Superman is the Costume: What Tarantino Got Wrong In his Superman Speech

image by Rudy Ao via scop.io

Introduction

Welcome readers!

Today’s post will cover Bill’s superman monologue from Kill Bill Vol. 2, and what Tarantino got wrong about Superman and Batman.

For those who’ve never seen the movie or its prequel, briefly the series follows Beatrix Kiddo aka The Bride, aka Black Mamba, one of the eponymous Bill’s female assassins, who finding herself pregnant with Bill’s child, changes her identity and goes in hiding.

That is until Bill finds and executes her and everyone at her wedding rehearsal.

Beatrix survives being shot in the head and falling into a years-long coma, then goes on a “rip roaring rampage of revenge” on Bill and the other female assassins.

Bill’s Superman Speech

Towards the end of vol. 2 Beatrix finds Bill, and he shoots her with a potent truth serum and asks her why she left him and gives his Superman monologue, which I’ll now quote here, formatted for better readability:

“As you may know, I’m quite keen on comic books. Especially ones about superheroes. I find the whole mythology surrounding superheroes fascinating. Take my favorite superhero, Superman. Not a great comic book, not particularly well-drawn, but the mythology. The mythology is not only great, it’s unique…

“Now a staple of the superhero mythology is, there’s the superhero and there’s the alter ego. Batman is actually Bruce Wayne, Spider-Man is actually Peter Parker. When the character wakes up in the morning, he’s Peter Parker. He has to put on a costume to become Spider-Man. And it is in that characteristics Superman stands alone.

“Superman didn’t become Superman. Superman was born Superman. When Superman wakes up in the morning, he’s Superman.

“His alter ego is Clark Kent. His outfit with the big red “S”, that’s the blanket he was wrapped in when the Kents found him.

“Those are his clothes.

“What Kent wears—the glasses, the business suit—that’s the costume. That’s the costume Superman wears to blend in with us. Clark Kent is how Superman views us.

“And what are the characteristics of Clark Kent? He’s weak, he’s unsure of himself, he’s a coward. Clark Kent is Superman’s critique on the whole human race.”

The problem with Bill’s monologue is it fundamentally gets both Superman and Batman wrong, which I’ll now show in the following paragraphs, beginning with Superman.

The Four Faces of Superman

 As Much as I love the Superman monologue, it’s not just wrong, but incomplete. Superman has three alter egos and one core personality that informs those personas. I’ll discuss each in turn.

Smallville

First, there is Superman’s core identity, the simple farm boy from Smallville; he is the earnest, loyal, fair, and kind boy the Kents raised him to be. He is the boy scout, as Batman calls him, who does what is right without regard for harm to himself and what others may think of his actions.

In fights with Darkside and Doomsday we see Superman endure horrific trauma to protect the earth, precisely because of the values the Kents instilled with him in Smallville.  And where he raised anywhere else by anyone else, he wouldn’t be the same person.

 This is evidenced by Superman: Red Son, the what if comic miniseries in which his spaceship landed in the Ukraine, and he became a tool of the Soviet Union. And in a parallel universe where he lands in Sudetenland instead of Kansas, he becomes a tool of the Third Reich, allowing Hitler to conquer the world.

Moreover, in every storyline where he hangs up the cape, he always goes back to Smallville to help the Kents and live a quiet life.

And it’s because of the Kents he became Superman.

Superman

Superman is the distillation of everything good the Kents taught him as a child. He is humble, brave, kind, and selfless. While his costume may be his clothes, the man inside them is 100% human.

 For Superman is Clark’s critique on humanity.

 He could have used his powers for selfish reasons and become the greatest supervillain ever as he does in another what if comic where a villain kills Lois Lane, and he becomes an authoritarian despot. But he doesn’t because that’s not who he is at his core.

He may have been born a Kryptonian, but the Kents raised him to be human. Which leads me to my next point.

Kal-El

Kal-El, Superman’s Kryptonian name, is also his second persona.

Never knowing his bio parents exact from the recordings, Superman only acts as Kal-El when he’s at the Fortress of Solitude, doing experiments and reviewing the recordings Jor-El and Lara-El left him. Kal-El represents the part of Superman that longs for a life that might have been if Krypton had not exploded. It is his attempt to reconcile himself as a stranger in a strange land and the last of his kind.

As mentioned above, even the name of his headquarters evokes a melancholy.

But though he may be a lone Krypton among billion of humans, he is not alone.

