IS Superman really such a good guy? by Dataless

OTHER SCIENCE FICTION SERIES

IS Superman really such a good guy?

POSTED BY: DATALESS
UPDATED: Wednesday, October 3, 2007 09:14
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Tuesday, September 4, 2007 6:22 PM

He spends time rescuing a cat out of a tree or putting out a fire or working at a newspaper for at least eight hours a day but there were 16,137 murders in 2004 in the U.S. alone. Not to mention (I hate saying that, I mean why mention it then) but there is at least one war going on right now. Even he needs to rest but to get a cat out of a tree is a job anyone can do so why did he choose to do that instead of stopping a rape or someone's murder or stop a car bomb in Iraq? instead he has to make out with Lois or write a story.

I think Spiderman or Batman or just about every other Superhero have good excuse they can go around the world fast enough.

It's a selfish choice to want people to say thank you for saving their cat when so many others need his help at that moment.

http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius_04/offenses_reported/violent_crime/murder.
html

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Tuesday, September 4, 2007 6:44 PM

FINN MAC CUMHAL

Sounds like a case of co-dependence to me. Superman gives you a mile and you want two! Superman's abilities are his own and in a free society he should be free to use them as he sees fit, within reason. I think we should thank him for the good that he does and the help that he provides, and take care of the rest ourselves.

As far as why superman wastes time saving cats from trees - well there is a simple obvious answer to that, albeit an unsettling one. Human beings can be irrational and prone to fits of superstitious suspicion and cynicism. Superman, being the super-powerful being that he is, could as easily enslave the world as help it. He needs a good PR campaign to make sure that people are comfortable with him. He needs to kiss babies and save kittens, because it makes people feel gushy inside and less prone to bouts of anti-superman cynicism.

Nihil est incertius vulgo, nihil obscurius voluntate hominum, nihil fallacius ratione tota comitiorum.

Nothing is more unpredictable than the mob, nothing more obscure than public opinion, nothing more deceptive than the whole political system.

-- Cicero

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Wednesday, September 5, 2007 2:15 AM

DUG

Superman is a #$%^, and this fellow has documented his career of #$%^ery:

http://www.superdickery.com/galleries.html

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Wednesday, September 5, 2007 3:55 AM

WASHNWEAR

For more insight into factors possibly influencing Superman's decision-making process and system of priorities...

http://www.rawbw.com/~svw/superman.html#Reprinted

It was like that when we got here!

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Wednesday, September 5, 2007 4:13 AM

CHRISISALL

Which goes back to a point that I was making a long time ago- Superman cannot exist in a real-world setting. At least not with powers like FTL flight and the ability to shrug off nuclear attack.
The first three Reeve movies were okay regarding this, But Superman 4 failed totally, and Superman Returns was painfully realistic, yet never addressed anything past showing some of the current war on TV...no, Superman needs to be battling an alien invasion, or Galactus or whatever, a RW Superman is a waste of money- give it to Joss, and let him make Serenity 2 instead.

Otisberg Chrisisall

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Wednesday, September 5, 2007 4:59 AM

ROCKETJOCK

If you want a good idea of what it would be like to shoulder that kind of responsibility, I suggest you read Kurt Busiek's excellent series Astro City, specifically the first story in Life in The Big City, the first AC collection. The workaholic Superman-type hero Samaritan is so overcome with guilt over the people he can't save that he never allows himself a moment's rest that isn't secret-identity-maintenance related.

The problem is, even a superman can't be everywhere at once. He's superhuman, he's not God. If you're saving someone's life in Nebraska, someone else is going to get shot by a mugger in Albuquerque.

"She's tore up plenty. But she'll fly true." -- Zoë Washburn

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Wednesday, September 5, 2007 9:36 AM

LWAVES

You can't really quote figures that state there were so many murders in 2004 and then say Superman wastes his time saving cats.
Those are real world figures. IF Superman had been around I'd lay odds on that figure being lower. But he isn't around and (probably) never will be.

Superman IS a good guy.
As stated there is NO way even someone of his powers would be able to be everywhere at once.

