Students Can Learn from Anything II - Superman, Part 1

Students can Learn from Anything II – Superman, Part 1

   DISCLAIMER: Superman’s symbolic shield is the property of DC Comics and any use of his symbol ( or any other terms or insignias owned by DC Comics or Warner Bros.) is strictly for educational purposes. Please do exile me to Apokolips, or worse, the Phantom Zone!

   So, as I am want-to-do, I tend to appreciate comic books much more than the average student of English. I find them to be incredibly deep and often moving pieces of language and art that really jives with the pop-culture wave Academia is experiencing.

   And sometimes I just love these things because they’re full of awesome adventure!

   Last time I did  a blog in this fashion it was because of the new Dark Knight Rises film had come out and I was jazzed up on bats. Well, by next year we will have a new Superman film thanks to the efforts of Warner Brosand Zack Synder.

   What could I possibly have to say about Superman worth bringing up in a student blog? Well, first, that Superman is as iconic on college campuses as he is everywhere else … or, should I say rather, that his shield is everywhere?

1.       Superman is mythic, but also cultural 

One of the big things you’ll hear about Superman is how he is [Jesus/Moses/Apollo/Ra/etc…]. And, like Obi Wan Kennobi, this has a certain point of view that is very true. However, one of the other big things about Superman that scholars ( of English and History! ) should keep in mind is that he is a culturally unique icon. Taken from one angle ( certainly the kind taken by Lex Luthor, albeit in a negative sense ), Superman is an illegal alien who came as a refugee from some foreign state/planet and … well, got adopted by the USA.  The creators of Superman, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, were both examples of how America could accommodate anyone – Siegel’s family was from Lithuania, Shusters from Canada, and both were Jewish.  These two men poured a lot of wild and fun ideas into the early Superman character, chiefly that he ( like they ) came from an immigrant’s background. America’s reactions to immigration in the early 30’s is interesting enough on its own without also  thinking about the mystical nature of “what” Superman could represent (ie: a baby in a basket set adrift to besaved in a foreign land, ala Moses; Superman as a solar-powered being alaApollo; etc… )

       The idea of what Superman could be was certainly diverse if you look at *how* popular the character was. However, because is worth pointing it out, Superman was also capable of reflecting the values of the America he was representing at the time. In one famous case he was depicted slapping a Japanese soldier while also advertising war bonds.

        Not his best moment, not by a long shot. Still, the Superman we think about today has become what he is through the changing value systems in our culture. As we change, so too does Superman.

      More to come in Part 2!