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2001 TV News Archives

August 28, 2001: LA Times Superman/Smallville Article

The Los Angeles Times recently published an "interesting" article about the relevance of Superman in today's society and talks about the debut of "Smallville". Below is an excerpt from that article...

Undressed for Success?

For a hip, new generation, the familiar costume of red cape and tights no longer makes the Superman.

By GEOFF BOUCHER, Times Staff Writer

Superman doesn't need that phone booth anymore. For 63 years, the most famous superhero of them all has flown through every pop culture medium wearing his blue tights and red cape, a costume that is instantly recognizable from India to Indiana, by ages 8 to 80. As touchstone, the suit has been as indestructible as the hero himself -- until now.

A new WB network series called "Smallville" debuts this season, and, for the first time in any medium, it will chronicle the ongoing exploits of the hero sans costume. The reason? The show's creators say today's teens may be willing to believe a man could leap tall buildings in a single bound, but they're far too hip and media-jaded to accept that he would choose to do so in long johns. "The kids now can't get past that cape," says Miles Millar, one of the show's writers and executive producers. "It is the most recognizable element, yes, but it is also the thing that makes it cheesy."

This is more than one hero's fashion crisis. The "tights problem" speaks to the gradual change in the very nature of the American superhero from a square-jawed, all-American crusader that wraps himself, almost literally, in a flag to today's conflicted, gritty avengers who look outfitted by Versace. The old heroes aren't the only ones looking creaky -- their primordial home, the American comic book, is an eroding business that has gone from a staple of the youth economy to a minor league that offers up its best creations to other mediums. Today's most popular superheroes flash not across newsprint pages, but across shimmering screens in digital glory.

The new heroes are leather-clad, ironic and darkly dangerous heroes found in "The Matrix", "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", "Tomb Raider" and "X-Men", all big successes as films, video games, television shows, comic books or a combination of all.

"There is something going on here," says Michael Uslan, executive producer of the "Batman" film franchise for Warner Bros. and a longtime comic-book creator and historian. "For today's generation, unlike the baby boomers, the most important thing about the hero is what's going on inside them, their motivations and characterization. It's not as simple as capes and being faster than a speeding bullet."

And against today's backdrop, the bright primary colors of the Superman costume and legend seem as out of place as John Wayne at a rave.

He even gets grief from his old friends about it. "You always say yes to anyone with a badge or a flag," Batman snaps at Superman as the two old friends battle in "The Dark Knight Returns," the celebrated 1986 comic-book series, which, more than any other work, ushered in the current vogue of serious, psychological heroes. "You're a joke," Batman says a few pages later before his elaborate machinations send Superman near death. It's a fitting metaphor for recent history; the haunted Batman is a far better fit in the current fashion, explaining in part why his film franchise has raked in millions in recent years while a long-planned Superman project has languished.

The Hollywood trades reported recently that Superman may indeed be hitting the big screen again, but the new project now circulating through the system would be a buddy movie teaming him up with -- big surprise -- the far more palatable Batman. How much you want to bet that Superman will be played as the super-strong square?

Read the complete article at the LA Times website.

Personally, I think Superman fans might have a thing or two to say to the author of this article about some of his statements (especially the ones I've highlighted in blue).

2001 Television News

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2001 TV News Archives

August 28, 2001: LA Times Superman/Smallville Article

2001 Television News

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