Do US citizenship rules apply to non-human lifeforms? I mean, are, say , monkeys born in the DC Zoo American citizens? I think not.
So there’s a right-wing guy in my office with this portion of the Superman comic on his door. Is he just not getting it?
This seems like an overdo kind of change. It never really made sense that a fucking space alien would have such a provincial world-view.
Some people feel that everything they don’t like is part of a vast monolithic conspiracy.
PC=liberalism=socialism=the Democrats=communism=Muslims=Nazis=hippies=gays=foreigners=rap music=the Government=Hollywood=Mexicans=feminists. They’re all the same.
My favorite part of the criticism is how clear it is that those complaining haven’t read a Superman comic in decades, if ever. Superman has been dealing with real-world political issues (well, usually proxies for them; e.g. “Qurac”) for years and years.
Speaking as someone who actually reads the Superman titles, my reaction was : “Huh. Well, that kinda makes sense. Let’s see where they go with it.”
I was completely baffled today to see that a bunch of right-wing nutjobs in the news had apparently decided this was a big deal.
I kind of get it. Supes generally doesn’t want to wade into every mess and right every wrong if people can get on with it by themselves. He doesn’t want to be god-king of earth, but neither will he stand by when something threatens the planet or wherever he happens to be either. Politics though, is sticky, never ending, and dependent upon the people to enforce. If he’s a citizen of earth, rather than any one country, he can only be seen as acting on his own.
The problem specifically was that people were assuming that it was an act of the American government, rather than him acting on behalf of himself. The point of it was to try and make it so that Superman intervening in the middle of a protest isn’t America intervening in the middle of a protest, which does make a level of sense. Wouldn’t actually work, I would think - were I a fictional annoyed Iranian I suspect i’d call it a cheap tactic that doesn’t actually demolish the links between this alien and his nation.
Anyway, as to the overall thing, it makes sense to me. Truth and Justice are perfect ideals. The American way is not. Why pick a flawed ideal when you can aspire to and achieve better? I don’t know if this is an American exceptionalism kerfuffle, but it honestly doesn’t matter how good something is when you compare it to perfection; it is infinitely worse. I agree with Shodan about introducing current, real-life controversies into such comics, though.
…like how he fought the Nazis in WWII? Or against the Ku Klux Klan in the post-war era?
If you want to make this argument, you’re 70 years too late.
Close: it’s near the end of Superman II, and it’s because he’s helping to rebuild the White House, which the Phantom Zone villains (with some assistance from the US Military) left in ruins.
Anything not rabidly American exceptionalist is PC bullshit (and liberal commie atheist too. And sometimes Kenyan.)
This is exactly what I mean, and the same flaw then as now. The writers in 1941 came up with the lame excuse that the American fighting man didn’t need any help, darn it!
And they never mentioned the Klan at all. Because that would have been a crack in the reality they constructed just like mentioning the Iran protest.
Superman can’t take on real world problems, because it leads almost inevitably to the question “why isn’t he doing something effective?” So what if he used his X-ray vision accidentally during the eye exam and wound up 4-F - fly over to Germany and melt down the tanks with your heat vision. And thereby save millions of lives.
There are problems even Silver Age Superman could have tackled - establishing “Superman is in favor of racial equality during the 1950s” by having Supe battle the KKK would have been an incredibly bold as well as artistically possible approach - providing it happened in Smallville or Metropolis, and not in Mississippi. Because in Smallville “truth, justice and the American Way” are unambiguously valid. Not so in the real world, unless you are going to go all the way and really fight. And Superman is too powerful to have an excuse that he cannot do anything beyond protesting.
To be fair, one of the first experiences I had towards an awakening of racial equality and equal rights came about because of comic books. It was Marvel, and the experience was reading about the Black Panther. Because he was completely cool, and it didn’t make any difference at all that he was black, or that he shared a name with Bobby Seale’s organization - he was cool, and admirable, and an example of what a hero should be like.
But you can do that with the Black Panther, because his powers are limited. Nobody expected him to defeat racism single-handed the way the 1950s version of Superman could have done.
Regards,
Shodan
If you’re going to buy everything that bunches up the wingnuts’ panties, I hope you’ve got a lot of money.
Correct. Besides, there is a proper protocol for doing so (fine tuned after the Lozada and Mari Bras cases from about 10 years ago; look at the last update in this Straight Dope page.), including that it be done in writing before a consular official and that the citizen must manifest by both words and deeds his intention to assume allegiance of some other recognized sovereign, not “the World”. But of course, the US citizenship of the extraterrestrial humanoid entity known as “Superman” would have been an oddball exception granted by governmental fiat to begin with anyway, rather than by the regular naturalization process so it could conceivably be revoked for cause.(unlike Clark Kent’s, who as earlier mentioned, is presumed a citizen as a a foundling of unknown parentage)
Now, we could say that the point he wanted to make was that he was not to be presumed an agent of the US government or a representative of the American nation, he could always just publicly renounce any such association and declare himself a private citizen. But the way Supes’ mind works, that would still require him to break laws and regulations and disobey lawful orders if he, for instance, intervenes somewhere where the US would rather he didn’t; and he knows that PR-wise, world opinion has a hard time believing an American isn’t responding to what the US government is up to. So rather than be a rebel subject of the US government, the entity “Superman” declares himself individually independent (and of course HE CAN do it; bite it, John Galt) so the US can’t be claimed to exercise extraterritorial jurisdiction upon him.
I’m curious to know how you think Superman could defeat racism, [del]an almost universal[/del] a widespread human failing. This is akin to saying Superman could defeat fear of heights or poor reading for comprehension.
I dont understand your post. Are you aware that Supes did fight the Klan on the radio show? Or, are you arguing that, since the Klan wasnt named as such (but it was quite transparent) he didnt really battle real life political foes?
Superman did take on the Klan in the radio show.
Thanx for sharing the latest Faux News manufactured Outrage Of the Week! courtesy of “activist” Angie Meyer.
Renounced his American citizenship?!?
TRAITOR!!!
I say we take this motherfucker out back and shoot him!!
You should have read the articles when Batman took a second generation French Algerian as the Batman of Paris, Nightrunner
( http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2011/01/batmans_french_muslim_ally_angers_us_bloggers.php ).