Superman is not Human; Stop Trying to Humanize Him
I’ve been thinking about an author’s ruminations about Superman’s characterization (and I apologize, I cannot remember who had said it). He stated that because Superman is larger than life, he should be written as such. I totally agree. Here are my own ruminations for your perusal.
We hear many readers and authors say, “Superman is boring, he’s too powerful, he’s not interesting to read/write about.” I think the problem stems from that people try and “humanize” Superman, and the problem is, he’s not Human. Like, at all. Sure, he was raised as one of us and he holds on to many traditions and morals and so on that many of us do, but he flies, he shoots lasers out of his eyes and freezing out of his mouth. He’s nigh invulnerable and can see though things. These are not human attributes. So I think that the first thing that need be done is stop looking at Superman through the lens of humanity. The New 52 touched on this a little, but let’s kick that up a notch.
Superman is a God: Okay, not the God, but a god. As mentioned earlier, he has powers and abilities far beyond mortal men. I think first off people would start worshipping him as a god. There are people who attend a church for a space alien already, why not for a space alien that people actually see and is actively involved in people’s lives?? Now, because he was raised in the Midwest by grounded, honest, salt-of-the-earth people, he’s uncomfortable with the idea. But he’s also an all-American guy, and he believes in the First Amendment and so allows people to worship him. He’s doesn’t necessarily like it, but he tolerates it. Wonder Woman, a demi-goddess herself, doesn’t mind at all, and sees it as completely appropriate. Sometimes that causes a little friction between the two, but ultimately each respects the other’s point of view.
Superman and Wonder Woman: They are absolutely, unequivocally, madly in love and in a long-term committed relationship. Not married, not yet, but that is definitely in the future. Kids? They both totally want teh behbehs. As Superman and Wonder Woman are gods, they’re perfect for each other. They’re alike in their mission to use their abilities to make the world a better place but different enough in their worldviews to make their relationship interesting. Master Charles Soule wrote the two of them perfectly in “Superman Wonder Woman” because he knew how to balance how they are alike with how they are different and made it interesting. And since Superman is romantically, long-term, he has a lot of dealings with the in-laws (again, something that Soule wrote wonderfully). I think we should see more of their interactions: Apollo’s jealousy of what he sees as an upstart “Sun God”, encroaching on his territory (which Superman is totally not doing), a friendship with Hephaestus, and so on. No need to stop at the Greek pantheon, why not the Egyptian gods (because Captain Marvel/Shazam). Not the Norse gods, though; Marvel Comics has that for themselves. Now, how Clark deals with these various gods speaks to his humanity, because…
Superman is not an Orphan: Clark’s parents are still alive and well. We don’t need another angsty, over-powered, mopey, unrealistic, dark character. Superman has his adopted parents, his cousin, Kara; his young clone/surrogate son, Connor; his Kryptonian wolf-hound Krypto; his beloved Wonder Woman; and finally, a handful of close human friends from his life (Lana, Jimmy, Perry, Lois, etc.). How he interacts with everybody, human, alien, god, will reflect on his humanity: goodness, fairness, equality, truth, etc.
Superman only deals with catastrophic, Earth-imperiling danger: Brainiac, Darkseid, evilly/chaotically aligned gods, etc. Sometimes Lex Luthor, as he is insanely jealous of this alien interloper. As a matter of fact, he often works with the aforementioned Bad Guys™ to try and take down Superman (and, by extension, Wonder Woman). But street-level crime? That kind of thing is better handled by nighttime, costumed vigilantes. Also, Wonder Woman’s villains do their part. Cooperation and competition is the name of the game for all the baddies who have Superman and Wonder Woman in their sights.
So that’s it for me for now. Just spit-balling some thoughts on the page. Thanks for getting this far down, and congratulations for putting up with it! =^_^=
Food for thought.
Canon is stagnant. Canon does not challenge this humanity because no one ages and leaves him. Lois is one stagnant age. His son ages at an unreal pace. They really don’t experience the realities of parenthood as milestones are skipped and glossed over.
If Superman were to really be humanized he would realize he is not a human. He lives on as people around him age, sicken and die and he has all these abilities. . Humans have to cope and deal with this. This frailty makes us human and the manner in which we cope. Good or bad. Superman’playing house and eating dinner is not only a human thing. Aliens do that too. An alien and a human can have humanity ie humane feelings for other life forms and truly care for their planet. Caring is not a human only trait. Humans can be truly atrocious too.
So as he lives on he realized he isn’t limited as we are and he has to embrace this. It can’t be easy living, and life has proven that it isn’t all roses. Superman’s role is supposed to be one of inspiration , and that means leadership. Only in AU like Kingdom Come have we truly seen a humanized Superman ie he accepts who and what he is. He matures and steps up to inspire the earth even while staying humble and Diana is at his side because as a demi goddess she is his intellectual, emotional and physical equal. But she importantly shares the same good sort of heart. This connection makes her understand him better than most. .
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- radiokaos said: Act of God: Totally powerless
- radiokaos said: I think the big thing is that in the various Elseworlds that would fall down with this fandom, Superman was anything but Godlike.
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- ricktacular said: With Asgardians, too? Huh, I must have missed that. Still, I’d like to see more personal interactions, I guess. Like I said, it really wasn’t well thought out or expressed. ;-)
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- godstaff reblogged this from ricktacular and added:
We’ve seen Clark interact with Olympians and Asgardians as well, there’s nothing that should prevent it. We’ve also seen...
- ricktacular reblogged this from godstaff and added:
Well, first let me be clear: Clark does not see himself as a god, nor does he want to, but his powers puts him on a...
- ricktacular said: Well, first let me be clear: Clark does not see himself as a god, nor does he necessarily want to, but his powers puts him on a level with gods and he does see that as a responsibility that goes with having those powers. He doesn’t like it, but he does shoulder it.
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- alan91194harper reblogged this from hellyeahsupermanandwonderwoman and added:
Well Said!!!
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