Infiltrating Deltas: I’d heard talk of Congress contemplating the creation of a Superman Day, recently. They were thinking of using the day you originally succumbed to your injuries fighting Doomsday, to honor heroes like yourself, those who fell in the line of duty and those who served, and those who fell. And I also hear you delivered a statement, in writing for obvious reasons, about why you thought that was a bad idea. Why?
Superman: Okay, my argument was two-pronged, actually. First, I wouldn’t want it called Superman Day, or to celebrate my death. I’m, as a symbol, too small for something like that. If anything, it could be called Justice Day, and celebrate the founding date of the League- or use some other day, because really, it isn’t and shouldn’t be about me.
Second, we already have a day. Granted, our observance isn’t far-reaching, and the implications are, well, I’ll stop padding it. We celebrate Veterans Day as ours, or ours with traditional military veterans, anyway. I think it’s appropriate to look at the people who do what we do in that same light.
ID: That’s… interesting. Because, knowing how you feel about war, I wasn’t sure how you’d feel about veterans.
S: Really? I didn’t think my position was all that gray. Veterans, at least in principal, lay their lives at the feet of the altar of freedom. Some are chosen as sacrifices, others walk away whole; most are damaged in ways that are hard to recognize or qualify, but bear wounds as deep as those who died. I have the utmost awe and respect for veterans, military or otherwise.
ID: Okay, see, it’s that, that caveat: “at least in principal.” What the hell does that mean?
S: You really don’t care about the big picture if you think someone’s stepped in dog crap, do you? It’s a niggling complaint I have with the way we use our military. We treat them like mercenaries; hell, in Iraq, we’ve had them fighting side by side with mercenaries. And our military, our servicemen and women, they deserve better than that. They ought to be above reproach, but when we tarnish the work they do, it lessens the value of their very real sacrifices. My qualms are with the administration of our military, not with our soldiers.
ID: That makes a degree of sense. But do you think it’s appropriate elevating vigilantes to the levels of sanctioned military veterans?
S: I think it would be inappropriate to ghettoize their sacrifice into a separate day simply because they gave their lives independent of a martial authority.
ID: So you don’t think there’s a difference? That the fact that vigilantes are breaking the law doesn’t make them unworthy of being honored side-by-side with servicepeople?
S: No. And I’m surprised to hear you even implying that line of reasoning, which is virtually the same as people who argue against gay marriage, as if the granting of civil rights to one group has ever detrimentally impacted the rights of others.
ID: Of course, you can make the argument that the loss of privilege for a favored group is understandably resisted, but that’s an argument that rhetorically is equivalent to asking “So what?” in the face of iniquity. So no separate but equal for superheroes?
S: Separate is never equal. It can’t be.
ID: I’ll forego my usual bit of race-baiting, even though there’s a part of me that’s a bit curious whether a Kansas farm boy maybe picked up any good ole boyness.
S: My father was very tolerant. And a veteran, I think you’re forgetting.
ID: That’s right, he was drafted. But do you think if your dad hadn’t been drafted, hadn’t been a
S: But he was. Drafted and a veteran. I don’t think he would have chosen to be a soldier, but that doesn’t change the fact that he recognized the sacrifice for what it was, or that he wouldn’t have sought to instill that wisdom in his son. There’s a reason they call it military service, because it is, they’re doing a service for each and every one of us.
Though I think there is sometimes a disconnect when we talk about soldiers, particularly in the modern, all-volunteer-force variety. I have all the respect in the world for the profession, but it is a profession. And the reasons people take the job are many and varied, having as much to do with lack of opportunity as a desire to do good work for a nation. And I don’t think that acknowledging that aspect, and particularly the dynamic skew it creates, with larger percentages of the poor and minorities serving, takes anything away from that service, or the sacrifice some of those soldiers end up making.
And that’s why I’m really very comfortable holding up people who do what I do on that same pedestal: because we are an all volunteer force, because few if any people get into this for any kind of personal gain, let alone financial. Most of us outlay large sums of money, for tailors, gadgets, whatever.
So more than anything, I hold both groups in extremely high regard. I wouldn’t put either ahead of the other. And I’m guilty as much as anyone for forgetting every day how important that work is, how safe I am, and my family is, because of what they do.
And on days like Veterans Day, I try to make that effort to let them know just how much that service means to me, how truly and deeply I respect them. I try to honor them; it’s the least I could conscionably do.
We’ll be trying to bring you a new section of the interview every Tuesday. Some of the questions have already been prepared by the interviewer, but to ask Superman a question, leave a comment or send an email to DeathofSuperman@gmail.com.
Showing posts with label Pa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pa. Show all posts
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Fathers
Inescapable Dadhood: Have you watched that new show [editor’s note: at least new to Hulu] Defying Gravity?
Superman: Yeah, I’ve seen a few episodes. I’ve actually been a little concerned they’re going to pan over to “beta” and its going to resemble J’onn.
ID: That’s right. J’onn’s native Martian form, when he isn’t shapeshifting it to be more humanoid, is a little more, um, insect-like, I guess, craggier and elongated and perhaps a little scarier.
S: So is that what we’re going to talk about?
ID: Not exactly, it just got me contemplating, something I think I remember hearing you talk about in an interview somewhere, that your dad was actually a bit of a rocketry enthusiast growing up.
S: Yeah, my dad was young enough during the Apollo missions that he kind of dreamed of going into space. And when he was a kid he was a pretty big sci fi geek, especially H. G. Wells’ War of the Worlds.
My mom used to tell about the first week after my parents found me, and my dad was just freaked out. He was convinced I couldn’t be a child, that my species just had to look like children, or worse, be shapechangers who were hiding our true, hideous form until the moment was right to strike. He barely slept that week, and once, mom actually caught him trying to sneeze on me- you know, like in War of the Worlds, just to see if I had even that vulnerability.
And, you know, I actually did get a little cold. And that changed everything. I think he’d been worried, you know, because I was an alien, and, at least potentially, I could have caused significant damage to their reputation- even destroyed their home. But after that, he stopped seeing me as something else- something other- and started seeing me as an infant, a child desperately in need of protection.
