Superman, All-American Hero
Gary Engle describes Superman as the ultimate American, “Superman is the greatest American hero” (Engle, 677). After reading three comic books I notice an occurring theme of wanting to protect what is good, even though the comic books chosen span over eleven years. Several distinct things to Superman’s personality are his cape, the respect he has for others, the respect others have for him, his intelligence, his protection of all life and what is right, his origin, and the sacrifices he makes. Superman is considered to be the greatest American hero of all time.
The Superman epic has gone on for years and years; yet the story line has always remained the same:
The core of American myth is Superman consists of a few basic facts that remain unchanged throughout the infinitely varied ways in which the myth is told – facts with which everyone is familiar, however marginal their knowledge of the story. Superman is an orphan rocketed to Earth when his native planet Krypton explodes; he lands near Smallville and is adopted by Jonathan and Martha Kent, who inculcate in him their American middle-class ethic; as an adult he migrates to Metropolis there he defends America – no, the world! no, the universe – from all evil and harm while playing a romantic game in which, as Clark Kent, he hopelessly pursues Superman, who remains aloof until such time as Lois proves worthy of him by falling in live with his feigned identity as a weakling. That’s it. (Engle, 678).
This is the same in any tale of Superman, the same occurring theme. This adds character to Superman, and explains why he is so all-American.
Firstly, Superman is an alien, to the United States and to the world. But is he really that different from you and me? We are all descended from people who were immigrants to America. Engle writes: “All Americans have immediate sense of their origins elsewhere” (Engle, 678). So doesn’t it make sense that everyone that fights or works for our natural freedoms are aliens, the soldiers, the doctors, the teachers, and Superman himself? “Like the peoples of the nation whose values he defends, Superman is an alien” (Engle, 678). Like all aliens the reason for coming to this country is to make something better of ones self. Where one may run any kind of business they please and not worry about someone else intervening because they simply can. Superman ...
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..., to stand up and fight for what he/she believes in.
Superman finally kills the creature but in the process end up dying himself. This is the sacrifice Superman makes for his people: he loses his life and his true love Lois. But it was all worth it in his eyes because he was protector of his nation. Superman had many things going for him, his invincibility against the humans, his strength, and most of all his love for Lois Lane. Superman could have easily fled and would have never been seen or herd from again. But to him America was worth his sacrifice of everything he has, including his life. Any true American is expected to sacrifice his life for his country.
Superman is an astonishing being. His self-sacrifice presents an ideal of what any soldier should do for his country. His politeness is an ideal for how every person should behave. His ability not to overreact is an example of what to be like in a dangerous situation. Superman is a glorified all-American and would do anything for the people. He goes beyond the call of duty to make life easier on at least one other person. Without a doubt everyone should know why Superman is considered the greatest American hero of all time.
To your average white American kid, a comic book is cheap entertainment— a leisure, a novelty. Your run of the mill issue of "Superman," perhaps the most generic superhero of all, is something to be read once, maybe even merely skimmed, while in the bathroom or the doctors' office. When finished with it gets thrown away mindlessly or tossed aside to join a mounting stack of similarly abandoned stories of fantastical heroism. However in the eyes of the young Indian boy, Sherman Alexie, as depicted in his essay, "Superman and Me," a tattered comic found in a donation bin was much more than that— it was a life line.
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With reference to “Man of Steel” and “Superman 1”, Superman is much taller than Lois resulting in her constantly having to look up at him and having him shot with a low angle from the point-of-view shot of Lois Lane, having the effect of Superman seeming more powerful. Superman’s adoptive mother is also a stereotypical, stay at home mother while his adoptive father
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On one end of the spectrum lays Superman, an alien who from birth is comparable to god, and on the opposite side lays Lex Luthor, a genius human who comes from nothing and created a financial empire. Superman
And that's why he'd let Batman get a hold of some kryptonite, and why Superman won't dodge it as it's plunged into his chest.
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