A Liberal Dose
“Superman and the
Meaning of Truth, Justice, and the American Way”
Troy D. Smith
This week I’m going to talk about something near and dear to
my heart -comic books and comic book heroes. Anyone who know me knows I have
been a comics nerd my whole life. I teach a class at Tech on the history of
comics, and last year Mississippi University Press published my book on race
and the history of comics, “Shaolin Brew”. So, of course, I am excited about
the new Superman movie.
One of my fondest childhood memories is seeing the 1978
Christopher Reeves Superman movie at the Sparta Drive-In. Reeves was the
quintessential Man of Steel. Like a lot of fans, I was not impressed with Zack
Snyder’s more recent film versions, starring Henry Cavill, because it didn’t
FEEL like Superman. It was darker, more pessimistic, and Superman himself
killed people and paid little attention to the damage and danger to civilians
his fights caused. The Superman most of us grew up with was nicknamed The Big
Blue Boy Scout, and STOOD for something: Truth, Justice, and the American Way
(which we all understood to mean equality and fair play). He was aspirational.
Although their powers are different, DC’s Superman and Marvel’s Captain America
have one thing in common (besides their color scheme): their real power was
their intrinsic goodness, their kindness, their inspirational attitude, their
strict code of ethics. James Gunn’s new Superman has captured this once more,
and made it the heart of the film.
And… Superman is an immigrant (and not a legal one). Gunn
has referenced this in interviews… and the MAGAsphere has (predictably) gone
nuts. “When did Superman go woke!” some are saying (just as some say “when did
Star Trek go woke!”) And the answer, of course -in both cases -is FROM THE VERY
BEGINNING. Superman debuted in 1938, and in those early years he did not fight
aliens or supervillains. He fought corrupt politicians, organized crime,
slumlords, and evil industrialists who cheated their workers. So did most of
those earliest superheroes. In 1946, in a sixteen-part storyline of his radio
show, Superman took on the Ku Klux Klan (at the time trying to make a comeback
from their decline 20 years earlier), exposing their methods and evil to a
national audience (and curtailing their attempt at a resurgence).
Starting in the 1950s, DC ran house ads in their books that
were public service announcements, often made by Superman. Here is the text of
one:
“And remember, boys and girls, your school -like our country
-is made up of Americans of MANY different races, religions, and national
origins, so… if YOU hear anyone talk against a schoolmate or anyone else
because of his religion, race, or national origin -don’t wait: tell him THAT
KIND OF TALK IS UN-AMERICAN.”
THAT is the Superman we grew up with. A character created by
two young men who were the sons of Jewish immigrants. As, in fact, most of the
early 1930s/1940s superheroes were, including Batman and Captain America. As
was Will Eisner, creator of The Spirit and one of the greatest comics artists
of all time, a title for which he is rivaled by Jack Kirby (born Jacob
Kurtzburg to Jewish immigrant parents). As was Max Gaines, who created the
comic book as an art form. And have you ever heard of Stan Lee? Real name:
Stanley Lieber, son of Romanian Jewish immigrants.
These Jewish writers and artists knew about oppression.
Their parents had fled it in Europe, and suffered it anew from the KKK in the
1920s when these guys were young kids. They understood the appeal of an
aspirational hero who stands up for the little guy, for the oppressed, for the
victimized. Who stood against oppression, even when the laws allowed it. Who
stood AGAINST corruption in high places, not in SUPPORT of it. Think about the
origin story of Superman, then think of Moses… saved as an infant from destruction
by being sent forth by his parents in a small vessel, found by people of
another race who raised him as their own, but who eventually realized he had to
stand up for what is right and embrace his true identity, not the one provided
to him… think on that, and realize just how Jewish the story of Superman
actually is.
But many on the far right want to erase that version of
Superman, and instead make him a cold agent of the establishment with no
“wokeness” about him. The same way they want to change how history is learned
and taught, to make it align with their own radical and racist agenda (try
denying that, and then explain why every picture and exhibit in our military
museums that does not show white males was taken down after Trump took office
and why books about Rosa Parks and Jackie Robinson are being removed from school
libraries). And they are now defining “wokeness” not just as positive attention
given to women and minorities… but to the very concepts of KINDNESS and
FAIRNESS.
In other words, they have declared war on truth, justice,
and the (true) American Way.
I’ll quote another of those 1950s Superman ads, in which a
white man assumed the white kid had acted heroically when it was actually his
black friend who had, to which Superman said: “Because of his color?...You just
jumped to a conclusion because of a common prejudice!”, a mistake people make
“mostly because they have forgotten an elementary truth! That people are
people, and should be judged as such, regardless of color or beliefs!”
I stand with the Man of Steel… not the un-American Man of
Steal.
P.S. -a chapter of Young Democrats has formed in White
County. If you are under 36 and interested, give me a holler and I’ll hook you
up with them.
--Troy D.
Smith, a White County native, is a novelist and a history professor at
Tennessee Tech and serves on the executive committee of the Tennessee
Democratic Party. His words do not necessarily represent TTU.
Buy the book A Liberal Dose: Communiques from the Holler by Troy D. Smith HERE
You can find all previous entries in this weekly column HERE
A list of other historical essays that have appeared on this blog can be found HERE
Author's website: www.troyduanesmith.com
