolutionized comics. He's super recognizable, and an all-american (unless you're reading the Red Son series). So please, I'm not just trying to bash Superman.
Now, DC has changed up Superman's background several times over the years, but basically Superman is a Kryptonian that was sent to Earth by his parents in a rocket ship before the destruction of his home world. Krypton has a much heavier gravity than we do, and it also had a Red sun. Kyrptonians can use their enhanced abilities under a Yellow sun. So Earth was the perfect place for Superman to end up.
Krypton was destroyed by an unstable radioactive explosion within the core. With the destruction of Krypton, it created fragments of the planet that were altered by the radioactivity. This is what's commonly known as kryptonite, which is deadly to Superman. Krypton is 27.1 light years from Earth.
After crash landing in Kansas, Superman was adopted by the Kent's, and was given the name Clark. As he grew, his powers began to surface. He learned to harness them, and also developed a very strong Moral Compass.
Here are my fears:
Superman is pretty much the most powerful hero in all of comics. Superman's famous arsenal of powers has included flight, super-strength, invulnerability to non-magical attacks, super-speed, vision powers (including x-ray, heat-emitting, telescopic, infra-red, and microscopic vision), super-hearing, super-intelligence, and super-breath, which enables him to blow out air at freezing temperatures, as well as exert the propulsive force of high-speed winds. He barely survives a nuclear blast, and his space flights are limited by how long he can hold his breath. Superman's power levels have again increased since then, with Superman currently possessing enough strength to hurl mountains, withstand nuclear blasts with ease, fly into the sun unharmed, and survive in the vacuum of outer space without oxygen.Superman can fly to other worlds and galaxies and even across universes with relative ease. He would often fly across the solar system to stop meteors from hitting the Earth or sometimes just to clear his head. Even with the restrictions that have tried to be implemented to the hero, he is still unbelievably powerful! We've already established that he only has one weakness, which is kryptonite. There is only one thing that can stop the effects of kryptonite: lead. So even his weakness has the potential to not have very much effect.
In the recent Comic Series/Video Game Injustice: Gods Among Us, In an alternate reality, the Joker destroys Metropolis with a nuclear weapon, killing millions of people, after tricking Superman into killing Lois Lane and their unborn son. In retaliation, Superman murders the Joker during Batman's interrogation. He establishes a new world order as the High Councillor. A war ensues between the forces of Superman's Regime and those allied with Batman's Insurgency
My fear is that, despite Superman's impeccable moral compass, what if? What if Superman were real? What is he decided that the only way to save humanity was through enslavement and developing a new world order in which he was our dictator? What could we do? He's unstoppable! None of our weapons would have any effect. Our nukes could maybe stall him, but Superman could confiscate them before we could even say, "Push the Red Button!" And I know that everybody and their mother has kryptonite in their back pocket in the comics, but here on Earth, we don't. Now before you guys start saying, "Batman beat Superman! Batman beat Superman!", from what I can tell, Batman HUMBLED Superman, not actually defeat him. Also, this is strictly a speculation if Superman alone was real, not Batman. No one on Earth (that I know of) is at the peak of human physical health, trained in a dozen martial arts, a billionaire, and a genius detective. If Superman was real, and he decided that he knew best......we'd be in Serious trouble.
What I am most afraid of, is that if Superman were real, and he wanted to, he could take away our free-will. (A bit of theology time) God gave us free-will. It dates all the way back to the Garden of Eden when God ccreated the world, made Adam and Eve, and then gave them that one rule that has changed absolutely everything, and we are still feeling the results of that decision today. If Superman were real, he would almost be God (No, he wouldn't actually BE God, but he'd be godlike) in the sense that he would have unparalleled power over us. God himself allowed us to keep this free-will. But, again, Superman isn't God; he's a lowercase god. What's to stop Superman from acknowledging this power he has over us and abusing it. What would stop him if he went through events similar to what happened to him in the Injustice plot-line? How could we as mere mortals stop a god?
Call me overly religious if you want, but I believe that since God himself gave us free-will (the ability to examine information and make a decision, acknowledging or not acknowledging the consequences for ourselves), no other god has the right to take it from us. We're humans, and we make mistakes, but they're our mistakes to make. Superman, as wonderful and heroic as he is, can (and has) made mistakes. He's great on paper, but I believe would be disastrous in real life.
So that's my fear. Rational? Irrational? Let me know. I know that this is different from my normal post format, but I want to every now and then really look at geeky subjects like this and really research and discuss what type situations could occur. But please, leave your comments below, and as always, stay true to the ways of Geekery.
I don't think your fear is irrational. Having so much power in the hands of one person should make anyone at the very least nervous. After all, human history is littered with examples of how badly things can go when such power is concentrated.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I would argue that having Superman exist would be somewhat akin to the fear that much of the world had when the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. had their enormous stockpiles of nuclear weapons pointed at each other. After all, a full-scale nuclear war was only a phone call away by the president or premier. And that threat did not have a corresponding benefit of having someone with superhuman powers helping out mankind.
In other words, having a real Superman would, and should, make people nervous, I think the benefits would outweigh the drawbacks, real and potential.
The rebuttal, I believe to this discussion comes in two words Clark Kent. I personally don't hold faith with anything in the Man of Steel movie. My superman has Never killed anyone that I wouldn't consider a "monster" which is either mindless or will reconstitute. That's not to say people don't want to change that cause it ends up being too hokey and unrealistic. However, in my mind Clark Kent got an early Christian education in Smallville and understands the principles of our faith and respects them. As such the thou shall nots rank pretty high for me. The threat of Superman has always been there, and Lex embodies all of our fears about the one day that superman would do us in.
ReplyDeleteIn the original short story there is a scientist who turns a hungry homeless man into a "superman", the scientist does intend to kill the man as he is simply a test subject before the scientist tries to turn himself into a superman. By the end of the story we see that the power had driven the homeless man to murder (in self defense), but that his power was temporary and he himself would soon be homeless again with a dark dream of ruling the world with the power he once had.
This is another point where I would bring up that such thoughts have probably occurred to Clark, over his time as a being of super power. However, This is why being Clark is important for superman, to ground him in a reality where he pretends to be powerless and has to deal with everyday problems. Having real relationships with "normal" people helps remind Clark of his human family which he cares (or cared) about. Many critics have come down against the concept of the beginning of injustice. They claim that Lois is a simple and bluntly used tool which helped the developers make the game they wanted. I tend to agree that, while there are ways, the way they went about the trick and the aftermath, I feel, was weak writing. The death of Lois, though tragic when looked at carefully, I have to feel that my superman is more mentally stable that the residents at Arkham and would most likely, in my mind go on an interstellar journey. He has enough (again depending on what has happened yet) of the Super Family to help Earth out without him, though the strong moral compass would be lossed even if the power vaccum could be filled. That Earth would not be better without Superman, I don't think, but would ours be? I'm not sure I could come down on the issue, as I can see positives and negatives. As "A superman" I'd rather do without, but I would say with absolute certainty that the world could use quite a few more Clark Kents.
Both fantastic points. I appreciate the comments guys. I absolutely agree that being Clark Kent and having close relationships with "normal people" definitely ties Superman closer to humanity. I guess I'm just worry wart. I mean there are tons of potential threats that actually exist that I've never put much stock into. Thanks again.
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