# Imagining Superman in today’s social media society **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 25, 2022, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imagining-superman-in-today-s-social-media-society/963389 "2022-04-25T01:01:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Noelq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noelq/32/16438_2.png) [@Noelq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noelq)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imagining-superman-in-today-s-social-media-society/963389/21 "2022-04-25T18:38:21Z")
IMHO, Clark Kent took that job back in the 50’s because that’s the place that usually got information about world events and crisis first. The newsroom would hear about the tidal wave in Iceland before Clark could, so he’d get the information in the newsroom, then rush off to fix it. Nowadays, he’d just be able to have a Twitter subscription to hear about world events. Him having a job was also to keep himself grounded, and be in touch with the common man. If all you are doing is flying about, saving people, you would soon lose touch with what is going on. And yes, money is never an issue - LOTS of pirate gold out there, just waiting to be recovered from the Marianas trench. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imagining-superman-in-today-s-social-media-society/963389/22 "2022-04-25T18:48:50Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > But I can see him getting tied up in litigation all the time. How about the collateral damage of all those fights? “You Honor, if “superman” had just left well enough alone, that supervillain in the armored exoskeleton would have just robbed the bank, and left. Instead, “superman” grabbed him and threw him through 5 city blocks worth of buildings, directly causing the complete destruction of over 200 homes and businesses!” ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imagining-superman-in-today-s-social-media-society/963389/23 "2022-04-25T18:52:13Z")
Last year DC changed his motto to “Truth, Justice, and a Better Tomorrow”. So, yeah. ---
**Author:** ![De\_La\_Rue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@De\_La\_Rue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/De_La_Rue)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imagining-superman-in-today-s-social-media-society/963389/24 "2022-04-25T19:11:24Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > There are no phone booths to change identitites anymore, Superman is no longer possible. [The Superman Homepage](https://www.supermanhomepage.com/other/other.php?topic=phonebooth) notes that the phone booth change rarely happened over the first forty years of Superman’s existence, and ultimately stems from the 1941 Fleischer cartoons. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imagining-superman-in-today-s-social-media-society/963389/25 "2022-04-25T19:35:07Z")
Oh, dear! And I see that I have more serious spelling issues than I thought. Nice page, that is something to get lost in. Don’t know when I’ll be back. ---
**Author:** ![Joeu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/joeu/32/2911_2.png) [@Joeu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joeu)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imagining-superman-in-today-s-social-media-society/963389/26 "2022-04-25T19:42:50Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > We’re talking about a guy who can take a bag of charcoal briquettes and turn it into a Tiffany’s. He doesn’t need the money, he works because he likes the human connection. > Hey Bob, Supe had a straight job > Even though he coulda smashed through > Any bank in the United States > He had the strength but he would not [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/EeyhKWjQaKk/maxresdefault.jpg "Crash Test Dummies - Superman's Song (Official Video)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeyhKWjQaKk) ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imagining-superman-in-today-s-social-media-society/963389/27 "2022-04-25T19:43:20Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > “You Honor, if “superman” had just left well enough alone, that supervillain in the armored exoskeleton would have just robbed the bank, and left. Instead, “superman” grabbed him and threw him through 5 city blocks worth of buildings, directly causing the complete destruction of over 200 homes and businesses!” You’ve just described the first half of _Hancock._ It was all about an unlikable and selfish superman analog. “Collateral damage is my middle name. And I don’t have a first name.” ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2022, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imagining-superman-in-today-s-social-media-society/963389/28 "2022-04-26T12:04:34Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > You’ve just described the first half of _Hancock_ And “The Incredibles.” ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2022, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imagining-superman-in-today-s-social-media-society/963389/29 "2022-04-26T13:48:12Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > There are no phone booths to change identitites anymore, Superman is no longer possible. This was addressed in the first Christopher Reeve movie - a quick visual gag in which Clark seems to do a double-take at a phone “booth” (just a phone on a pole, with some sort of barrier on either side of the phone). I don’t recall what he did instead. As far as right to work in the US, that’s a good question. He’s a foundling who was basically dropped off at the Kent’s doorstep. Wouldn’t such a baby be picked up by Child Protective Services as abandoned, and placed in a foster home situation? The Kent’s wouldn’t have been preapproved as foster parents, and even though they might well request to be the baby’s foster parents, there’s no guarantee of it. Clark Kent might well have turned out to be George Jones. I expect, though, that there’d be some kind of assumption of legality once he was formally adopted, by someone. ---
**Author:** ![Bonum\_Legatum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bonum_legatum/32/6183_2.png) [@Bonum\_Legatum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bonum_Legatum)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2022, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imagining-superman-in-today-s-social-media-society/963389/30 "2022-04-26T13:52:43Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > This was addressed in the first Christopher Reeve movie - a quick visual gag in which Clark seems to do a double-take at a phone “booth” (just a phone on a pole, with some sort of barrier on either side of the phone). I don’t recall what he did instead. One of my favorite scenes from that movie. Clark Kent ran to a building’s revolving door (no one else in it of course), the door started spinning faster than the eye could follow, and Superman emerged. