Okay. I’ve been keeping myself to a policy of not reading any reviews or anything about “Man of Steel” until I see it. But then this came up in my feed and I *had* to read it:
Superman: Flying to a Church Near You
Then I read the following comment at Pharyngula. Here’s the relevant bit:
The Jesus allegory. I actually like religious allegory. I just don’t like being hit! Over! The head! With it! HE’S JESUS! HE’S JESUS! SUPERMAN IS JESUS! DO YOU GET IT YET? If we add in a completely unnecessary scene that puts him directly in front of this depiction of Jesus for several minutes, will you get it? I mean they made Superman 33. It should have been 30, because Jesus started his ministry at 30, but it HAD to be 33 because that’s the famous Jesus-age, and maybe ignorant people would get it. Argh. They even had a lovely little bit to pander to creationists where the bad guy says “evolution always wins”. Grrr.
Yeah… I don’t know about you, but I don’t need to spend my hard-earned cash on Christian propaganda, thanks.
And yes, I’m fully aware that Superman’s religion has changed from a Kryptonian religion to Humanism to Methodist based on the whims of whoever’s writing him, and that the whole Superman-Is-Jesus thing has been done in the comics, especially Doomsday where he basically pulls a Jesus-death-and-Resurrection thing.
But do they really have to include that? If the WB is going to build their entire Justice League Universe on Christian allegory, then I intend to miss it, thanks. These are fucking superheros, not vehicles for proselytizing. Even worse! The Bad Guy throws in a shot supportive of evolution, because… you know… evolution is a lie from Satan.
And I had such big hopes for this film and franchise, too…
Damnit.
Nathan Hevenstone
Atheism, Music, and More... 