Skip to main content

Is Superman an American Character?

Superman represents America. He is the ultimate American character. He is an example of what America and the American dream is. He started with nothing and became successful, which was the opportunity that so many immigrants saw in the 1920's and 1930's that coined the term "American Dream". Superman is what you immediately think of when you think superhero. He even wears the American colors as part of his uniform. He is as American as it gets.
I think the part that people don't see immediately about Superman is that he seemingly always fits in with American trends, culture, and the times. Part of American culture is to keep up with the times in a continuously changing society, and Superman does that perfectly.
Another major part of Superman that makes him an American character is his background. His human form, Clark Kent, is what makes him even more American. Kent was born to middle class parents that lived in the heartland of America. They led an honest life with wholesome values. The family that the authors paint for Superman is the classic old time American family. It doesn't get any more American than his Superman and his family.
The authors of Superman is also another reason why he is an American Character. The two jewish immigrants who created Superman were chasing the American Dream, and consequently when they created Superman they put alot of those thoughts into their character.
So is Superman an American character? Yes, Superman is the representation of what an American character should be.

Comments

J Chambliss said…
Is Superman is an American character, why is he so popular around the world?

Popular posts from this blog

Mythology and Superheroes in Comics

Ohhh my goodness... When I decided on trying to analyze the mythological origins and references in superhero comics, I had no idea the can of worms I was opening up... On the one hand, it was awesome to see just how many connections there were between superheroes and psychology/mythology/philosophy, but all the information also made it terribly difficult to distinguish what I should be using and how to tie it all together. When I was talking to one of my sorority sisters about it she said, "Oh yeah, well, research essays are kind of like putting together puzzles..." and I think that really sums up what writing this paper was like for me. Fortunately, I was really interested throughout the whole process and I very much enjoyed writing the paper. Being a psychology major, I was especially interested in reading about the Jungian archetypes that had a lot of parallels with major modern comic books superheroes. I was also able to incorporate Joseph Campbell's "hero cycle...

Why blame comics for societal failure?

Why blame comics for societal failure? Society blamed comics for the societal failures because it was a fairly new industry, and as things seemed to go “wrong” they figured it must be comic books. When a child grew up during the war, his father was probably killing people and the military and his mother was probably making things in factories to help kill the opposition. The only things kids had to “babysit” them was comic books, and they read many different kinds. So when kids starting acting differently in this new generation the figured it must be the comic books. Society didn’t want to believe it may have been the internal and external scars war causes on the soldiers and their families. Also the fact that young unattended children are reading these comics may not be able to differentiate between fantasy and reality. When society fails it always needs a scapegoat then it was comic books next it was rock and roll. Society naturally resist change.

#FUTURES: Tomorrow Idris Elba will be the Last Man Standing

There is some bad buzz around Pacific Rim on the web. I suspect the possibility of a giant robot movie being awesome is too much for some people.  The internet is full of dark corners, but until we see the movie we won't know the box office.  What we can tell right now is that Idris Elba is doing his part to make the movie a success. A standout performer, Elba has made a name for himself in countless productions .  He achieve wide recognition for his turn on the big screen in films such as Thor and on the small screen in the BBC's Luther . Of course, the open question about actors of color in any film is whether not they will help or hurt the box office.  Will Smith recent disappointment with After Earth opens the door for this conversation. His lack of success sparks the question who will be the next "bankable" star of color. There can be only one! See what I did there:-)  These sentiments reflect a Hollywood centric approach that ignores Nolly...