La Ron S. Readus
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Everybody Hates Superman! (VIDEO SCRIPT)
🕑 Added 2024-01-24 21:00:04 +0000 UTCSo here’s the thing y’all need to know about My Adventures With Superman if you didn’t know already. It’s pretty good.
/From the character decisions they made with Lois and Jimmy to the take on Superman’s origins, My Adventures With Superman never failed to impress me with every episode I watched of it./
And also, if you’re one of the people wondering who made Jor-El so hot in this show, blame queer comic artist Kris Anka /who did the concept art for him, Supes, Livewire, and the Intergang members on the show/
/He also did a LOT of the suit designs on Across the Spider-Verse, including Miles, Gwen and Miguel. So the guy knows superheroes./
But other than the varying degrees of sleek and sexy a lot of the character designs were in this show, My Adventures With Superman accomplished a lot with the 10 episodes its first season had.
/Introduce Amanda Waller and Task Force X. Come up with interesting ways of introducing members of Supes’ rogues gallery under a season-long story. Introduce the multiple Clarks, Lois’ and Jimmy’s across the multiverse with Mister Mxyzptlk/
No, no. I promise you I do not care if that’s the wrong pronunciation for that imp’s name; I’m tired.
Besides, that’s not the point I wanna bring up in this video anyway. What I found very compelling is the overall theme of the season’s overall story, and how well it reflects the opinions of a good chunk of real life individuals who don’t necessarily care for Superman as a concept.
Stop me if you’ve heard this before. “I don’t like Superman because he’s too good, and being that good and powerful without ulterior motives is unbelievable.”
Now obviously this method of thinking gave birth to the various “Superman But Evil” takes we’ve seen over the years.
Injustice, Brightburn, The Boys, Invincible, beans, greens, potatoes, tomatoes, you name it.
But this is the first time I’ve seen this argument used in an actual Superman narrative across multiple individuals within the DC Universe and it being used as a plot line.
/And for today’s lesson, I wanna explore how My Adventures With Superman season 1 does it in a way that makes it still feel like a Superman story, while sharing a vital lesson regarding how we as a society look at those who see Superman as the ideal aspiration he actually is. Let’s begin./
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Hey, Readers. La’Ron here. Offering you analysis and perspective on your favorite bits of geek and pop culture media
If it wasn’t obvious from the intro, this video will in fact contain spoilers for season 1 of My Adventures With Superman. It’s currently available to stream exclusively on HBO Max, so give it a watch if you haven’t seen it yet, and don’t want me to spoil pivotal points of it for you in this video.
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That’s the syllabus. Now onto the lesson.
So what does Superman represent?
In regards to My Adventures With Superman, Supes actually provides great representation for going against patriarchy.
While this is something he does naturally regarding multiple iterations of the character in the past, My Adventures With Superman allows a pretty easy allegory to identify the connections of patriarchy in a way that fits with the overall themes and tone of the season overall.
Metropolis and its people represent the allegory of patriarchy in this instance, especially when the concept of Superman is presented to them in a tangible way.
/Once Superman arrives on the scene regularly, Metropolis starts to display aspects about itself that shows him being a natural disturbance to how things are usually done./
Just like how patriarchy -- specifically patriarchy enwrapped in imperialism, white supremacy and capitalism -- prefers those within its clutches to act within its expectations, Metropolis sees Superman operate outside of those expectations and it causes those within its clutches to automatically “other” him for daring to act outside of them.
/The most prominent way Clark experienced this sense of being “othered” near the beginning of the season is through this show’s iteration of Parasite, Dr. Ivo./
He, like a few others in real life that don’t necessarily subscribe to what Supes delivers on paper, can’t fathom the idea of someone who wants to do good with no ulterior motives.
/Seeing Superman do everything he can do while showing that he just genuinely wants to help sets off Dr. Ivo, who -- thanks to being wrapped up in non-allegorical imperialist white-supremacist capitalist patriarchy -- can’t help but look at Superman as the lesser individual because he’s so against what the show has delivered to be the norm for so long before his involvement./ (You’re afraid that I’m better than you)
That’s partially why it was important for Ivo to prove to both his shareholders and himself that what Superman can accomplish can also be accomplished by himself...
/Someone who ISN’T weak because they already operate under the political social system that grants those of us superiority if we simply sacrifice elements of ourselves that can’t be misconstrued as such./
It’s also incredibly important, despite refusing to learn his lesson later on in the season thanks to being so intertwined in the system that continues to keep him emotionally shackled, that he failed.
/Specifically so that the two of them could have this conversation./ (You ruined me. What’s your angle? What’s in this for you? Dr. Ivo look around you. Is it that hard to believe that some people just want to help?)
