{"id":8927,"date":"2013-06-24T23:35:27","date_gmt":"2013-06-24T23:35:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/2023.biowars.com\/?p=1853"},"modified":"2023-03-06T12:31:36","modified_gmt":"2023-03-06T12:31:36","slug":"the-21st-century-american-way-in-the-man-of-steel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/2023.biowars.com\/blog\/the-21st-century-american-way-in-the-man-of-steel\/","title":{"rendered":"The 21st Century ‘American Way’ in The Man of Steel."},"content":{"rendered":"

By Greggory Bray, Ph.D.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In a 1992 interview with Jay Leno, Tim Burton was asked what fascinates him about Batman<\/i><\/a>.\u00a0 Burton said he connected with Batman’s mortality, and his natural human limits–Burton did not understand why Superman would not just \u201cblow everyone away with his super-breath.\u201d \u00a0Goyer and Snyder seem to not only agree with this concern, but utilize it and actualize it in their narrative.<\/p>\n

\"Batman<\/p>\n

Modern popular cinema, as many theorists and critics have pointed out, can give us a clear sense of our collective social and political barometers.\u00a0 In looking at the trailers for upcoming films, there seems to be a consistent visual\u2014buildings tumbling down, bodies whizzing past the camera, and a post-apocalyptic nihilism.\u00a0 Trailers seem fairly interchangeable.<\/p>\n

Witness the aesthetic of World War Z<\/i> and Elysium<\/i> according to their respective teasers.\u00a0 Darkened visual palettes, war aesthetic, and an urgent sense of ‘us vs. ‘them,’ with the \u201cthem\u201d <\/i>portrayed as a particularly cold or otherwise brainless swarm of villains.\u00a0 The ultimate evil doers have no conscience, no concern for humanity, and become the perfect enemy.<\/p>\n

A particularly worrisome trend in recent films is how images of actual war or catastrophes have become trivialized, if one were to channel Slavoj Zizek<\/a>, as a means of creating a fantasy image for coping, or turning real tragedy to fantasy in order to process it. Escapist films of yesteryear may release us from our worries. Contemporary escapist films are there to justify it, to fetishize it, and confirm the Mean World Syndrome<\/a>;\u00a0<\/i>\u00a0the notion that the world is actually a darker place than it really is.<\/p>\n

Is it any wonder that since September 11, 2001, we have witnessed so many blockbusters that contain image after image of falling skyscrapers, shattering glass, attacks on cities that no longer evoke a fantastic landscape (as it was in the Burton Batman<\/i> films), but in a world that very much looks like our own world?<\/p>\n

While turning culture into commodity is not a recent practice (indeed, look at the atomic age films of the 1950s that connect to fears surrounding the Space Age and the Cold War), that we have seen the ante upped from the third Transformers<\/i> film, to the new Star Trek<\/i> film, and now The Man of Steel<\/i> is a trend that may not run its course anytime soon. Indeed, the question of how the heroes will process the devastation is ultimately the big payoff, once the dust has settled on the city’s remnants.\u00a0 A point of comparison resides with The Man of Steel <\/i>and Star Trek: Into Darkness.<\/i><\/p>\n

The Man of Steel on Terror<\/b><\/p>\n

The Man of Steel ends with a full blown terrorist attack.\u00a0 Zod is the literal alien attacking two distinct arenas of Americana–‘main street (Smallville)’ and ‘Wall Street’ (at times it looks like the entirety of Metropolis)<\/i> crumble, explode, fall, and are ultimately devastated through his direct and relentless attacks.\u00a0 The rationale behind his destruction is a bit one dimensional\u2014we’re given some, but not all, of the exposition as doing so would require less time showing buildings fall, explode, concave, topple, and more time developing (truly developing) Zod as destroyer\u2014but no matter.<\/p>\n

