superman returns: more stuff

[mimesere]

HE DIDN'T KNOW.

Superman/Kal-El/Clark Kent DID NOT FUCKING KNOW LOIS WAS PREGNANT WHEN HE LEFT EARTH. He didn't know he had a kid until the LAST FIVE MINUTES OF THE GODDAMN MOVIE.

Do you *seriously* think he would have gone on a quest to find his biological family if he'd known the woman he loves was going to have his *child*? Do you SERIOUSLY FUCKING BELIEVE THAT? Because if you do, I'm sorry, that's retarded. The minute he found out and was NO LONGER IN A FUCKING COMA, he hightailed it out of the hospital and WENT TO SEE HIS KID. 'Cause yeah, that's the action of a deadbeat dad.

Stop it, fandom. Please. Just stop it. You are smarter than that.




I thought the whole *point* of Superman was that here is this guy with god-like powers, who can do ANYTHING he wants to do, and what he *wants* to do is help people. That he can't *not* help people. That he has to struggle *every day* with the knowledge that what he *can* do and what he *should* do aren't always the same thing. As far as I know the origin story, Jor-El told him to be all Mr. Inspiration Pants so that the people around him -- i.e., us -- would follow that example of HELPING OUT THE PEOPLE AROUND YOU and thus, you know, make the world a better place.

What I know about Superman is that he's a genuinely good guy, a great reporter, has a hell of a temper, doesn't always think things through all the way, and generally prefers a SMASH THINGS GOOD more hands-on approach towards solving problems. He's relatively well-adjusted, he's concerned about himself getting out of control such that he gave Batman the means to an endgame *just in case*, he loves his ma and his pa and his wife and his friends (and his son) and his city. He loves the holidays and brings people home for Christmas. He's the last son of Krypton, he's an immigrant, he's an orphan, he's adopted, he's a father. He thinks Batman is pretty fucking awesome and takes the piss out of him anyway. He's not the most politically capable person ever, but he tries, and he hates on political corruption like whoa. Also, he hates Nazis. He's an outsider, he's a good listener, he *likes* people, he loves sassiness and intelligence and guts, he's naive, he's stubborn, he's trusting, he *believes*.

But that's boring, I guess. Nothing interesting there.


My Superman canon consists of the following so far:
Superman: The Movie
Superman II
Superman Returns - movie, novelization, comic adaptation
Look! Up in the Sky...
Kingdom Come
The Death of Superman
Superman: Red Son
Superman: Birthright
Superman: For All Seasons
Mythology
Superman/Batman: Public Enemies
Superman/Batman: Supergirl
Superman/Batman: Absolute Power
Batman: Hush
JLA -- assorted collections
Trinity
Justice League -- the animated show

Also? anonymous_sybil wrote fic. Which you should read. Yes.

Comments

[gloss]

I fear to ask what's going on. *trembles* I do love your description of him, though.

[wemblee.livejournal.com]

Is this about a person on my flist? Because I swear, he's totally kidding.

[latxcvi.livejournal.com]

HE DIDN'T KNOW.

Superman/Kal-El/Clark Kent DID NOT FUCKING KNOW LOIS WAS PREGNANT WHEN HE LEFT EARTH. He didn't know he had a kid until the LAST FIVE MINUTES OF THE GODDAMN MOVIE.

Do you *seriously* think he would have gone on a quest to find his biological family if he'd known the woman he loves was going to have his *child*? Do you SERIOUSLY FUCKING BELIEVE THAT? Because if you do, I'm sorry, that's retarded. The minute he found out and was NO LONGER IN A FUCKING COMA, he hightailed it out of the hospital and WENT TO SEE HIS KID. 'Cause yeah, that's the action of a deadbeat dad.

Stop it, fandom. Please. Just stop it. You are smarter than that.

Thank you. No, seriously. THANK YOU. This criticism is ALL ABOUT dinging the character just to ding him. And you know what really, really, *really* frosts me? Is that a lot of times, the same people who are all "deadbeat dad" or call him an asshole or whatever because he took Lois on *one last flight* to SAY GOODBYE AND APOLOGIZE TO HER are the *very same people* who don't like the character/think the character is uninteresting because he's BORING AND ALWAYS DOES THE RIGHT THING ALL THE TIME.

And I'm just like ... Look, you can't have it both ways. You can't ding him for being boring and perfect and always knowing the right thing to do and AT THE SAME TIME get on him when he actually makes a flawed or questionable decision. If you're not interested in the character because he's "too much of a Boy Scout" or whatever, then no, you don't get to call him names when he does something that's *less than perfect* because good goddamn, isn't that the very thing you've claimed you needed to see him do to find him interesting -- something less than perfect?

But yeah, the "deadbeat dad" thing makes me rage with the fire of a thousand Kryptonian suns. So just ... thank you.

[polaris-starz.livejournal.com]

Was Superman: Birthright the Kurt Busiek one? Because I absolutely adored that story.

[anonymous_sibyl]

Deadbeat Dad? Superman? *cries* Sometimes, fandom, I can't even.

And than you for the rec. Just, Richard, you know? He needed something.