Comparative Analysis Of Superman Iii And Man Of Steel Ideologies
Superman as a superhero franchise can be notably accredited to the beginning of the contemporary superhero film boom. It famously originally begun as a comic book series created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, published by DC Comics. Superman as a character was first introduced in Action Comic #1 on April 1938, the year considered as the rise of the Golden Age of Comic books. After the noticeable success of the comic book series, it was cleared for film adaptations. The first installment in the film series was Superman: The Movie (1978) by Richard Donner, as of recent, the latest adaptations of the series is Man of Steel (2013) directed by Zach Snyder. Superman films before Man of Steel usually carried the theme of social responsibility, in Man of Steel Superman seemed to main his original personality of a conservative man. Man of Steel presented Superman in a darker colored custom than usual, he was portrayed as a hero focused strictly on his goals, with a personality that was less cheerful and friendly than audiences were previously used to. The film adaptations, however, tend to toggle between conservative and liberal ideologies while social responsibility remained prominent. Superman III (1983) from my observations took a more liberal ideology while Man of Steel followed a more individualistic and conservative route, similar to the original installment.
In this research paper, I will mainly be comparing the different ideologies - conservative, liberal, social responsibility and individualism - Superman III and Man of steel possess and how these films relate to each other despite being created in different eras.
People with a liberal way of thinking are more accepting of change and progress even if it requires government actions, conservatives, on the other hand, are reluctant to change especially if the government is involved. In Lawrence Bobo article “Social Responsibility, Individualism, and Redistributive Policies” he describes social responsibility as a belief in finding ways to solve social and economic inequalities and put everyone on an even playing field, whereas, individualism is described as a belief that social/economic inequalities don’t need fixing because a person’s success is determined by the effort and work, they put in.
Superman III (1983) significantly incorporates a more liberal way of thinking and values than its predecessors, it completely diverts away from its usual conservative ideas. At the start of this film, the audience is introduced to Gus Gorman waiting in line at an unemployment office. At the office he is told that he cannot no longer get paid by the city of Metropolis for welfare (Superman’s fictional city), this news makes him visibly upset. In this scene, despite Metropolis not being a real place, we see that it embodies real-world issues such as economic distraught and employment issues. During the early 1980s, the economy was at its poorest, unemployment was at an all-time high due to the recession crisis at that time. Later on, in the film, Gus is shown complaining about his first paycheck from his new job, he is frustrated that taxes are taking a portion of his hard-earned money. During his complaints a co-worker explained that he will receive the money back upon his retirement, Gus exclaimed he would rather keep all his retirement money rather than having the government remove it. This clear disappointment of government involvement such as taxes is a clear example of a conservative thinker. Gus Gorman begins to embezzle money from his workplace due to him not making enough, Ross Webster, the president of the company Gus embezzles from recruits Gus to use his embezzling skills to his benefit. Gus and Ross plan to attack Colombia since they refuse to be a part of Ross's business, by refusing to join Colombia is hindering the open market which in turn is taking away from Ross profit as stated by Ross. Relating back to beliefs, people who lean towards an individualist mindset over social responsibly truly believe that it is reasonable to have a social and economic divide because a person may have a better set of skills that enable them to become more financially successful. Webster because of his ideology places him under the category of an individualist, he rejects the notion of placing market regulations because to him it hinders economic and financial success. According to Grossberg, being against free market regulation is very conservative thinking that aided in the Reagan revolution (1993).
At Clarks high-school reunion party in Smallville, he reconnects with Lana Lang an old friend whom he grew up with, they eventually become more than friends and begin to have romantic feelings. Despite Lana being a single mom and a divorcee, which was completely frowned upon at the time, Clark was not bothered and continued to pursue her romantically. A conservative mindset places a traditional family unit- Husband, Wife, Kids- as a very important factor when defining an ideal American lifestyle. The film positions Clark as more of a friendly figure to Lana’s son, Ricky, as opposed to a father figure. The film is directly defying the typical conservative idea that a child absolutely needs both parents as a unit in their life to develop properly. Lana’s ex-boyfriend, Brad, challenges Clark's intentions because he wants that nuclear family to set up for Ricky. Clark and Brad's view is essentially liberalism vs conservatism. Clark's mindset is that people can choose to live their life whatever best suits them whilst Brad believe that people should continue to follow traditional routes and keep everything the same, their different mindsets is very evident by Brad wanting to create a nuclear family for Ricky, and trying to prove this in a very stereotypical masculine manner to Lana whereas Clarks believes there is no reason why Ricky needs a stereotypical male father figure in his life, it is not a necessity for Ricky’s growth.
Unlike the liberalist elements of Superman III, Man of Steel (2013) embodies both a conservative and individualistic ideology. It goes back to its roots by keeping the original storyline of Superman and having his verse Kryptonians like him. Social responsibility is not prominent in this film, although conservatism and masculinity are very noticeable in this film. Philosopher Ayn Rand had a different ideology that was incorporated into the making of Man of Steel, she is a well-known figure for conservatives as well as very important in the libertarian circle. A particular group called “Business Conservatives” have libertarian ideologies such as the United States government over compensating financially to help those in need, they truly believe that the government is spending more than they can afford and because of this, the government should significantly reduce its involvement in this issue. We see this ideology put onto Clark, in the movie we see him stopping a bus filled with children from falling into a river after driving off a bridge. His earthly father is frustrated with Clark for using his powers so publicly to save those children, he would have preferred for Clark to sacrifice the lives of these children in order to keep his powers away from the public. We see this way of thinking by Jonathan Kent eventually be the reason for his death, Mr. Kent dies insides a tornado because he prevents Clark from using his powers to save him. Unlike prior Superman characters, Man of Steels version of Superman does not conform to the political ideologies of the president of that time -Barack Obama-. Obama's attempt to make health care more universal was heavily criticized by conservatives who felt that this change allowed the government more control over the economy as well as screamed socialism. Man of steel can be thought of as a dismissal of Obama’s political ideologies because it assumes the concept of saving everybody is troublesome.
To tie up this paper, in Superman III(1983) Clark challenged the stereotypical masculine identity by placing himself as a friendly figure towards Ricky rather than a father figure. The film shows Clark as a new type of masculine identity that is becoming more acceptable. Man of Steel (2013) retracts back to its original storyline, we see Superman struggle with trying to save everybody vs keeping his powers hidden and letting people die in the process. This film also embodies a libertarian mindset that when analyzed can be said to go against the president of that era.
References
- Bobo, Lawrence. “Social Responsibility, Individualism, and Redistributive Policies. ” Sociological Forum, vol. 6, no. 1, 1991, pp. 71–92. , doi:10. 1007/bf01112728.
- George, Hanc. “The Banking Crises of the 1980s and Early 1990s: Summary and Implications. ” History of the 1980s – Lesson for the Future, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, www. fdic. gov/bank/historical/history/3_85. pdf.
- Grossberg, Lawrence. Dancing in Spite of Myself Essays on Popular Culture. Duke University Press, 1997.
- Noel, Hans. Political Ideologies and Political Parties in America. Cambridge University Press, 2013.
- “The Political Typology: Beyond Red vs. Blue. ” Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, 21 Sept. 2014.
- Watson, Robert P. The Obama Presidency: a Preliminary Assessment. SUNY Press, 2012.
- Weldon, Glen. Superman: the Unauthorized Biography. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. , 2013.