He stayed with me the entire time I was sick- wouldn’t even let mom in the room, you know, because anytime I’d cough, anything not nailed down would go flying. It was dangerous.
About midway through, he was trying to feed me, and I got this lump of phlegm in my throat and I hacked really hard, and his hand, the one that had been holding the bowl near my mouth, shot back against the wall, and the bowl shattered. He cut himself pretty bad, and of course, I’m just a baby, so all I know is there’s blood and that I don’t like that so I’m crying, and he picked me up out of my crib and just held me- didn’t even worry about his cut hand. After a couple of minutes I’d quieted down, and mom came in to check, saw the blood, and he said, “It’s mine, Martha, just a little scratch on my hand,” and winced as he added, “and we broke one of your bowls.” She took him upstairs and put in, well, she says it was eight stitches, he insists it was 28, so knowing them he’s trying to grow his legend and she was trying to keep him humble, so the truth’s probably somewhere between. But that’s really when he became my dad.
ID: One follow-up: do you think your dad gave you the cold?
S: I don’t. I’d only been exposed to a little bit of solar radiation, so I wasn’t quite as durable as I might have been. I’m sure the crash only further weakened my immune system. It could have been any number of things, really.
ID: Do you think you’re equivocating?
S: Of course. He’s my dad. It’s almost impossible to think the worst of him.
ID: But that’s something your adopted father and your birth one have in common, a passion for extraplanetary exploration.
S: Yeah. My biodad, wow, just using the term makes me feel really old, was always really passionate about space. He loved Krypton, he did, but I think there was something in him that wanted to look beyond our planet, at the future of the species. I think he believed that Krypton, while it was our home, was an anchor- chaining us to less productive parts of our past.
And I ended up being very fortunate. My father eventually planned for us to be able to move vast swaths of the population, and resources, in massive, basically interstellar zeppelins, but he had his miniature working prototype ready when Krypton became unstable. Had he not been forced to do his research underground, without access to normal routes of funding, not to mention assistants and staff- it’s frustrating to think that an entire world died for lack of proper caution.
ID: And I want to play devil’s advocate for a moment- largely because I enjoy inconveniencing you, but what was your mother, um, Lara, is it, up to at the time?
S: If you’re asking of my mother was his lab assistant, or if she was the Kryptonian equivalent of a housewife? No. Mom came from a high-powered political family. My father’s family had a rich history, but we had never really been particularly liked or respected, despite many contributions. My mom came from basically Krypton’s equivalent of the Kennedy or maybe Bush family. She spent most of her time agitating politically. But, rather than marry within higher-powered circles, she married my father for love, which, somewhat tragically, is why she didn’t have the power to popularize my father’s findings about Krypton’s fate.
ID: To tear us slightly adrift of topic, have you ever thought about becoming a father? And of course, there’s the converse, have you ever worried about knocking a woman up with an unabortable fetus?
S: It’s something Lois and I talked about. I think, eventually, we might have given it the old college try- but there are certainly more inherent physical dangers involved. Two humans procreating introduces risks to both the mother and child, but throwing a Kryptonian into the mix- that complicates it further. As to accidentally being a father of an unterminatable pregnancy- I think I had a few odd nightmares in college, but never anything serious or conscious.
But I think I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to be a dad. I think it’s only natural, have two really great, caring, attentive fathers, to not want to be able to be that for someone else. I guess I always figured I was working for a better world, and waiting for that before I decided to bring a new life into it. And I think there’s a lot of that sentiment in our community- I think that’s where you get all the protégés we have. But it looks like that isn't going to happen. But I'm not mad, or sad- I don't have any regrets about it. I'm glad I've lived the life I have, the way I have- I wouldn't trade any friendship or life I saved, not even my failures or humiliations. I'd have liked things to have been different, but I'm thankful at least for the way things were.
We’ll be trying to bring you a new section of the interview every Tuesday. Some of the questions have already been prepared by the interviewer, but to ask Superman a question, leave a comment or send an email to DeathofSuperman@gmail.com.
Superman: Yeah, I’ve seen a few episodes. I’ve actually been a little concerned they’re going to pan over to “beta” and its going to resemble J’onn.
ID: That’s right. J’onn’s native Martian form, when he isn’t shapeshifting it to be more humanoid, is a little more, um, insect-like, I guess, craggier and elongated and perhaps a little scarier.
S: So is that what we’re going to talk about?
ID: Not exactly, it just got me contemplating, something I think I remember hearing you talk about in an interview somewhere, that your dad was actually a bit of a rocketry enthusiast growing up.
S: Yeah, my dad was young enough during the Apollo missions that he kind of dreamed of going into space. And when he was a kid he was a pretty big sci fi geek, especially H. G. Wells’ War of the Worlds.
My mom used to tell about the first week after my parents found me, and my dad was just freaked out. He was convinced I couldn’t be a child, that my species just had to look like children, or worse, be shapechangers who were hiding our true, hideous form until the moment was right to strike. He barely slept that week, and once, mom actually caught him trying to sneeze on me- you know, like in War of the Worlds, just to see if I had even that vulnerability.
And, you know, I actually did get a little cold. And that changed everything. I think he’d been worried, you know, because I was an alien, and, at least potentially, I could have caused significant damage to their reputation- even destroyed their home. But after that, he stopped seeing me as something else- something other- and started seeing me as an infant, a child desperately in need of protection.
He stayed with me the entire time I was sick- wouldn’t even let mom in the room, you know, because anytime I’d cough, anything not nailed down would go flying. It was dangerous.
About midway through, he was trying to feed me, and I got this lump of phlegm in my throat and I hacked really hard, and his hand, the one that had been holding the bowl near my mouth, shot back against the wall, and the bowl shattered. He cut himself pretty bad, and of course, I’m just a baby, so all I know is there’s blood and that I don’t like that so I’m crying, and he picked me up out of my crib and just held me- didn’t even worry about his cut hand. After a couple of minutes I’d quieted down, and mom came in to check, saw the blood, and he said, “It’s mine, Martha, just a little scratch on my hand,” and winced as he added, “and we broke one of your bowls.” She took him upstairs and put in, well, she says it was eight stitches, he insists it was 28, so knowing them he’s trying to grow his legend and she was trying to keep him humble, so the truth’s probably somewhere between. But that’s really when he became my dad.
