Superman Is Back!
Tuesday June 27, 2006
Superman is back, and not a moment too soon. The world is falling apart, and now even Lex Luthor is being let out of jail. Does the world need a savior? That's a question pondered by the characters of the...
Add to Del.icio.us
Add to Technorati
Add to Digg
Add to Newsvine
Add to Facebook
Add to StumbleUpon
Advertisement
Advertisement
Search This Blog
Recent Posts
About Idol Chatter
Subscribe
Most Popular Posts
- Enter to Win: 'Touched by An Angel: Inspiration Collection' DVDs:
- 'Sesame Street' Anniversary: Beliefnet Staff Share Lessons Learned:
- Ian McKellen vs. Hotel Bibles:
- Kate Gosselin Interview with Natalie Morales: A New Side of Kate:
- Revisiting Anne's Attic: 'The Diary of Anne Frank' (BBC):
- Twilight 'New Moon' Cast Tour: Coming Soon to a Mall Near You!:
- Director Paul Haggis Leaves Scientology:
- Do the Right Thing, Spike: Take it Easy on Tyler Perry:
- Every Junkie's Like a Setting Sun: Musicians Who Beat Their Addictions:
- Miley is No Fan of 'Twilight':
Tag Cloud
Barack Obama, books, Britney Spears, celebrities, celebrity, Christian, Christian music, Christianity, DVD, giveaway, Islam, Judaism, movie, movie clip, movies, music, politics, religion, Scientology, spirituality, sports, Stephenie Meyer, Tom Cruise, top list, tv, TV, Twilight, Twilight Series, vampires, video
You write that the film makes clear that "the world is saved by a lot of people reaching deep inside themselves to find their own inner superman," but that certainly wasn't clear to me. I would love some examples of where this was made "clear" because I thought very much the opposite.>
Why is it that Christians put Jesus into every movie they see? Why all the "Christ Parallels"? Why can't christians just realize that their Jesus story is simply that, a story, a plot, just like that of many other religious stories.>
Kwind, you answered your own question. The story of Jesus is an archetypal one that is highly important to hundreds of thousands of people in America. The archetype even predates Christianity--check out the tale of Dionysus, and Osiris, and Prometheus to see some of the parallels. Christians don't put Jesus into every movie they see; he's already there. Archetypes are often used continuosly in creative ventures--The tough guy who is really a teddy bear, the woman who seems nice but is a seductress, and, the man who sacrifices himself for others. In this case, the validity of religion isn't even important--just the fact that it is valid for so many people, and is integrated into their psyches, a key place where creativity wells forth.>
Personally, I like the somewhat silly Superman 2 with the three Kryptonian villains (though I fast forward through some parts). Superman is just a nice guy who loves a girl and saves the world. It's just a romantic comedy mixed with comic book battles. These reviews make the new film sound like a somber 'Narnia'-type fantasy. I'm less likely to see it now.>
kwind,
Christians put Christ into every movie because it justifies their overarching need to dominate other religions and "prove" the viability of their own.
Sometimes a story is just a story.>
You have a point. Even the movie trailers were described as a 'second coming' by Entertainment Weekly. Superheroes are interesting when they're like the Greek gods and heroes with feet of clay (like many of the Marvel comics characters). But Superman is so powerful he comes closer to the Christian ideal of all-powerful messiah, emphasizing the super-strong Christ figure instead of the suffering deity. But couldn't he just be a powerful 'mensch' (proper term?) from the Jewish perspective? But again, the reviews make it sound overtly Christian. Superman the movie and Superman 2 may have touched on those messianic themes, but they were offset by the comedy. Bryan Singer didn't get much comedy into those X-men movies.>
Maybe it's noteworthy that Superman's creators (Seigal and Shuster) were Jewish.>
I don't think the original creators of Superman the comic strip at all envisioned Christ-Jesus parallels in a motion picture.
IMHO>
Well, like I said, they were Jewish, so of course they wouldn't. But belief in a messiah who comes to put things right is a very Jewish concept. I think Superman may appeal to Christians because of their own notions of a messiah (in Jesus). But I guess all that is beside the point. I just like to think of Superman as a hero who romances Lois. (Or in the case of Smallville, Lana Lang. By the way, Smallville is a great version of Superman that portrays him as very human.)>
It's easier to see Superman as a Christ figure when the director paints him as such. I don't know how else to decipher the image near the end of the movie, when Superman marters himself then falls to Earth in a Christ on the cross pose. If you don't want to infer such stuff, don't use such blatent imagery.>
Funny....I just saw this movie with my 8 year old son. I recall seeing the 1977 (or was it '78?) version in theatres when I was about his age. This current movie borrowed moderately from that version....especially a lot of the dialog. As a devout Christian, of course I noticed the "imagery." Was it done in an irreverent way? No. Did I shout Hallelujah in the theatre? No. Quite frankly, a lot of that imagery and dialog (that had religious overtones) are in the 1977 movie as well. I can only suggest to all it was a great movie, great special effects. To the Christians, don't read too much into it, and to the non-Christians the same, no need to be "jumpy" or insulted by certain overtones that are clearly there. Sheesh guys, it's just a movie. Hmmmm, I wonder if I'll see any deeper meaning or hidden codes if I see "Cars"..... ;-)>
Post a Comment
By submitting these comments, I agree to the beliefnet.com terms of service, rules of conduct and privacy policy (the "agreements"). I understand and agree that any content I post is licensed to beliefnet.com and may be used by beliefnet.com in accordance with the agreements.