Thanks, Superman: Kindness really is the coolest kind of punk rock
As Superman hits digital, remembering the heart of the message
With Superman soaring (sorry) onto digital release today, it felt like a good time to take a moment to reflect on the message of James Gunn’s reboot of the flagship DC superhero franchise - and just how much the message is one the world desperately needs right now.
Superman is an aww shucks kind of hero - there’s typically not a whole lot of grey mixed into that character arc. Which makes him a hard character to get right on the big screen! He’s incredibly powerful, almost God-like, and doesn’t really have a lot of moral ambiguity. He’s good. He’s the embodiment of good. He is the ideal humanity can strive toward.
Which is great! But also hard to build a compelling story around at times. Of course, Gunn nailed it, by finding the humanity in the character and not the grey space around should he be good but digging into figuring out exactly how to be good. What is good? Those are the questions this new-look Superman grappled with, and it was incredibly compelling!
But one line that went viral (not as viral as that AWESOME Mister Terrific fight, but still viral) was the “kindness is punk rock” discourse between Clark and Lois. TL;DR: Lois was a punk rock kid, and ribs Clark for being a bit of a square. His response? Effectively that kindness is its own kind of punk rock.
And if that’s not a message the world needs these days, I don’t know what is. It not only speaks to a generation and a world that’s become more and more polarized for all sorts of reasons, but speaks to the heart of what Superman is while finding a clever and cute way to convey it.
I took both of my boys (14YO, 9YO) to see Superman and they loved it. Yes, they loved the action, Nathan Fillion’s snarky Green Lantern performance and all those killer fight scenes. But they also fell in love with Krypto. They fell in love with this version of a superhero who is an aww shucks good guy who grapples with how to do what’s right, and how much if means to him to figure that out every day.
That’s a heck of a message, and Supermans nailed it.
If that’s the kind of punk rock they’re learning in this new generation? I’m all for it. Besides, I can always help fill in the gaps with some The Clash and The Ramones records on the back end (or heck, maybe some Mighty Crabjoys deep cuts) for broader context.