I saw the new Superman movie and here are my thoughts. After hearing that there was a bit of complaining from certain movie goers that the movie wasn’t good because Superman is now, according to them: woke. I was almost expecting to see the man of steel wearing a pink pussy hat while he marched in Washington, or giving out rolls of tp outside of nongender restrooms. Instead, I found Superman doing what he’s always done, saving people.
The movie is a fast moving, well done, and often comical, version of the superman story we’ve all come to know. We see the characters of Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen and Perry White, portrayed as they usually are, but a little bit more interesting. Clark’s parents are in the story too, simple, kind, farm folk, who’s love helped shape Superman’s unselfish ways. And there’s even a dog that flies. Who wouldn’t like that?
Superman has one mission, to help others. Whether it be from saving the life of a squirrel, to saving an entire country. But like every superhero he has an evil nemesis, the ultra-wealthy, Lex Luther, who wants nothing more than to destroy this caring do-gooder.
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It’s the usual tale, and anyone who’s seen a Superman movie knows it. So, why is this version labeled, woke? Is it because Superman is considered an alien, displaced from his planet because of a natural disaster? Is it because he helps marginalized people, who are poor and often brown? Or is it because we’ve been conditioned to root for the rich guy, the one that claims he’s helping the world and never himself? He’s the guy who has all the answers. We know this because he’s constantly telling us that he does.
But why beat on Superman, the man of steel, who can leap tall buildings in a single bound? Why give this ultimate hero, who clearly never did anything but help save the planet, the suddenly made-up insult of: Woke. If I had to guess, I’d say because he’s a hero, a real one, and the message of this movie, to fight against evil, and not embrace it, or ignore it, doesn’t fall on deaf ears, it blares into them. And perhaps, as we look around at all this country is decaying into, this movie hits a little too close to home.
