Religious imagery surrounded 'Superman' from beginning; Jewish roots noted; Christian-flavoured scenes easy to detect - By JEFFREY WEISS Call it The Passion of Kal-El? Superman Returns is splashed with enough Christian imagery for a cathedral full of stained-glass windows. The movie's director is Jewish. So were the two teenagers who created the Superman character - based in part on Jewish sacred stories and legends - in 1932. Nonetheless, obvious images from iconic Christian art and stories are as common in this film as product placements are in most summer blockbusters: Superman, having been sent by his father, saves the world while (almost) sacrificing his own life. The villain, Lex Luthor, stabs him in the side. While he is being brutally beaten, the only sympathetic face belongs to a "fallen woman." Director Bryan Singer has said he sees Jewish and Christian roots in Superman. "So it's sort of the American dream combined with a little bit of the myth, the concept of Messiah. He's the Jesus Christ of superheroes," he told the magazine Wizard last year. More recently, in an interview with The Associated Press, he said: "These allegories are part of how you're raised. They find their way into your work..." Superman was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, high school classmates in a Jewish neighbourhood in Cleveland. They were both steeped in the immigrant Jewish culture of the day, said Rabbi Simcha Weinstein, author of Up, Up and Oy Vey!: How Jewish History and Values Shaped the Comic Book Superhero. In the Superman story, young Kal-El's father realizes their home planet, Krypton, is about to blow up. He places his infant son in a tiny rocket. Kal-El escapes to Earth, is adopted, and becomes a mighty superhero. The character's creators might have borrowed from the ancient story of parents who saved their child from death by placing him alone on a river in a small basket. He was found, adopted and grew to be a mighty hero. That's Moses from the Book of Exodus. "Was it conscious? I don't think so," Rabbi Weinstein said of the parallel. "But they tapped into their own mythology." Since the days of Siegel and Shuster, control of the character has passed through the hands of many dozens of writers. Some have emphasized the quasi-religious roots more than others. The 1978 Superman movie, co-written by Mario Puzo and directed by Richard Donner, resonated with many Christians. In a line resurrected for the new movie, Superman's dad (played by Marlon Brando) says: "They can be a great people, Kal-El, if they wish to be. They only lack the light to show the way. For this reason above all, their capacity for good, I have sent them you ... my only son." That's almost straight out of the Gospel of John, said Reg Grant, a professor of pastoral ministries at Dallas Theological Seminary. But there's a vital difference from the message of Christianity: The caped, comic book "saviour" is not sent to save people from their own evil. "He comes to help us find our potential," Dr. Grant said. In fact, the new movie, despite its Christ imagery, could hardly be less theological. There's nothing of prayer or heaven. Superman offers salvation only from the perils of this world. To hammer that point, Luthor steals a quote from science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." Or, though he doesn't say so, from divinity. Still, one hardly need be a theologian to spot Christian-flavoured scenes in Superman Returns. The movie starts with Superman returning to Earth after five years in space. When he slams into the old Smallville farm, his adopted Earth mom rushes out to him. He collapses in her arms in a pose evoking Renaissance images of the dead Jesus in Mary's arms. Later, when Luthor gets the upper hand, he and his henchmen briefly pummel Superman with the brutality - if not the gore - of Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ. The one compassionate face belongs to Luthor's girlfriend, a fallen woman straight out of the old church tales of Mary Magdalene. Luthor stabs Superman in the side with a shard of Kryptonite, an image that evokes the fate of Jesus on the cross. But the hero recovers and plunges into the fiery bowels of Earth - which look hellish enough for any brimstone preacher. He rises, carrying an entire evil continent, the creation of Luthor, which would otherwise destroy much of the world. Superman takes on this burden of "sin" even though he knows the effort may kill him. And when he succeeds in his work of salvation, he falls to Earth, arms outstretched in a classic crucifix pose. The parallels, however, break down more than once: The movie makes it clear that Superman slept with Lois Lane at least once. And he's prone to jealousy and other emotional insecurities. And even Superman's origins owe plenty to nonreligious influences that were familiar in the 1930s: the spinach-powered strength of Popeye, the secret identities of Zorro and the Scarlet Pimpernel. "Superman is a fictional alien. He is neither Jewish nor Christian," said Rabbi Weinstein, adding that he's amused by the discussion. On the other hand, he recognizes that people of faith are drawn to the character. "When I talk about my weekly Bible portion, my congregants usually start sleeping," he said. "But when I bring in Superman, they wake up." - Copyright (C) 2006 KRT News Service
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