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2022, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imagining-superman-in-today-s-social-media-society/963389/31 "2022-04-26T14:07:20Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > As far as right to work in the US, that’s a good question. He’s a foundling who was basically dropped off at the Kent’s doorstep. Wouldn’t such a baby be picked up by Child Protective Services as abandoned, and placed in a foster home situation? The Kent’s wouldn’t have been preapproved as foster parents, and even though they might well request to be the baby’s foster parents, there’s no guarantee of it. Clark Kent might well have turned out to be George Jones. When John Byrne retconned the franchise in the mid-1980s, he had Jor-El and Lara launch a rocket containing an embryo. The fetus gestated during the spaceflight, and the baby technically wasn’t “born” until after the ship landed in Kansas. He then had the Kent farm get socked in by a blizzard for a couple of months, so when they rejoined civilization, they could claim that the baby was theirs without arousing suspicion. So the neighbors and the authorities never knew that Clarke was not theirs. Personally, I think it’s more fun to think of the Kents wrestling with the CPS bureaucracy. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2022, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imagining-superman-in-today-s-social-media-society/963389/32 "2022-04-26T14:13:21Z")
> [@Noelq](#): > > And yes, money is never an issue - LOTS of pirate gold out there, just waiting to be recovered from the Marianas trench. 🙂 Yeah, but then you gotta deal with Aquaman and it’s a whole thing… ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2022, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imagining-superman-in-today-s-social-media-society/963389/33 "2022-04-26T14:16:39Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > Yeah, but then you gotta deal with Aquaman and it’s a whole thing… Naw, he’s too busy on Twitter [defending himself against allegations of inappropriate relationships with certain fish](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZGQHJzo2vQ). ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2022, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imagining-superman-in-today-s-social-media-society/963389/34 "2022-04-26T14:59:40Z")
Wow, great use of bleeps to censor. Couldn’t make out at all what they were saying! 🤣 ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2022, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imagining-superman-in-today-s-social-media-society/963389/35 "2022-04-26T16:27:24Z")
In Smallville, the Kents forged some paperwork with the assistance of Lionel Luthor (Lex’s dad) to get the adoption legalized. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2022, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imagining-superman-in-today-s-social-media-society/963389/36 "2022-04-27T00:04:45Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > As far as right to work in the US, that’s a good question. He’s a foundling who was basically dropped off at the Kent’s doorstep. Wouldn’t such a baby be picked up by Child Protective Services as abandoned, and placed in a foster home situation? The Kent’s wouldn’t have been preapproved as foster parents, and even though they might well request to be the baby’s foster parents, there’s no guarantee of it. Clark Kent might well have turned out to be George Jones. In some versions of the story, they just passed him off as their own (there was a coveniently-timed harsh winter with little visiting, that masked Martha’s lack of pregnancy). In other versions, they dutifully took him to the local orphanage and requested to adopt him, and were approved through the normal paperwork process. They wouldn’t be guaranteed to be approved, but in the event, they were approved. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imagining-superman-in-today-s-social-media-society/963389/37 "2022-04-28T10:34:35Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > How the heck did he get rid of them? X-Ray Vision + Superspeed makes it possible for him to span the whole globe in an eyeblink. After the initial “because I said so” recall, having the holdouts suddenly missing their guns (maybe replaced with a little card that says “In Future, Do As You’re Told!”) would do wonders to keep people in line. That, plus he can also close down all the factories. In an _Injustice_-type world, of course he could do the same but with less of the leaving-a-card, more of the popping-your-head-off type vibe. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imagining-superman-in-today-s-social-media-society/963389/38 "2022-04-28T11:06:19Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > Both the comic and the show “The Boys” are basically all about this, as well as Watchman to an extent (though it predated any and all internet media). > > Basically Superheros would be all government/corporate sponsored and the most media friendly people you could imagine. Anyone who doesn’t fit into that mold or fall into line would be quietly either shunned or eliminated. Unless they didn’t want to be, like Team Captain America in “Civil War”. I suspect Superman would prefer to not work under any government or corporation. Superman would also have to hope modern facial recognition software is as stymied by eyeglasses as Lois Lane is. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imagining-superman-in-today-s-social-media-society/963389/39 "2022-04-28T16:45:54Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > I suspect Superman would prefer to not work under any government or corporation. There’s actually an undercurrent of that in the new Superman and Lois TV show. Superman is willing to work with the US government, but he makes it clear that he doesn’t take orders from them. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imagining-superman-in-today-s-social-media-society/963389/40 "2022-04-28T16:49:09Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > I suspect Superman would prefer to not work under any government or corporation. Frank Miller would disagree. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imagining-superman-in-today-s-social-media-society/963389.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imagining-superman-in-today-s-social-media-society/963389.md?page=3)