This is not just Dr. Ivo’s reasoning for distrusting Superman...
/But variants of this are the reasoning for lots of the show’s main antagonists POV as well./
And because of this shared opinion across a lot of the major hitters currently in Metropolis over the course of My Adventures With Superman season 1, the parallels between how one is expected to behave under certain societal expectations versus how someone chooses to behave OUTSIDE of said societal expectations can easily be applied to how those who operate under the restrictive binary of patriarchy look at those who refuse to limit themselves, with upturned lips and scoffed brows.
Patriarchy conditions those who operate within it that in order to be a man according to its political social system, they must be cut off from any emotions other than anger in order to establish themselves as dominant, less they be considered “lesser than” as a result.
So when an individual comes along and shows that this is possible without having to sacrifice so much or blatantly rob yourself of your core emotional spectrum...
/Aka, when a Superman comes along to show you that it's possible to want to do good for no ulterior or selfish motive despite the world telling you that no genuine individual is truly capable of that.../
They deem you weak, lesser than and constantly try to prove that you either aren’t genuine in your intentions or that they’re better than you.
/All while secretly hating you because they envy the enlightenment that you reached./
Am I saying that this is a perfect allegory regarding how this concept is used in My Adventures With Superman? Not at all. And that’s mostly because there’s no such thing as a perfect allegory to anything.
However, what makes what happens in My Adventures With Superman season 1 idyllically line up with how the likes of patriarchy operate is that just as we’ve seen on the show...
It doesn’t just affect men.
I feel like it’s worth reminding individuals that women can be just as much a victim of patriarchy as men are. Not every woman is a feminist, despite it benefiting everyone.
And while it has actual issues that are rooted in both blatant and subtle systemic racism that need to be addressed and corrected, those who actively oppose feminism in favor of keeping patriarchy established still like to peddle it as something that’s only supported by queer men and ultra butch-leaning man-hating lesbians in order to distract from that fact.
The truth of the matter is that thanks to it being so indoctrinated into how things are done at least in America, women are just as susceptible to patriarchal thinking in ways that just perpetuate the system in its favor. Most of the time, it’s not even done on purpose.
It’s so ingrained in various forms of our upbringing -- family dynamics from the mother, only for it to be reinforced via school teachings and religious practices -- that women become victims of it subconsciously.
From there, they have a few choices once they find out. They can unlearn the behavior, continue the cycle, or continue the cycle knowing they’ll benefit from it.
Now you probably don’t need me to tell you that there are plenty of women out there who have no problem doing the latter. After all, there’s an entire breed of women out there who regularly act and operate outside of the needs of the many.
So it’s not out of the realm of possibility that, for example, a self-interest focused white woman has no problem voting for restrictive far right policies like anti-abortion that favors patriarchy while knowing the system well enough to get away with accusing a man of the same acts of sexism usually associated with patriarchy when it happens to her.
/While she may not be white, this is Amanda Waller in a nutshell. We’ve seen her act this way plenty of times in comics, movies, and other DC animated series. However, because My Adventures With Superman plays on his existence challenging how things have been done in Metropolis -- and planet Earth as a result -- before his arrival and people being unwilling to believe he has no ulterior motives for said challenges, this allegory of “people look at you weird when you decide to challenge patriarchy” is taken to an even further extreme than it was with Dr. Ivo, thanks to the attempted Kryptonian invasion that she and General Lane witnessed on the field before he arrived on Earth./
Now I have my own personal theories regarding why a Kryptonian force is choosing to invade Earth to set this narrative up to be explored in season 2.
/The majority of them include the Phantom Zone, while all of them involve Brainiac because of COURSE they do./
However, it’s hinted at throughout the season and made clear in episode 9 that Waller and Lane’s reasoning for distrusting Superman is because they think him being a superhero is just a front;
/That him “just wanting to help” is actually a distraction to prepare the planet for a more successful invasion that the two of them survived all those years ago./
While this is a more conservative and precautionary variant of Dr. Ivo’s thought process of something being in it for Superman for him to want to freely help and protect people, it’s still a more expansive view of the show’s allegory for how one caught up in patriarchy looks at others who actively challenge it.
Waller, being a woman who is completely aware of how restrictive patriarchy is yet still chooses to operate within it, looks at Superman’s sense of freedom with a desire to establish some form of control over it. And her desire to remove this challenger to patriarchy is 100% based on experiencing how dangerous the Kryptonians can be firsthand.
/AKA, witnessing what happens when people, families and societies are “lead astray” once they deviate from patriarchal ways of thinking./
But just because Waller continues to perpetuate the political-social system in question, doesn’t mean she’s not against using factors that commonly combat it to her advantage in order to advance in its ranks.
