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Superman Isn’t Woke Enough, Actually.
3 months ago
So Dean Cain — yes, that Dean Cain, walking mayonnaise sculpture and former CW-tier Superman — has once again risen from the crypt of D-list right-wing grievance-punditry to gnash his leathery gums about “wokeness.” Specifically, the horrifying, unthinkable idea that Superman — brace yourself — might be portrayed as an immigrant. You know. Like he has been. Since literally 1938. Since page f***ing one.
But sure, Dean. Let’s pretend your 90s hair gel fever dream of Superman — white, straight, quietly Republican, and probably confused by pronouns — is the gold standard. Let’s ignore the fact that Superman was created by two Jewish kids from Cleveland in the 1930s as a power fantasy for the oppressed. Let’s ignore that he’s a refugee, a foundling, a cultural outsider raised in a foreign land, trying desperately to use his power for good in a system that wasn’t made for him. Let’s pretend he’s just Captain America in a cape, but less fun and more "Blue Lives Matter."
No. Actually? F*** that.
Superman isn’t too woke. He isn’t woke enough.
I want a Superman who burns ICE detention camps to the ground with his heat vision. I want him hovering outside police precincts with arms folded, x-raying every desk drawer for illegal weapons and unfiled evidence. I want Clark Kent to write op-eds about systemic racism that get censored by the Daily Planet’s board of directors and then leak them anonymously to Lois through a dead-drop at a queer anarchist coffee shop.
I want a Superman who knows what power is — and chooses not to prop up the corrupt systems that create suffering. Who chooses instead to dismantle them. Gently, kindly, but without compromise. Not because he’s "anti-cop" or "radical," but because he’s Superman, and Superman is supposed to care. That’s his whole thing. He is what power looks like when it loves you.
The best Superman stories have always been about that. About someone with every power in the world choosing empathy, choosing kindness, choosing us. Not choosing the status quo. Not choosing property over people. Not standing for American exceptionalism, but for decency, justice, and the very idea that we could be better.
So if your idea of Superman doesn’t include that? If your Superman is more comfortable posing for military photo ops than helping trans kids feel safe at school? If he flies over Gaza and does nothing? If he smiles at billionaires and frowns at protestors?
Then congratulations: your Superman sucks. He’s not too woke. He’s just asleep.
And frankly? It’s time for him to wake the hell up.
But sure, Dean. Let’s pretend your 90s hair gel fever dream of Superman — white, straight, quietly Republican, and probably confused by pronouns — is the gold standard. Let’s ignore the fact that Superman was created by two Jewish kids from Cleveland in the 1930s as a power fantasy for the oppressed. Let’s ignore that he’s a refugee, a foundling, a cultural outsider raised in a foreign land, trying desperately to use his power for good in a system that wasn’t made for him. Let’s pretend he’s just Captain America in a cape, but less fun and more "Blue Lives Matter."
No. Actually? F*** that.
Superman isn’t too woke. He isn’t woke enough.
I want a Superman who burns ICE detention camps to the ground with his heat vision. I want him hovering outside police precincts with arms folded, x-raying every desk drawer for illegal weapons and unfiled evidence. I want Clark Kent to write op-eds about systemic racism that get censored by the Daily Planet’s board of directors and then leak them anonymously to Lois through a dead-drop at a queer anarchist coffee shop.
I want a Superman who knows what power is — and chooses not to prop up the corrupt systems that create suffering. Who chooses instead to dismantle them. Gently, kindly, but without compromise. Not because he’s "anti-cop" or "radical," but because he’s Superman, and Superman is supposed to care. That’s his whole thing. He is what power looks like when it loves you.
The best Superman stories have always been about that. About someone with every power in the world choosing empathy, choosing kindness, choosing us. Not choosing the status quo. Not choosing property over people. Not standing for American exceptionalism, but for decency, justice, and the very idea that we could be better.
So if your idea of Superman doesn’t include that? If your Superman is more comfortable posing for military photo ops than helping trans kids feel safe at school? If he flies over Gaza and does nothing? If he smiles at billionaires and frowns at protestors?
Then congratulations: your Superman sucks. He’s not too woke. He’s just asleep.
And frankly? It’s time for him to wake the hell up.
As you said, Superman was made by two Jewish kids, who saw the rise of fascism and wanted to say something about it, to give the Jewish people their Golem back but this time on a new medium of images on paper. Their invincible protector. To protect the marginalized and weak. They knew he wasn't just exclusive to them, that he belonged to more oppressed than just their own.
Superman spent his first issues killing Nazis and fighting Hitler. But they don't see it, they refuse to because they're inherently unable to introspect or creatively think, a work of art either panders to them or is against them there is no in between. So if it isn't fascist Trump propaganda than it is "Woke DEI SJW PC bullshit" or whatever fashy snarl word they using to not say a slur in front of the centrists to continue fooling them to think this is a civil debate and not an existential threat.
Off topic: Oh new pfp, I think I remember this art :3c