Along with many others this weekend, we went to the cinema to see the new “Superman” movie but were mystified as to why there was so much fuss from the “right-wing noise machine” –– a cultural media/political phenomenon now running 30 years or more. (David Brock, who once called Anita Hill “a bit nutty and a bit slutty,” finally got it right and tells all about the well-funded “noise machine” coming from “the right.”)
Kellyanne Conway, press secretary for Trump in his first administration, said: “I go to movies to be entertained; I don’t need to be lectured about inclusiveness.” (Readers should be reminded that Kellyanne famously advocated for “alternative facts.” ) Other right-wing critics contend this focus is an attempt to use Superman as a symbol for pro-immigrant and pro-diversity politics, which they claim is at odds with their vision of “the American Way.” They argue that the film’s message of “basic human kindness” and universal values dilutes the specifically American character of the hero, which they see as central to his identity. Many critics invoke a nostalgic vision of “the American Way” that they feel is being undermined by Hollywood’s progressive messaging. They argue that the film’s focus on empathy, diversity, and kindness is a departure from what they see as traditional American values
(Spoiler alert: there are some references to events toward the end of the movie.)
After watching, my wife and I had wonder what was so terrible about the movie that these folks were claiming the movie was “un-American” and that we should all boycott the movie. This version of Superman clearly had a compassionate heart, not only for humans about to be flattened by a falling skyscraper (which, being Superman, he could hold up to allow a death-defying escape), squirrels (no creature is too small to leave out of a sound moral calculus), but even his enemies.
Even his enemies? It was hard to miss how this Superman –– imprisoned by his arch-enemy Lex Luthor, and suffering from a creature who (on command from Luthor) made his hands into kryptonite, causing Superman to age immediately and suffer immeasurably –– still held compassion for the human-like creature who was separated from his odd-looking son, seen in another, visible prison box in the “pocket universe” Luthor had created to imprison those he hated. Superman is able ––with the help of Lois Lane (played admirably by “Mrs. Maisel,” Rachel Brosnahan) and another super-hero ––liberate his fellow prisoner’s son and escape Luthor’s prison.
Luthor is a multi-billionaire techno-geek who envied all the good attention Superman was getting, so he had to eliminate him to be even richer and more powerful. (Here, there are possible parallels to the techno-oligarchs with influence in Trump 2.0 . . . .but how boycott worthy is that?)
Even at the end, when Superman faces Luthor, he refuses to kill him, and you can see in his eyes how mystified he is that Luthor would want to destroy him and so many others just for more power and more money. You can almost sense how badly he wants the better angels of Luthor’s nature to come forth. Throughout the movie, this version of Superman was super-compassionate.
Ah . . . . Maybe that’s it! This Superman has too much compassion! Maybe in the Trumpian alternative reality, compassion is out and brutality is (somehow) more American? Brutality— now evident as aggressive, uncompromising, and often punitive policies and rhetoric—has become a defining theme of Trump’s second term, according to a broad array of media, academic, and advocacy sources.
Policy documents within the new administration describe a clear intent to deter migration by making the experience of crossing or remaining in the U.S. as difficult and frightening as possible. The phrase “deterrence through cruelty” has been used by human rights organizations to describe its approach. The administration’s “zero tolerance” policy led to the separation of thousands of children from their parents at the border, a move widely criticized as intentionally cruel and traumatic. The administration has suspended the right to seek asylum and refugee resettlement, forcing vulnerable people to wait in dangerous conditions outside the U.S. and closing legal pathways for protection. (More on the absurdly selective asylum policies of Trump 2.0 below).
Kal-El (Superman) is an immigrant (of course; he’s from another world), and so Luthor concocts a video that seems totally believable, using AI to create “fake news” that this immigrant wants to take over the world and bend everyone to his will. (A classic case of “projection” by Luthor, who does want exactly that!) This fake video quickly makes U.S. citizens and the government fear Superman, demand his arrest, and (like a “good guy”) he voluntarily submits to the authorities. That arrest is outsourced by the government to Luthor’s corporation, LuthorCorp (or LexCorp) leading to Superman’s imprisonment alongside the creature with kryptonite hands.
So why is the right-wing noise machine fussing so much? My theory is that there is a large group of people who thrive (even monetarily) on and getting into attack mode on anything remotely “liberal” at the slightest provocation. Sadly, these people speak to an eager audience if haters. Somehow, it feels validating, or “good,”, to belong to “team righteous,” claiming that others are un-American, leaning Communist (or too compassionate to those outside the “tribe.”).
This goes pretty deep. As Desmond Morris pointed out in The Naked Ape, we are all entrained to “like” those of our kind and defend fiercely against “the other.” Nativism” and White Christian Nationalism prevail on “the right.” Trumpian “populism” is characterized by nationalistic and xenophobic rhetoric; the framing of politics as a struggle between “the real people” (often defined in ethnic, cultural, or religious terms) and outsiders, including immigrants, minorities, and political elites; a focus on exclusion and the idea that only certain groups truly belong to the nation. It often uses inflammatory language to create a sense of crisis, positioning the leader as the defender of the “real” nation against both elites and “the other.”
But the message of Jesus in the Good Samaritan parable is clear; everyone is your neighbor, and you should show love and compassion to all, even those you may consider your enemy or different from you. In the parable, the rabbis and other observant Jews avoided contact with a man who was robbed, beaten, and stripped of his clothes, but a complete outsider came to his rescue.
“So who were the Samaritans, really? They were not simply outcasts: They were the despised enemies of the Jews. Where listeners would have expected a Jew to be the hero of Jesus’ story, instead they would have been shocked to hear that it is a Samaritan. As Dr. Amy-Jill Levine explains, only by understanding this reality does the powerful message of the parable come through. . . . The parable offers … a vision of life rather than death. It evokes 2 Chronicles 28, which recounts how the prophet Oded convinced the Samaritans to aid their Judean captives. It insists that enemies can prove to be neighbors, that compassion has no boundaries, and that judging people on the basis of their religion or ethnicity will leave us dying in a ditch.
Jesus uses the parable to challenge the listener’s preconceived notions of who is considered a neighbor and to emphasize the importance of love and mercy, particularly towards those in need.
When it comes to the disenfranchised, the powerless, and the despised, a devout Christian comes to their aid. This new Superman embodies the kind of person who does not distinguish between those in true need, regardless of their background, ethnicity, or nation of origin.
By contrast, the Trump Administration on Day 2 closed the door on all asylum seekers, even those from Afghanistan who risked their lives to help the U.S. in its effort to create a just and peaceful society there. But he opened the door to white Afrikaners –– hardly comparable to the weak and marginalized victim that the Good Samaritan rescued –– claiming (falsely) that they were victims of “genocide” by South African black people.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9wg5pg1xp5o
No wonder “the right” can’t stand a “woke” Superman who cares about everyone, not just those who look like him.
It is, of course, perfectly legal to rant and rave about a compassionate superhero as “too liberal” or “too woke,” but, for the true love of Jesus Christ, please spare us the sanctimony of proclaiming your love of God as you practice exclusion and heartlessness.