The film does not stop there.\u00a0 Remember Superman is an American<\/i> hero. Our fictional Moses. Depending upon the iteration, he stands for Truth and Justice (Fleischer<\/i> cartoons), Truth, Justice, and Tolerance (Kirk Allyn serials), Truth, Justice, and the American Way (George Reeves’ iteration—though the ‘American Way’ is never clearly defined), and ‘Truth, Justice…and that kind of stuff\u201d (Tom Welling, Smallville<\/i><\/a>).\u00a0 What is instructive in this film is not only the scale and scope of destruction , as if hundreds of 9-11’s occurred simultaneously, but how Superman has to handle the terrorist Zod.<\/p>\n

I suppose I should give a spoiler warning here, but odds are, you have seen the film and\/or the reviews, and are therefore will not become nonplussed by my revealing the end of the film.\u00a0 I’m doing so in the next sentence.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Superman ends Zod.\u00a0 Not just ends him.\u00a0 Takes Zod’s head in his hands, and snaps Zod’s neck.\u00a0 True, the Superman character in the film was given little choice, though the writers clearly put Superman in that position to create a conversation about the ethics and morality of killing the enemy.\u00a0 The difficulty here is that the conversation is ultimately one-sided\u2014Superman killed Zod as that’s what we must do with our enemies.<\/p>\n

There can be no mercy when dealing with the animal\/aliens, no due process, as that is no longer what we understand the ‘American Way’ to mean.\u00a0 Superman gives a quick remorseful response once the deed is done, but then it’s time to move on and set things up for a sequel.<\/p>\n

\"superman-kills-zod1\"<\/p>\n

The hero-killing-the-villain-at-the-end<\/i> is nothing new\u2014witness nearly any blockbuster film of the last forty years, and part of what the audience is paying for, is the pay off.\u00a0 Good must triumph, evil must face defeat\u2014and there is no greater defeat in movies than death.\u00a0 That said, there has been notable attention to Superman’s acts at the film’s climax.<\/p>\n

Mark Waid, writer of Birthright<\/i> \u2013a recent retelling of Superman’s origin, took to the blogosphere to register his complaints.\u00a0 There are several.\u00a0 First, he is disappointed that Superman pulls the action into Metropolis as opposed to the middle of the ocean or the middle of a cornfield as that would lessen the casualties; though this would mean cutting back on the special effects.\u00a0 The second is that Superman does not seem too concerned with truly saving the population.<\/p>\n

By comparison see how The Avengers <\/i>kept the devastation to a few blocks, while also assigning Captain America the responsibility of working with law enforcement to save civilians and minimize harm.\u00a0 True, The Avengers<\/i> operate as a team, and Superman <\/i>is merely one no-mere mortal, but that’s the point. Superman is, well, Superman, the original contemporary superhero, and one who could easily have dispelled the alien invasion during the Avenger’s <\/i>third act well before Tony Stark could finish a cocktail and suit up.<\/p>\n

Waid’s second and more severe level of outrage comes from the neck snap.\u00a0 Superman, in the comics, does not kill….asterisk.\u00a0 A recent EW article by Darren Franich pointed to the ‘what if’<\/em> story by Alan Moore, Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow, <\/i>where Superman makes the decision to kill a powerful being he cannot get under control.\u00a0 After committing the act, he laments \u201cNobody has the right to kill. Especially not Superman.\u201d He then exposes himself to gold kryptonite and ends his powers.<\/p>\n

A post-Byrne comic shows Superman killing Zod and his minions. The story is quite controversial even to this day, and shortly after that event (and after the Invasion <\/i>series of the late 80s\/early 90s) Superman exiles himself to space, haunted by his actions.\u00a0 But the writers in both cases have 50 years of storytelling to work up to this moment\u2014the what if <\/b>the Man of Tomorrow had<\/i> to kill.\u00a0 Killing right off the bat is another story.\u00a0 It tells us something a bit more crucial; that the American Way<\/i> means we do not negotiate with terrorists.\u00a0 We end them.\u00a0 End of story.<\/p>\n

