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September 3, 2013: Why the World Needs a "Relatable" Superman

By Marc Pritchard

"Too powerful." "Too perfect." "Too boring." We see them all the time, these phrases, used to describe our boy, Superman. And now, "too dark." With Man of Steel, anyway, many are feeling that something has been lost or discarded, that the deep and abiding compassion for all sentient life that many believe sets Superman apart from the superhero crowd has been sacrificed in the interest of shock or, maybe even more profane from where my particular biases lead me, to sell razor blades and pancakes.

They see that darkness in the muted colors of the costume and the level of destruction on display; they see it in the relative absence of smiles and the failure to take the battles to more remote areas; and they see it in the foregoing of the classic John Williams score. Most of all, they see it, the darkness, in the climactic killing of Zod.

Though I didn't share it, this is a perfectly understandable response to the film's presentation of a confident but untested Clark Kent - where those who look disapprovingly on this choice seem, for the most part, to favor a Superman who is always a kind of unmoved mover, emerging from a relatively safe and preparatory Smallville upbringing already the unwavering beacon of light and salvation he is expected to embody at his purest and most mature, so much so that purity and maturity become almost circular and redundant.

Goodness knows we can always use a little more light in the world, but from what exactly are we hoping to be saved? And let's not be rhetorical - the answer, quite plainly, is ourselves. That's what we mean when we talk about one or another form of entertainment providing an escape, isn't it? But escape ourselves to what end - avoidance or transcendence?

Well, why not both?

Read Marc's complete essay right here at the Superman Homepage.