Superman was born Kryptonian, raised Methodist and sketched by two Jewish teenagers in the 1930s Cleveland. Faith and morality are its DNA.
There are no manifest religious references in Superman’s comics. But over eight decades, he was considered a divine entity, a Savior figure – his sacrifice similar to Christ, his will to drive as strong as Moses separating the Red Sea, and his compassion similar to a bodhisattva, an enlightened being who guides Buddhists on the spiritual path.
While academics, comic book writers and fans are struck by the religious nuances of Superman Comic To bring hope in a desperate world.
James Gunn’s “Superman” conversation was
While fans celebrate Superman day on Friday, marking the 87th anniversary of the Birth of the original superheroThey also look forward to James Gunn’s film “Superman” Prepare for the release on July 11. This version featuring David CorenswetThe first Jewish actor to play Superman in a major film, promises a return to a version of a vulnerable steel man who is rooted in values adopted by most confessions – goodness, compassion and hope.
The film sparked a conversation at the place of Superman in the world and its personal ethics code after several recent superhero representations as anti-heroes. Corenswet declared in a recent interview with Fandango that what captured him about Superman, is how he chooses to see the property among people and not to dwell on the negative.
“Why think of all the terrible things when we can focus on the good things we have done today?” He said.
In the same interview, Gunn said that his superman will strengthen the character’s fundamental value to preserve life at all costs.
“He believes that the sacred character of life is of the utmost importance,” said Gunn, noting the contrast to the archnemis of Superman Lex Luthor, which enhances scientific progress on life.
Symbol of hope and positive masculinity
It is precisely this benevolent and hopeful version of Superman who inspired Robert Revington, who teaches Vancouver School of Theology at the University of British Columbia, to make parachuting in a Superman costume at its 28th anniversary. And yet, Revington, a Christian, is reluctant to representations similar to Christ from his favorite superhero.
“I like Superman and I like Jesus,” he said. “I don’t necessarily want to confuse the two. For me, the best representation of Superman is a symbol of hope. ”
Revington also considers the relevance of Superman today as “an example of positive masculinity”.
“It is this version of strong but compassionate masculinity, which several important characters do not necessarily embody,” he said.
Revington and beloved iteration of Superman of many others appeared in “All-Star Superman”, a series of 12 numbers published by DC Comics between 2005 and 2008. The superhero saves a young person who is about to commit suicide with the endearing message: “You are stronger than you think.”
Grant Morrison, who wrote these comics, said that his vision of Superman had been shaped by “the prayer on the dignity of man” by Giovanni Pico della della Mirandola, which argues that humans should be more virtuous than angels.
Superman talks about our best angels
Humans said Morrison said in a 2008 interview, who has become what they imitate, which is why he made Superman an inspiring character.
“We live in the stories we are racing,” he told Newsarama, a comic book website, and can choose to be “astronaut or gangster. The superhero or the super bad. The angel or the devil. It is entirely to us.”
Consequently, said Matthew Brake, founder and editor -in -chief of Pop Culture and Theology, Superman “is an idea that can inspire us to be our best self”.
The character of Superman is also shaped by his education as a Kansas farm boy, raised by parents kindly – Jonathan and Martha Kent. They are described as methodists in comics.
Superheroes, in recent decades, have received less than flattering treatment. In “The boys”, “ A comic strip that has become Amazon Prime Series, the character of Superman, Homelander, is a hero sponsored by the government whose smiling outside hides the heart of a sadist.
“Invincible”, a television series that has become comic by Robert Kincaid, author of the “Walking Dead”, presents Omni-Man, a superman character who turns out to be an extraterrestrial invader leaning on Conquest. The main character, invincible, is the son of Omni-Man, and must choose between protecting the earth or taking the side of his father.
“Dune”, the famous science fiction book adapted to blockbuster films, warns of the fragility of superheroes
“The heroes are painful, superheroes are a disaster,” wrote the author of Dune once. “The errors of superheroes involve too much of us in disaster.”