ID: One follow-up: do you think your dad gave you the cold?
S: I don’t. I’d only been exposed to a little bit of solar radiation, so I wasn’t quite as durable as I might have been. I’m sure the crash only further weakened my immune system. It could have been any number of things, really.
ID: Do you think you’re equivocating?
S: Of course. He’s my dad. It’s almost impossible to think the worst of him.
ID: But that’s something your adopted father and your birth one have in common, a passion for extraplanetary exploration.
S: Yeah. My biodad, wow, just using the term makes me feel really old, was always really passionate about space. He loved Krypton, he did, but I think there was something in him that wanted to look beyond our planet, at the future of the species. I think he believed that Krypton, while it was our home, was an anchor- chaining us to less productive parts of our past.
And I ended up being very fortunate. My father eventually planned for us to be able to move vast swaths of the population, and resources, in massive, basically interstellar zeppelins, but he had his miniature working prototype ready when Krypton became unstable. Had he not been forced to do his research underground, without access to normal routes of funding, not to mention assistants and staff- it’s frustrating to think that an entire world died for lack of proper caution.
ID: And I want to play devil’s advocate for a moment- largely because I enjoy inconveniencing you, but what was your mother, um, Lara, is it, up to at the time?
S: If you’re asking of my mother was his lab assistant, or if she was the Kryptonian equivalent of a housewife? No. Mom came from a high-powered political family. My father’s family had a rich history, but we had never really been particularly liked or respected, despite many contributions. My mom came from basically Krypton’s equivalent of the Kennedy or maybe Bush family. She spent most of her time agitating politically. But, rather than marry within higher-powered circles, she married my father for love, which, somewhat tragically, is why she didn’t have the power to popularize my father’s findings about Krypton’s fate.
ID: To tear us slightly adrift of topic, have you ever thought about becoming a father? And of course, there’s the converse, have you ever worried about knocking a woman up with an unabortable fetus?
S: It’s something Lois and I talked about. I think, eventually, we might have given it the old college try- but there are certainly more inherent physical dangers involved. Two humans procreating introduces risks to both the mother and child, but throwing a Kryptonian into the mix- that complicates it further. As to accidentally being a father of an unterminatable pregnancy- I think I had a few odd nightmares in college, but never anything serious or conscious.
But I think I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to be a dad. I think it’s only natural, have two really great, caring, attentive fathers, to not want to be able to be that for someone else. I guess I always figured I was working for a better world, and waiting for that before I decided to bring a new life into it. And I think there’s a lot of that sentiment in our community- I think that’s where you get all the protégés we have. But it looks like that isn't going to happen. But I'm not mad, or sad- I don't have any regrets about it. I'm glad I've lived the life I have, the way I have- I wouldn't trade any friendship or life I saved, not even my failures or humiliations. I'd have liked things to have been different, but I'm thankful at least for the way things were.
We’ll be trying to bring you a new section of the interview every Tuesday. Some of the questions have already been prepared by the interviewer, but to ask Superman a question, leave a comment or send an email to DeathofSuperman@gmail.com.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Absent Friends
Insanity Disco: You've given your share of eulogies, which gives you a macabre kind of perspective on it. Who would you like to eulogize you?
S: I'd like Lois to do it- I've asked her to do it- but I don't think she will. She says as a reporter she's too close to it- and that as a wife she's going to be too distraught to do it right. I think Diana would do it if she had to, and that she has an eloquence few people credit her for, but I think the both of them will be enough to force Bruce to give it.
ID: And you smile a little at that; is it because you're happy he'll be giving your send-off, or because you like the idea of him browbeaten by the two strongest women you know.
S: Can't it be both? No, um, I think Bruce will give a fine speech; I think he'll agonize too much over it, but I think in the end him giving the speech will be good for his soul, and good for ours- our community; it'll put him at the head of our table, so to speak, and I can't think of anybody better to be there.
ID: Not Diana?
S: God, I’m treading carefully, here, trying not to sound sexist- Diana’s a fine woman, but she isn’t a leader. She’s more important than that. A leader, really, is just a figurehead, someone to follow into what, under normal circumstances, would be an insane situation. When it comes to joining the fray, there is no one as stalwart or as fierce as Diana- but the fact is that she’s very much a single combatant. In part because she is a woman, really the first superhuman female to come to anyone’s mind, she has always maintained a certain degree of self-reliance. She doesn’t wait to see what a Flash is going to do, or a Green Lantern, or J’onn, or anyone else- not even me or Bruce- she leaps into battle to take care of what she thinks needs to be taken care of. Bruce, by contrast, relies on the rest of us- loathe as he might be to admit that- but when a building’s falling on a crowd, he can’t do more than save a few of the people himself, people he can carry out from under it- so he’s been forced for a long time to rely on the rest of us, which has really helped build him up as a coordinator and as a leader.
ID: But you prefaced that by worrying about sounding sexist. Why?
S: Because I think in a way it is influenced by gender. And I’m not saying the League couldn’t follow a strong woman’s lead, I just think that for some of us it would take an adjustment, perhaps even a revelatory moment. I don’t think I’m one of those people- but I think it would be naïve to think that in such a testosterone heavy community there wouldn’t be some flare-ups.
ID: Hmm. We may come back to that later, but today I want to focus on people you’ve lost. I'm not sure how much you believe in an afterlife beyond the waiting room you've said you met your father in, but could you talk about some of the people who preceded you you'd like to meet again.
S: Obviously, there’s my father; I find myself hoping there is at least some kind of a purgatory, because I’d like to see him again. We didn’t always, see eye to eye isn’t quite right, but I think maybe I stopped being entirely his son when I found out I, well, wasn’t. I think the fact that I was an alien, that I felt like an alien, that I felt like I was alien even to my own parents- I think it pushed him away.
