Superman and Jesus Christ- Saviors Preserving Hope
Superman, referring to his portrayal in Man of Steel, embodies the cultural figure of Jesus Christ. More importantly, he exemplifies the core societal archetype of a savior, providing hope to his people.
Several stills within the movie further the idea that Superman is an incarnation of the Messiah himself. The movie’s beginning depicts Kal-El (Superman’s Kryptonian name that translates to Voice of God in Hebrew) and his birth, which is the first natural birth on Krypton (similar to Jesus’ Immaculate Conception). Kal-El’s father proclaims that his son will be “a God to them” and “will save them all,” just as God publicly announced Jesus as his son at his baptism. Like Jesus and his journey…show more content… Northrop Frye’s Hero Theory schema depicts Superman as a Romantic Hero, one that can fly, uses laser vision, and is generally superior to humans and his surroundings. In Man of Steel, he is also often portrayed as a myth, rather God-like, especially in his saving a bus full of children as a child. How does this tie in to the Jesus claim I presented earlier? Jesus and Superman, as saviors and as myth God-like heroes, represent hope. In Man of Steel, Superman himself states that his outfit’s iconic S is the Kryptonian symbol for hope, and biblically, Jesus gave his people hope of a paradise to come. Superman gives Earth’s civilians hope that as their protector, together they will beat all obstacles, including Zod the evil spaceman. Superman and Jesus, as Superman’s father says, were “sent here for a reason.” Both men follow a passion to do the correct thing, to let good triumph over evil. Superman was created as a hero not only to parallel Jesus, but to offer contemporary Americans hope through plagues, warfare, economic strife, and global terrorism. This suggests that our contemporary culture is one that seeks an external form of motivation for the current day’s problems, especially since they view Superman as a source of hope in which he, the good, will always trample over evil. It offers us the hope that we will always win in the end, no matter how depressing the world’s current events