The Man of Steel aka The Superman , the ultimate hero , the icon and the most badass superhero ever made (yeah, take that marvel), this passion is from learning his history and I would love to take you on a journey inside the SUPERMAN with no delay!
Kal-el /Superman was born in a planet krypton, under dire circumstances when the planet was on the verge of collapse . Jor-el and his wife in their last moments on the planet launched their infant son to another galaxy . This space shuttle lands in USA where he is adopted by a middle class family in Kansas ,US. Since Krypton’s climate was much harsher than Earth with 2 red sons kal-el skin is much harder than earth’s soothing environment . Superman can shoot lasers off his eyes,ice breath from his mouth ,can fly ,invulnerable ,super strength ,super hearing ,x-ray vision .
Superman’s weakness is just like his superpowers very rare green piece of kryptonite ,lead and red son . Namely all the vestiges of his home old planet act as a deterrent to his superpowers .
So why has superman sustained for over 80 years ? What is that makes him one of the most widely recognised cultural icon in decades ?
A. His personality
Superman is an agent of light unlike other superheroes that work in the night ,superman doesn’t hide away in the dark but looks eye to eye at the sun to get rid of the bad guys.
Being raised by farmers from humble background ,Superman embraces humility . He is pleasant ,helpful and cheerful adorned by his charismatic smile. A super being with so many powers that could easily overtake the whole world superman uses his superpowers for the good of the people . He (despite being godlike )respects the law and never interferes in the normal functioning of the government . Maybe this is due to his upbringing by parents who taught him that just because you have infinite powers doesnt give you the right to rule over others . Even though he is not from earth he embraces its culture ,its people and makes it a responsibility to be bound by the Territorial sovereignty of Nation . He doesn’t take the law in his own hands and helps the authorities in bringing criminals to justice . They say power corrupts and even though spiderman brought along the famous phrase “With great power comes great responsibility” ,I believe superman actually popularized the phrase by actually doing things rather than talking .
That really says something that if a super being that has no limit to his powers can be humble and helpful ,i think people with positions in power should learn a thing or two from him .
B. Icon ,Idol and Ideal
In today’s time where kids are overexposed to violence due to internet and social media where we love villains more than superheroes ,Superman acts as an icon to the kids for everything that they should strive towards. Kids at a very young age are inspired by the environment around then and are very quick in idealizing people that they see most frequent be it on Television ,films ,radio or in real life .
Superman is the perfect idol for kids. I am in no way against real life heroes but sometimes we need a perfect image and it’s quite impossible to find a flawless individual. Superman creates a perfect image and if we can’t see what an ideal characteristic would be we would never even try to achieve it .
Superman’s idealism is one of his most essential traits that makes him stand out over other superheroes. As a character he maybe too one-dimensional or boring but he transcends the character by standing for truth ,justice and honesty . Superman serves as the archetype of an ideal person with his personality a mixture of all virtues .
He serves as an example to all young kids to move towards these virtues .
. Superman stands for all the good things in the world . He is a symbol for all the redeeming qualities human being have like kindness,benevolence ,affection ,empathy and consideration for others .
For adults superman may not be that appealing as all the things that superman stand for our pure white and black which kids can identify but adults know that world is gray and not so easily classified . Superman can lose some of his charm for adults.
Superman ‘S’ symbol is the symbol for his house EL which means hope .
Superman acts as a messiah character (savior) who is omniscient ,omnipresent and ambivalent which helps people in their worst times . He makes us realize that even though sometimes life may not give us the things we want and everything may seem lost we must not lose hope . Hoping for things to get better and standing up from failures is an enduring quality that we possess as human beings . Superman by standing as a beacon of hope can appeal to adults as well .
C. Symbolism
Superman is adorned in red,blue and yellow. Red and blue are one of the most bright colors in the spectrum which also highlights Superman as one of the most accessible and visible characters .Red and blue also combine a perfect mixture of calmness and aggressive action whenever it’s necessary .Perhaps that’s the reason that the Superman symbol has become one of the most widely recognised cultural symbols of all time .
By having all the virtuous qualities of human beings Superman soars high above in the sky to us as an individual that had achieved true height or flight by focussing his attention on others having no regards for himself . His superpowers are not the only thing that makes him superior it’s his personality , demeanor and ideal nature that has made him one of the most important fictional characters . We always perceive the outside persona of superman as a bulked up sweet guy with bunch of superpowers and its an oversimplification of so many things that we just forget to notice .Have we ever thought that maybe it’s not because he has superpowers that he is super but the fact that he is so super because of everything he stands for ? Maybe his ideals of virtuosity,honesty,freedom,liberty,truth is what gives him his superpowers and not the other way around . If we have all of these traits in one single human being that’s just enough to grant him superpowers especially when due to the internet we are always well-informed and dosed with reality quite often. Our biggest superpower as humans are our ability to not lose hope even when nothing is working in our favor .The belief that we can change the world no matter what life throws at us ;Superman reminds us of that and for that i dont think his influence will ever fade .We just have to revisit him once in a while through his comics ,tv series or movies (Although true essence of him is captured perfectly in the classic animated tv series 1996 and the comics ) .Although superman originated in the US his persona crosses boundaries as his costume in no way reflects any particular ideology or nation but it is his personality that had made him a global figure .
During these times when we have very few real idols to idolize ,in a world that is slowly filling up with wars ,hatred and a materialistic selfishness to be the best for yourself Superman stands tall above us all showing us that it’s not the superpowers that make you super but being a super person that makes you Superman .
The Distorted Mind 