I remember quite clearly one day, I used my abilities in town. I mean, there was a fire, and I did help save this little boy and his dog, but what I didn’t realize at the time was my dad was at the store across the street, and he saw. Truth be told, it wasn’t that he saw that, but that he saw that Lana was there, that she had that aura about her, admiration mixed with a tinge of worry, and he knew me well enough to know I was showing off. And it wasn’t that I saved the boy, but that I didn’t even think about how easy it would have been for the Fire Department to get to him, and beyond that, how stupid I was doing it all just to impress a girl. And he said he knew he’d raised me better than that, that he didn’t recognize his own son at that moment.
And I’ll never forget what I said, because I think it may have been the single most spiteful thing I’ve ever done, but I told him, “Because I’m not.” And I think I hurt him in a way I never intended, I think I caused serious long-term damage to our relationship. I never took into account that, as hard as finding out that I was adopted had been on me, it had had consequences for those I cared about, too. I don’t think he ever looked at me the same way; I don’t know if he ever would have been able to, but I think, dying the way he did, we’ll never get that chance to iron it over.
ID: And what about Connor [Note: Superboy, Superman’s adolescent clone]?
S: I miss him. I always used to, well, I guess I just didn’t understand it, Bruce’s relationship with his second Robin. He was headstrong- maybe even bratty- and he and Bruce were at cross-purposes almost from the moment they met. But when he died, Bruce mourned him as hard as he’d mourned his parents- maybe harder, since that Robin was just a kid, which only increased the tragedy. And it really wasn’t until Connor that I understood.
From the moment I first saw him, Connor was a jackass. I remember he sued me over the use of my name and insignia- and he wore his hair like one of the New Kids on the Block- only this was half a decade after they’d disappeared.
ID: I do remember you sporting an, ahem, party in the back hairstyle about that time, just so you don’t start throwing stones in your glass fortress.
S: I’d just come back from the dead. I think it’s safe to say I wasn’t entirely in my right mind in those days.
ID: Fair enough. But you mentioned something that’s always been kind of rumored, something that’s delicate so I’ll try and be gentle, but, one of the Robin’s was killed. Do you think Batman bears any responsibility for that, perhaps in the form of criminal negligence?
S: Criminally, I don’t know. I tend not to pay too much attention to the word criminal, since vigilantism, which, frankly, is what a large part of what I do is, is technically criminal in the eyes of the law. But a better way to look at it would be is he morally negligent.
I don’t want to go too much into that particular Robin’s life, because I don’t have the right to reveal it, but I’ll say this: he was headed for a bad life, a hard life, and in all likelihood a violent end. What Bruce did, what he tried to do, was give him structure, and discipline, and an outlet for all the things that were going to get him into trouble. Morally, I think Bruce’s intentions were good ones, but at the end of the day that doesn't matter, because Jason died.
But if you’re asking if Bruce bear’s responsibility for his Robin’s death- no, I don’t think he does, but at the same time, I know he disagrees. And I think every single day for the rest of his life Bruce is going to bear responsibility for his death; I don’t know if that’s right or not, but it’s a cross he won’t ever even attempt to set down.
ID: Do you think, given the death at least of one Robin, that using minors as vigilantes is a practice that should be discontinued?
S: I sincerely believe that what we do is a calling. Some people have the skills and the drive and desire to do what we do. What we do can also be, unfortunately, very dangerous. I just hope we continue to train and protect the next generation as best we can- it’s a standard I think we’ve tried to stick to, and one I hope we can live up to.
We’ll be trying to bring you a new section of the interview every Tuesday. Some of the questions have already been prepared by the interviewer, but to ask Superman a question, leave a comment or send an email to DeathofSuperman@gmail.com.
S: I'd like Lois to do it- I've asked her to do it- but I don't think she will. She says as a reporter she's too close to it- and that as a wife she's going to be too distraught to do it right. I think Diana would do it if she had to, and that she has an eloquence few people credit her for, but I think the both of them will be enough to force Bruce to give it.
ID: And you smile a little at that; is it because you're happy he'll be giving your send-off, or because you like the idea of him browbeaten by the two strongest women you know.
S: Can't it be both? No, um, I think Bruce will give a fine speech; I think he'll agonize too much over it, but I think in the end him giving the speech will be good for his soul, and good for ours- our community; it'll put him at the head of our table, so to speak, and I can't think of anybody better to be there.
ID: Not Diana?
S: God, I’m treading carefully, here, trying not to sound sexist- Diana’s a fine woman, but she isn’t a leader. She’s more important than that. A leader, really, is just a figurehead, someone to follow into what, under normal circumstances, would be an insane situation. When it comes to joining the fray, there is no one as stalwart or as fierce as Diana- but the fact is that she’s very much a single combatant. In part because she is a woman, really the first superhuman female to come to anyone’s mind, she has always maintained a certain degree of self-reliance. She doesn’t wait to see what a Flash is going to do, or a Green Lantern, or J’onn, or anyone else- not even me or Bruce- she leaps into battle to take care of what she thinks needs to be taken care of. Bruce, by contrast, relies on the rest of us- loathe as he might be to admit that- but when a building’s falling on a crowd, he can’t do more than save a few of the people himself, people he can carry out from under it- so he’s been forced for a long time to rely on the rest of us, which has really helped build him up as a coordinator and as a leader.
ID: But you prefaced that by worrying about sounding sexist. Why?
S: Because I think in a way it is influenced by gender. And I’m not saying the League couldn’t follow a strong woman’s lead, I just think that for some of us it would take an adjustment, perhaps even a revelatory moment. I don’t think I’m one of those people- but I think it would be naïve to think that in such a testosterone heavy community there wouldn’t be some flare-ups.
ID: Hmm. We may come back to that later, but today I want to focus on people you’ve lost. I'm not sure how much you believe in an afterlife beyond the waiting room you've said you met your father in, but could you talk about some of the people who preceded you you'd like to meet again.
S: Obviously, there’s my father; I find myself hoping there is at least some kind of a purgatory, because I’d like to see him again. We didn’t always, see eye to eye isn’t quite right, but I think maybe I stopped being entirely his son when I found out I, well, wasn’t. I think the fact that I was an alien, that I felt like an alien, that I felt like I was alien even to my own parents- I think it pushed him away.
