Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Lois & Clark Analysis of Superman as a Christ figure

No, #11, the new one starts on 3rd April, the Tenth Doctor having died to save everyone at Christmas. And yes, we do have a resurrected character reappearing at Easter...

I've written one L&C / Torchwood (the adult Dr. Who spinoff) story, Arrival, which is in the archive, but it won't give you much of a flavour for the new Who since you won't be familiar with the viewpoint character.

Originally posted by Marcus Rowland:

Well, that must have been a small run-of-the-mill story, where Superman was dead one week and alive the next. Surely no one paid much attention to it. I was intensely involved in the world of Superman comics at the time when they killed and resurrected him in the nineties, and the whole thing just generated so much buzz. I remember that here in Sweden, where the Superman comics are barely on sale, people were interviewed in the streets about how they felt about the death of Superman. Like I said, this story arc went on for so long, definitely for months, and there really was quite a lot of publicity surrounding it. Surely the death and resurrection of Superman in the sixties happened so quickly that people barely noticed. It must have been the same thing with the earlier case of the death of Batman.

Originally posted by Carol Malo:

Oh, most certainly. But those people are unknown to the world. The thing about Superman is that he is well-known all over the world. The people who helped out in Haiti are real, but Superman is an "idea" and an extremely famous "take" on the concept that one man can be wonderfully powerful and use his powers for good, thereby changing the world.

Because Superman is so famous all over the world, he can be seen as a mythical character. Dr. Who, in my opinion, can't. And therefore it isn't so interesting if Dr. Who is more Christ-like that Superman. If you pick a random person from a random country in the world and ask this person about Dr. Who, chances are that the person doesn't know Dr. Who. But if you ask the same person about Superman and show him or her the 'S' shield, chances are that the person recognizes Superman as a flying man who uses his great strength to do mighty deeds of good.

But now I'm talking about the larger Superman mythos, not the LnC version. Surely Superman has never been so romantic and so interested in a relationship with a woman as he was in LnC.

Ann

Smallville definitely casts a "Christ-like" light on Clark, especially early on in the series. Not only do they "crucify" him on a scarecrow stand in the pilot episode, but there have been many other instances in the (so far) 9 seasons of the show where there are supernatural occurrences that even comic-book physics or odd-colored Kryptonite couldn't explain. Instead of having only a recording of Jor-El to tell him vaguely about his origins, Jor-El is an actual entity that is a part of his ice Fortress in the Arctic and interferes/interacts with Clark's life. There is an episode that shows Jor-El traveling to Smallville long before and meeting Martha and Jonathan, essentially choosing his child's adoptive parents. Jor-El takes on a God-like role to Clark's Christ figure. Jor-El takes away his powers at one point and Clark dies, but is resurrected when Jor-El restores his powers. Clark goes to his father to beg for Lana's life when she dies, and Jor-El rewinds time, but insists that there will be a balance in the universe, and so Clark's father dies. As the show goes on, the parallel between Clark and Christ lessens, as Clark learns about the vast shades of gray where morality is concerned, and he struggles to maintain his absolute view of the sanctity of human life in the face of many different kinds of evil. He has trouble with the idea of the "Greater Good" when it means that individual lives are in danger.

I'm not a Smallville fan - I don't even like it - but I read the reviews to see if some episode is worth watching it. :rolleyes: Once and again they present Clark as the savior, the chosen one. I hate it when they insist that Clark was sent to Earth to be its savior. Clark was sent to Earth to save his life. Smallville has definitely crossed the line in comparing Clark to Jesus. See the reviews:

Quest review

Somebody tells Clark: "That's the difference between believers and nonbelievers. We believed you would be the next savior."

Eternal review

Tess refers to Clark as "a visitor from another planet sent to Earth to save humankind."

Later Tess and Davis (Doomsday) are talking:
Tess: "Who would Christ have been if Judas had not betrayed him? Maybe we would remember Jesus as only a teacher roaming the desert. There is a savior among us. You are here to betray him. I finally realized that until you fulfill your destiny, he won't have his greatest challenge to overcome. He cannot become the world's savior without triumphing over the world's destroyer."

Davis: "What savior? What are you talking about?"

Tess: "Clark."

This is another reason why I don't watch Smallville. It's disrespectful to put Jesus on the same level of a fictional character. I know that Smallville didn't start it, but they took it to another level.

Andreia

Considering that I am the one who started this whole thread, what I am about to say might seem ironic at best or contradictory to my former posts at worst, but to judge by the quotes in Andreia's post, I would agree wholeheartedly with her -- They did cross the line with Smallville. I have no problems with having Superman being seen as a "Christ figure" (i.e., there being a number of similarities between the two); but that is a *world* apart from claiming that Superman actually *IS* the Christ. The latter I, too, would consider to be blasphemy. Smallville will definitely NOT be on my list of shows to watch.

This is certainly continuing to be an interesting thread.

cheers,
Lynn

Interesting. Quite apart from the whole blasphemy thing - which doesn't really concern or bother me as someone who has no religion - I agree that it's a somewhat bizarre concept that Clark was sent to Earth to save humankind. Certainly, that's never been an idea that's ever previously occurred to me about the character.

As someone who dislikes a show getting too closely pinned down to a religion of any kind anyway, religious comparisons this strongly opined would definitely put me off watching the show. If I was in the first place.

LabRat

Lynn, just wanted to say that you've posed some really interesting questions on the boards, and I'm really enjoying reading them and the FDK they generate. Keep it up! (I feel new ideas percolating...)

Oh, so sad! My smiling Dean Cain in a white Superman T-shirt has disappeared!!!

Ann

I'd like to "me too" that. You've livened things up Lynn.

c. (who alos mourns the loss of Ann's very lovely Dean Cain photo.)

If you can find it in your local library or used bookstore, "The Seven Percent Solution" by Nicholas Meyer is a fascinating modern explanation of what really happened during that three-year hiatus. It involves Sigmund Freud, an unnamed Prussian cavalry officer, and international intrigue of the most pernicious kind. The game is still afoot!

\end thread hijack

My thanks to you both and to everyone else who has made me feel welcome here. I have enjoyed our conversations, and am delighted to find a place where people can disagree civilly. :-)


I don't understand...I can still see the photo higher up in the thread...Don't you see it as well? And if so, could you not simply right-click on it and save it again? I agree about it being a lovely picture.

cheers,
Lynn

It has been many years since I read that book, but I recall it being one of the best modern SH stories. IMHO, much of what is out there is really pretty third rate stuff, unfortunately; but the Seven Percent Solution was well worth the read for any Holmes fans.

cheers,
Lynn

Oh, Dean is back!

As for the Seven Per Cent Solution, I read it too and enjoyed it. I agree that it was a very good book, which took Sherlock Holmes seriously both as a brilliant detective and as an addict!

And thank you too, Lynn, for starting these very interesting threads. You could perhaps tell that I thoroughly enjoyed discussing the Christ theme, but that I was ever so slightly angry in the deathfic thread, but, oh well...

Ann

I am a Christian and I think you have covered the similarities between the two figures quite well. I eman if you take it too far, then the allegory ends, but the One coming to Earth with nonbiological parents to save man and leading a life of integrity and being hated and persecuted. It's nice to see this comparison on a secular website.