Superman's Subtle Signals
Thought meant to be a fun movie Superman has three socio-political commentaries in my opinion
Note: You will get this post only if you have watched Superman
The Irresistible Fantasy
Every great story has a hero and that hero wants to do good. If these stories really made a dent in the world, then a lot of us would be fully indulging in “good” deeds.
It seems as if people resent that fact that the bad guys have to opportunity to be bad.
The reason why the masses gobble up these stories is because “good” is rare to find, especially in a powerful individual. It has been the irresistible fantasy of the human race.
Short Summary of Superman (contains spoilers)
A bad billionaire develops envy towards Superman, (the self declared “do-gooder”) and tries to eliminate him.
Apparently, Superman had dipped his fingers in stopping wars and got involved in foreign affairs. He “stops” a war between Jahranpur and Boravia. Boravia is an American “ally”.
Alongside this drama, the message sent across by his parents from Krypton had asked him to indirectly rule the “weak” human race and maintain a harem to spread his seed. This whips up public anger against Superman.
The rest of the story is all about Superman’s fight against the military-industrial complex and adverse public opinion. Eventually Superman always wins. And he re-establishes his “humane” image, overcoming the public opinion and his enemies.
A Sloppy Plot
The movie projects America as a headless state where a random billionaire can play around with black holes and rip apart the surface of the earth to get a small piece of land in Boravia.
It does feel like a stretch. Though the character Lex Luthor claims that he setup the scenario to get Superman killed. It seems to be a small justification in the later part of the movie.
All said and done, it was amusing to know that a guy like Lex Luthor who let his girlfriend into secret areas of his defence-tech empire did not monitor her phone with some code to check for info leaks.
In spite of these observations, I feel that Superman has some comical social commentary on manufactured public opinion. It throws in tinges of pro-Palestine activism along with regular tech-doomsday prediction and dallies with the idea of interplanetary racism.
Manufactured Public Opinion
The human race too is fickle. It latches on to a manufactured story that Superman was “grooming” them all these years with “good deeds” before he would take them for a ride.
Did the public need a lot of saving? Did the human race capable of all sorts of nasty things need a saviour? It appears so since the time of prophets and gods. It’s mostly a hedge against uncertainty at the outset.
All said and done, Superman is stuck in a dilemma. Should he bow down to public opinion and blame himself for someone else’s perception or believe in himself.
The guy, so powerful and super-human, ostensibly needs some therapy. He doesn’t do what he does for claps, praise and approval. But somehow he’s not immune to the opinions and perceptions of others.
He loses faith in himself and surrenders to the legal system and public opinion. One can argue that there was no better alternative. But he could have rebranded himself or abandoned the public till it changed its opinion. (It’s not meant to be a lesson or learning as a seasoned LinkedIn shit poster would write.)
The army of bots manufacturing public opinion against Superman are reminiscent of bot armies and politically charged insurgents flooding media with their agenda.
We can take a step back and see how many fucks we give about manufactured public opinion aired by media on a daily basis. It works with clinical accuracy sometimes and hypnotises billions of people at the behest of powers that be.
At least for now, there doesn’t seem to be any defence other than questioning the establishment from time to time.
Disguised Political Activism
The portrayal of unarmed citizens versus a well-equipped army funded by US seems like a veiled dig on Israel-Palestine conflict. The ugly dictator of Boravia has the same insensitivity towards humanity just like the Netanyahu.
It’s not clear if this was intentional or a coincidence. But one can’t un-see the similarities once you see it.
One should also note that Jahranpur has slightly Arabic branding while Boravia has the vibes of a Western nation. This further hints at the possible allusion towards the middle-east conflict and attacks on helpless Palestinians.
The interview between the reporter girlfriend and Superman captures the same dilemma that “sensible” citizens of the world would raise while discussing Israel-Palestine conflict.
Technology Doomsday and Interplanetary Racism
The creation of a pocket universe and a “black hole” inside it have strong imprints of a technology doomsday narrative.
The use of robotics and super-intelligent machines to combat Superman raise alarms about the new era of digital and drone warfare. Exaggerated visuals almost depict that the earth would be ripped apart if technology progressed mindlessly and reached the hands of bad guys.
However, this narrative has been part of every superhero movie. And it’s a rinse and repeat routine in this case as well.
The subtle touch of interplanetary racism propounded by Superman’s parents and (somehow decoded by linguistic experts) seems to be an attempt to ‘de-humanise’ our species. This is probably a dig against racism in real life. Or probably not. That’s a wild guess and you can make your own choice.
My Review
Did I have fun watching this movie? Hell yes.
Does it have plot issues? Yes.
Are the visuals great? Yes.
Whatever be the loopholes or exaggerations, the dog in the movie steals the show and the viewer feels that he has been entertained at the end of the movie. That's the only thing that matters.