The AFP is reporting today that one of America’s most famous immigrants and beloved heroes has passed away, he died after being hit with an era of cynicism, self-doubt, and decay; he was attacked by an age without heroes; he was unable to out-run the speeding bullet of doubt or fly higher than the bird of distrust. He died alone and, though not without impostors, had largely been forgotten. From what we can tell, he was survived by no one.
In his heyday, Superman was America’s Albion, our Hercules, the God from a country too young to have it’s own mythology, but too proud to take on someone else’s. This was a God made in our image: Like most of us he didn’t come here by choice, but by necessity. Like most of us, he wasn’t accepted at first, perhaps he was even feared, but like most of us: He came to be seen as a integral part of the national experiment.
But he had his detractors. There were those who’d accuse him of being a Nationalist, a “neo-Aryan fantasy”, an arrogant display of American Exceptionalism. And yet, Seth Eagelfeld–a street philosopher and someone who spends too much time thinking at night–believes this completely missed the point.
“His strength was the least important thing about him,” said Seth. “All mythological characters are strong, but only Superman thought it more important too be right. He represented America, yes, but far more importantly, he represented what America wanted too be, what it knew it could be, what it knew it should be. He had tremendous strength, he could’ve conquered the world in a matter of hours, but never did or wanted to. Like Washington, he valued principle over power; like Lincoln, he wanted no man to be either a slave or a master; like Martin Luther King, he believed that it was brotherhood and justice which made strength, not muscles and bombs. 
“It was as if you took all the decent people who could’ve been put in charge of this country, who should’ve been put in charge and gave them the ability for change. He was us, but only what was good in us; never hateful, spiteful, fearful, or terrified; never petty or small.”
In recent times he had begun to be eclipsed by Batman who, far from the relatively peaceful streets of Metropolis, came from crime-ridden Gotham and believed, quite strongly, that sometimes violence was necessary, sometimes you had to sacrifice your values to survive, sometimes the lesser of evils is the best choice.
But blaming other costumed marauders for Superman’s demise is only half the story. Superman became aligned with, and symbolic of, a government that Americans no longer trusted nor believed in. Unlike Batman, known for his hatred of authority and mutual distrust of Police, Superman was too often found on the side of power, even when they weren’t the “good guys” anymore. Though no one ever believed of his involvement in Chile, in Vietnam, in Cuba, or Iraq–his failure to acknowledge these events or, much more, distance himself from them and condemn them, was seen as de-facto support. His reluctance to intervene in government overstepping and the erosion of civil liberties sent more and more people to his dissident counterparts for protection. Though it’s claimed he never hurt an innocent civilian, somehow he became feared by all the wrong people and loved by all the even wronger ones.
In the end, perhaps, Americans just stopped believing in heroes. We stopped believing that anyone could do anything without a hidden agenda. Standing up for what was right was seen as treason by those in power and as laughably futile by those who had none. Nobody cared about the life of a child in front of a car or a falling woman when death tolls around the world had skyrocketed from war, violence, and disease. Long before Superman died, the idea of him had perished.
In lieu of flowers, please send hope and prayers to a nation that’s lost it’s way and a culture that finds goodness quaint and prentenious.
Have you considered Subscribing to all of this madness?