Truth be told the imagery and the handling of the terrorist Zod are not solely the result of a post-9\/11 need to turn our tragedy into a cinematic fetish.\u00a0 There is an adjacent root to consider.<\/p>\n

The Man of Steel for the Post-Gamer Generation \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Inter-textual media influences are not necessarily new, or unique to one medium.\u00a0 Film have influenced television, video games have now influenced films, etc.\u00a0\u00a0 Much of the graphic rendering present in recent tent-pole productions capitalize on the stylized violence and demolition available in modern-day video games.\u00a0 Arkham City, <\/i>and Injustice: Gods Among Us <\/i>are two examples.\u00a0 These games have a higher expectation for the violence and despair, even when dealing with Superman.<\/p>\n

Christopher Reeve’s Superman <\/i><\/a>would not work for this audience, neither would the Superman <\/i>as presented in The Adventures of Superman, Lois and Clark<\/i>, or even Smallville <\/i>for that matter.\u00a0 The hero has to be pushed to and then beyond his limits, no matter what they are in order to gain and keep this audience’s attention.<\/p>\n

The Dialogue Between Two Blockbusters<\/b><\/p>\n

\"star-trek-into-darkness-still-640x4261\"<\/p>\n

<\/i>Star Trek: Into Darkness <\/i><\/a>(which is admittedly short changed in this posting), gives the audience the other side of the dialogue.\u00a0 The film boasts the same kind of imagery as witnessed in The Man of Steel<\/i>: federation buildings topple, there is an attack by an outsider, and so forth, but at the film’s end Kirk is given a decision.\u00a0 They could kill the villain and his ilk, or they could put them into deep-freeze as a kind of imprisonment.\u00a0 Kirk chooses the latter.<\/p>\n

During the film’s coda he stands before the resurrected buildings \u201cone year after the attack\u201d and justifies the decision not to kill the baddie.\u00a0 The scene evokes the commemoration of the 9\/11 attacks, but then goes a step further.\u00a0 Kirk tells us that we did not execute the villains, as that is not who we are.\u00a0 That is not who we are looking to become.\u00a0 This message is further cemented by a title card, which dedicates the film to the heroes battling terror around the globe.<\/p>\n

The third act show-downs in both films gives the audience a choice as to where to take our culture next:\u00a0 does The American Way<\/i> mean due process as it is evidenced in Star Trek<\/i>, or a more severe approach in dispensing justice as it is evidenced in The Man of Steel? <\/i>Does the title card in Star Trek <\/i>serve as a reminder of due process, or is it an apology by the filmmaker’s for their decision not to kill off the antagonist at the film’s end? Or will these themes that beg for exploration be put aside to allow an even larger building to fall?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What do you think about the ending to Man of Steel and Star Trek Into Darkness? \u00a0Sound off and let us know your thoughts!<\/p>\n

Gregory Bray, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in Digital Media Production at the State University of New York New Paltz. He is an award winning documentary filmmaker, published scholar, media educator, and holds his Ph.D. from the European Graduate School, Saas-Fee Switzerland. He is married to artist Nadine May Lewis, and they reside with their children Eamon and Nora in Ulster County, NY.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Greggory Bray, Ph.D. In a 1992 interview with Jay Leno, Tim Burton was asked what fascinates him about Batman.\u00a0 Burton said he connected with Batman’s mortality, and his natural human limits–Burton did not understand why Superman would not just \u201cblow everyone away with his super-breath.\u201d \u00a0Goyer and Snyder seem to not only agree with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":9016,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[94,522,61,72],"tags":[65,38,50,34,84,148,102,149,150,37,147,151],"yoast_head":"\nThe 21st Century 'American Way' in The Man of Steel. | Blog | BIOWARS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/2023.biowars.com\/blog\/the-21st-century-american-way-in-the-man-of-steel\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta 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