Super...MAN???

(Before I begin this post let me assure you, I am aware that Kirk Alyn played the first Superman, in the movies, which was filmed in 1948. He even appeared, briefly, in the 1978 version of Superman, but not as the title character. Just so you know! HA!)

I was walking past my TV, yesterday, when I happened to spy an ad for the new movie about the mythical character “Superman”. I stopped to watch for a few seconds. Long enough for me to determine the actor was a male. At least, I think so!

I was at first stunned to see the effeminate looking male dressed in a Superman outfit. My first thought was… where are the muscles? Then, I thought, this guy is too pretty! Then, I moved on.

Later, I began to think back over the years to the various incarnations of Superman for the big screen and the little screen. It occurred to me that one can actually tell a good bit about the decline of American society by observing the different portrayals of the character Superman in the particular decade in which the movie, or TV series, was made.

For instance, back in the fifties when the first Superman hit the little TV screen, George Reeves’ portrayal of Superman was that of a tough, no nonsense, very politically incorrect, very strong guy, who reacted to the bad guys with typical American male… well, “maleness”. I mean… the guy would smack the bad guys around with little thought, or sensitivity, if you will, about why the poor bad guys did what they did. He didn’t seem the least bit concerned that the bad guys mom may have been something less than a saint and may have treated the poor little “Johnny” Bad Guy, well, badly.

You see, back in the fifties, bad was bad and good was good… period! It was easy to tell the bad guys from the food guys. The "Bad Guys" were the ones being bad, see.

Then we hop, skip, and jump to 1978 and the next Superman, Christopher Reeves. WAaaaY too good looking for a tough guy! Why, Reeves was so good looking it was just too, too, tough to find a female co-star to match his handsome screen persona. And that’s as far as I intend to go with that line of thought... except to say it was the "era of feminism" and it seems to me a good looking woman would not fit the mold of the “tough feminist news reporter babe”. Whoops, sorry about “babe”, there. Sometimes, even I slip!

Even at that point in our history the castration of men, by the feminist, had begun, so the character had to suffer, you see. He had to lose his powers, for a time, and wander in the vast wasteland of all the psychological troubles in his past life.

Once the moviegoers got over the ability of Superman to fly, uh, that is, without us seeing the wires, the movies began to slip, quickly, down hill. Nevertheless, it did reflect American society’s decaying morals and the confusion, especially among men of that era, as to who, exactly, they were. It pointed the way for those of the "American male persuasion" to get in touch with their feminine side. Whether we wanted to… or not!

And then there was the second TV series titled: “Lois and Clark”, not to be confused with Louis and Clark… Not even casually! Dean Cain portrayed the character of Superman. This series played for four years and was cancelled in 1997. There isn’t really a lot more to say. It was THAT bad!

America had reached the era in which our society was so ill educated that a TV show, with any substance, was found to be boring, and only for eggheads, and so, Lois and Clark was a BIG hit. It was about, well, nothing! Men tuned in to ogle Teri Hatcher, who portrayed Lois Lane, and a ditzy Lois at that. Male viewers didn’t give a hoot what she said, anyway, they were too busy looking and fantasizing!

How about Cain’s portrayal? Dean… who? I mean, come on folks, this was a T and A show. “Super guy” was just there to point to Hatcher!

So we arrive at the latest offering. Brandon Routh has the title role.
Of course, I haven’t seen it and probably won’t see it. However, I was struck by the physical appearance of the young man in the title role. Is that what women want? Or, is that what GIRLS want?

Anyway, I think it tells us something about the state of American society when your super hero looks like a super woman. I mean, come on, the guy is pretty! No man wants to be pretty! I have no idea as to the acting skills of the actor, himself. I actually know very little about movies, which should be obvious… if you have read this far.

I just struck me that the “new” Superman does not reflect what my generation thinks of as “a Man”. And most definitely not a Superman! Super boy? Even that is a stretch!

And that is the point of all this rambling. Young men need men as role models, not boys acting as men, or boys whose physical appearance makes it difficult to define their gender.

But… that’s where we are in today’s American society. We are sadly short on REAL men! And Hollywood isn’t helping at all!

Longstreet