Superman opinions you're disdainful towards.

[TheCape]

People that call Clark "The High school quarterback" get under my skin. People are always so petty and bitter when they say that that often find myself wondering how a fictional character could have hurt you so much.

You know, i have been in many places in the web, but from all the stuff that i had seen insulting Superman, i have never encounter this one.

[FishyZombie]

You know, i have been in many places in the web, but from all the stuff that i had seen insulting Superman, i have never encounter this one.

wait, that's an insult? I mean I have very mixed feelings about Clark playing football in highschool, but say, calling him the proverbial quarterback of the justice league sounds positive. Then again I know so little about football, I only have a vague understanding about what a quarterback does.

[TheCape]

I don't know, it is in the USA?, i know very little about quaterback in highschool, beyond the cliches in teenage movi3s, i seriously doubt that they are accurate, thougth.

[DochaDocha]

Mark Harmon almost certainly was trying to be complimentary by calling Superman the quarterback, because the team follows the QB's lead. On the other hand, considering the many negative stereotypes around high school football players, if a comic book fan compared someone to a QB, there's a good chance it's not a compliment.

[Dolores - The Worst Poster Ever]

That superman needs to be single or unmarried or without any family


I'm sorry but superman does not need to be a a lonely EMO to be compelling

Agreed. He's supposed to be about Hope and Optimism. Making him all emo goes against that. Giving him a loving family though? It fits him.

I don't know what "emo" is supposed to refer to specifically, but besides that, being married/having a family/being in romantic relationship and being hopeful/optimistic/not lonely aren't mutually exclusive.

[Dolores - The Worst Poster Ever]

That Superman shouldn't be political.

[Agniwolf]

That Superman shouldn't be political.

the moment someone is raised and incorporated in a society that someone is political, the most compromise would be him being at least "centrist" (which is still very subjective)

[Sacred Knight]

I don't know what "emo" is supposed to refer to specifically, but besides that, being married/having a family/being in romantic relationship and being hopeful/optimistic/not lonely aren't mutually exclusive.

Truth. Its not even like its hard to imagine, the tangible materials exist to show it, as he only pulled it off for over 50 years.

[Dolores - The Worst Poster Ever]

the moment someone is raised and incorporated in a society that someone is political, the most compromise would be him being at least "centrist" (which is still very subjective)

Oh yes, he's already political.

But there are people that will insist that he isn't, and therefore shouldn't be.

[TaliaJoy]

It's probably already been adequately addressed, but for me the issue with "Clark Kent is who I am, Superman is what I do" is not that I think Superman should be real and Clark fake, but that either phrase is a massive simplification that takes away what makes the duel identity interesting in the first place. That it's often passed off as some sort of deep insight into the character doesn't exactly help either.

Soubhagya mentioned earlier that it makes sense to them that Clark is real because, well, that's his name and it's the one he's used since childhood. Over course he's going to identify as Clark. The thing is that the situation is much more complex than that. There are multiple other aspects that affect his identity such as whether he changes the way he acts as either Clark or Superman, whether he considers Superman's or Clark's "every day life" to be his own (or whether each is just a part of the whole), does he feel a stronger sense of belonging at the daily planet? or with the Justice League? And what makes this so interesting in the first place is that each of these aspects are relatively distinct. Even if he identifies as Clark (which does make sense), he can still consider Superman's life to be his "real" one or feel more comfortable with the Justice League than the DP staff. And even if the way he acts as Superman is his natural personality and he has to put on a goofy front as Clark, he can still consider Clark's life to be "real" and feel more comfortable at the DP.

I'd really love to see a writer tackle this issue well. Not come into things with a cemented view on the character tossing around lines like "Clark Kent is who I am" or "He's a farmboy at heart," but really explore the many ways a multifaceted identity like Superman's can get twisted around. Might be better suited to a novel though as it'd probably require a fair amount of introspection.

Oh, yeah. I really agree with so much of this. It can be, and I would argue often already is, so much deeper, more complex, and more interesting than one side being "fake" and the other side being "real".

I just got reminded of another opinion I'm disdainful towards. The idea that Superman's entire personality is defined by being a "farm boy". I'm not saying it should have no effect, but there are people who take it too far. There's a lot more to him and his life than that. Some even take it to extra stupid extremes. I once saw a Tumblr post saying Superman should "talk like a Kansan", only the person who wrote it had a horrible stereotypical and extremely inaccurate idea of what "Kansans sound like". I also put "Kansans" in quotes because Kansas is not a totally uniform place of buffalo, sunflowers, and fields of grain, nor are its residents a uniform bunch of country bumpkins. As someone who's lived there my whole life, I'm actually kinda offended by these idiotic stereotypes.

[Dolores - The Worst Poster Ever]

He grew up in Kansas, TaliaJoy. He's about as American as it gets.

[marhawkman]

Mark Harmon almost certainly was trying to be complimentary by calling Superman the quarterback, because the team follows the QB's lead. On the other hand, considering the many negative stereotypes around high school football players, if a comic book fan compared someone to a QB, there's a good chance it's not a compliment.

Yeah, the QB is supposed to be the smartest guy on the team. He's the guy who pays attention to the other team, and decides on the best course of action. He's not the muscle that smashes face, or the fast guy who runs the length of the field, he may not even be the best at throwing.

[Ascended]

Oh yes, he's already political.

But there are people that will insist that he isn't, and therefore shouldn't be.

It does raise the question of how overtly political he should be though.

[Kuwagaton]

Thank you, marhawkman. It's always blown my mind that being an athlete is a cause for scorn. How strangely, ironically backwards. I don't even like football, but credit where it's due. QB is basically shorthand for team captain, tactician, or one who puts the best mix of mental and physical game together (you have guys willing and able like Michael Vick, though mostly "winners" like Tom Brady). Outside of comics or movies about high school I haven't heard it used to specifically reflect:

1) Socially popular
2) Probably not smart
3) Possibly a bully
4) Dates cheerleaders, attractive to most girls in class

And I know you understand how it'd be used as a compliment, I'm just quoting this part because it resonates for some.

As far as Clark having played, he really didn't know of his origin so it wasn't being a jerk. In a world where Batman is a human possibility, he just figured he was a natural star.

[JBatmanFan05]

I just got reminded of another opinion I'm disdainful towards. The idea that Superman's entire personality is defined by being a "farm boy". I'm not saying it should have no effect, but there are people who take it too far. There's a lot more to him and his life than that. Some even take it to extra stupid extremes. I once saw a Tumblr post saying Superman should "talk like a Kansan", only the person who wrote it had a horrible stereotypical and extremely inaccurate idea of what "Kansans sound like". I also put "Kansans" in quotes because Kansas is not a totally uniform place of buffalo, sunflowers, and fields of grain, nor are its residents a uniform bunch of country bumpkins. As someone who's lived there my whole life, I'm actually kinda offended by these idiotic stereotypes.

I knew there was another opinion I was disdainful for and "naive farm boy" and "farm boy" are two of them. Good job TaliaJoy. The farm aspect is sometimes overemphasized I think.