Over the past week, we seemed to cover a lot of ideas in a very short time period. Of everything we discussed, I enjoyed the discussion that came about from Gary Engle's "What Makes Superman So Darned American?" article.
At first, it wasn't particularly clear to me as to why Superman was such an "American" superhero. Once I looked more at his past, it was clear. Superman was originally born on the planet Krypton with the name Kal-El. Kal's father sent him off in a rocket as an infant due to the destruction of his home planet. Kal crashed into earth, and was discovered by an ordinary Kansas Family, and soon was welcomed into their family. He was raised by his "foster" parents, and quickly took on the role of an American boy. As he grew, he came to learn of his differences between everyone else, and soon realized he was "super".
Although a lot of the details were left out, this story can closely resemble stories that many of our ancestors, or maybe even ourselves, have experienced. America is a country filled with diversity and culture. This is primarily due to the fact that everyone or everyone's ancestor emigrated from their home country to the newly developing America in hopes to live the "American dream". Although this wasn't purposeful in Kal's case, it is exactly what happened. Kal immigrated to the planet Earth, specifically America, and grew up to live the American Dream and protect the "American way". It is this idea that makes Superman "So Darned American".
I think part of Superman's "Americaness" can also be attributed to the fact that he came to Earth without any besides the hope for a better life. Just like the immigrants, his father didn't know what he was getting his son into when he was sending him to Earth, but he knew it had to be better than the current alternative. Overall I think you're right, diving into the unknown to seek out a better life is what being American is all about.
ReplyDeleteI never really thought of Superman as purely "American" either until I read that article. There are so many different connections tha tI never even thought I about putting together with superheroes and reality. I think that the artcile states a good point as to some attributes creating conflict with the "American way", but you can't get much more American that Superman. I think he is what made every other writer think that their superheroes had to represent America too.
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