Generally when I write articles about Superman, it’s regarding my hopes and dreams for the upcoming Superman reboot. Today I’m gonna change pace a little. Smallville has never been a great show for me. Far too much of it’s 10 seasons have been spent dealing with wangsty love triangles. Clark Kent should have take taken the hint about three years ago that it’s time to become a Superhero. There have been too many episodes where a character gets possessed, turns evil, or fights a lame monster of the week. I was sick of Kristen Kreuk as Lana Lang after about 10 minutes. That being said, there have been bright spots. Michael Rosenbaum’s version of Lex Luthor is one of the most loyal to the concept of the modern comics. The love story between Lois and Clark is actually fun to watch. There have even been truly epic episodes, such as “Absolute Justice” involving the JSA, “Legion” featuring the Legion of Superheroes, and the story arc centering around General Zod. I particularly like the idea that Zod is the ‘father’ of Doomsday having engineered him as a perfect weapon.
I’ll take the good with the bad and just wait for the final episode where Clark Kent actually becomes Superman. But something has crept into the story that really irritates me: Politics. The last season has centered around Darkseid trying to enter this world to corrupt it, and the fear surrounding masked vigilantes. The resolution of the conflict will undoubtedly be that Clark becomes Superman, assuages the fear of superheroes, and will inspire humanity beyond Darkseid’s corruption. There’s nothing wrong with any of that, but what worries me is digs against conservatives. Glorious Godfrey, one of the prophets of Darkseid, is a thinly veiled parody of Glen Beck. When Green Arrow reveals his identity publicly, he gets riled up with a several liberal talking points including immigration, and oil greed. I’m not sure how the leap is made equating masked vigilantes to immigrants, and energy politics but it is. The biggest offender though is the character of Cat Grant. Cat is portrayed as being naively anti superhero. She has good intentions but is too idiotic and buys into Godfrey’s propaganda. If Godfrey is Glen Beck, then she is portrayed as a tea partyer. At one point while chasing after a posesed Lois Lane, to uncover the identity of the ‘Blur’, she comments to her self “I will never understand Liberals”. When I heard that I rewound the video and watched it two or three times just to be sure I heard it correctly. To have a conservative portrayed as such a misinformed dumb character is very insulting.
For some honestly, I consider myself Conservative with a few Libertarian values. If done right politics, can make a story more engaging, especially if contemporary issues are addressed. The most important thing though is to be fair. As an aspiring writer, the concept of tearing apart a political straw man from a top of soap box of self righteousness is off putting. The Ultimates started off as a gritty real world reboot of the Avengers. The first story arcs were political but not overly so. Thor was portrayed as a left wing activist, Iron Man was a hard core capitalist, and Captain America was a right wing WWII soldier. These three divergent option’s came together to protect the world. Moral of the the story: despite our differences we can all work together.The characters although very different became friends and respected each other. It was one of my favorite comics. The next arc took a different turn. Titled “Grand Theft America”, America comes under attack by a group called the Liberators. By forcibly disarming an unnamed Middle Eastern country possessing nuclear weapons, the Ultimates earn the wrath of a ‘coalition of the willing’ from Russia, France, China, Syria, and Iran. These countries attack the US because we deserve it for threatening global security. It was a deconstruction of the motivations for the Iraq War. The American heroes were shown to be wrong for proactively trying to stop what they saw as a threat. The story was done in such a heavy handed one sided manner, I could only face palm in response. The characters from Syria, and North Korea go as far as wanting to give Americans free elections, and human rights. The unfortunate implication is that nuclear non-proliferation is a bad thing. This story ruined the Ultimates for me, and I stopped collecting the comics after this.
Green Arrow has always been a liberal, and I’ve never minded. He’s always been portrayed as a liberal counter balanced against a more conservative character like Hawkman, or Green Lantern. Socio-polital issues are explored through the characters’ debates. Even if it came to a conclusion I didn’t agree with, the stories were interesting because it forces the reader to see the concept through someone else’s eyes. The liberal bent Smallville has been sporting of late has framed conservatives as either brainwashed airheads or servants of the DC Universe’s god of evil. If Godfrey were a parody of Michael Moore, Green Arrow began irrelevantly arguing about limiting freedom with cap and trade, and Cat Grant were the equivalent of a neo-hippie, I’d be just as irritated. Straw man arguments preach to the choir, and turn off those already disagreeing. In both scenarios the writers come off as closed minded as how they think those they argue against are. Superman represents truth justice and the American way. What is more American than free exchange of ideas? (As opposed to slamming those you disagree with.) The Man of Steel wears both red and blue, not one or the other.
Then again maybe I’m expecting too much of the show that spent close to 10 years centering around “I love Lana and I can’t be with her! Whah Whah Whah!”