A relatable superhero
But Superman cemented his place in pop culture not only as a headlight of hope, but also as a character linked to a lot, whatever the race or ethnicity.
Gene Luen Yang, who wrote several superman comics, is best known for his 2020 graphic novel “Superman Smashes the Klan”, a story on a Chinese American family moving to Metropolis in 1946 and facing the discrimination of Klan. The story follows the Lee family as they face the white supremacist group with the help of Superman.
Yang sees his own experience as a Chinese American reflected in the history of Superman.
“The idea that you must hide who you are or that you are taken between cultures,” he said. “Superman has two names – Kal -El, his name Kryptonian and Clark Kent, his American name. I had a Chinese name at home and an American name at school. So, even if I am a practicing Catholic, I was more attracted by its Jewish roots because it is where I could link more.”
Yang sees Superman as the original superhero that inspired the almost religious fervor in the geekdom, starring cosplayers who reconstitute the scenes as a Christian to reconstruct the biblical episodes around Christmas or Easter. A trip to a comic book agreement is like a pilgrimage where subscribers collect original art and “all kinds of relics”.
The stories of pop culture are also based in older narration traditions, often rooted in religions.
“In some respects, you can consider religions as communities that are built around stories that last centuries,” said Yang. “The idea of self-signing, the idea you have of good actions without the desire to gain recognition. This is all the interest of secret identities. ”
While his Catholic faith is an important facet of his life, Yang said that he had never forced religion to his superman comics.
“I write more about my life and my experience of lived faith, with the doubts and the edges in tatters,” he said.
Characters like Superman, although they are not themselves religious, provide a portal to the sacred through the layman, said A. David Lewis, a graphic novelist based in Boston and comic book writer.
“I love people take something from popular culture and find a certain level of spirituality or find a more important link with a divine source through it,” he said. “But I would never say that Superman is just Jewish or Christian people. Like some of the best stories, Superman gives us access to something transcendent.”
The strong Jewish roots of Superman
Samantha Baskind, professor of art history at the Cleveland State University, is Jewish; She sees many parallels between the story of Superman and the history of the Jews. Krypton’s Solitaire Flight in Krypton in a small spacecraft recalls how Moses’ mother placed her in a papyrus basket and left her on the Nile, seeing that he has his best chances of survival.
Some also compare the background of Superman to The Kindertransport, she said, referring to a rescue program which transported nearly 10,000 children, mainly Jewish, territories controlled by the Nazis in Great Britain in 1938 and 1939.
In the Kryptonian name of Superman, Kal-El, chosen by his original Jewish creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the “El” in Hebrew Connotes God. In DC Comics, Superman also frequents the “city of Kandor bottles”, a Kryptonian city has shrunk and placed in a bottle, representing a fragmented piece of Krypton’s story. Baskind told him that it reminds how the Jews of the diaspora visit Israel.
“There is also the thought that Siegel and Shuster created Superman because they were these two young lean Jewish men who could not go out and fight Hitler, but Superman fought the Nazis on the cover of their comics,” she said. In some first editions, Superman held Hitler by his Nazi uniform as he began mercy.
Call on uncontent religions
Despite religious nuances, Superman’s call to those who grow up Religiously not affiliated Stay strong, said Dan Clanton, professor of religious studies at Doane University in Nebraska. He says that it is because the story of Superman “really sums up the American civil religion”.
“This idea that there are practices and beliefs that provide everything, whatever religious identity, with the feeling of being part of something bigger than them,” he said.
Neal Bailey, a contributor of more than a decade on the home page of Superman and atheist, thinks that Superman to his best is a “philosophical pragmatist” solving the most complex problems with the least harm.
“He actually goes beyond religion to see our common points,” he said. “Superman would not care about the religious beliefs of people. He would care more if they are up to their human potential.”
___
The coverage of religion associated with the press receives support through the AP collaboration With the conversation us, with the financing of Lilly Endowment Inc., the AP is solely responsible for this content.