I remember quite clearly one day, I used my abilities in town. I mean, there was a fire, and I did help save this little boy and his dog, but what I didn’t realize at the time was my dad was at the store across the street, and he saw. Truth be told, it wasn’t that he saw that, but that he saw that Lana was there, that she had that aura about her, admiration mixed with a tinge of worry, and he knew me well enough to know I was showing off. And it wasn’t that I saved the boy, but that I didn’t even think about how easy it would have been for the Fire Department to get to him, and beyond that, how stupid I was doing it all just to impress a girl. And he said he knew he’d raised me better than that, that he didn’t recognize his own son at that moment.
And I’ll never forget what I said, because I think it may have been the single most spiteful thing I’ve ever done, but I told him, “Because I’m not.” And I think I hurt him in a way I never intended, I think I caused serious long-term damage to our relationship. I never took into account that, as hard as finding out that I was adopted had been on me, it had had consequences for those I cared about, too. I don’t think he ever looked at me the same way; I don’t know if he ever would have been able to, but I think, dying the way he did, we’ll never get that chance to iron it over.
ID: And what about Connor [Note: Superboy, Superman’s adolescent clone]?
S: I miss him. I always used to, well, I guess I just didn’t understand it, Bruce’s relationship with his second Robin. He was headstrong- maybe even bratty- and he and Bruce were at cross-purposes almost from the moment they met. But when he died, Bruce mourned him as hard as he’d mourned his parents- maybe harder, since that Robin was just a kid, which only increased the tragedy. And it really wasn’t until Connor that I understood.
From the moment I first saw him, Connor was a jackass. I remember he sued me over the use of my name and insignia- and he wore his hair like one of the New Kids on the Block- only this was half a decade after they’d disappeared.
ID: I do remember you sporting an, ahem, party in the back hairstyle about that time, just so you don’t start throwing stones in your glass fortress.
S: I’d just come back from the dead. I think it’s safe to say I wasn’t entirely in my right mind in those days.
ID: Fair enough. But you mentioned something that’s always been kind of rumored, something that’s delicate so I’ll try and be gentle, but, one of the Robin’s was killed. Do you think Batman bears any responsibility for that, perhaps in the form of criminal negligence?
S: Criminally, I don’t know. I tend not to pay too much attention to the word criminal, since vigilantism, which, frankly, is what a large part of what I do is, is technically criminal in the eyes of the law. But a better way to look at it would be is he morally negligent.
I don’t want to go too much into that particular Robin’s life, because I don’t have the right to reveal it, but I’ll say this: he was headed for a bad life, a hard life, and in all likelihood a violent end. What Bruce did, what he tried to do, was give him structure, and discipline, and an outlet for all the things that were going to get him into trouble. Morally, I think Bruce’s intentions were good ones, but at the end of the day that doesn't matter, because Jason died.
But if you’re asking if Bruce bear’s responsibility for his Robin’s death- no, I don’t think he does, but at the same time, I know he disagrees. And I think every single day for the rest of his life Bruce is going to bear responsibility for his death; I don’t know if that’s right or not, but it’s a cross he won’t ever even attempt to set down.
ID: Do you think, given the death at least of one Robin, that using minors as vigilantes is a practice that should be discontinued?
S: I sincerely believe that what we do is a calling. Some people have the skills and the drive and desire to do what we do. What we do can also be, unfortunately, very dangerous. I just hope we continue to train and protect the next generation as best we can- it’s a standard I think we’ve tried to stick to, and one I hope we can live up to.
We’ll be trying to bring you a new section of the interview every Tuesday. Some of the questions have already been prepared by the interviewer, but to ask Superman a question, leave a comment or send an email to DeathofSuperman@gmail.com.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Speeding Bullet
Incomprehensible Dianetics: I want to ask you a divisive question, one which, as a man who's impervious to injury personally but deals in a very hands-on way with the criminal element might be perfectly positioned to respond to. What's your stance on gun control?
Superman: I’m not against it. Now let me admit, before we even look at the merits, that I'm biased. Weapons and war had a part in destroying my home.
ID: Uh, could you explain that in a bit more detail, for those of us who don’t buy and feverishly reread the trading cards.
S: Sure. During what was, essentially, a civil rights movement on Krypton, a terrorist breakaway group used what was basically a nuclear gun on the planet. The weapon slowly destabilized the planet, to the point where it basically exploded.
ID: It doesn’t sound like your arguing gun control, but weapons control, which I don’t think anyone would
S: Sure they would- and that’s the thing. You have to draw a line somewhere, don’t you? If I have a right to bear arms to resist the government, but the government has a fighter jet, well then to properly resist, I need a Stinger missile. Or, in all honesty, I could probably use a fighter jet of my own.
ID: So you see a problem with civilian-owned fighter jets?
S: As a concept, maybe not, assuming they became like automobiles, where everyone had one in the garage- and from there you can always make the argument that “an armed society is a polite society.” But in reality, fighter jets are expensive. The only people who would be able to afford them would be the superrich. And while it might not be a horrible thing if Bill Gates or Bruce Wayne owned and operated fighter jets, what about the Lex Luthors of the world? And speaking of Lex, I know for a fact he’s had access to fissile material through LexCorp.’s energy division. Obviously we don’t want him to be able to legally make and keep nuclear weapons.
But really, to take a plane out of the sky, you don’t really need anything too advanced. Barrett is making a 25 mm rifle, right now. 25 mm is a grenade round, usually, but they’re using it for a next-gen anti-materiel weapon. A 25 mm round would punch a hole in an airplane bigger than my fist. Against a fighter jet, well, it’s hard to hit something moving that fast, but against a commercial airliner…
ID: I think we can agree that some level of arms control is necessary.
S: And I suppose there’s a second component to my bias. There’s the destruction of my home world, but on Earth I’ve seen a lot of loss that can be attributed to weapons, too. To pick a specific example, an unlicensed firearm killed the parents of one of my greatest friends- and even though that gave the world the Batman, and even though without that event, he and I likely would never have met, I love him enough that I would gladly lose him to spare him their loss.
ID: You love Batman?
