perception essay year 1 13:12:11 final

8/3/2019 Perception Essay Year 1 13:12:11 Final

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Would the World want aSuperman?

Simon James Bloyce

CG Arts and Animation, Year 1

Hand in: 13/12/2011

Word Count: 1,534 words

Lead Tutor: Chris Hunt

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Contents page

Page 1: Introduction

Pages 4 - 7 :Essay Body

Page 8 : Conclusion

Page 9 : List of Illustrations

Page 9 : Bibliography

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Introduction

The purpose of this essay is to examine whether, the presence of a genuine Superman

would be of benefit, or detrimental to society. In order to consider this, it is necessary to

suppose that such a thing were possible. I will use the example of Superman (Siegel /

Shuster1938copyright D.C. Comics). Using the example of Superman as the test

example is useful for several reasons. The character is long established with a history of

publication in comic book form and also a series of television and film incarnations.

The portrayal of Superman in so many formats over such a long period of time (first

published Action Comics no.1 1938) builds up a profile of the character traits of the hero

and the perception of him by those who occupy the same Universe.

The widespread popularity of the character also increases the chances that the reader of

this essay will be familiar with the character, and also the premise that the story supposes.

That being, that an infant boy was transported across the Universe to save it from the

impending destruction of its home planet (Krypton) to Earth. The infant was found and

raised by western (American) parents, and developed strengths far beyond that of normal

mankind due to its reaction to the radiation of Earths Sun.

To investigate the essay question I will refer to various texts that discuss and contextualise

the implications of the question.

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Do we need a Superman?

The character displays many strengths that may be seen to largely benefit society.

Superhuman hearing, strength, the ability to fly and travel at tremendous speed, x-ray

vision, a righteous moral code and the inability to lie all seem very useful.

When used to prevent wrongdoing or averting disaster it is difficult to see how honest

members of society could possible object. Even Superman cannot be everywhere at once.

Whilst he would no doubt perform his role to the best of his ability in order to prevent harm

or suffering, there would have to be occasions where the choice between incident a and

b would have to be made. His involvement at point a may lead to death or injury at point

b or vice versa. Would the families and peers of those harmed by the decision of

Superman to be elsewhere be forever resentful. In the Superman stories that we are most

familiar with, it is often this resentment that drives those who would consider Superman

their enemy. Several of these enemies including the much-revisited character Lex Luthor

(below centre) are motivated by exactly these feelings, often using the heros need to save

against them by using ordinary citizens as, either a human shield, or as bait to draw the

hero into a trap.

There is also the question of material, collateral damage. The feats displayed by the hero

in Superman (1978) whilst fantastic are also extremely destructive. In order to save the

few, a massive amount of damage must be caused, which of course, in a real-world

situation, would need to be paid for, this belief is played out to comic effect in the highly

successful animated film The Incredibles (2004) - a film whose narrative emphasises the

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need to bring back the Superhero (from a covert existence in the suburbs) into the

mainstream of contemporary life. Haslem W., Ndalianis A., Mackie C., (2007)

There are however, benefits. Further to his ability to prevent crime, there may be a knock

on effect. Would criminals be deterred from their usual proclivities if there was even the

most remote chance that the Man of Steel Siegel / Shuster (1938) would swoop down

and foil their nefarious deeds. Criminal activity has been seen to reduce locally in the

presence of an organised system of policing. With this in mind it is only reasonable to

expect that the same would happen if Superman were on patrol, at least at first. In the

initial stages of society ingratiating Superman, before the world is fully aware of his

limitations the impact may be impressive, the resultant re-establishment of criminal

behaviour would probably be equally impressive.

From a Semiotics perspective Superman has the potential to be far more powerful than the

sum total of his abilities. As a symbol, the S emblazoned on his chest is instantly

recognisable (below centre) but it as the puritanical hero that he may be most effective.

Gerard Jones (2002), 210, uses the rapper Ice T as a way of expressing that children not

benefitting from positive, cultural symbolism or positive, controlled outlets for their anger

can be prone to social delinquency. In the case of Ice T, his lyrics, while they may seem

aggressive and confrontational have been seen to inspire and empower children from a

range of socio-economic backgrounds. With this in mind, would the actions or a powerful,

much seeing, much knowing superbeing be just as beneficial, on a much larger scale? The

reports of the heros exploits would surely reach all corners of the world in which he works,

making the audience inspired, much greater. Would a worldwide generation of children

inspired by such deeds be a calmer, more conscientious one? Would the ongoing

heroisms bring about a complacency and moral slackness, the knowledge that everything

(or at least the majority of things) would be dealt with if Supermans in the neighbourhood.

