Superman is suppose to be larger than life, yet still very much a humbled being. It’s a balancing act between the personas but it’s not about choosing one over the other. The book titles aren’t “Clark Kent” and “Normal Comics”. Also, it’s not about being to fit in, it’s blending in yet remaining all of yourself. How this motivational, confident boosting theme is misconstrued is baffling.
Bendis is right that trying to force the ordinary on an extraordinary character doesn’t make sense. And having that for so long, Superman being written as he should to accept and embrace his heritage is deemed wrong. Being “alien” is wrong. Which again falls into Xenophobic and racist subtext. If Superman wants to be normal, feels his heritage is a burden, why wear the \S/? Why use the powers gifted? Downplaying himself as a simpleton farm-boy isn’t relatable. What’s written to be the “American way” of life isn’t relatable to the wider, diverse audience which is why Superman to this day struggles to resonate.
Superman is also written with this Captain S.A.H mentality. Champion of the Oppressed, saving multiple lives, not choosing one life above the rest. Wonder Woman was written to be the counterpart to Superman. She is suppose to challenge him as a true equal. Being written as uncomfortable is bordering chauvinism, and not much at all of a “super” or a “man” if you can’t handle that. They are two sides of the same coin. The immigrant and the refugee. Superman is more of a refugee than an immigrant, IMO. They are both suppose to fight against the idea of conforming to a society’s unfair ways of acceptance yet that has been deemed wrong and “dehumanizing”. Such a backwards mindset.