Man of Steel Spoiler warning.
While my dad sits uncomfortably on the reclining AMC chairs, wearing the enormous 3D glasses, watching Superman fly through far too many walls – I wanted to tell him, for my brother and me, “We’re sorry for this terrible father’s day gift.â€
Having enjoyed Christopher Reeve’s films in his early years, my dad was eager to see this movie. And while I knew it was going to be far from the campiness of those films, I didn’t think it would be Michael Bay like destruction porn.
More importantly, I didn’t think I’d see a Superman only mildly sympathetic in the middle of a leveled city. When Superman sees a city completely destroyed, he should not be kissing Lois Lane in the epicenter of the destruction apparently completely oblivious that there might be survivors to save!
Also, why are you taking the fight to Zod in the most populated part of town! You were just fighting in an open, unpopulated field!
I could go on and on but Mark Waid, author of Superman: Birthright wrote it down for me already.
However, the thing they got right in this film was the portrayal of Lois Lane. A beautiful woman mixed with intelligence, compassion, and guts. She has an unwavering wish to find the truth and protect her sources. In this the portrayal of Lois has come full circle in popular culture.
You see in a 1940s abandoned storyline by Jerry Siegel, one of the original creators, Lois inevitably found out Clark Kent was Superman. He would have written them as a dynamic duo fighting crime, a strong man alongside investigative reporter, had DC not decided against it.
Instead, Lois Lane inevitably got her own comic where her objectives tended to be winning the heart of Superman by any means necessary let it be time travel, faking her own death or hypnosis. Yeah…
With that said, I think it’d be pretty interesting to have a Lois Lane miniseries right now. At a time when DC is charged with sexism (reimaging a hyper sexualized Starfire) and trying to attract more readers by blurring genre lines (published superhero romance collection, Young Romance on Valentines Day), it’s forgetting to use it’s plethora of already established characters with great potential.
As Superman and Wonder Woman is the new it couple for now, it’s a good opportunity to show Lois Lane not as Superman’s love interest but as the top notch reporter in a world of superheroes and villains.
A natural journalist with a strong heart and smarts uncovering corruption that threatens people’s lives in a world of superpowered henchmen could make an excellent thriller.
But I am biased. I do like characters with great natural gifts and skills who at the same time make other people’s lives a priority, almost without thought.
You know, apparently not the Man of Steel.
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