# Of Man And Superman **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 24, 2014, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-man-and-superman/686894 "2014-04-24T21:24:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-man-and-superman/686894/21 "2014-04-25T16:24:20Z")
Where did all this “Zod vs. Superman megafight that destroys New York” stuff come from? In this scenario there is us and there is Kent Clark, period. ---
**Author:** ![SirGalahad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/71c47a/32.png) [@SirGalahad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirGalahad)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-man-and-superman/686894/22 "2014-04-25T16:50:38Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Where did all this “Zod vs. Superman megafight that destroys New York” stuff come from? In this scenario there is us and there is Kent Clark, period. > [@D\_Odds](#): > > If he’s the true-blue boy scout Superman is, he’s spending every second in court defending against mostly frivolous lawsuits. > . > [@msmith537](#): > > “Frivolous”? Did you watch the last 30 minutes of Man of Steel? His battle with Zod was like a “9/11” happening every 6 seconds. > “Thanks for ‘saving’ Metropolis…dick.” \ Submitted for your approval. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-man-and-superman/686894/23 "2014-04-25T17:02:56Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > “Frivolous”? Did you watch the last 30 minutes of Man of Steel? His battle with Zod was like a “9/11” happening every 6 seconds. > “Thanks for ‘saving’ Metropolis…dick.” Frivolous. Everyone will expect a Superman to be their personal guardian, and when he doesn’t come through and their cat gets killed by the neighbors schnauzer or the neighbor’s kid scratches their car, they will sue. And it will happen often. Having good legal standing is not a hurdle lawsuits need. All they need to do is to make it cheaper to settle than to fight. Wildfires in California? Superman should have stopped them. If he doesn’t, sue. Landslides in Washington? Superman should have stopped them. If he doesn’t, sue. Tsunami in Japan…Earthquake in Chile… And if he is the boy scout version, he’ll respond. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-man-and-superman/686894/24 "2014-04-25T17:08:22Z")
> [@D\_Odds](#): > > Frivolous. > > Everyone will expect a Superman to be their personal guardian, and when he doesn’t come through and their cat gets killed by the neighbors schnauzer or the neighbor’s kid scratches their car, they will sue. And it will happen often. Having good legal standing is not a hurdle lawsuits need. All they need to do is to make it cheaper to settle than to fight. > > Wildfires in California? Superman should have stopped them. If he doesn’t, sue. > Landslides in Washington? Superman should have stopped them. If he doesn’t, sue. > Tsunami in Japan…Earthquake in Chile… > > And if he is the boy scout version, he’ll respond. He will either ignore these suits for the greater good as he sees it, or he will pay off the suits with ease. He can find lost treasure with ease, locate raw precious metals with ease and create diamonds. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-man-and-superman/686894/25 "2014-04-25T17:27:47Z")
> [@D\_Odds](#): > > Frivolous. > > Everyone will expect a Superman to be their personal guardian, and when he doesn’t come through and their cat gets killed by the neighbors schnauzer or the neighbor’s kid scratches their car, they will sue. And it will happen often. Having good legal standing is not a hurdle lawsuits need. All they need to do is to make it cheaper to settle than to fight. > > Wildfires in California? Superman should have stopped them. If he doesn’t, sue. > Landslides in Washington? Superman should have stopped them. If he doesn’t, sue. > Tsunami in Japan…Earthquake in Chile… > > And if he is the boy scout version, he’ll respond. He can’t be sued for things he didn’t do. There would be greedy people who try to sue him for frivolous things, but if he’s truly a good guy the public and media would ridicule and vilify everyone who tried. All he has to do is save a busload of kids from a collapsed bridge or something and he’s gold. He just needs to stay away from politics. If he took a progressive or liberal stance on something, conservatives would pass laws against him. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-man-and-superman/686894/26 "2014-04-25T22:25:18Z")
