Don't ask me why, but once or twice every month I feel the need to vent about why I hate Superman. I've moved on from the obvious discussion of the implausibility of his powers (super strength, super hearing, super vision, super cold breath, super speed, flight, invulnerability, x-ray vision, and even super ventriloqusim!); whether he can have sex with a human woman (see Lary Niven's "Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex"); why no can tell that he looks exactly like Clark Kent (which you would think an office full of investigative journalist and/or Lex Luthor would be able to do); and the whole Superman as a Christ figure(only begotten son sent to save the world, yada, yada, yada), to more involved issues -- like why he keeps up the whole "Clark Kent intreped reporter" facade to begin with.
While Superman gets his jollies off everyday play acting as Clark Kent, he willingly lets untold numbers of tragedies go by (I say willingly, because he knows they're going on because of his super senses and because of the AP wire at the Daily Planet). The most common explanation for the Clark Kent ruse is that it's necessary in order to protect his friends. Of course if there wasn't any Clark Kent, then there wouldn't be any friends to protect in the first place ... in other words, it's Clark Kent that's placing people in harms way, not Superman. The only explanation that makes sense to me is that he stays Clark Kent because he was raised as Clark Kent, which, in my mind, raises some serious questions about the way Jonathan and Martha Kent raised Kal-El -- Were they rasing Kal as a human for his own safety, or were they raising Kal as a human for their own selfish desires to have their very own "normal" baby boy? And even if he was raised as Clark Kent, can't he see the danger he's putting everyone in by remaining as Clark Kent? Isn't he just playing with fire, hoping that none of his super-powered enemies discovers that he's Clark Kent and go after Lois, Perry or poor Jimmy Olsen? Isn't he just a selfish, self-involved jerk that puts his own needs and desires above those of everyone else?
I hate Superman.
While Superman gets his jollies off everyday play acting as Clark Kent, he willingly lets untold numbers of tragedies go by (I say willingly, because he knows they're going on because of his super senses and because of the AP wire at the Daily Planet). The most common explanation for the Clark Kent ruse is that it's necessary in order to protect his friends. Of course if there wasn't any Clark Kent, then there wouldn't be any friends to protect in the first place ... in other words, it's Clark Kent that's placing people in harms way, not Superman. The only explanation that makes sense to me is that he stays Clark Kent because he was raised as Clark Kent, which, in my mind, raises some serious questions about the way Jonathan and Martha Kent raised Kal-El -- Were they rasing Kal as a human for his own safety, or were they raising Kal as a human for their own selfish desires to have their very own "normal" baby boy? And even if he was raised as Clark Kent, can't he see the danger he's putting everyone in by remaining as Clark Kent? Isn't he just playing with fire, hoping that none of his super-powered enemies discovers that he's Clark Kent and go after Lois, Perry or poor Jimmy Olsen? Isn't he just a selfish, self-involved jerk that puts his own needs and desires above those of everyone else?
I hate Superman.