S: The one thing dying really brings you is clarity. I could be stoic, puff my chest out like my dad, and die without admitting who I am to the people I care about- but I don't want to be like that. I'd rather be able to stand, with grace and with dignity, and say how I feel. Bruce is my friend, and I truly, dearly love him.
ID: Okay, but do you believe that more stringent gun laws would have prevented the Wayne’s mugging (and subsequent murder)?
S: On that specific occasion? I have no idea. But generally speaking, tighter gun control laws could make it more difficult for criminals to get guns, and more dangerous for them to use guns against innocent people.
ID: I don’t know if it’s a fair argument you make, because you are, for all intents and purposes, a superweapon- guns do nothing but bring the average person a little closer to your level of potential resistance from the government (or a threat).
S: First, a gun doesn’t give you anything close to enhanced ability- it’s a tool with a very specific purpose. And second, you’re wrong about me- at least me personally. Yes, I do have a lot of power at my disposal, but I’ve always considered it necessary to remain a normal member of human society. So it wouldn’t be right of me to use my abilities to, say, destabilize the American government. I have just as much revolutionary power as any citizen- voting. And if that fails, I have the same right as every other American- the right to leave. To your third, somewhat veiled point, I am a little safer from muggers or people who would try to do me harm, but I think you’re exaggerating my position to make it more contentious. I’m not against guns generally- I’m just for the idea that we control them tightly, that we do everything a responsible but free society can to keep our fellow citizens safe.
ID: Hmm. I’m going to take a flying leap here, but have you ever fired a gun?
Yes. But a lot of my opinions were shaped by the first time I carried one. My father took me hunting when I was little- still too young even to use the .22 he bought me to learn on. But he taught me how to make sure it wasn’t loaded, how to treat it, and respect it- and he made me carry it. And what we found out that day was, with my senses, I made for an excellent tracker. Following just the faintest of smells and tiniest of clues, we stalked a deer for the better part of a day.
When we got close enough, I could hear its heart, and as we closed the distance its metronome thump-thump got louder and louder. The deer was stopped by a small creek, drinking, but even though we had to be too far away for it to hear us, it knew something was wrong. Its head came up, ears alert, eyes scanning. Its heartbeat increased, pounding in my ears as my father raised his rifle. Something primal in me reacted; the deer’s heartbeat in my ears became my own, its fear became my own. I was young, not so fast or strong, and I wasn’t even fast enough to say, “Dad,” before he took the shot.
I ran, reaching through the blurred landscape for the bullet as it spun in slow motion through the air. I was fast enough to grab it, but the impact burst the skin in my palm. But the deer was terrified, first of the gunshot, then of the small boy suddenly rushing at it, and it stumbled as its heartbeat became increasingly erratic, and I watched in horror as it’s heart went from too fast to too slow, then stopped entirely. I didn’t know CPR, but I was going to try and resuscitate it when my dad finally caught up, put a hand on my shoulder and said, “Son.” And I fell to my knees, crying, and then he noticed the blood and said, “Your hand.”
Of course, I didn’t even really notice the pain, and it wasn’t why I was upset. I said, “Dad, we killed it.” And my dad took me in his arms and he said, “No, son, we didn’t. I did. You tried to save it.” But even at that age I knew he never would have gotten anywhere near the deer if it hadn’t been for me.
I didn’t ask him to stop, but my dad never hunted again. He’d still go shooting- he took me to the range a couple of times- but I think he understood, seeing my reaction, the truth that hunters have to sort of bypass on an ethical level- that they’re killing something, and not just that it’s dying, but that it’s dying alone and afraid- that there’s nothing fun or sporting about that.
We’ll be trying to bring you a new section of the interview every Monday. Some of the questions have already been prepared by the interviewer, but to ask Superman a question, leave a comment or send an email to DeathofSuperman@gmail.com.
Superman: I’m not against it. Now let me admit, before we even look at the merits, that I'm biased. Weapons and war had a part in destroying my home.
ID: Uh, could you explain that in a bit more detail, for those of us who don’t buy and feverishly reread the trading cards.
S: Sure. During what was, essentially, a civil rights movement on Krypton, a terrorist breakaway group used what was basically a nuclear gun on the planet. The weapon slowly destabilized the planet, to the point where it basically exploded.
ID: It doesn’t sound like your arguing gun control, but weapons control, which I don’t think anyone would
S: Sure they would- and that’s the thing. You have to draw a line somewhere, don’t you? If I have a right to bear arms to resist the government, but the government has a fighter jet, well then to properly resist, I need a Stinger missile. Or, in all honesty, I could probably use a fighter jet of my own.
ID: So you see a problem with civilian-owned fighter jets?
S: As a concept, maybe not, assuming they became like automobiles, where everyone had one in the garage- and from there you can always make the argument that “an armed society is a polite society.” But in reality, fighter jets are expensive. The only people who would be able to afford them would be the superrich. And while it might not be a horrible thing if Bill Gates or Bruce Wayne owned and operated fighter jets, what about the Lex Luthors of the world? And speaking of Lex, I know for a fact he’s had access to fissile material through LexCorp.’s energy division. Obviously we don’t want him to be able to legally make and keep nuclear weapons.
But really, to take a plane out of the sky, you don’t really need anything too advanced. Barrett is making a 25 mm rifle, right now. 25 mm is a grenade round, usually, but they’re using it for a next-gen anti-materiel weapon. A 25 mm round would punch a hole in an airplane bigger than my fist. Against a fighter jet, well, it’s hard to hit something moving that fast, but against a commercial airliner…
ID: I think we can agree that some level of arms control is necessary.
S: And I suppose there’s a second component to my bias. There’s the destruction of my home world, but on Earth I’ve seen a lot of loss that can be attributed to weapons, too. To pick a specific example, an unlicensed firearm killed the parents of one of my greatest friends- and even though that gave the world the Batman, and even though without that event, he and I likely would never have met, I love him enough that I would gladly lose him to spare him their loss.
ID: You love Batman?