Metropolis

 Superman’s final persona is that of Metropolis, the bumbling, milquetoast coward who works as a reporter at The Daily Planet. Like Superman is the costume he wears to be the best version of his Smallville persona, Metropolis is the costume he wears to be Superman, as Tarantino said.

However, it isn’t a comment on humanity in the way he thinks. Metropolis is the way Superman understands how humanity views weakness, while Superman is how he understands humanity to view power.

And it’s this dichotomy of power versus weakness that is informed by his core personality, Smallville.

Superman and the Ubermensch

Superman is all the best things about humanity condensed into one being. Where he to have been born on Earth, he would have been a but another simple man from middle America, but because of his powers and upbringing, Superman is the apotheosis of what humanity should strive for: humanity devoid of its weaknesses, physical and psychological.

He is hope: The Ubermensch.

It’s no surprise Superman has many messianic qualities, as two Jewish teenagers, Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel, in 1934, created him. The “S” he wears means hope, and Bryan Singer explored this connection between Superman and the Messhiah extensively in Superman: Man of Steel, in which we see a young Clark Kent struggle to control his powers but come out the other side the hero we know so well.

Superman than is a projection of the human psyche, representing not who we are but who we could be if we were to evolve past our baser instincts and prejudices. Thus, he is a critique not of humanity’s shortcomings, but its aspirations and potential.

As Clark goes from his metropolis persona to his superman person, so too can humanity transform into something greater than itself it listens its better angels.

Now that I’ve made my case for how Tarantino got Superman wrong, I’ll move on to how he also got batman wrong.

The Man Behind the Mask

For those unaware, Batman’s origin is he witnessed criminals gun down his parents outside a movie theater when he was a child, and this trauma drove him to travel the world, learning marital arts and how to solve crimes, as famously depicted in Christer Nolan’s Batman Begins.

 During Bill’s monologue, he says Bruce Wayne must put on a costume to become Batman, but this is false for two reasons.

First, there are two Bruce Waynes, the playboy billionaire (Bruce 2) and the psychologically damaged boy (Bruce Prime). The latter died the night his parents died, and his mind created Batman as a defense mechanism.

He may have not known who it was or what to call this new persona yet, but the child that was Bruce Wayne ceased to exist, and in his place was an angry, wounded animal poised to lash out at the world. To aide him, he created Bruce 2.

And it’s this second Bruce Wayne that is a costume, so that he can be himself: Batman.

Second, with or without the cape and cowl, he is Batman 24/7. Even when wearing the mask of Bruce 2, he still thinks, acts, and conducts himself like Batman, because that’s who he is at his core.

Moreover, even in timelines where he gives up the hood, he still acts as Batman by training the next generation of caped crusaders, because that’s who he is. To do otherwise would mean confronting the childhood trauma that spawned the birth of Batman. But as brave as Batman is, that would be a bridge too far for him to cross. Whatever persona he inhibits, he’s still a deeply damaged person with tons of issues.

Consequently, that’s one reason I prefer him over Superman.

Conclusion

Image by Aliekber Ozturk via scop.io

Let me close by saying I’m not hating on either Tarantino or Superman. I’ve enjoyed the former’s movies for years and will continue to watch them, so no: I’m not a hater. Second, while I prefer Batman to Superman, I’m not blind to the appeal of Superman. As I said above, he is the best of humanity and we should all try to be more like him, now more than ever.

As a new tide of fascism and war rises, remember that inside us all is the ember of a hero waiting to rise from the ashes of our fears. If only we have the courage to stand against the darkness and shine. 

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Be Your Own Superman: On America’s Obsession with Superhero Movies

photo by Aliekbar Ozturk via scop.io

Introduction

For over a decade now, superhero movies have dominated the box office.

But they have been a thing since the 1920s with the Zorro movies, and then enjoyed a resurgence in the ‘70s and ‘80s with the Christopher Reeve Superman movies, the Indiana Jones movies, and Star Wars Episode 6-8.

Then in the ‘90s there were several misses, such as Captain America (1990), the Michael Keaton Batman Movies, the spate of Videogame movies like Street Fighter (1994), Mortal Kombat (1995) and its sequels and Spawn (1997).

In the 2000s came the Tobey Maguire Spiderman trilogy and the Bryan Singer X-Men trilogy and more video game movies like Blood Rayne (2005) and House of the Dead (2008). As the decade closed, we got our first Marvel movies: The Incredible Hulk (2008) and Captain America (2008).

Soon DC joined the party and Disney got in the mix with its purchase of Lucas Films and Fox’s entertainment business, and they and Marvel have been battling to see who can produce the most profitable movies.

