Theological Reflection
Man of Steel is aptly titled. The movie hits with the force of girder beam accidentally dropped from the top of a skyscraper during construction, shattering the sidewalk below and claiming the lives of a couple of hapless pedestrians in the wrong place at the wrong time. This time, he doesn’t soar. Superman smashes.
The first half of Man of Steel is a surprisingly good movie. Kryptonian culture gets a lot more attention than in previous cinematic adaptations, the relationship between Superman’s father, Jor-El, and General Zod is more developed, and the effects of Superman’s alien presence on earth are considered with greater realism.
Superman’s boyhood in Kansas is shown through a series of flashbacks, and it is an angst-ridden boyhood. Instead of being simply a good natured geek, this Clark Kent is a bullied outcast whose surrogate parents provide little more than instruction to hide and whose faith (yes, this Superman has a semblance of faith) proves powerless to help him find a place in this world. So he goes on a journey of self discovery that leads him eventually back to Zod.
I did not enjoy the second half of the movie at all. Once Zod and his minions reappear, the movie becomes merely a wearying CGI slugfest. Metropolis eventually gets so battered by Superman and Zod’s brawl that it begins to look like Cobb and Mal’s dream limbo in Inception. I couldn’t wait to wake up.
More distressing to me than the endless bludgeoning that is the latter half of the film is the way Superman’s story and purpose have changed. Superman has always been a beacon showing humanity the good we are capable of becoming. As Jor-El famously tells his son in the 1978 film, “Live as one of them, Kal-El, to discover where your strength and your power are needed. Always hold in your heart the pride of your special heritage. They can be a great people, Kal-El. They wish to be. They only lack the light to show the way. For this reason above all – their capacity for good – I have sent them you… my only son.”
Christological intonations aside, if we consider Superman only as a “super man,” the epitome of what is good about humanity, we see clearly that Man of Steel’s version of the character is very different than the one we’ve known. This Superman isn’t sent to earth as a champion of justice and truth. He’s sent to earth as a carrier of the genetic code of all of Kryptonian society. Really. His moral decency is depicted as a weakness he must (tragically) overcome to stop Zod.
Furthermore, Superman’s internal task used to be to reconcile his dual identities as a citizen of both Krypton and Earth. The Richard Donner cut of Superman and Superman 2 show a Kal-El grieving the loss of both his birth and adoptive fathers and learning to continue to do good though he will always ultimately fail to save those he loves. He learns to love both himself and others though that love is destined for defeat. He learns that to choose love is to win regardless of the outcome of the fight.
This Superman is taught to do good instead of harm, which is fine but pretty basic. Then he is forced to do harm, and in doing so, puts to death one half of his identity. Man of Steel‘s Superman is flawed in a way that Superman has never been before.
Have we really reached a point as a society where we can no longer accept the idea of a hero who is faultless? Is a person like Superman so alien to us that we would be unable to accept his existence even if we saw him illuminated forty feet tall on the silver screen? Are we so cynical that we are unable to believe a man can fly?
Maybe so. Maybe this kind of not-so-super Superman is the only kind of hero we will accept right now.
If so, then we need the kind of hero Superman used to be all the more.
Key Scenes
Clip 1
Clip 2
Clip 3
Discussion Questions
Adults
Watch Clip 1 and read 2 Corinthians 12: 5-7a.
1) Is it a struggle for you not to boast about your gifts and talents to others?
2) Even if we are being truthful in the way we talk about our gifts and talents, how might that undo the work God has called us to? Or does it?
Watch Clip 2 and read 2 Corinthians 12: 7b-10.
1) What do you hope to be or become in the future?
2) When we put our hope for the future in our own power, in what ways does that change the world?
3) Do you actually live as if the power of Christ works best in your weakness? Why or why not?
Watch Clip 3 and read 2 Corinthians 12: 5-10.
1) How are Superman and Jesus similar? How are they different?
2) How would your life be different if you boasted in your weakness?
3) What kind of strength comes from being weak?
Families
Watch Clip 1 and read 2 Corinthians 12: 5-7a.
1) Is it a struggle for you not to boast about your gifts and talents to others?
2) Even if we are being truthful in the way we talk about our gifts and talents, how might that have a negative impact on our family?
Watch Clip 2 and read 2 Corinthians 12: 7b-10.
1) What do you hope to be or become in the future?
2) When we put our hope for the future in our own power, in what ways does that change the world?
3) Do you actually live as if the power of Christ works best in your weakness? Why or why not?
Watch Clip 3 and read 2 Corinthians 12: 5-10.
1) How are Superman and Jesus similar? How are they different?
2) How would your life be different if you boasted in your weakness?
3) What kind of strength comes from being weak?
Students
Watch Clip 1 and read 2 Corinthians 12: 5-7a.
1) Is it a struggle for you not to boast about your gifts and talents to others?
2) Even if we are being truthful in the way we talk about our gifts and talents, how might that prevent us from being the person God wants us to be? Or does it?
Watch Clip 2 and read 2 Corinthians 12: 7b-10.
1) What do you hope to be or become in the future?
2) When we put our hope for the future in our own power, in what ways does that change the world?
3) Do you actually live as if the power of Christ works best in your weakness? Why or why not?
Watch Clip 3 and read 2 Corinthians 12: 5-10.
1) How are Superman and Jesus similar? How are they different?
2) How would your life be different if you boasted in your weakness?
3) What kind of strength comes from being weak?
Children
Watch Clip 1 and read 2 Corinthians 12: 5-7a.
1) What are you really good at?
2) Do you like to tell other people about those things?
3) Who gets the credit when you take pride in your talents?
Watch Clip 2 and read 2 Corinthians 12: 7b-10.
1) What do you hope to be or become when you grow up?
2) Tell us about how the grown-up version of you will change the world?
Watch Clip 3 and read 2 Corinthians 12: 5-10.
1) How are Superman and Jesus similar? How are they different?
2) What does it mean to be strong when you are weak?
3) How was Jesus strong when he was weak?
Related Scripture
That experience is worth boasting about, but I’m not going to do it. I will boast only about my weaknesses. If I wanted to boast, I would be no fool in doing so, because I would be telling the truth. But I won’t do it, because I don’t want anyone to give me credit beyond what they can see in my life or hear in my message, even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God. So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud. Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
(2 Corinthians 12:5-10)