S: The one thing dying really brings you is clarity. I could be stoic, puff my chest out like my dad, and die without admitting who I am to the people I care about- but I don't want to be like that. I'd rather be able to stand, with grace and with dignity, and say how I feel. Bruce is my friend, and I truly, dearly love him.
ID: Okay, but do you believe that more stringent gun laws would have prevented the Wayne’s mugging (and subsequent murder)?
S: On that specific occasion? I have no idea. But generally speaking, tighter gun control laws could make it more difficult for criminals to get guns, and more dangerous for them to use guns against innocent people.
ID: I don’t know if it’s a fair argument you make, because you are, for all intents and purposes, a superweapon- guns do nothing but bring the average person a little closer to your level of potential resistance from the government (or a threat).
S: First, a gun doesn’t give you anything close to enhanced ability- it’s a tool with a very specific purpose. And second, you’re wrong about me- at least me personally. Yes, I do have a lot of power at my disposal, but I’ve always considered it necessary to remain a normal member of human society. So it wouldn’t be right of me to use my abilities to, say, destabilize the American government. I have just as much revolutionary power as any citizen- voting. And if that fails, I have the same right as every other American- the right to leave. To your third, somewhat veiled point, I am a little safer from muggers or people who would try to do me harm, but I think you’re exaggerating my position to make it more contentious. I’m not against guns generally- I’m just for the idea that we control them tightly, that we do everything a responsible but free society can to keep our fellow citizens safe.
ID: Hmm. I’m going to take a flying leap here, but have you ever fired a gun?
Yes. But a lot of my opinions were shaped by the first time I carried one. My father took me hunting when I was little- still too young even to use the .22 he bought me to learn on. But he taught me how to make sure it wasn’t loaded, how to treat it, and respect it- and he made me carry it. And what we found out that day was, with my senses, I made for an excellent tracker. Following just the faintest of smells and tiniest of clues, we stalked a deer for the better part of a day.
When we got close enough, I could hear its heart, and as we closed the distance its metronome thump-thump got louder and louder. The deer was stopped by a small creek, drinking, but even though we had to be too far away for it to hear us, it knew something was wrong. Its head came up, ears alert, eyes scanning. Its heartbeat increased, pounding in my ears as my father raised his rifle. Something primal in me reacted; the deer’s heartbeat in my ears became my own, its fear became my own. I was young, not so fast or strong, and I wasn’t even fast enough to say, “Dad,” before he took the shot.
I ran, reaching through the blurred landscape for the bullet as it spun in slow motion through the air. I was fast enough to grab it, but the impact burst the skin in my palm. But the deer was terrified, first of the gunshot, then of the small boy suddenly rushing at it, and it stumbled as its heartbeat became increasingly erratic, and I watched in horror as it’s heart went from too fast to too slow, then stopped entirely. I didn’t know CPR, but I was going to try and resuscitate it when my dad finally caught up, put a hand on my shoulder and said, “Son.” And I fell to my knees, crying, and then he noticed the blood and said, “Your hand.”
Of course, I didn’t even really notice the pain, and it wasn’t why I was upset. I said, “Dad, we killed it.” And my dad took me in his arms and he said, “No, son, we didn’t. I did. You tried to save it.” But even at that age I knew he never would have gotten anywhere near the deer if it hadn’t been for me.
I didn’t ask him to stop, but my dad never hunted again. He’d still go shooting- he took me to the range a couple of times- but I think he understood, seeing my reaction, the truth that hunters have to sort of bypass on an ethical level- that they’re killing something, and not just that it’s dying, but that it’s dying alone and afraid- that there’s nothing fun or sporting about that.
We’ll be trying to bring you a new section of the interview every Monday. Some of the questions have already been prepared by the interviewer, but to ask Superman a question, leave a comment or send an email to DeathofSuperman@gmail.com.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Immigrant
Ignescent Diabetes: Last week you had an emotional moment, but I think I want to drag your good name through the mud again- wait, don’t make that face- this is a chance maybe for you to do some good, to put out the word, change minds. You’ve said you really sympathize with the immigrant experience, which which makes sense, given that, for all intents and purposes, yours is a mythic immigrant story. It’s also interesting to note that, until recently, yours was also an illegal immigration- that you were, no pun intended, an illegal alien- since your adopted parents never declared you to the INS.
Superman: Actually, the laws were a little more lax when I was "born"; my parents claimed that my mother gave birth to me at the family farm, and applied for a separate birth certificate and social security number. So legally
ID: But that was basically a lie, right? So really, up until your marriage to a US Citizen, you weren’t technically a citizen.
S: If I were to accept your premise, then I’m not now a citizen, either, because marrying a citizen only makes you eligible for citizenship. You still have to take the test, and I think there’s some fees involved…
ID: Okay, but I think my point is still basically there, even if you’re being crotchety today- that you’re uniquely attuned to respond to this. How do you feel about the current climate surrounding immigration?
S: I know you think you’re being cleverly divisive, but really, this is kind of a softball question. Historically, if you look at this country, and of course, all civilization, in times of economic hardship, people look for someone to blame. Classically, it’s been immigrants- foreigners, someone with just enough social or cultural or ethnic difference that you could claim it was someone who wasn’t like you whose fault it was. Look back at the Great Depression, and the mammoth uptick in deportations under Hoover. Hell, the 50s was a prosperous decade, but apparently not prosperous enough for Eisenhower, who rammed through the purely hateful “Operation Wetback”- it was actually called that- that’s still a black eye on our nation. But that we’re having similar issues today, people scapegoating immigrants, as if they were responsible for all of the economic woes of our nation isn’t surprising- though it is saddening to see it still going on today.
ID: Okay, granted, the anti-immigrant- and particularly anti-Mexican sentiment- is pretty indefensible, but it leads into the larger issue, and while the tone is often wrong, there is an economic argument at the heart of it, namely that illegal workers really do depress wages, that their work conditions are rarely kept to labor standards, that these workers can create a burden on social services- though I’d probably point out that a lot of illegal immigrants actually do pay taxes, often in the hope that it will help them later on when they want to become citizens. But the question is what do you think is the solution to illegal immigration?
S: You hate me, don’t you. Everyone else tries to give me an easier time, but you- I don’t think I’d like you if I met you even under other circumstances.
