Superman Returns Review—Part One*

I have been told that I write long posts. Yes. Yes I do. What of it? So in the effort of brevity, and for those with attention span of gnat you have been warned this is not a short blog! I will be breaking up into parts until my muse has ran out.

On so many levels, one can see where the debate regarding Superman Returns as a messianic figure can be connected. It has also been stated, falsely, that United of America was founded as a Christian nation.

Yes, the US Constitution and Declaration of the Independence values, ideals, and principles were Christian based, but it was not found as a democratic theocracy—if there is such a thing. The “Grand Experiment” was founded in the form of a democratic republic. Yes, it we are a representative government that covets the peoples participation in the form of “rule of law.” And, yes this Grand Experiment is not perfect.

So, what does this have to do with Superman Returns? My standard answer is “nothing and everything.” However, the truth is that how we define ourselves as a people is as important to our perspective reality as the denials.

This is what I mean, Christians insecurity, albeit the hegemonic religion in America, finds the necessity to proclaim itself as being victimized. To bark at shadows that may or may not be there. So, when Christians see their allegories of its symbols, their Christ figure, the Christ messages, Christ’s philosophy they get hyped. Their message is retransmitted over and over again in order to co-opt another generation into the fold of belief.

In a nation, whose hegemony is Christian in various forms and sects (including Judaism and Catholicism), in whether their “message” is heard or not, Christian insecurity belies the importance of telling their narrative to the population in the overall images and symbols of the Western-American culture. Christianity presence in the West is well rooted in its core foundation. Our mythos, our stories, legends, fairy tales, and western-folk lore have often been used to retransmit these symbols.

Nevertheless, some feel that Christianity dominance is overbearing, overburdens, overindulgences, and preoccupies itself with reaffirming the message of the religion. Some have come to view as fanatical, and look upon it as divisive and dangerous for the modernity of our culture.


For instance, one late night radio talk show host, Steve Seidenfeld of 850 KOA, finds the usurpation of Christianity co-option offensive. In my many conversations with him, he felt that the Christian hoopla regarding Superman Returns Christ signs as overstated and corruptive. He felt that Superman’s representation as the messiah figure delusional. He asked, “Isn’t Jesus enough? Do we need to make Superman into the Messiah?” He then proceeded to list the various pros and cons reason that Superman and Jesus were not the same and could not be: X-ray vision, flying, from another planet no comparison. His litany of reasons of why Superman could not be the Savior of man was that they were mutually exclusive. One is a God figure and the other is a comic book character.

True. Yet, that is the movie, Superman Returns, presupposes…

End Part I
*Images from Warner Bros.