Although others have always said that Superman is the United States in the eyes of Americans, and Batman is the United States in the eyes of others, but I really didn't expect that the new version of Superman would really talk about Superman according to the history of the United States. The setting of Krypton looks like Europe in the colonial era, right? On the one hand, it is colonizing and expanding to send resources to the home planet, and on the other hand, it is a strict feudal hierarchy (what career you will engage in in the future is determined when you were born). Then Superman gave birth naturally with the concept of free will, and was sent to the distant earth when Krypton was in chaos. He will become the patron saint of mankind on earth and pass on the fire of Krypton.
Americans’ mentality towards superheroes is really complicated. Are superheroes an exception to the law and the public after all? Think about Richard Donner's Superman in 1978, Superman's adoptive father is not particularly disgusted with his superpower, but reminds Superman that this superpower must be used for public welfare, such as using super powers to pick up girls is absolutely not allowed. After saying this, the old man died of a heart attack.
When it comes to Zach's new version of Superman, the adoptive father strictly forbids Superman to use his superpower, even if it is used for good deeds. "People can't accept your existence yet, you will change other people's ideas." So that Superman watched his adoptive father being blown away by the tornado and did not save him. "Because I believe in his ideas."
But let's not forget that in Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man" in 2002, the superhero's self-importance Cognition is still "with great power comes great responsibility". Since you have superpowers, you shouldn't just sit back and ignore the evil. Even if the police and the media don't understand you, you should actively stop and eliminate evil forces.
This concept of "great power comes with great responsibility" was somewhat reflected and dispelled in Nolan's "The Dark Knight". Is Batman qualified to replace the law? To regulate this society? Nolan seems to have given an ambiguous answer with the trilogy, you have to pay the price, you have to endure the puzzlement, and in the end you can completely disappear after the crisis is resolved-just like in westerns, After finding out about the legal issues in the town, the cowboy left the town immediately. For Batman, it is enough for the city to erect a statue for him, and the hero had better die quickly.
Zach's "Watchmen" is relatively more radical. He will think that the significance of superheroes to the world is pure nonsense. a super enemy will be deliberately created to deceive ignorant ordinary people (such as terrorists), and then everyone will happily call for the return of the superhero.
I think a particularly interesting tendency in Hollywood when shaping heroes is hero exceptionalism. For example, the rule of law is good, and democracy is also good, but heroes are an exception. , Whether it is a western hero, a lonely detective, a ferocious policeman, or a superhero, they can all go a little bit beyond the boundaries of justice. The purpose, of course, is to achieve greater justice. Of course, to make a comparison, villains are always too extreme against democracy, rule of law and order (bad cowboys, gangsters, clowns).
The Snowden incident happened just a while ago, and I see that the attitude of many netizens reflects the ambiguity of Hollywood. I remember an example in particular that struck me. He said one guy took a stick from your house to kill you, and another guy took a stick from your house to protect you. Can these two things be the same? If you have to say the same thing, you're just stupid.
I think this is more or less a product of Hollywood logic. Of course, Hollywood's performance will be more ambiguous and speculative, after all, different directors have different positions. While a high-budget production like a superhero movie doesn't leave much room for speech, something like "Watchmen" can't be more self-destructive than that. More changes can be made in the later stage of the western film, because the cost of the western film is really not big.
But I still want to understand how Superman got over his adoptive father's worries about him, i.e., why am I entitled to my superpowers? Does the world need my superpower? Bryan Singer's "Superman Returns" attempted to explore this theme, but it also did a lackluster job. Zack's new Superman also goes nowhere, which makes the narrative quite unbelievable-Superman can save strangers in a high-profile way. At this time, he seems to have thrown away the teachings of his adoptive father. When the situation happened, he obediently followed the advice of his adoptive father and sat back and watched his adoptive father die. I can only understand that Superman has a problem with his adoptive father.
Finally, I would like to talk about Hollywood's attitude towards the relationship between immigrants and original aborigines. Many people will think of the 2011 "Transformers 3" when Superman finally destroyed his suzerain's chance to re-establish the country to protect mankind. In fact, isn't this attitude already reflected in the 2009 "Avatar"? Hollywood has always adopted a revised attitude in telling its own history, which is not so much a historical presentation as a mythical presentation. You can tell by watching westerns. I even want to say that General Zod and Colonel Miles are somewhat similar in appearance.
As a superman with the concept of free will from Krypton, he is of course living in harmony with the original inhabitants of the earth instead of Invade the earth with the invaders, even if the invaders come from his home planet.
Finally, I’m going to complain, Superman’s emotional recovery is too fast after killing people, right? didn't you say you want him to grow up? What I dislike about this movie is that the director threw out a lot of things that wanted to dig into Superman's character, but in the end they were all handled very sloppily. It would be more straightforward to present a simple Superman.
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