Superman is super woke? How politics play into the new man of steel

The right has already branded the new DC tentpole too woke after its director called the character an immigrant, but just what role do real-world issues play in the film?Superman Woke! Variations on that headline splashed across all manner of non-Daily Planet websites this week in advance of a new Superman movie reboot, specifically the comments of writer-director James Gunn, who casually characterized the character as an immigrant and, as such, telling the “story of America” in an interview. This rankled rightwingers including the former TV Superman Dean Cain, who acknowledged Superman as an immigrant but blanched at the idea of actively associating that as an American value, noting that “there have to be limits”.Meanwhile, the former Trump lackey Kellyanne Conway, now a Fox News host, characterized the movie she hasn’t seen as an ideological lecture, and added her supposed anger that the movie’s star, David Corenswet, elided the old “truth, justice and the American way” Superman slogan in another interview (referring to “truth, justice, all that good stuff”). For those attempting to keep track: people involved with a Superman movie shouldn’t attempt to evoke America, except when they should. Actually, for those keeping even closer track, the “American way” bit was a phrase added to the radio version of Superman during the second world war, and further popularized by the 1950s TV show. It lived on primarily in reruns of that show, didn’t appear in the comics until 1991, and has never been particularly central to the character in his original medium (or any of the movies, even). Continue reading...

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