In an opening scene of Superman Returns, Superman’s mother finishes a Scrabble game. The camera pans across the board; one of the words is 'alienation'.

That's pretty clever, I thought. Superheroes represent the hopes we feel too weak to fulfill. That's why kids love superheroes: when you're young and powerless, you can pretend to be all-powerful. As Marx said, religion is our "heart in a heartless world". We don't believe in our own capacities because class society teaches us we're helpless before the powers that be. Yet we long for that power: religion - or superhero myths - provide it, in an alienated form.


Actually, it is...

But Marx also said alienation is not real: we are powerful, collectively. It's only because class society separates us from control over the means of production, and a small minority gets to control everything, that we feel powerless. Rather than confront the injustice directly, humanity dreams - for centuries - of a saviour, a messianic figure who can make everything right.

Which is why, when I have to sit through 153 minutes of helpless humans being rescued by an alien, I get a little fidgety. In Superman Returns, the red & blue wonder rescues hapless men, women and children. He saves two cops from evil bank robbers. (To make sure we know that criminals are evil, the bad guys have a military helicopter gunship, while the cops are dressed like they stepped out of Leave It To Beaver, complete with peaked hat. They must have misplaced their body armour and submachine guns.)

And of course, Superman rescues Lois Lane. In the old days, actors used to be called wooden, but I’m happy to say that Kate Bosworth brings new life to the term 'plastic'. Her artistic range consists in screaming, pouting and wrinkling her forehead. Brandon Routh as Superman isn't much better. Lex Luther is the only ray of light, but he acts like he wants to get it over with as fast as possible.


I would've loved to see Bosworth in this - from Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane #106 I am curious (BLACK)!

Then there’s the alienation. Superman was written by two Jewish authors in the 1930s, who dreamed of assimilation and a saviour to free them from the horrors of anti-semitism and fascism. But does that justify the craven hero-worship?

Lois Lane: The world doesn't need a savior...
Clark Kent: Listen...
Lois Lane: I don't hear anything.
Clark Kent: I do. I hear everything. You wrote that the world doesn't need a saviour, but every day I hear people crying for one.

His father muses on how much potential humans have, and voiceovers, "I made a gift to earth of my only son, to teach them." Sometimes Superman takes a Christ-like pose - all he needs is a cross.



At one point, Superman flicks through the channels to show us horrible news taking place somewhere else. The message: the world is big and confusing, and we puny humans can't understand it - even though we recreate it every day.

Here’s a suggestion: what if, instead of throwing up your hands and making a whole lot of fancy CGI to reinforce powerlessness, you made a movie that taught kids to celebrate resistance? Or better yet, what if the $200 million that Superman cost to make, was put towards something that helped people make sense of the world in its political, social, and cultural complexities? Like a left newspaper?



But that will never attract capital, because capital needs a return on its investment. And capitalists don't make profit on people realizing their own power. They profit on telling the same, slick stories that make us feel helpless, and then bring in a saviour to take it away. Sure, religion and superheroes are genuine responses to alienation. You know what? I’m sick of hearing the excuses - let’s move on and find some answers.

As a footnote, I did enjoy seeing Kal Penn, star of Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle, kick the shit out of Superman.


Dude, this movie sucks