2007 Movie News Archives

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January 23, 2007: The Buddhist Channel Examines Superman

In recent history, comparisons have often been made between the story of Superman and that of Jesus (by Christians) and Moses (by Jews). Now it's the Buddhists turn, with the Buddhist Channel website having published an article titled "'Superman Returns' to His Bodhisattva Career". Here's an excerpt from the article...

    The first impression fellow Buddhists might get from the above "Superman Returns" trailer, is how the scene is reminiscent of Guanyin (Avalokiteshvara) Bodhisattva. For the uninitiated, Bodhisattvas are great beings who aspire to unconditionally help all beings be free from any suffering.

    Guanyin Bodhisattva is known for literally "regarding the cries of the world", ever ready to lend a "thousand" compassionate helping hands, even as she retains her wise and equanimous calm. Fast as Superman might be, he can only help on a case-by-case basis, while the enlightened Bodhisattvas can manifest myriad forms to help the multitude within the same instant! Though he uttered "I'm always around" repeatedly in the film, well, the truth is he can't be everywhere all the time!

    Yes, Superman (played by Brandon Routh) is not enlightened after all. He can only save physical lives, and not save individuals' spiritual lives - though he might inspire many with his compassion in action. Superman was featured almost in a god-like way with a host of archetypal comic book super powers, while Lex Luthor (played by Kevin Spacey) comments that "gods are selfish beings who fly around in little red capes and don't share their power with mankind." Well, it's not so much that he doesn't want to share, but that he can't share his power, it being his self-earned karmic birthright! Similarly, the enlightened cannot literally make us wise, but can only share with us their wisdom on how to become as wise as them.

Read the complete article at the Buddhist Channel website.

Thanks to Anthony Bondioli for the lead on this article.



2007 Movie News

Listed below are all the Movie News items archived for 2007 organized into various categories:

“Superman Returns” & Sequel Movie News:

“Justice League of America” Movie News: Christopher Reeve Movie News: Hollywoodland (George Reeves) Movie News: Direct-to-DVD Animated Movie News: Other Movie News:

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