The idea to take from it is to 'lead by example'.
He shows that good acts can be done and gives people hope, which is a very powerful thing.
He shows that saving a train from crashing and other big acts is just as important as saving a cat in a tree.
Also if you were going to commit a crime with any sort of planning, you have to think about avoiding the authorities. Add Superman into the equation, who you don't stand a chance against, and you might rethink it. In this way he acts as a deterent.
Of course crime would still be committed and criminals would still get away but that's just human nature.

"I don't believe in suicide, but if you'd like to try it it might cheer me up to watch."

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Wednesday, September 5, 2007 12:57 PM

CYBERSNARK

Don't forget that a world with Superman is also a world with Darkseid, and Mongul, and Sinestro, and Bizarro, and Ra's Al Ghul, and Brother Blood, and Deathstroke the Terminator, and the freakin' Joker.

There are monsters to balance out any good that Superman and his allies do.

And no, Superman isn't the good guy.

Lex Luthor is the hero of that story. Every penny he's ever had, he earned, through blood, sweat, tears, and HARD WORK. He single-handedly hauled himself from an unwanted child of a Hobb's Bay whore to the CEO of the world's most powerful technology company. Superman hasn't earned anything --EVERYTHING he has was given to him. His powers? The product of his Kryptonian heritage. His name? Lois came up with that. The costume? Designed by Martha Kent. Clark's job? Perry took a chance on the new kid. Metropolis? Offered itself up to him like some temple priestess before Zeus. The town that Lex built.

Is it any wonder Lex is bitter?

Quote:
Originally posted by lwaves:
Also if you were going to commit a crime with any sort of planning, you have to think about avoiding the authorities. Add Superman into the equation, who you don't stand a chance against, and you might rethink it. In this way he acts as a deterent.

There was an issue of one of the S-books years ago (before they each tried to go solo and I got fed up with trying to follow four storylines simultaneously) that had the traditional bank robbery, being interrupted by an unusually snarky Superman.

"You boys must be new in town."

There are some real idjits out there.

-----
We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

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Friday, September 7, 2007 10:06 AM

EMMAZULE

Additionally, there's for years been this idea that DC has been quite firm to promote (bizarre propaganda comic book covers as seen on Superdickery aside), not all that illogical really, that if we actually try to show really powerful heroes solving the major problems (Hitler's Germany, etc.) that we have in the real world, it trivializes the real-world problems. Superman magically solves the problem of World War II by taking out the leaders of the Axis in a single issue or perhaps two or three, tops, right? Then what? Then we have a comic book world where WWII was long since won, and everything is sunshine and roses, and meanwhile people's sons are dying in real life, and people begin to get bitter, and then they stop reading, because reading about a perfect world that you can't have is annoying and, when your country's at war, can be downright depressing.

So, so long as you ignore real-world issues like that, construct a world where the problems are quite different, you can have your heroic fantasy without depressing people like that too much. You can give them hope (or something different to bitch about, at any rate), instead of just alienating them because you want to be "realistic".

You know though, there have been some interesting elseworlds stories based on this kind of premise. Worlds where Superman takes over the world and becomes a controlling dictator, because of course people can't just take care of themselves. Or where he destroys Earth because too many of them are corrupt for him to bear and he becomes disillusioned.

Also, you can't help people if you're too far away to know if they need help. Keep in mind, superhuman hearing does NOT = can hear everything on Earth at the same time (else he'd be crazy, wouldn't he? The noise would drive him mad).

I think Marvel's take on a world with superheroes is kind of interesting, actually. At least, what I've seen of it through Runaways, at any rate - basically, they're commonplace, whether they're a hero with magical powers or alien powers or just a mutant. But so are twisted jerks with superpowers, or magical dohickeys, or insanely good engineering skills or whatever. So it balances out a little. The norm is a lot weirder, but there still exists a logical Status Quo. Few if any heroes can really save the world so well it won't need saving again next week.

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Wednesday, October 3, 2007 9:14 AM

CAVALIER

Quote:
Originally posted by Cybersnark:
And no, Superman isn't the good guy.

Lex Luthor is the hero of that story. Every penny he's ever had, he earned, through blood, sweat, tears, and HARD WORK.

(etc)

Well said!

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