KAL38

June 15, 2013 12:58 pm SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER First off, I was incredibly excited for this movie, as much as every other super fan out there (iTunes says I’ve listened to Hans Zimmer’s ‘An Ideal of Hope’ track 1657 times, and I don’t want to say how many times it says I’ve watched the 3rd trailer.....) and for the first half of it I was having the time of my life; Krypton was beautiful and alive, I openly cried every time Lara-El and Jonathan Kent were on screen, Cavill was fantastic, Lois was ACTUALLY doing investigative journalism..... just awesome. Things got shaky around the battle’s of Smallville and Metropolis, the sheer mass destruction on screen, but I was more or less ok with that; Supe’s was clearly not in control of the situation, no more than in his fight with Doomsday despite his efforts (I think I did see him try to fly Faora out of Smallville before being tackled by the big-Non-like-guy) and although he was perhaps more powerful than Zod and co having been on Earth longer, he had little or no training or experience of actually being in a fight (under Jonathan Kent’s protective parenting, which I liked). But then the climax. The only way I can describe my feelings about Zod’s fate, is by relating it to a crisis of faith. I know it might seem a little crazy, but I’ve personally spent my whole life trying to be Superman (It’s why I’m a police officer). His unshakeable morality, his embodiment of truth and justice, is everything I’ve ever aspired to. Almost most importantly though, is (again, SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER!) that he doesn’t kill. Ever. He sticks to his beliefs come hell or high water, no matter if the world thinks its old fashioned or uncool (Action Comics #775 is perhaps my all time favourite story). There’s no gray, just black and white. His respect for the sanctity of any and all life is part of what makes him such a symbol, and something I’ve always emulated. I come from a military family (in fact I’m the first for probably hundreds of years not to have enlisted straight out of school), so the debate of ‘necessary loss of life’ is something I’ve always grappled with; though I invariably always reach the conclusion that it’s all just too big for me, and that the best I can do is do what I feel is right (i.e. be like S-man). So to see him take that path is pretty tough, because really I don’t know if it’s wrong or right. The question is sometimes thrown around of “What would it take for Superman to kill?”, but I’ve always dismissed it as a moot question. Superman always finds another way, no matter what, even if we can’t think of one. But now it’s got me thinking back, and I’ll admit, so that I can find some way to excuse what happened in MOS. What was he trying to do in his fight with Doomsday? Was killing (SPOLIER) Mxyzptlk in ‘What ever happened to the man of tomorrow?’ ok? He hung up his cape because of that, and here it’s the start of his career! Hell, what actually did he do to Zod and co in Lester’s Superman 2? (SPOILER) He threw them into some bottomless pit in the fortress right? Did that kill them? It’s funny, watching Iron Man 3, Tony Stark was killing bad guys left and right, which I wasn’t happy about (don’t get me wrong, loved the movie, just a small quibble) but then I just said to myself “well it’s ok, he’s not a real superhero/symbol like Superman”. But now what? The only reason I’m not really in a rage so much as just confused was Cavill’s performance in the scene, and the hope that we can maybe explore the repercussions in the sequel. I guess my idea of superman is still who he always has been, but I’m just a little worried about who he’ll be in another 75 years for other generations. Whatever happened to truth, justice and the american way? Sorry for the essay. Thoughts?