Every culture throughout history has had its distinct mythological hero. The Greeks had Heracles (Hercules), the son of a god who lived amongst us mortals and protected us from monsters. The Hindus have characters like prince Rama and Hanuman. For us Americans, our heroes aren’t derived from Holy Scripture but from comic books, proudly. Of course, we don’t actually believe they really exist, but we do believe in their character. And whether you’re a fan of his mythology or not, Superman is the quintessential American superhero.
Superman, or Kal-El, is steeped in American culture. He’s an immigrant trying constantly to balance his native behavior with the culture of his new, adopted world. He acts always in the interests of Freedom but often ends up causing more harm than good. Superman represents the American Ideal, but unfortunately not the American reality.
Superman represents faith in humanity against all odds. Superman’s Kryptonian father, Jor, in the film "Man of Steel" says to his son, “You will give the people an ideal to strive towards. They will race behind you. They will stumble. They will fall. But in time, they will join you in the sun. In time, you will help them accomplish wonders,” and I think that line perfectly sums up the Superman.
Superman is everything Americans try to value.
Superman is respect for truth and integrity. Consideration for diversity and respect to foreigners. Defense of the defenseless and humanity to enemies. Superman is neither conservative nor liberal but simply a friend to humanity.
Before anyone reading this starts to get at all patriotic, remember that these virtues and ideals are in NO WAY uniquely American. Most, if not all, cultures around the world value these things. It’s simply that Superman brings it to us in a distinctly American style. His kind of “wing it” mentality and lack of foresight is maybe the only thing that’s true about virtually all Americans. More into the Mythology itself, Superman has had a huge impact on our culture. We use terms like Kryptonite and use references like “It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s……whatever,” every day.
Now, I understand that a lot of people find the character boring on account of his near invulnerability. But calling him boring for being too powerful is like criticizing light for not being a shadow. It’s in his absoluteness that he becomes wondrously rare. The Batmans of mythology are only interesting because you can compare them to Superman. It is in that regard that the existence of Superman in modern mythology is not only fascinating but also crucial to the way we view lesser heroes. Love him or hate him, you should respect his influence on American mythology.
