Is Superman the First Sign of Audience Capture by the Alt-Left?
Probably Not, But Expect More Allegory Than Direct Commentary
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There is a wild TikTok theory that Superman, released this weekend, is a pro-Gaza film. This is the logic that buttresses the argument: Superman helps a nation of brown people against a US ally. Hawkgirl throws a leader that looks a lot like Netanyahu down from the sky.
I will save everyone the trouble: this is not the narrative the film supports. Superhero films and shows have been and will be military propaganda. Watchmen, “Invincible” and “The Boys” are the exceptions that prove the rule. A major icon that stands for truth, justice and the American way and was a key ingredient of American soft power during the Cold War is now criticizing America’s biggest strategic ally in the Middle East? Dream on.
But blithe dismissals belong on Substack Notes, to be forgotten by the afternoon. What is important to note is this: let’s say an indie director wants to make a message film about the conflict. You can bet that the director will not be literal. They will choose a country that is not Israel and a region that is not Gaza. It won’t even be our current time.
Quick: what was that explicit anti-Vietnam film in the early seventies? Trick question: there was none. M*A*S*H* took place during the Korean War. But nobody took this literally: the subtext was anti-Vietnam. The Wild Bunch was a Western that wasn’t even a war film. The shocking violence was unmistakably a reference to the news footage of the Tet offensive from 1968, a year before Sam Peckinpah released his masterpiece. The anti-war crowd loved it, ushering in the era of the revisionist Western.
This is how audience capture from the alt-left will look like in the beginning. Jordan Peele will not direct a horror film about hospitals getting shelled. The 2010s was the decade of activists running the airwaves. But these messages never truly threatened any military narratives. What’s more, the entertainment industrial-complex held its boot firmly on Occupy Wall Street’s neck, long after the movement died.
Yet again, it seems that the multiplex, more than the music festival, is where the most dramatic cultural change will likely happen. Yes, Bob Vylan and Kneecap had their activist performances go viral. These are still niche acts that primarily have a UK following. Music is still too fragmented (and too underpaid) to be at the forefront of the charge. Which is the opposite dynamic of the sixties, when music set the agenda and movies followed years behind.
Superman may not be an anti-imperialist allegory. But it is setting us up for more than just another cinematic universe.
Thanks for this. Got me thinking. I'm gonna write something in the next week or so on this. I think the film addresses the "the superhero as fascist" trope that's been pretty common in most superhero media for the past 15 years pretty directly. While I don't know if I'd call the film pro-palestine, it can definitely be read as anti-war which some Superman narratives have been historically. Superheroes used to be the domain of the Left when they emerged. The main villain in this movie is a CEO billionaire who thinks he's better than everyone.
Apart from links to any specific situations in our historical moment, I think it's more about an approach:
In a bit of a rush so I'll recycle a piece of my review of the movie to make my point for me (forgive the hacked translation job):
"Ironically enough, this version of Superman neutralizes the idea of superpower way more than most recent superhero films.
Every single character on screen has some kind of talent they can contribute to try and save the day. Someone can fly, someone else is an unstoppable reporter, someone’s a quantum genius, someone has unlikely charm, and someone knows how to say a comforting word at the right time. And Metropolis doesn’t get saved without all of their contributions.
And all characters, no exception, find themselves in a set of circumstances where doing the right thing is impractical, risky, or bears some personal cost.
And in times like the ones we're living through, I think I’m starting see the point of cinecomic as a genre. Because most of us will never fly at supersonic speed or lift a building.
But we all have some kind of gift that we can use for good, and and all of us are in circumstances that render doing it inconvenient.
And sometimes watching a guy in leotard and cape helps us remembering that heroism isn't about what you can do, but about choosing to do the right thing anyway."