The Appeal of Superman

*Originally published on 9/21/09


Hard as it may be to believe, there are people out there who hate Superman. Yeah, I know. I know, personal preference is a factor, but there are some people who absolutely hate him. I don't get it. Admittedly, I'm somewhat biased as I'm a fan of Superman, but a lot of the arguments don't really hold water once you look at them. I'm not trying to force my opinion on anyone, just provide an alternative viewpoint for people to consider. Over the years, Superman has had a lot of complaints thrown in his direction. I'll try to pick out the big ones and provide counterpoints.
Superman is too powerful: I blame the silver age for this, I really do. Back in the '70s Superman was able to whip up any superpower he needed, regardless of how goofy it was. He could use super-hypnosis, super balloon inflating, or super tax form filing. Whatever the situation was, he had a super power for it. Nowadays, he's less powerful. Yeah, he has the super human strength, speed, endurance, and flight that most superheroes consider standard. Aside from that he only has enhanced hearing and various forms of vision (heat, X-ray, and telescopic/microscopic). Yeah, he has the super breath, but he doesn't use that nearly as much as he used to. In fairness to the writers, they really can't win. If you have Superman win too easily, than it's not exciting, but the instant you bring in a villain who can give Supes a run for his money, fans complain that you're making him weak.

Some argue that his powers rob the story of any tension, he's Superman, you know he's going to win. Well, of course, he's going to win, that's not the point. Any story or movie you see will have the good guy winning in the end. Most of them anyway. Did you complain about Ghostbusters because you knew that they were going to win? No, because A: Ghostbusters is a great movie and B: because it's the ride that counts. You could discredit almost anything with the notion that you knew that the good guy was going to win at the end.

Superman's always right: While the statement is pretty exaggerated, I think this comes from Superman's moral resolve. He has a strong inherent sense of what is right and wrong. This is a superhero we're talking about, so how is this a bad thing? People talk about how Batman is all dark and gritty, but he too has the same moral compass so that argument doesn't really hold water.

Also of note is the fact that Superman is supposed to be the ideal. As far as ideals go, he's what we strive to be. The epitome of purity and goodness. He's a character that anybody could and should look up to. There's nothing wrong with having a figure to aspire to be. Even with this, he still manages to be a human character, which is admirable.

Superman's a fascist: Who isn't a fascist nowadays? Obama's a fascist, Bush was a fascist, now Superman's a fascist, knock it off! This argument confuses me as well. He goes around, helps people, and catches bad guys. When has he ever captured an innocent person and subjected them to some form of undeserved justice? He operates based on man's laws. He captures people who do wrong and brings them right to the police. For crying out loud, other villains point out that he could easily conquer the world, but he chooses not to.

Everyone should recognize him as Clark: For a long time, this was the case. He didn't really do much to hide his appearance. Thankfully, Geoff Johns has added at least some justification. In the first issue of Blackest Night, Barry Allen, the newly returned Flash, explains that Clark hunches over, wears clothes that are one size too big, raises his voice an octave, and alters his hair style. With all that, recognition would become quite a bit more difficult.

I've also heard it said that some people don't buy the idea of Superman because power corrupts, ergo, Superman shouldn't be the way he is. On the one hand, I want to respect their opinion, but I can't help but feel that they're missing the point. Yes, power can corrupt, but it's not a 100% thing. The fact that Superman's power hasn't corrupted him is what makes him such a great hero. As I said before, villains point out that Superman could easily conquer us, but he doesn't. He knows, like Spider-Man does, that with great power comes great responsibility. He's managed to handle that responsibility rather well if you ask me.

One final note goes to the end of Kill Bill vol 2. For those who haven't seen it, a character gives a long speech about how Superman really has nothing but contempt for us, that Clark being weak and timid is his assessment of us....I like Quentin Tarantino's movies but that speech was wrong on practically every conceivable level. Anyone who knows thing one about Superman would shake their head at that and just say no, because he's wrong, so so very wrong.

I don't remember who wrote it, but someone summed it up perfectly saying that gods get their power from us believing in them, Superman gets his from believing in us. That, my friends, is Superman in a nutshell. He believes that humans are essentially good and worth the effort of saving and protecting.

As for Clark, his mild mannered nature is a mask, much like Bruce Wayne's foppish persona. It's a way to throw people off.

Superman is one of the most iconic heroes. So much so that other heroes look up to him. I can understand preferring other characters, but really, there's no reason to hate him.