Because once General Lane begins to think Superman has nothing to do with whatever surviving faction of Krypton is constantly trying to invade Earth, Waller sees this sudden display of weakness in Lane’s natural place in this allegory for patriarchy and attempts to gain power within it according to how those of us who wishes for its destruction have found openings in its armor over the years.
/It’s only when Lane tries to reclaim his authority after Waller catches a sudden glimpse of him being vulnerable that she sees it as a perfect opportunity to try to use feminism in her favor in order to gain a stronger foothold in patriarchy/ (Are you having doubts because of something real? Or is it because Superman reminds you of her? IF you can’t make the call, then you’re not the man I followed for the last 22 years. We’re keeping Superman alive for questioning. It’s my call, not yours)
/And as we know by the time we get to the end of Episode 9, she succeeds./ (You are no longer head of Task Force X. I am).
Like I said, this is the latter of 3 ways patriarchy affects women. And, as you can imagine, all 3 are reflected perfectly in My Adventures With Superman.
Amanda reflects what happens when one, as a woman, continues the cycle of patriarchy knowing they can benefit from its flaws in order to become more powerful within it.
/Gotham Gazette’s Vicki Vale, however, is the result of what happens when one, as a woman, continues the cycle of patriarchy because that’s just the way of the world and has no intentions of changing them./ (Superman’s an overpowered vigilante who doesn’t answer to anyone. Trust me, kids, no one puts on that big a show of being good unless they’re hiding something)
Because why would she, a successful woman in her own right, go out of her way to self-sabotage everything she’s built for herself thanks to participating in patriarchy...
/When instead she can benefit from tearing down the current thing that threatens the oppressive political-social system that has helped her gain her current sense of success and security?/ (You wanna be number one? You don’t get there by writing fluff. You go for blood. That’s something Perry never understood. Do you?)
So with Amanda Waller being the latter and Vicki Vale being smack dab in the middle, Lois Lane proves to be the show’s representative of what happens when a woman goes through the process of unlearning all of the bullshit that keeps one tethered to patriarchy.
/Whether it being indoctrinated through family dynamics, teachings ala religion and schooling, or other various ways it takes hold of us systemically./
When it comes to how women tend to stay rooted in patriarchy, one of the most common ways they play into it is subconsciously reinforcing the things about patriarchy that keep men oppressed by it.
This includes things like critiquing men for not contributing to the certain gender roles that patriarchy gave them the greenlight for, and allowing patriarchy to use them as the vessel to let men seeking emotional catharsis in ways other than the approved emotion of anger to feel bad about requesting such release.
While it’s not a woman's job to make a man feel better about himself or provide him emotional support, it’s hard to ignore the women out there who will constantly make a man feel bad about not performing the hegemonic contributions to society that patriarchy says he should be doing as a man.
I remember listening to a conversation of two men in the elevator of my apartment complex and one just venting to another man about how his girlfriend was constantly giving him shit about not doing more as the head of the household on some “man up” shit, revealing that all of these societal expectations that patriarchy tells her he as a man should be doing were actually draining him dry.
No, he didn’t say those words EXACTLY, but that was pretty much what he was referring to.
And that’s not even mentioning the former situation of refusing to want anything to do with a man’s desire to emotionally express himself in ways that patriarchy naturally condones.
Like, imagine a woman being a romantic partner to a man, and looking down on them because they wished to be emotionally vulnerable around someone they have the most trust around. Even feminist activist and philosopher Bell Hooks had to have a similar wake-up call that she recalled in her book “The Will to Change.”
/Saying, and I quote, “When I was in my twenties, I would go to couples therapy, and my partner of more than ten years would explain how I asked him to talk about his feelings and when he did, I would freak out. He was right. It was hard for me to face that I did not want to hear about his feelings when they were painful or negative, that I did not want my image of the strong man truly challenged by learning of his weakness and vulnerabilities. Here I was, an enlightened feminist woman who did not want to hear my man speak his pain because it revealed his emotional vulnerability.”/
While it’s not a direct translation, Lois Lane goes on a journey of unlearning a lot of similar behavior thanks to how My Adventures With Superman utilizes the allegory.
/Seeing Superman do everything he can do and how his presence immediately challenges the way things are in Metropolis puts her in the position to expose him for everything he’s worth that’s similar to how women still trapped in patriarchy want men to stay just as bound to it./ (And no matter where he goes, no matter where he hides, we will track Superman down and force him to tell us all his secrets. And then we’ll publish them. This is the best day of my life!)
Then when she figures out that Clark Kent and Superman are one in the same over the course of her wanting to interview him, and that he just genuinely wants to help people, she begins to reflect and change.
