Posted on 11/12/2002 7:08:48 AM PST by fight_truth_decay
While created by the same company, DC Comics' two most famous superheroes differed in political alignment.
Clark Kent, also known as Superman, was raised by two Kansas farmers.
He was born, however, on the planet Krypton. Superman's race was a group with great powers: incredible strength, X-ray vision, heat vision, ice vision, the ability to fly, super-sensitive hearing and super speed.
When grown, Kent moved to the city, where he landed a job as a writer for the large newspaper, the Daily Planet.
Bruce Wayne--also known as Batman--was an industry-owning millionaire. He inherited much of his wealth from the parents he lost to the hands of savage murderers at an early age.
As Batman, Wayne battled his enemies with the use of wit, human strength and a slew of high-tech gadgets.
Through their actions as both average citizens and superheroes, Superman and Batman exhibited characteristics that pitted them with clear political ideologies.
The location where Superman spent his childhood statistically fosters a Democratic spirit. As a man from a small farming community in a rural state, Superman is a Democrat. His place of employment encourages a Democratic political philosophy.
As Clark Kent, he writes for the Daily Planet, a large paper operating out of the city of Metropolis. Such large papers are typically liberal, with a heavy focus on moving forward with equal rights for racial or sexual minorities.
The villains Superman often combated were rich and powerful. For example, the criminal Lex Luthor was a wealthy businessman, likely utilized by the writers of Superman as a symbol of massive, corporate, unregulated American business practices.
Democrats often combat the Republican approach to an unregulated market.
Some Democrats believe that wealthy citizens comprise the great majority of the Republican Party. Owner of Wayne Enterprises, Bruce Wayne surely had the interest of his industry in mind while voting and allocating personal funds to the political campaigns of his choice.
As he inherited much of his wealth from his family, Wayne highly valued the status quo. He expressed his resistance to change at home. He had the same butler, Alfred, for his entire life and lived in the same, early 20th century mansion for just as long.
Unlike Superman, Batman was human. He did, however, possess the most tangible of all superpowers: wealth.
While Superman was able to fend off the most vicious villains with his natural powers, Batman battled with a tone body and with an expensive arsenal of grappling hooks, vehicles, guns and other devices.
He was human, and as demonstrated by the 1960s television series, he most often used wit to escape the toils of his enemies. In fighting crime he aimed to subdue the radical criminals that corrupted Gotham City with their new-age terrorist tactics and left-wing views toward public policy and capital punishment.
While Batman used intelligence, Superman often resorted to violence, the political equivalent to war. Superman would sooner melt an opponent with his heat vision than he would extend a negotiation or use intellect. He was a supporter of the use of force. This use of force is clearly a parallel to the Democratic Party ideal of a large, mobilized army.
While the heroes differed far beyond their powers, their creators at DC Comics cleverly crafted their polar political alignments.
The parent company of both heroes was DC Comics, a company founded in 1935. During this period of American history, the economy was at its all-time worst. It was an outright poor and foolish time to found a business.
The creative heads at DC were clever, however. In order to garner mass appeal, they created two generally likable characters with starkly different political alignments. Selling their stories at 10 cents a pop, they made their source of entertainment affordable to the Roosevelt supporters suffering from the pain of the Great Depression.
The eager Democrats enjoyed Superman's All American spirit, his courage in the face of danger and his sheer invincibility.
While the comics were cheap entertainment, they served as quality entertainment to Republicans of the time, nonetheless. Bruce Wayne was a savvy businessman--surely not a victim of the Crash of '29. He was a charming man with a sleek and ambitious attitude.
Both characters had mass appeal but catered to more specific tastes when observed more closely.
Each of these wildly successful superheroes has had a dramatic impact on American popular culture. While they appear at first as incredible, outstanding citizens with wills to do good, when one looks deeper it is clear that these heroes do so in their own, politically specific ways.
Although they can be taken for the face value of entertainment, what fun is there in that?
Now wait a second. I saw that show and at no time was there any wit apparent or in use.
(Bet he prefers Macs over Windoze and UNIX, too!)
Lois Lane writes all of the liberal spew for the Daily Planet and Clark Kent does the obits or something equally non-descript to maintain his cover.
No I was only joking, but they do tend to have some different ideas like legalizing drugs and prostitution. I mean we wouldn't want to deny someone's freedom by disallowing them their right to use their ex-ray eyes for extracurricular activities now would we?
I am ashamed of the post-Sept 11th Cap America comics. The first issue where he takes up the shield again, he has an obligatory liberal scene where he protects an Arab guy from getting attacked by someone whose wife died in the WTC. Of course, I don't advocate stabbing people because they look like those that did you wrong, but what was the POINT? They made THAT scene the most dramatic(fantastic artwork and pose)
In "The Hero with a Thousand Faces," Joseph Campbell :"Superman was both a reaction against the Nazi ideal of a genetic super human, and the reassuring fantasy of second-generation immigrants for assimilation into American society.." "Batman is more symptomatic of the later 20th Century America reflecting a workaholic’s delusion rather than an immigrant’s fear."
Really? Please see my profile page. Pay attention to my own drawing near the bottom, them pay real close attention to the artwork at the very bottom on the right.
And I've been a Dark Knight fan for I don't know how long. Who wudda thunk it?
No mercy.
Coming soon: Tha SYNDICATE.
101 things that the Mozilla browser can do that Internet Explorer cannot.
Where does this stuff get started?
IAFRICA.COM NEWS
Directors plot Superman, Batman clash
Warner Bros have confirmed that cloaked superheroes, Batman and Superman, will join forces to battle as yet unknown villains in a new movie to be directed by Wolfgang Petersen.
The two crime fighting comic book heroes though have different approaches to dealing with villains and end up fighting each other.
According to MTV.com, Batman represents the dark and obsessive side while Superman represents the light, noble and lawful side of the crime-fighting duo.
Petersen has promised lots of action when the two heroes clash.
Speaking to MTV Petersen said: "I cannot tell you what really gets them together. I can say that much of it is because of the different philosophies that they represent.”
"The plot is structured in a way that these two very different sides basically of the same coin have to clash at some point because they handle situations totally differently. ... For a large portion of the thing they are at each other's throats. But then, of course, because they are both crime fighters, they join forces again and fight evil," he said.
Though it’ll be interesting to see what kind of villain would be strong enough to give a Superman, Batman partnership at strong enough challenge, the clash of the heroes is going to be much more exciting.
What's the odds of finding this story too? The Democrats and the Republicans join forces against..can it be??? .. Evil with Saddam villianous tendencies?
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