Clark Kent is how Superman views us. And what are the characteristics of Clark Kent? He's weak ... He's unsure of himself ... He's a coward. Clark Kent is Superman's critique on the whole human race.

--Bill (David Carradine) in Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill"

Somewhere above the world, a man watches. He hears everything. He sees more than he wants to. He cannot die. He is not one of us and never will be. He is alone. He is Superman.

I've written before about the loneliness of Superman--not the loneliness of a man without a mate, but the existential isolation of a being who cannot break. A god among mortals who must pretend to be weaker than he is, not for strategy but for mercy. I've also written about my skepticism toward the character: the smugness, the perfection, the lack of struggle. But as we approach James Gunn's rebooted "Superman" in theaters July 11, I find myself re-engaging not just with the character but with what he has always represented: the American ideal, in tights and a cape.

Gunn's film, stripped of its original subtitle ("Legacy"), will open the first chapter of a new DC Universe that promises gods and monsters. Superman, as always, is both. Gunn has said this will be a film about reconciling alien heritage with human upbringing, about kindness in a world that considers it naive. It's a tall order, especially when we no longer agree on what strength means or what goodness costs. But the ambition is there, and so is the precedent.

The character of Superman has always functioned like a national Rorschach test. He means what we need him to mean. Created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster--children of Jewish immigrants in Depression-era Cleveland--Superman was initially a fantasy of retribution, a protector born of loss. Siegel's father died during a robbery. From that void emerged Kal-El: invulnerable, invincible, immune. A protector who cannot be killed.

The fantasy didn't stay angry. It softened. By the time of Action Comics No. 1 in 1938, Superman was no longer the proto-villain of Siegel's early fanzine fiction. He was now a paragon, a savior. He

didn't kill the robber--he prevented the robbery. He didn't take revenge--he enforced justice. That change is essential and echoes something deep in the American psyche: the desire to be seen as powerful without becoming tyrannical. To be the one who could, but chooses not to.

Look at that first Action Comics cover: Superman hoisting a green car overhead as criminals flee in terror. It's not vengeance; it's theater. A declaration. Here is someone strong enough to end the chaos, but committed to order.

Before he wore a cape, Superman wore the shadows of older myths and........

© Arkansas Online