I'm late to the party
because the movie, Man of Steel, came out last summer. A bunch of people have
already written about this, so why am I writing about this now? I just watched
it again, and I decided to put out there what has bothered me about the live
action depictions of Superman. Maybe some fans will read and agree, maybe not
but what the hell?
Before I start, I should
first say that Superman is my favorite comic book superhero. My brother thinks
that I'm lame for it (only one reason, there are others) mostly because of his
amazing powers. Very little can harm him, he's strong beyond anything, the heat
vision, etc. Oddly, it's sort of despite all that that I like Superman. He has
all that power, and he just wants to help. He could rule the world, and he
serves instead. To me, that's just remarkable. In Superman/Batman #3 Batman observes,
"It is a remarkable dichotomy. In a way, Clark is the most human of us all. Then he shoots fire from the skies, and it’s hard not to think of him as a god. And how fortunate we all are that that does not occur to him."
I'll admit, when I was 4
and 5 watching "Adventures of Superman" reruns with George Reeves, It
was the powers that I liked, but as I got older and gave it more thought, it
was the other aspects that got me more interested. Unfortunately, the
factors that I like most aren't the factors that I see portrayed often enough,
or done in a sort of haphazard way. Maybe Hollywood has such a hard time with
the character because they focus on the obvious things rather than some of
these more subtle aspects of the character.
First, let's talk about
Clark. No, let's talk about the "disguise." There have been many
discussions about how much of a non-disguise this is. You know them, "How
can people be fooled by this?"etc. Over the years, there have been many
explanations why it works, all of them have forgotten the simplest reason why
no one puts it together that Clark and Superman are the same guy, which is, why
would they?
Superman bends steel in
his bare hands, changes the course of mighty rivers, all that jazz. On the
other hand, Clark is a big Midwestern farm boy that works in the office.
Superman doesn't wear a mask the way Batman does, so why would anyone think he
has a secret identity? In fact, a funny bit could be that someone noticing the
resemblance and Clark reacting by saying something like "Not you too, I
get that from my mother!"
Now let's talk about
Clark. Mild mannered doesn't have to mean wimpy, it could just mean polite and
not one to start something. In other words, not being a "tough guy."
As a reporter for a major newspaper, he can still be a brave, self assured man
of action, he's just not reckless. If some bully starts something,
instead of folding, he ducks the punches, and lets the clown beat himself up while
saying something like "I'm the wrong guy to start something with. You'd
really rather pick on someone more your own speed." It's always bugged me
that Clark is portrayed as a doofus, a coward, or both.
I also thought that his
becoming a journalist would be a natural job for him. In school, because
of his unfair advantage, athletics would be out. Besides, he'd never be able to
give a blood sample. So by writing, he can compete fairly. Even though he
has an amazing intellectual capacity, for example, he can remember everything;
learn a language in a week, etc. writing a great story takes work. This would
be a challenge, so that's why he is drawn to journalism. Since he can't be
hurt, he takes dangerous assignments. War stories from the front, investigative
pieces on major crime rings would be Clark Kent's stock and trade, and after
doing this for a while, he gets recruited by the Daily Planet.
With that, Lois Lane
falls for Clark Kent, not Superman. That usual depiction of that romance never
really made sense to me. Superman is an extraterrestrial alien. He may be
attractive, but no. It makes far more sense to me that she would fall for
Clark, at least my version of Clark. Clark, knowing his true nature, avoids
romance with Lois, which makes her pursue him harder. His rationale is that he
prefers globetrotting and only took the Planet job because he wanted to take a
break, and the offer is too good. Soon he will go back to that life when he
gets bored.
Since we have to have
the romance, Lois will win him over because she is independent, fierce and not
a "damsel in distress" and, for Clark, a perfect partner. He will
figure that out as they investigate a story that would serve as the main story
arc in the film. Superman becomes his "dark secret" that he's
reticent to reveal.
Lex Luthor should be in
the story of course, but not the comic villain from the ‘70s movies. He should
be a ruthless multibillionaire industrialist. He should also have a legitimate
fear of this super-powered alien. He would be the antagonist, but not really a
villain, this way he’s more interesting. Instead of hatching some scheme, he
sincerely believes he’s protecting everyone.
At this moment someone
is the victim of a crime. Since Superman can’t be everywhere all the time,
there are cries for help that go unheeded, but he hears them all. You want a
gritty Superman? How about examining that?
This is a Superman
story, so there have to be huge action sequences, but Superman would go out of
his way to keep collateral damage to a minimum. Whatever damage does occur, show
him lending a hand to fix it in the epilog. At least have a nice sequence of
him clearing the rubble.
I’m aware that it’s
easier being a critic than to create a work, but the character has been around
over 75 years. There’s really no excuse for making a lackluster movie about
such a character that has been part of our modern mythology for so long; especially
if you’re going to throw that much money into telling such a story. The Marvel
studios have shown over and over how to make a great superhero story. Take notes.
