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Superman is causing right-wing temper tantrums – and we’re here for it

Right-wing Americans have labelled the latest Superman movie as ‘superwoke’. Despite its strong opening reviews and debuting on Rotten Tomatoes with 91%, it has sparked political debate about immigration.

Obviously, as soon as Superman director James Dunn pointed out the political subtext, the right-wing media threw a tantrum.

Superman: a history of political commentary

Here’s the thing – comic books like Superman, and therefore the films they have been turned into, have a history of political and social commentary.

The pro-Trump, anti-immigration gammons are clearly not smart enough to figure out that almost every previous superhero movie is optical. They had to wait until the director pointed it out.

The earliest Superman comics featured him fighting against slum landlords and corrupt orphanages, both deeply political issues.

Similarly, in the Marvel universe Spider-Man was the working-class hero. Peter Parker was moving from job to job when he wasn’t wearing his Spider-Man suit.

Then, the Iron Man series explores what happens when one person has unchecked power, especially in a military-industrial context. Tony Stark goes from being a selfish arms dealer to a heroic figure.

Additionally, two Jewish artists created Captain America in the lead-up to the US entering World War II. They did this amongst rising antisemitism and Nazism in the US.

In DC, both Batman and Wonder Woman often tackle the issues of corruption and inequality.

DC films like Superman often touch upon themes of social justice, with characters like Batman and Wonder Woman often taking on issues of inequality and corruption.

In the Superman animated series, Superman himself said: “There is a right and wrong in the universe and that distinction is not hard to make.”

Also, Superman is literally an immigrant. Do they want him locked up in an ICE detention centre, too?

A glimmer of hope

Often, people look to movies, books and music for some small sense of hope in what has become a very dark world.

I would argue that the very concept of superheroes like Superman and the amount of power that they yield is, in fact, political. With power comes great responsibility, and we are living in a world where those with the most power are abusing it time and time again, and – much like Tony Stark – are completely unchecked.

As usual, Superman has given the people on Earth an ideal to strive towards.

Feature image via the Canary

By HG

This post was originally published on Canary.