Superman, or the Man Of Steel as affectionately known, is the first and arguably greatest
superhero of all time.
The symbol of all that is good, truth and justice.
In this video, I want to go into one specific theme from 2013's Man of Steel, Zack Snyder's
introduction to Superman and lessons you can take from his journey into your own life.
I've also got a neat little easter egg at the end of the video that pulls all that's
discussed together into a short single clip, so be sure to watch to the end for it.
Whether you're a fan of Zack Snyder and his films is down to your own opinion and I have
no intention to try and convince you otherwise in this video, as rather my intention is to
explore other elements.
However, I will state that while Man Of Steel and the sequel, Batman V Superman, were met
with mixed opinions when released, I personally consider them phenomenal feats of filmmaking
and they are some of my favourite films of all time.
While I had some hesitation in creating this video at first, I've chosen to do so because
one key themes of Man Of Steel, which is the birth of Superman, is fundamentally related
to concept of personal growth, with our need to be challenged for growth, to accept ourselves
during life and finally accept and take on the responsibility to live life according
to our purpose.
So with all that said, let's look at fives themes in Man Of Steel that show the personal
growth of a Kryptonian baby that embraces the role of the Superman.
1.
The Allegory of Birth - Possibly one of the biggest criticisms from
detractors to Man Of Steel, was that Superman wasn't "their Superman", a character who didn't
embody the same values and characteristics they identified him with
- While this is debatable as pretty much all elements of the character have fundamentally
been sourced from the comics, what's vital to understand is that this version of Superman
isn't yet the complete character, but rather one who has only just begun his journey of
finding himself, and his place in the world - Arguably the most prominent theme in Man
Of Steel is birth, whether it be the birth of Kal-El on the planet Krypton, the birth
of Clark Kent in Smallville, or the eventual birth of Superman in Metropolis
- All of this is symbolic throughout the course of the film with the use of phallic imagery
at critical junctures of the film, notably when showing Kryptonian technology
- This process of maturation of the character is similar to how we journey through life,
with each of us having critical events which give birth to a new version of ourselves,
one which enters a stage of a new found maturity where we take on responsibility we previously
never had, similar to Superman's journey in Man Of Steel
2.
The Need for Struggle - As mentioned, birth plays a prominent role
in Man Of Steel and each time there is a birth in the film, it's following a moment of intense
struggle and pain - Let's take the three most prominent births
of the film as examples, the birth of Kal El on Krypton, the birth of Clark Kent and
his humanity in Smallville and the birth of Superman in Metropolis
- In each case you see an intense struggle, whether it be the pain felt by his mother
Lara as she gives the first natural birth in generations of the Kryptonian people in
amidst of civil war, the pain Clark feels at seeing his father die in front of him,
or worst of all, the moment Superman has to take the responsibility of taking a life in
order to save innocents - For growth to take place, we need to be
challenged and pushed past our natural comfort zones.
We see this in exercise, where muscle fibres are broken down to rebuild stronger, and we
also see this in theoretical growth, as the progression of humanity at an intellectual
level has come from our natural need to understand and learn about our environment and to push
ourselves to seek answers for questions we don't know the answer to, just as we see the
character arc develop in Man Of Steel
3.
The Need to Take Responsibility - The previous point of the need for struggle
leads us to the point of taking responsibility, as it's from struggle that we're forced into
a place to make a decision - This is particularly prominent in Man Of
Steel at the start when Krypton is on the verge of destruction, as while Jor El and
Zod both seek to take responsibility and take action as they accept their planet is dying,
the council in charge don't do anything, instead choosing to remain ignorant as they've never
truly matured in the face of a lifetime of comfort, the very reason why the planet is
facing destruction to begin with - This theme is a constant in Man Of Steel,
whether it be Clark's journey to becoming Superman, taking on the responsibility to
help others even if he's yet to reach the state of maturity to understand what comes
with this choice, or whether it be Jonathan's decision to accept death to protect his son,
knowing the response that will follow should Clark expose himself
- Eventually, it culminates to the end decision that Superman is faced with, whether or not
to kill Zod to save innocents - While critically this was met with a backlash,
it was a fundamental point in the character's journey to accepting the responsibility of
becoming Superman - Ultimately, in a world where you can't live
in absolutes as reality is never that simple, Superman is faced with going against his will
and taking a life to protect others, a point where he accepts responsibility of his role,
knowing he can't always do what he might like, but needs to do what's right
4.
The Need for Maturity - From facing struggle and accepting the responsibility
of our choices, we come to our point of growth, where we mature from our experiences
- I think Jordan Peterson explained this extremely well for the average person, whereby we all
reach a point in our lives where we need mature into adulthood in our lives, and often this
comes at the cost of coming to accept that you may not always agree with your parents'
decisions and you have to take responsibility for your choices
- It's often a scary proposition, because at this point you have no security, or safety
net, and the weight of your choices are all the heavier
- However, it's through accepting this responsibility that we often see a new stage of maturity,
one where we don't need to be cared for any longer, but instead can care for others
- Superman's journey is this same, as shown in his relationship with his father on Earth,
Jonathan Kent, who would often be forced to protect his son despite Clark wanting to take
a different course of action - Eventually, by the end of the film, Clark
chose his own path, after he grew to learn more about himself, his role on Earth and
the gravity of taking on the responsibility of exposing his true self to humanity
- However, from this arose Superman, the symbol of hope to the people of Earth and an individual
who cared for others, just as we often do when going from being a child and needing
care, to becoming an adult and having our own children that we need to care for
5.
Birth - All of the previous points lead to the thematic
point of Man Of Steel, which is birth - This is a constant throughout the film,
as the superpowered alien Kal El is born on Krypton, the human Clark is born in Smallville
when his father dies and finally, the culmination of both species, Superman, is born at the
end of the movie - Birth is also prevelant at a higher level,
with Krypton symbolising the father and Earth the mother.
Returning to the symbolic visual themes mentioned before, we see Krypton ejaculate the ship
with Kal El, which eventually impregnates the Earth, who nurtures the growth of this
being before leading to the climax - Here, the Earth struggles and suffers and
as we see the World Engine causing waves of building pressure, pain and destruction, growing
in intensity, we see the Earth suffering with contractions as found during child birth
- Eventually, when all is done, Superman is born, ready to take on the responsibility
placed on him and Earth has found its symbol of hope
- The same is found in our own journeys through life, whereby accepting all that comes our
way leads to the birth of a new, more mature version of ourselves, allowing us to take
on new responsibilities in life just as Superman does at the conclusion of the film
As mentioned earlier, I had a little surprise which exemplifies the outstanding work of
Zack Snyder on Man of Steel, as each scene in the births of Kal El, Clark Kent and finally
Superman are all synchronised, as you notice that intial drama is followed by a moment
of quiet before the first scream of the newborn, all done with the same timing, showcasing
the fundamental theme of the film...Birth...
Are you a fan of Man Of Steel?
Let me know in the comments section below.
Please Like, Share and Subscribe as we help you live life on your terms.
Don't forget to hit the bell icon to ensure YouTube notifies you of the latest uploads.
Thanks for watching