But why have superhero movies proven so popular?

I argue there a three main reasons for this: the decrease of job stability and wealth accumulation because of globalization and the wealthy disparity between the 1% and the 99%, the distrust and destruction of civil institutions and politicians, and the victim narrative and the need for an authoritarian father figure.  

I’ll discuss each in turn.

The 1% and Power Fantasies

Per this CNBC article from 2021, the top 1% have 16 times the wealth of the bottom 50%, but how did this happen and what does it have to do with superhero movies?

 First, the answer to America’s wealth disparity is simple: neoliberalism and globalization.

Beginning in the ‘80s with Regan and his trickle-down economics, the powers that be enacted policies that drastically lowered the tax rates of the wealthiest 1% while raising those of working-class folks and keep their wages flat. All while productivity skyrocketed.

 They also took measures to bust unions, and businesses that could, eliminated their workforce via automation or outsourced those jobs to countries where they could pay their workers slave wages.

The result being, a family could no longer survive on the minimum wage and both parents now had to work, often multiple jobs, with little job security.

If this weren’t bad enough, corporations legally bribed politicians on both sides to write laws in their favor, shifting the power from the people to them as they sought to destroy every public institution they couldn’t privatize or run for profit (see the US Post Office and higher education).

Broke, overworked, tired, and unable to get a higher education because of the staggering cost of college, is it any wonder people want to watch something where they can fantasize about being omnipotent or close to it?

Power Fantasies

Enter superhero movies, premade for such a thing as they are ultimately power fantasies.

What’s a power fantasy? you might ask.

In simplest terms, a power fantasy is any media that features larger than live characters who can do things like take on an army by themselves or punch out a god. They aren’t meant to be taken seriously and are quote: “something you can watch and turn your brains off.”

But the problem with turning your brain off is you’re not aware of what’s happening around you, and the 1% takes advantage of this.

 I’m not a conspiracy theorist by any means, but have you ever stopped to ask why the media is pushing these movies so hard, beyond they’re safe money makers?

As George Carlin said, “That’s why they call it the American Dream, because you have to be asleep to believe it.”

The truth is, those in power don’t want us to be woke; they want us dumbed down, so we don’t realize how they’ve robbed us blind and turned us into wage slaves. They want us in a constant state of fear or anger, so we don’t see the sleight of hand they’re doing to usher in fascism and a police state.

They don’t want us to think so we don’t question why the powers that be aren’t held to the same laws as us. But most of all, they want us asleep, so we don’t see they’ve ridged the game against us and we revolt.

If we’re asleep, waiting for a Superman to save us, then we won’t see the Lex Luthers stabbing us in the back.

Superhero Movies and The Victim Narrative

What’s the one constant of superhero movies? Regardless of which movie you watch, they all feature said superheroes saving people who are powerless to save themselves.

But have you ever stopped to ask why?

 It’s because these movies train us to be victims, teach us we can’t do anything ourselves and need a strongman to save us.

Think I’m off base?

 Look at the mystique surrounding Hitler during his rise to power. The Nazi diehards believed Hitler was their savior, chosen by God to save the white Aryan race.

 Now compare what those on the extreme right believe re: Trump. They believe he’s their god-king-emperor come to rescue them from the evils of CRT and those filthy LGBTQ folks trying to grooming their children.

  In both cases, you had a population that felt disenfranchised and turned to an authoritarian to save them, much like the people in superhero movies turn to those in capes.

 Enter the victim narrative, which says we aren’t responsible for what happens to us: God, the state, or insert your favorite politician/celebrity will save us.

While we’d like to think of ourselves are highly capable under pressure, the truth is everyone is a hero until the bullets fly. This is why the victim narrative is so insidious; it allows people to abdicate responsibility for their actions and life to others and thus robs them of their power and creates the conditions for the rise of fascism.

Why bother doing the hard work of effecting change, when you can sit on your ass every day and bitch about things online? Why bother running for office when you can wait for someone to do it? After all, you’re powerless.

 So, when a politician in the mold of Trump, Le Pen, or Erdogan comes along, promising to fix everything if only you give the power to do so, people line up to vote for them. They readily relinquish their freedoms hoping to be saved from the evils of the world. What’s a little police state if it means you can feel safe, working your dead-end jobs until you’re fired or die? Whichever comes first.

Often people give politicians superhuman, almost godly qualities, much like the characters from superhero movies. How often have you heard some variation of, “Don’t worry. X will save us!”, as though they’re some modern messiah?

 The truth is people are quick to ascribe to others the spark of divinity within them, which brings me to my next point.

