I’ve often said that conservative ideology reminds me mostly of a Superman comic book. I didn’t really know how accurate that is until I read this!
I was reading a Substack yesterday written by someone who astutely analyzed conservatism as basically protecting the status quo and the hierarchy supporting it. Some intellectually pretentious “classical” conservative” commenters started arguing that the author was totally misreading and misrepresenting their ideology, recommending several writers like WF Buckley, Hayek, Milton Friedman, Burke. They made no real arguments, they just tossed around terms like Truth, Equality, with capital letters, and I thought, “okay, so theirs not a comic book ideology in this case, it’s a graphic novel.” But it’s still fixtion.
Very well said. Although I disagree—I really like the idea that Superman's goodness comes from his inherent American-ness. For me, superheroes are a fantasy of optimism, none more so with Superman—who could easily be the most terrifying, evil, destructive figure in human history (see Homelander), but instead is warm, humble, and benevolent. And to ascribe some of that kindness to his middle American upbringing is to believe a thread of decency runs through our culture, despite so many forces encouraging us not to. (As I said, a fantasy.) For me, believing in a good Superman is believing in a good America. (This explains why I was never bothered by Byrne's vision of Kryptonians as soulless technocrats, or Gunn's vision of them as tyrants.)
As for Byrne's reboot in general, I really liked it. You can't argue with the art, the classic Superman/Lois dynamic desperately needed to be modernized, and he created a whole bunch of excellent villains and supporting characters. Time to plan a re-read!
I never liked Superman but it took seeing Homelander in The Boys for me to understand why. The guy’s a freak and freaks with power invariably become villains. No amount of salt of the Midwestern earth bullshit can bury that truth.
I wasn't really into Superman growing up, but he was always an aw-shucks guy in my head, with some humility. I didn't know how much I liked him until I saw the character of Homelander, from whom I can not recoil fast enough.
That's the thing with humility in our fellow beings, it is welcoming to all.
"I’m sick of hearing from Republicans and Democrats alike that the “best” Americans are exclusive to the Midwest. I appreciate that Captain America was a working-class kid from Brooklyn, and Spider-Man is a working-class kid from Queens."
Conversely, I liked the choice to make the Kents in the last movie very rural. I appreciated hearing them talk like someone you'd run into in Missouri. I don't know if we'll ever be able to sew this country back together after IT had his rampage, but there was a little flicker of hope I had watching Pa and Ma Kent's decency.
Oh, speaking of the never ending calamity, the Supremes gave Trump three defeats this morning, so that was good.
We thought about going to see Supergirl this weekend but we already bought presale tickets for The Odyssey and I didn't feel like shelling out another $40 for two tickets for a matinee showing. I remember when matinees were like $5 and that wasn't that long ago.
Let us know what you think of "The Odyssey." I've read that cons are whining that it's woke because Helen of Troy is played by Black actress Lupita Nyong'o.
I’ve often said that conservative ideology reminds me mostly of a Superman comic book. I didn’t really know how accurate that is until I read this!
I was reading a Substack yesterday written by someone who astutely analyzed conservatism as basically protecting the status quo and the hierarchy supporting it. Some intellectually pretentious “classical” conservative” commenters started arguing that the author was totally misreading and misrepresenting their ideology, recommending several writers like WF Buckley, Hayek, Milton Friedman, Burke. They made no real arguments, they just tossed around terms like Truth, Equality, with capital letters, and I thought, “okay, so theirs not a comic book ideology in this case, it’s a graphic novel.” But it’s still fixtion.
Very well said. Although I disagree—I really like the idea that Superman's goodness comes from his inherent American-ness. For me, superheroes are a fantasy of optimism, none more so with Superman—who could easily be the most terrifying, evil, destructive figure in human history (see Homelander), but instead is warm, humble, and benevolent. And to ascribe some of that kindness to his middle American upbringing is to believe a thread of decency runs through our culture, despite so many forces encouraging us not to. (As I said, a fantasy.) For me, believing in a good Superman is believing in a good America. (This explains why I was never bothered by Byrne's vision of Kryptonians as soulless technocrats, or Gunn's vision of them as tyrants.)
As for Byrne's reboot in general, I really liked it. You can't argue with the art, the classic Superman/Lois dynamic desperately needed to be modernized, and he created a whole bunch of excellent villains and supporting characters. Time to plan a re-read!
I never liked Superman but it took seeing Homelander in The Boys for me to understand why. The guy’s a freak and freaks with power invariably become villains. No amount of salt of the Midwestern earth bullshit can bury that truth.
I wasn't really into Superman growing up, but he was always an aw-shucks guy in my head, with some humility. I didn't know how much I liked him until I saw the character of Homelander, from whom I can not recoil fast enough.
That's the thing with humility in our fellow beings, it is welcoming to all.
A very cool analysis.
"I’m sick of hearing from Republicans and Democrats alike that the “best” Americans are exclusive to the Midwest. I appreciate that Captain America was a working-class kid from Brooklyn, and Spider-Man is a working-class kid from Queens."
Thank you!
Conversely, I liked the choice to make the Kents in the last movie very rural. I appreciated hearing them talk like someone you'd run into in Missouri. I don't know if we'll ever be able to sew this country back together after IT had his rampage, but there was a little flicker of hope I had watching Pa and Ma Kent's decency.
Oh, speaking of the never ending calamity, the Supremes gave Trump three defeats this morning, so that was good.
Yeah I feel this. This is a long-standing cliché in modern American politics.
We thought about going to see Supergirl this weekend but we already bought presale tickets for The Odyssey and I didn't feel like shelling out another $40 for two tickets for a matinee showing. I remember when matinees were like $5 and that wasn't that long ago.
Let us know what you think of "The Odyssey." I've read that cons are whining that it's woke because Helen of Troy is played by Black actress Lupita Nyong'o.
I don't know, I think her face could launch quite a few ships, maybe a thousand, who knows.
It’s still a few weeks away but will do. I will watch any Nolan film and if it pissed off the nuts, all the better!