I Almost Cried

Superman Returns contains one of the most racking scenes that I have seen in a while. The movie portrays Superman as strong. While one might expect this from a Superman movie, I have heard that media often portrays Superman as comparatively wimpy. In the beginning of the movie, Superman crashes into the earth from space. Soon after his return, Superman gently lays a crashing Boeing 747 on a baseball field. Later Superman takes a complete round of a chain gun to the chest, grabs a giant, iron advertisement in the air in mid-fall, and lifts a huge boat out of the water, holding it in the air with one hand as he saves Lois and Richard with the other. He is strong. But when he lands on Lex Luthor's kryptonite laced island things change. Lex punches Superman down a staircase. He kicks him around, and then one of Lex's thugs fish hooks Superman under the chin and drags him through the puddles and across the rocks. The three thugs start to beat him heavily, kicking him in the chest and drowning him in puddles. Seeing Superman try to crawl away, then collapse, moan and cry out in pain hurts.

I have read a number of comments on the Christological imagery of the movie. A heavenly being sends down his only son to help men. Jor-El mentions that men are capable of good, but that they need a light for their feet and a lamp for their path. After Lex and his cronies thrash Superman Jor-El says that men are corrupt and have evil hearts but there is still hope for them. The scene of Superman's suffering presents some of the most visceral imagery, and it is reminiscent of the Passion scene in which the Roman soldiers flog Christ (I say scene because I'm comparing movie with movie). There are differences of course: Superman is not almighty; Christ suffered willingly. The Superman scene illustrates the Passion scene in that the contrast between Superman's strength and his weakness is so obvious and so humiliating to us, whereas Christ's strength is not as obvious. As Flannery O'Connor said, when saying something to deaf men you have to speak very loudly. Michael Collender at St. Anne's Pub remarks, however, that all in all Superman was irresponsible with its imagery. I'll let you listen to that on your own.