Superheroes, Politics, and Religion

For those unaware, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster created Superman in 1933 in a self-published magazine that failed to sell in their Ohio town before he took off in later years. Both being Jewish, their creation Superman has many messianic qualities. From his super strength, speed, intelligence, and near invulnerability to his Kryptonian name Kal-El, Superman has all these divine qualities to him. Even the name Superman evokes one beyond that of a mere mortal.

And some heroes like Thor, and Wonder Woman are literal gods. Even fully human heroes like Batman have monikers that evoke the supernatural: The Dark Knight, The Bat, The World’s Greatest Detective. And this link between superheroes and religion has been acknowledge by comic book creators as in 2015’s Justice League: Gods and Monsters, a direct-to-DVD animated film set in an alternate universe where the Justice League is an authoritarian group that enforces justice by any means necessary for the good of the people.

 People are in awed and fear them in much the same way they do the Abrahamic God.

And like God, superheroes traditionally come in two types: those that do everything except kill people, like Batman, and those that do kill like Wolverine and Deadpool.

Of the latter, they’ll still considered the good guys because they kill bad people, like the God of the Bible. The reason I bring this up is because of how entrenched Christianity is in Western Civilization, thus how primed western audiences are to messianic imagery and rhetoric surrounding those in powers and those attempting to gain power.  

When people like Marjorie Taylor Greene or Obama invoke God in their speeches, what they’re telling their followers is, “I’m the chosen one you’ve been waiting for. Pick me! I’ll save you from X.”  

Again and again, we see politicians projecting themselves as being modern superheroes here to liberate people from the ills-de-jour. And they often win, because like the superheroes and the God of the Bible they’re imitating, they play to a binary view of morality: we’re good, they’re evil. We’re right, they’re wrong. We’re smart, they’re dumb, etc. And because they are from the ingroup, anything they do wrong, people often handwave it away because they’re doing it for the greater good.

Where have we heard that before?

When God does something we’d disagree with, were it anyone else, the old reply is, “He works in mysterious ways.” And when superheroes do something morally questionable, rarely are they called out for it or suffer the consequences because they saved the day.

Blind faith in anything, be it God or a politician, does no one any good, and reenforces a victim mentality. It also teaches us to be reactive instead of proactive. Holding out someone will save us instead of saving ourselves.

We become bystanders, afraid to act because we’ve given up our power to others. And ultimately, it teaches us to be irresponsible for ourselves because God/politician/hero is in control and will fix everything.

But you must be a true believer.

Fanboyism and Jihadism

Another thing the Abrahamic religions have in common with comic book fans is their militantism. As God is the same today tomorrow and yesterday, all attempts to change superheroes have resulted in some fan responding with vitriol, including death threats to the writers who dare change their beloved comics (see Comicsgate and the controversy over Iceman coming out as gay, making Thor and Iron man female, and Captain America Black).

Ultimately, it’s this tribalism in both groups that lends itself well to the rise of fascism and authoritarians.

But how do superhero movies do this?

Plot? What Plot?

 All superhero movies are effectively the same; they’re either origin stories or about them facing an enemy, being overpowered, only to regroup and win in the end. But more than that, they focus on brawn over brains, driving home the message might makes right.

 Seldom do they focus on the consequences of wrecking half a city to beat the villain of the day. And when they do, it’s only for the first act or so, then it’s right back to fighting the villain de-jour.

 And when they do focus on the psychological and physical trauma these characters go through, it’s often part of their origin story, a la Spiderman. Hell, Batman raison d’etre is because of his failure to address the childhood trauma of witnessing his parents being murdered. Like a good third or more of superheroes could use therapy on the regular.

Moreover, they are generic, bland, and safe, rarely getting higher than a pg-13 rating. Even highbrow movies like The Dark Knight and its sequel still had plenty of explosions and fight scenes to keep the masses entertained.

And it’s this genericness that allows people to turn their brains off and put themselves in the cape of their favorite hero, completely unaware of all the messages and lessons these movies are priming them for.

Conclusion

I’m not saying superheroes movies are inherently bad, but that they contain some bad messages and lessons that we need to be aware of. The truth is, they are just one prong in the elite’s arsenal, who want us dumb, angry, and asleep so we don’t realize they’re screwing us all.

But we can change that if we wake the fuck up.

We don’t need any deity or superhero to save us. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for, and it times we acted like it.

 Inside us all is the ember of a hero, a phoenix waiting to rise from the ashes of our fears. If only we are brave enough to pick ourselves up and fight the good fight.

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