THE POLITICALLY CORRECT SUPERMAN
"TRUTH, JUSTICE, AND THAT OTHER STUFF"
by MIKE MCDANIEL

Last Tuesday night, I went to go see “Superman Returns” along with a few hundred other anxious fans of the Man of Steel. Overall, I thought the movie was good but with a few flaws. I felt (and still feel) that these were not enough to spoil the ride of a movie that is over two and a half hours long. In fact, my major fault with Bryan Singer’s Superman film is because of one line.  In the film, Perry White, portrayed by actor Frank Langella, was standing in front of the Daily Planet staff and was instructing his reporters on how to report on Superman’s return after a five year abscence. Here is what he said:

“We need to find out if he {Superman} still stands for Truth, Justice, and all that other stuff.”

At first, I was a little annoyed by what I thought was a simple truncation of Superman’s famous mantra of “truth, justice, and the American Way”. Today while reading an interview with the writers of the film, I discovered that it was intentional to leave off this “American Way”. According to the film’s writers, Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris, Superman is “here for everybody” and that he is “international hero”. Here are two more Dan Harris quotes to consider:

“We were always hesitant to include the term 'American way' because the meaning of that today is somewhat uncertain…”

"So, you play the movie in a foreign country, and you say, 'What does he stand for? -- truth, justice and the American way.' I think a lot of people's opinions of what the American way means outside of this country are different from what the line actually means (in Superman lore) because they are not the same anymore and (using that line) would taint the meaning of what he is saying."

Now what Mr. Harris is really saying here is that HE THINKS is not politically correct for the Man of Steel to stand for the American way. I, as a proud American and reader of Superman comics for over 30 years, find this particularly troubling. To write a character as complex as Superman, you must take ALL of his origins, not just to pick and choose what you want to factor in the film portrayal. Defining Superman solely by his extra-terrestrial origins would be like calling 9-11 a plane accident.

AN EXAMPLE OF POLITICAL CORRECTNESS OF THE 40'S

Anyone can tell you that Superman is an alien. In fact, my six-year old can tell you he is from the planet Krypton and how the yellow sun gives him his mighty powers. But the highly paid writer of this three hundred million dollar epic has missed one small – but incredibly important detail: Superman was raised as an American- by humble salt-of-the-earth farmers from Kansas not by wine-sipping ivory towered-elites of California who are embarrassed to be Americans. His closest friends who are privy to his secrets do not call him by his Kryptonian named of Kal-El. They call him Clark- the name given to him by Jonathan and Martha, those aforementioned farmers.

Raised in the corn fields of a society that puts an emphasis on hard work, honesty, and small town values, Clark believes that “the American Way” is synonymous with Thomas Jefferson’s idea of “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness”. As Superman, he strives to live up to this American maxim. Consider that someone other than Clark might use his powers in a not so altruistic manner such as partying on the moon with Paris Hilton.

A cover from Superman #23 when Superman, and his motivations, were a whole lot simplier.

The omission by Dan Harris and Michael Dougherty expresses that they believe these values that Superman once proudly embodied are now outdated and don’t reflect the global community’s idea of what the “American Way” is. To them, to espouse them is tantamount to be offensive and inconsiderate to the rest of the world. Did I miss the point at which it became politically incorrect to be a patriot? Is it wrong to be proud of your country of birth?

To me, these questions are rhetorical and should be to you, too. Unless of course, you agree with the recent comments by Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks and question the need for such antiquated ideals. I suppose that like-minded people might think Superman is disadvantaged and should have been raised in Paris rather than Smallville.

In the end, the film struggles with itself or what its message is. They, the film makers, go out of their way to pay homage to Christopher Reeve even dedicating the film to the late actor. But they don't want to make a film that appears too American or too sympathetic to American Ideals, even though the film opens on the eve of Independence Day. Maybe they've never seen this photo which reflects what the filmakers of the 1978 "Superman" film felt. There is no doubt that this Superman was an American- even if it meant being a politically incorrect one.

In advocating a view of a Superman that is more a citizen of the world rather than an American, they endorse a Man of Steel that expouses a non-american viewpoint. Please consider that the image below- taken from one of the protests over the cartoons of Mohammed- as an example of a non-american viewpoint.