Superhero Media: Superman The Movie

Does it feel like it's taken way too long to get here? It does to me. With a degree major in film studies and no small obsession with superheroes, I really should have done something about the Gilgamesh-level urtext of superhero cinema before I hit the 300 post mark, right? Then again, what can I say about Superman The Movie that film critics, comics fans and academics haven't covered since 1978, a whole eight years before I was even born? Then again, I just got the film on Blu-ray and it seems that even people my age, let alone younger, have forgotten just how damn good it is, preferring to complain about the "turning back time" segment or how they don't get that Superman is meant to come across as "gooder than good". So I'm not going to preach to the choir here, this "Superhero Media" is for the people who would avoid Superman The Movie like the plague, those who haven't considered that maybe this 1970s proto-blockbuster is a masterpiece whose influence is still felt more than 30 years distant. 

Superman The Movie does not shy away from the origins of Superman as a fantasy pseudo-god that could lift America out of the great depression and shine the light of hope, it embraces the overwhelming power and goodness of the character. The rooftop exchange between Superman and Lois Lane is still probably the best in the history of the two characters; the skeptic meets God in the wilderness and God is exactly as he promised he would be. Wonder is probably the best word to describe Superman The Movie, not only in terms of broad theme but in the intended reaction of the audience. "You'll believe a man can fly" is the desired result of the filmmakers, not that the viewer is intended to literally believe in Superman as a reality, but in that this inherently silly genre can, if only for an hour or two, be completely compelling and utterly engrossing. The impressive part? It works. Sure, the flying effects are a little dated, but Christopher Reeve plays everything straight, giving not one, but two brilliant performances as Superman and Clark Kent. Want to see just how good he is? Watch the scene where he decides to tell Lois his secret identity then changes his mind; Kent to Superman back to Kent in one take, fifteen seconds, no camera tricks. Brilliant. 

Are there flaws in Superman The Movie? Yes, the "Can you read my mind?" voice-over is awful, being cut away from the story elements of Superman II hurts the narrative and it just kind of ends with no post-3rd Act resolution. Despite all of this, Superman The Movie is still a must-see and one of the best superhero films ever made (The Incredibles still takes my vote for best). Sure, Iron Man created the world of high-concept superhero films in which we now reside, but, to continue the metaphor, Superman The Movie is the big bang that birthed the universe in which that world spins. As a great man once said; "You will travel far, my little Kal-El. But we will never leave you... even in the face of our death. The richness of our lives shall be yours. All that I have, all that I've learned, everything I feel... all this, and more, I... I bequeath you, my son. You will carry me inside you, all the days of your life. You will make my strength your own, and see my life through your eyes, as your life will be seen through mine. The son becomes the father, and the father the son. This is all I... all I can send you, Kal-El." 

I believe a man can fly.