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Would the world accept a Superman?

The story of Superman supposes that the alien infants spaceship comes to rest in the

midwest of the United States of America (Kansas to be precise). Since his first publication

Superman has seen the rise and fall of Fascism, the emergence of Communism as a

threat to the Capitalist society that raised him and the Global conflicts that have arisen as

a result of the splitting of the Atom. But what if the capsule had landed elsewhere? Given

the time line, if he had landed almost anywhere other than Great Britain or North America

he would have been raised into a society with dramatically different ideals. Of course,

good, and evil are entirely subjective concepts. Superman, raised in what we in the west

would call Nazi Germany would not be Nazi Superman. He would simply remain

Superman. But the nature/nurture debate would suppose that were Superman raised in a

Fascist, Communist, or Muslim environment then his behaviour as a mature, fully grown

Alien -more specifically a mature Kryptonian with the powers that come with his race- then

whilst his leaning toward good and righteousness may remain unchanged the perception

of those societies with contradictory ideologies may view the hero, more as a threat than a

blessing. This theory has been notably illustrated in the film adaptation Watchmen 2009,

where the character Dr. Manhattan is asked by his American government to intervene in

the Vietnam conflict. The character later leaves Earth, for Mars, due to both a

Machiavellian plot to exile him and the realisation that humans, in their nature will always

seek to destroy themselves. It is in their nature, and as such, is not in his responsibility to

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fix. Superman, would be presented with similar issues, by virtue of the fact that a large

proportion of the world would have different ideals. He may also become disheartened by

the burden of his duties and the senselessness of perpetually saving a species seemingly

bent of overpowering, undermining and ultimately destroying each other.

Would he want the Job?

We know that Superman is the last of his race. Often being termed as, The Last Son of

Krypton. An Alien on an Alien planet. This fact leaves him in isolation. Though he takes on

the persona of Clark Kent (below centre) in order to integrate himself into human society

he is still orphaned on a strange world.

His adopted family do their best to provide him with a family home but the loneliness would

be a real factor. Never truly being able to identify with a human, or fully reveal himself to

another -though he could not lie- because of the threat of recriminations. There may also

be the question of motivation. That is, would his sole duty of care be so frustrating that he

gives up, made furious by humans nature or grief struck by his inability to save everyone.

Like Mr Incredible says, Why cant the World just stay saved? (The Incredibles, Disney

Pixar, 2004, 0:08:32). Succumbing to either would present a significant burden,

psychologically.

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Conclusion

The question of whether the World would want a Superman can never truly be answered.

The concept has invigorated and inspired generations of boys and girls, but can never be.

That said, supposing that it were, it is still difficult to ascertain. As discussed Superman is

an American icon, and an icon. Were he to be born in another part of the World he may be

influenced by a different set of political ideals, yet he may still remain Superman. The

benefits of his presence go beyond what he can do, into who he is and what he

represents. It is here in the way he portrays himself that he is most likely to find

acceptance on our planet. One question remains. With the way we portray ourselves,

would Superman want us?

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Bibliography

Jones G., (2002). Killing Monsters: Why Children need Fantasy, Super Heroes and Make-

Believe Violence, New York, Basic Books.

Haslem W., Ndalianis A., Mackie C., (2007). Super/Heroes: From Hercules to Superman.

Washington D.C., New Academia Publishing.

Image List

Page 3 (from left to right) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superman / http://

www.allposters.co.uk/-sp/Superman-Posters_i2114047_.htm / http://

mangan.inneringen.se/crunch-christopher-reeve/ / http://www.wallpaperbase.com/movie-

supermanreturns.shtml

Page 4 http://www.comicvine.com/lex-luthor/29-41952/

Page 6 http://www.superman-picture.com/

Page 7 http://jamie-warrwhatishegoodfor.blogspot.com/2011/06/few-quick-thoughts-on-

super

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