I Heart Heroes

So Andy and I went to see Superman Returns a couple weeks ago and I just have to say that it was SUPERB, for lack of a better word. It’s just too bad it was overshadowed by the release of Pirates.

I’m a sucker for those hero movies…they get me every time, but this one radiated a special light the others lacked, like the recent renditions of Spiderman and Batman (even though I totally love those too). The whole movie had that special “Superman feel” to it that I felt twenty-some-odd years ago watching Christopher Reeve’s Superman carry Louis Lane through the night air over Metropolis. At that time, being a little girl still, I was endeared to Christopher Reeve as superman, maybe because he looked a little like my dad (and we all know how little girls think their Daddies are Superman) or maybe it was just because Reeve made for a very likeable Man of Steel. Whenever he would get hurt by the bad guy it hurt me in a very personal way in which I really can’t put my finger on, but it just made me want to step through the screen and give him a great, big hug. Kind of like when you’re watching The Lamb of God and Jesus is being hurt repeatedly and you want to give him a great, big hug. Am I a total weirdo?

Oh, come on! There are great similarities between Superman and Christ….humor me, if you will: Superman is a God from another world sent to live as a man among mortals to save them. Hello! He has special powers, is a universal symbol of humankind’s ideal, his virtue, his integrity, yadda, yadda…. And there are paintings of Christ wearing a red coat….coat/cape…okay, that’s a bit of a stretch. Mary Magdalene, Louis Lane, secret love, a royal birthline, superman’s son….yes, you can keep on stretching, but that may be taking it a little too far (but that’s *my brain* for you). There's even this book I found, The Gospel According to the World's Greatest Superhero . I might just have to read that along with finish "Christian Wisdom of the Jedi Masters".

And lets just back up for a moment: Superman’s Son!!!!! Holy tug-my-heartstrings, Batman! I was completely and pleasantly surprised with that turning point. I just LOVE how the passage from Kal-El’s Father, Jor-El, in the Fortress of Solitude took on a whole new meaning when he quotes it to his sleeping little boy. That was so precious and poignant.

“They can be a great people Kal-El. They wish to be. They only lack the light to show the way. For this reason above all - their capacity for good – I have sent them you…my only son.”

Or when Superman is dead in the hospital and little Jacen gives him a quick kiss on the forehead as he leaves with his mother who we assume has just told Superman that Jacen is his son….yes, again, so sweet.

All in all, the actor, Brandon Routh, reminded me sooooo much of Christopher Reeve (sometimes his voice was very eerily Christopher), yet at the same time, he also brought his own “flavor” to the character. This being his big-screen debut, from here on out he will always be known as Superman no matter what other roles he takes on….I don’t think he minds though.

And here’s a little bit of trivia – he, Brandon, grew up in a Midwestern town much like Clark Kent that wasn’t too far from where the original T.V. superman, George Reeves, was from. Yes, that’s “Reeves” much like “Christopher Reeve” – who would also make his big screen debut as Superman. Destiny has a way of linking things together like that. Just like how Hayden Christensen’s shadowy profile on the side of the Tatooine Homestead garage in AOTC looks like Darth Vader, which was neither doctored nor recognized until the director and producers were sitting around making the commentary for the DVD. These directors who scour the world over for the perfect person to be picked out from thousands to fit the part…until he finally walks into the room to be interviewed and they just know in an instant, “It’s *HIM*”.

Men truly born to play these iconic figures.


Peace Out,

-Britten