Why The World Needs Superman

I'll expound on this post as the day rolls on, but for now, read this nice article that says Superman was intentionally de-patriotized. I have a bit of a problem with that, but we'll discuss it more as the day goes.

What's wrong with espousing truth, justice, and the American way? Is it not better than the Taliban way? Or the Nazi way? I think it is. Why should we be ashamed of being the greatest country on Earth? I say John Bolton shouts it out every time the UN meets: "Hey, scumbags. We're better than you are." Let's have some pride in our country. Do we have problems? Yeah. Even with our problems, are we the greatest country in the world? Yeah. So truth, justice, and the American way are OK by me. I wish Bryan Singer could have felt the same way.

On to point #2 about Superman. I have railed time and again about how Superman is a much less interesting hero than others out there. He's too perfect. He can basically do anything. He's the ultimate goody-two shoes.

Now, I see the value of his character. He's a hero. He's larger than life. He always does the right thing. He's perfect in so many ways. Upon further reflection, this is not a bad thing. In fact, this world could use a few more heroes.

Heroes give us something to shoot for. Even if they're larger tha life, like Superman. The liberal types will look at him and say how horrible it is for him to be this perfect. He's so good he makes everyone else feel bad about themselves. Nobody can rise to the level of perfection Superman has. Nobody can be that good.

That's what sickens me about the whole liberal mindset. Find an exemplar, and drag it down to the most common, base level as possible. Heaven knows we can't have somebody out there succeeding. Then everyone else will want to succeed. Wouldn't that be terrible?

Well, the liberal will argue; yes it is. We can't be that good, so we don't want anyone to feel badly about not being able to be that good.

This kind of thinking is absolutely dangerous to our very survival. Every achievement America has made has come about from striving or something better. Whether it's building a car, airplane, computer, or other device. Whether it's beating the world record sprint, power lift, win record at the Tour De France, whatever. If we become mired in mediocrity, we stagnate as a society.

We need larger than life heroes. We need perfect people in the legends and lore of our society. It's the only way we get past our base, weak selves. Only by shooting for the brass ring do we accomplish anything. And we need icons to inspire us. No, we can't fly like the Man of Steel. We probably can't be a perfect husband, wife, father, doctor, lawyer, computer programmer, teacher, etc. But we can at least try to be. Saying it's too hard, impossible, whatever excuse we might build in to our minds to justify not trying, does nothing but prevent us from bettering ourselves and the world around us. Saying that perfection is unattainable allows us to wallow in weakness.

The kid who got A's in school all the time really burned me up. But it made me work hard, because I wanted the A's, too. I wanted what they had. They inspired me to work harder, to study more. Maybe I didn't hit the mark all the time, but I made myself better than I was before. That's how we improve.

I think a child in school who gets A's ought to be put on a pedestal. Everybody ought to see that this child did it right. He or she gets the accolades, the awards, the scholarships. The rest of the dummies need to work harder to knock old Brainiac off that pedestal. Maybe they won't get there all the time, but they'll improve. And maybe they can pull off the upset.

This ridiculous notion of not giving F's because it will make the child feel bad is insanity. You're SUPPOSED to feel bad if you get an F. F stands for FAILURE. It makes a person try and get it right the next time.

We need the kid on a pedestal. He triggers some resentment, sure. It's jealousy, and we can learn lessons from that emotion as well. But the kid on a pedestal can also trigger inspriation and determination. That's where our improvement comes from. That's where we get better.

That's why we need Superman. The classic comic Superman was a beacon of moral, physical, and intellectual perfection. He's an inspiration, and that's a good thing.

That's why I'm a bit soured on the portryal of Superman in the latest movie. He's been made a bit more human, and that's not a good thing. I don't want to identify with him, I want to be inspried by him.