A Few Thoughts on Superman Returns
The revival of Superman brings a renewed need of examining the greatest superhero pop culture has ever produced, especially from a biblical point of view. Superman Returns is a fantastic production. Even the flying looks real! (I guess I can suspend disbelief with the best of them). The portrayals of old characters by new actors and actresses were successful in all but one case, that of Superman himself. It seems as though he was trying to be Christopher Reeve instead of Clark Kent / Superman. Routh does state that this was his intent and for good reason, but this is all really a matter of opinion and really beside the point. Let’s move on to more important issues.Christians should, of course be concerned about the gay lifestyle chosen by director Bryan Singer and the possible motives he might have in creating this movie. Every creative venture a person engages in is going to, in some way, communicate his or her worldview.
Also, there is some debate over the controversial line, “Truth, justice...all that stuff,” spoken by Perry White as he coached his Daily Planet staff to write stories about the arrival of Superman. To me this seems like no big deal. They are simply making Superman out to be more global, not just American. From a Christian point of view, this makes sense. We are not the only country in the world.
The real questions however, especially for biblical Christians, relate to the role of Superman as a messianic figure. The correlations between Superman and Christ are many and well documented elsewhere and elsewhere and elsewhere. Some Christians will argue that these parallels are good and can be used to show the basic human need to have a “savior” as Superman is called in the movie. This might be an impetus for people to look to Christ as a true Savior.
On the other hand, does Kal-El end up functioning as a distraction from the one true God? Instead of pointing people to Jesus Christ, is he simply creating wrong imagines in the minds of people about what a savior is? After all, Superman is morally inadequate, as seen in his attempt to entice Lois even after he knows she is in a new relationship with another man. Does Superman actually lower our expectations of our concept of savior for humanity?
No doubt, different people will view Superman in different ways, most of them subconsciously. Some will look beyond this modern, man-made, mythical type to see the greatest being in existence, Jesus Christ. Some will be turned away from Christ as they lower their expectation of the idea of savior for humanity. I suggest that we think through these concepts in depth. Superman will probably return again and again in the years ahead.
1 Comments:
Good article Jason.I remember growing up and looking up to Superman,Spiderman,and for me being a girl I looked up to the famous,Lynda Carter in her famed role as Wonder Woman.I heard about Jesus and thought about Him and knew He was in my heart.But honestly,the super heroes were more alluring to me as a kid,and I can definetly see it still is to kids now days,in fact there is more to choose from now.The whole pokemon,and digimon thing a few years ago,and so on.Kids look up to the atheletes and runway models more than ever.I am not saying that these stars don't do good for the community.But they do take the credit in most cases.This is a very important topic,we need to think about who our real "hero",our savior is.Who do we give the credit ,or better yet,the Glory to?A lot of times we give that to ourselves,and think that we have done it ourselves.We also need to remember that none of our success or good deeds would be possible without Jesus.So many kids and adults are still looking up to the wrong people.I am very fortunate to attend a church that the pastor does not take credit as well as the other members there.Right now I really don't have any suggestions on what to do on this except pray and lift it all up to God.But there definetly needs some change,we know that.
Post a Comment
<< Home