/She takes into consideration how her being raised by General Lane played a part in why she was so gung-ho in wanting to completely expose Superman. She also looks at her hero Vicki Vale, and sees what she could’ve become if she allowed herself to continue acting under the interest of herself according to how the world operated before the arrival of Superman. By the time the season finale comes along, she has chosen to no longer let patriarchy dictate how she should feel about and pursue those who operate outside of it./
And speaking of the season finale...
While I personally think it’s obvious, I should mention that humans unwilling to believe Superman’s want to do good is genuine as an allegory for those trapped in patriarchy looking at others who are free from it with disdain isn’t the only variant present in My Adventures With Superman.
Because as we’ve seen near the end of the season, and what it looks like will be the basis for the plot of season 2, Superman is gonna have to deal with the way the surviving members of Krypton see him.
/And how Superman reacts to learning about said surviving members is also a form of patriarchal protest in its own right./
Let’s go back to Zero Day Part 2, when through the help of General Lane, Superman learns that a member of the House of El arrived to Earth via a Phantom Zone portal I assume while he and Amanda were in the military, and completely slaughtered their unit with the use of mechs programmed by what us DC fans know to be the a version of the Kryptonian AI Brainiac.
/I think it’s no exaggeration when I say that when Supes saw this, he was DISTRAUGHT./ (Why... why would they do this?)
So distraught that it even threw off General Lane.
/Enough to have him outwardly question if Superman had anything to do with the attack to begin with./ (We’ve spent so much time guessing about why Nemesis Omega attacked. And when it seems like we finally have the answers in our grasp...What if we’re wrong?)
So when the season finale occurred, and Superman did everything in his power to close off the Phantom Zone portal that turned on when the spacecraft that brought him to earth was activated, this is yet another act of defiance against what could be marked against patriarchy.
/Superman’s love for Earth and his refusal to become what certain people of Earth fear he is at his core causes him to see Krypton as a whole as nothing but a people bent on war, might, fear and invasion, and he’s willing to shed that portion of his heritage away from him in order to protect a world that has people on it who taught him that there’s more to life than just following dogmatic patriarchy./
Of course, those of us who are both fans of Superman media and know how stories work know thanks to Jor-El’s presence that what Superman has been presented with regarding Krypton is not what the planet or its people represent as a whole.
This is either a scheme being played out by a sentient Brainiac, the combination of Brainiac and a General Zod freed from the Phantom Zone and going on a galactic conquest, or -- as some info has leaked about season 2 has shown -- Brainiac utilizing a clone of Superman’s mother Lara Zor-El to be the face of the invasion...
/Who will constantly be berating Kal for being weak and a disappointment to both her and what’s left of their people when the two of them meet in season 2./
And when this happens, it will only be playing further into the concept of how those trapped in patriarchy look down at the men who find themselves free of it by berating their manhood and masculinity for not subjecting themselves to the likes of specific gender roles and unhealthy coping mechanisms that are approved by the political social system in question.
But instead of it just being humans looking at Superman with distrust because they can’t fathom someone with that much power just wanting to be good for goodness’ sake without wanting anything in return because patriarchy has blinded them to that being an actual possibility...
/Its now Kryptonians looking at the actions of Superman and belittling him for growing soft for those same exact reasons./
Conclusion
Readers, I know it seems like all I do here is praise shows. But I promise you My Adventures With Superman deserves it
Great storytelling, great use of characters, and -- as I’ve brought to your attention -- a GREAT use of allegory
Also, like I said earlier, I immediately started theorizing as soon as I finished watching the finale, as my tweets can prove. And I only do that shit with shows I really like.
Thankfully season 2 was greenlit around the same time as season 1, so we’ll be seeing the continuation of the Kryptonian invasion saga and see how right and wrong my theories are.
But other than that, this show has done a great job -- even with just one season -- not just in showing why Superman is so necessary in the first place...
But in showing how certain ways of thinking impacted those around us -- both consciously and subconsciously -- and that doing good just for goodness sake isn’t really as sus as we thought it was.
But I digress, Readers. Your homework assignment for the day:
Write in the comment section below what you thought of season 1 of My Adventures With Superman if you’ve seen it.
Or, if you feel like sharing with the rest of the class, write in the comment section below a storyline in film or television that you’ve seen that did a great job at showing what happens when one person or a group of people naturally challenge the established order of a society and are looked at weirdly because of it.
Whichever question you decide to answer, I’d love to know your thoughts.
/A HUGE shoutout to my Patrons both big and small for helping make this channel possible.
Make sure you check out the card at the end of the video to join, or click the link to it or any of my affiliates in the description box below.
But until then, this is Readus 101. Class dismissed./
