Plenty of people want to inflict pain or see pain inflicted, as long as it’s on the appropriate victims, and these people aren’t all on the right. It’s a common human trait.

The cinematic-repubLkan-universe kindness is weakness… Good doesn’t pretend to be evil. But evil does pretend to be good…ffs, 'the list is on my desk…"

I only watched a cam-rip and stopped after Louis Lane “interviews” Superman which was painful to watch. The typical reporter tearing and deliberately misrepresenting or framing things in the dominant world order, every question a cut and propaganda criticizing people who disagree. It was kinda gaslighting, like “why did you attack our ally unprovoked?! Also some people are saying you’re an alien spy!”. Instead of asking questions to get the truth, they are loaded questions that can’t be answered without making yourself look bad.

What a total failures as a character introduction and makes her instantly an unlikeable removed. I mean holy shit is that bad storytelling. Or is that just me? If that is what you think a reporter should do, then don’t do it as a friend / girlfriend, and if that is how you see the world that you are not worthy of being the girlfriend of a hero like Superman. Because in my opinion you’re one of the villains in real life.

I do suspect this plays into why some people disliked superman. What people seek in these troubled times is strength. And they hate what tears strength down, seeking to control or subdue it or put it in it’s place in the proper order of things. They want someone to break things because deep down we all know the path we’re on right now leads downward (economic inequality, enshittification of products, appliances and services, climate change and environment, rising tensions, news and social media, post truth world). The people voting aren’t entirely wrong in just wanting to see the world burn.

There is a quote which I don’t know where it came from or remember well: “The samurai valued strength above anything else, because that is where all other values flow from”. Or differently: “The samurai believed that strength was the foundation of all values, as it enabled them to uphold honor, loyalty, and discipline.”

But our liberal world order sees strength as something that has to be separated, atomized, means tested and distributed into channels to control. Controlled by laws, bureaucracy or better yet, the dictates of capitalism, because it’s oh-so-efficient. I suspect right wingers like Homelander not because he’s a corporate product, but because he breaks out of that and goes rogue, and also rejects the “we must not kill anyone and obey the laws or we will be like the villains!” bullshit.

The cult of personality or hero worship represents a desire of people that someone comes and fixes all this shit and cuts through the red tape. Someone who has strength and the courage to use that strength, despite all the clever fucking shitty arguments and conventions to the contrary. Because we’ve heard it all before and it sounds so good but it’s clearly not working. Superhero movies are supposed to fulfill that wish and grand escapism into a world where our problems are magically solved. But recent movies (Marvel) failed to do that, instead pushing the failed real world fantasy of a liberal world order into the movies. Like the common trope of Washington and the government being fundamentally good and working well, except for a few bad apples, and as soon as you get the proof and give it to the good people or the newspapers, everything works out fine. Which is a painful reminder that it doesn’t in real life.

I suspect the “reactionary backlash” is not just about racism, it’s about the rejection of the distraction of identity politics - that if we only lean in more, if we accept different cultures, everything will be fine - because that is just distraction from the continued neoliberalism and disaster capitalism. But breaking things and bringing things to a head is also an opportunity - accelerationism.

These are just by jumbled thoughts on how this reflects on our culture war. Again, I haven’t watched the movie or read any of the right wing critiques, only seen the “liberal backlash to the backlash”. This controversy in itself is rather predictable and pisses me off. Like it’s a distraction in itself, a pair of two anger memes that complement each other perfectly are tossed into the ether to continue to keep us occupied.

Also after I stopped the movie I read some (serious) reviews and it’s also just a shitty movie.

I like the Nathan Fillion comment during some red carpet interview when the interviewer was trying to egg him into saying something that would get rage clicks from one side or the other of the current political trash fire.

“its just a movie guys”

Superman was not a brooding edge lord until Snyder’s take outside of specific story runs, and it is obvious that a lot of people don’t know that.

Hard agree

This POS

Cause Americans are obsessed with Rugged Individualism.

If you are in trouble, you don’t accept help, much less ask for it. You pull yourself up by your bootstraps and turn your fortunes around with grit and determination using nothing more than the loose change in your pocket.

Thats how anyone that needs help became nothing more than social parasites leeching off the rugged individualistic success of their betters.

Thats why Americans, on the whole, have all but erased empathy and good will towards others.

Its why 1/3rd of the country actively votes for weak, pathetic fascists who poorly playact as strong man. Its why 1/3rd of the country didnt bother voting, because they have no problem with fasciatic strongmen punishing the weak and the other.

The New Religion of the American Orthodoxy is basically “Fuck you, Got Mine”.

Nah kindness is Woke

Superman fighting the klan didn’t work because adults laughed at their hand signs and shit that were disclosed…

It’s because it got a generation of kids to see the klan as the bad guys

If Superman hated you, how the fuck were you going to indoctrinate your kid into the klan?

That’s why they’re always bitching about media. The people doing it are ignorant, but the ones telling them what to be mad about it are picking logical targets to fufil longterm goals.

It’s why fighting fascism is like losing weight, you can’t reach a goal and stop giving a fuck, it’s a lifestyle.

They don’t have a movie but they have a show. Highlander is the perfect ‘hero’ for these people. Only even the dullest dullard in the magat pile fails to recognize the character is evil but they never consider they are the baddies.

I just came out of watching the new movie.

In the scene in which Clark gets interviewed, seen also in the trailer, it is transparent that Superman is with Francesca Albanese on a very current issue.

That’s what they are mad about.

I guess WB/DC is gonna fall out of grace.

I’m curious how this movie is, I’m used to the older ones and a show called Smallvile.

I did not know there was some anger about this Superman movie. Anyone could quick give me a small summary?

Though bit bummed out that they keep remaking movies and shows instead of making new ones.

People angry that Superman represents kindness

Do these people exist? Is it just one troll, or a significant enough of a population to even give the slightest bit of thought?

Ok, I don’t think kindness is a bad thing but I do think the type of hero who’s all vanilla and too good to be true feels fake. I can’t relate to someone who always makes the right choice without fail and who has near unlimited power. I also think it makes for a more boring story. I like stories where the heroes aren’t perfect and need to learn to be better.

I’m out of the loop here. I’ve seen something about the most recent director or writer calling Superman an immigrant, and Dean Cain hating on that take and calling it “woke”. But I haven’t seen anyone expressing that Superman should not represent kindness.

FWIW if you are looking at reviews for an upcoming or recently released movies, and a lot of the comments are calling it “too political” or “woke”, give it a watch and come back with your own review. Those reviews are an indicator to me that it might be somewhat thought-provoking. (or also don’t watch if you have no interest in the subject)