Well in Superman 4, Quest for Peace, Superman removes all the nuclear devices of the world. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-man-and-superman/686894/27 "2014-04-25T22:49:17Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > He can’t be sued for things he didn’t do. There would be greedy people who try to sue him for frivolous things, but if he’s truly a good guy the public and media would ridicule and vilify everyone who tried. All he has to do is save a busload of kids from a collapsed bridge or something and he’s gold. He just needs to stay away from politics. If he took a progressive or liberal stance on something, conservatives would pass laws against him. After a number of frivolous lawsuits, the courts would probably raise the bar. This is what happens in real life when a whole spate of frivolous lawsuits pop up. If Exxon could weather the Exxon Valdez affair without being destroyed by individual lawsuits, Superman certainly could. Most people are smart enough to know that he can’t save everyone. re government “crash programs” to find his vulnerability, no. That’s stupid. Sure, some military programs would be implemented, at a low level, with a few scientists as advisors. Hell, they studied “remote viewing” so there’s no surprise in them looking for Superman’s “Achilles’ Heel.” But a Manhattan Project? No way. And if a weapon were devised that could kill him – why would it be used immediately? No government on earth is wise enough to wait until he does something to deserve it? We haven’t even bombed Iran’s or North Korea’s nuclear weapons factories; why would we zap a guy who’s out there catching falling airliners and saving ships from capsizing? ---
**Author:** ![MrKnowItAll](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrknowitall/32/87_2.png) [@MrKnowItAll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrKnowItAll)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-man-and-superman/686894/28 "2014-04-25T23:12:27Z")
Because a single individual is unpredictable. A Superman-level powered single individual is also uncontrollable. Such a person could, at any time, decide that what you as a government want to do is wrong and put you out of commission. And finally, if you wait until he deserves it you would lose the opportunity to surprise him. Better to take him out when he’s not expecting it. Pre-emptive strike. No, as soon as a possible means to stop him was found, it would be tried. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-man-and-superman/686894/29 "2014-04-26T01:58:27Z")
Easy, you send him off to deep space to do exploration missions. Problem over ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-man-and-superman/686894/30 "2014-04-26T02:22:28Z")
> [@D\_Odds](#): > > Frivolous. > > Everyone will expect a Superman to be their personal guardian, and when he doesn’t come through and their cat gets killed by the neighbors schnauzer or the neighbor’s kid scratches their car, they will sue. And it will happen often. Having good legal standing is not a hurdle lawsuits need. All they need to do is to make it cheaper to settle than to fight. > > Wildfires in California? Superman should have stopped them. If he doesn’t, sue. > Landslides in Washington? Superman should have stopped them. If he doesn’t, sue. > Tsunami in Japan…Earthquake in Chile… > > And if he is the boy scout version, he’ll respond. Probably the biggest reason this wouldn’t happen is that Superman/Clark doesn’t have any money. He’s not Tony Stark or Bruce Wayne. He lives in what I assume is as expensive a city as New York on a journalist’s salary. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-man-and-superman/686894/31 "2014-04-26T14:29:17Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Scenario: A ship containing an alien baby lands in a cornfield owned by Jim and Penelope Clark, and they decide to secretly raise the little tyke. They call him “Kent” and somehow raise him to adulthood without any major incidents, despite the fact that over the years he acquired certain powers and abilities that equate to those of the fictional character “Superman”. He moves to New York to get a job to support himself and decides to put his abilities to good use helping others. At first he tries to keep it a secret, but stories spread and he finally decides to go public. > > What happens next? He leaves the United States, permanently, after about a year of dealing with the crap cited above. The world would be better served by his good works almost anywhere outside of the 1st-world nations, and most of them would be thrilled to have him, unlike the US/NYC. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-man-and-superman/686894/32 "2014-04-26T16:43:32Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Probably the biggest reason this wouldn’t happen is that Superman/Clark doesn’t have any money. He’s not Tony Stark or Bruce Wayne. He lives in what I assume is as expensive a city as New York on a journalist’s salary. As I said in post #24, he has access to all the funds he needs. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-man-and-superman/686894/33 "2014-04-26T20:46:04Z")
Just because Superman is a good guy doesn’t mean he would subject himself to the whim of every idiot. In Man of Steel he’s not supposed to knock Predator drones out of the sky either, but he does it. The only reason he submits to capture by the US military is because he’s testing humanity. Superman breaks out of his handcuffs when it suits him. So I think it’s silly to equate “good guy” with mindlessly submitting yourself to every absurd whim of the human justice system. Superman would do good things, but on his terms. And there’s nothing really anyone can do to stop him. Other than perhaps threaten Lois Lane or his mom, which tends to have predictably disastrous results. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-man-and-superman/686894.md?page=1)