ID: I wasn’t under the impression you were fond of me under these ones.
S: Point. I think it’s important to recognize that illegal immigration isn’t the problem. It’s not. Illegal laborers are barnacles on the hulls of ships, but declaring a war on barnacles ignores the economic ecosystem that allows and even encourages them to thrive. Basically, they’re merely a symptom of our broken system.
The larger issue is that world trade is dysfunctional. The amount of money I spend on a nice dinner out with my wife in Metropolis could feed a family of four for a month in parts of Africa, could cover familial expenses for a week in parts of Mexico. The vast disparity in quality of life and cost of living is what drives this economic dysfunction.
Our current system creates a demand, on both sides of the equation. Farmers and a system that demands cheap agricultural products, just as an example, need cheap labor. But that labor that by our standards is cheap, by their standards is incredibly generous, and the small amounts they can squirrel away and send home amount to enough of a carrot to encourage them to act unlawfully. Dealing with it only from the supply side doesn’t eliminate the need- it’s like the cops seizing a heroin addict’s drugs- it doesn’t stop them from being heroin addicts, it just means they’re that much more desperate to fill their need the next go round.
ID: So you’re saying we’re addicted to cheap labor.
S: Yes, absolutely. It’s helped us maintain our lifestyle, because we can have artificially cheap food, build artificially cheap homes, buy artificially cheap goods from China- the American economy hasn’t kept pace with American desire, particularly on the lower end, but these sources have kept our perceived wealth propped up. We’ve all gotten used to living artificially well. The world is not as kind as it’s seemed to Americans. We’ve really been consuming more than our share of the world’s goods and resources, and at least some of our largesse has to come to an end- it’s just not sustainable.
ID: Okay… I think that all helps us frame the debate to your liking, but what’s the solution here?
S: I think enforcement has to play a part. And I don’t really consider myself a law and order person- at least not next to Bruce- but to curb it, what you need is strong regulation and fierce enforcement of the laws. That doesn’t mean abusive, coercive, or terroristic law enforcement policies- and our country, and I do take ownership and say it’s my country and partially my problem, as well, but our country has a history of resorting to domestic terror when dealing with illegal immigrants. And we’re better than that- we can and should continue to be and strive to be better than that.
ID: That tells us what you don’t want, but what do you think is the right approach?
S: I think immigration limits are probably necessary. Without them, people would leave poor countries and flood into rich ones- which would become poor as the distribution of that wealth thinned amongst a distended population. Strict enforcement of immigration limits comes in two ways: one, securing the border, which I honestly think the US has always done a decent job of, and two, in tight employment controls. This comes in both requiring proof of citizenship or eligibility to work from prospective employees in all fields, and in harsh penalties for those found skirting the law. Dry up that demand we talked about, and there won’t be any call whatsoever for a supply of cheap labor. This will, necessarily, increase the costs of goods and services across the country- but that’s the honest cost of living in America.
But more importantly, for our future and the future of the human race, what we must do is continue to develop the third world- the fastest way is to continue to encourage investment and competition in local economies, while cheaply sharing our technologies. It means setting aside the profit motive temporarily in those countries, offering up existing break throughs at or near cost to help kick-start their economic development- which in the long run is good for everyone, because it enhances worldwide production and increases total human wealth- which really is good for companies, because it means more potential customers down the line. And by working to equalize the quality of life and the cost of living across countries, we’d eliminate the draw of working illegally anywhere.
ID: My next questions a bit more contentious, and I’m thinking this discussion’s going to go long, so we’ll break it up, here, and return to it next week.
We’ll be trying to bring you a new section of the interview every Monday. Some of the questions have already been prepared by the interviewer, but to ask Superman a question, leave a comment or send an email to DeathofSuperman@gmail.com.
Superman: Actually, the laws were a little more lax when I was "born"; my parents claimed that my mother gave birth to me at the family farm, and applied for a separate birth certificate and social security number. So legally
ID: But that was basically a lie, right? So really, up until your marriage to a US Citizen, you weren’t technically a citizen.
S: If I were to accept your premise, then I’m not now a citizen, either, because marrying a citizen only makes you eligible for citizenship. You still have to take the test, and I think there’s some fees involved…
ID: Okay, but I think my point is still basically there, even if you’re being crotchety today- that you’re uniquely attuned to respond to this. How do you feel about the current climate surrounding immigration?
S: I know you think you’re being cleverly divisive, but really, this is kind of a softball question. Historically, if you look at this country, and of course, all civilization, in times of economic hardship, people look for someone to blame. Classically, it’s been immigrants- foreigners, someone with just enough social or cultural or ethnic difference that you could claim it was someone who wasn’t like you whose fault it was. Look back at the Great Depression, and the mammoth uptick in deportations under Hoover. Hell, the 50s was a prosperous decade, but apparently not prosperous enough for Eisenhower, who rammed through the purely hateful “Operation Wetback”- it was actually called that- that’s still a black eye on our nation. But that we’re having similar issues today, people scapegoating immigrants, as if they were responsible for all of the economic woes of our nation isn’t surprising- though it is saddening to see it still going on today.
ID: Okay, granted, the anti-immigrant- and particularly anti-Mexican sentiment- is pretty indefensible, but it leads into the larger issue, and while the tone is often wrong, there is an economic argument at the heart of it, namely that illegal workers really do depress wages, that their work conditions are rarely kept to labor standards, that these workers can create a burden on social services- though I’d probably point out that a lot of illegal immigrants actually do pay taxes, often in the hope that it will help them later on when they want to become citizens. But the question is what do you think is the solution to illegal immigration?
S: You hate me, don’t you. Everyone else tries to give me an easier time, but you- I don’t think I’d like you if I met you even under other circumstances.
ID: I wasn’t under the impression you were fond of me under these ones.
S: Point. I think it’s important to recognize that illegal immigration isn’t the problem. It’s not. Illegal laborers are barnacles on the hulls of ships, but declaring a war on barnacles ignores the economic ecosystem that allows and even encourages them to thrive. Basically, they’re merely a symptom of our broken system.
The larger issue is that world trade is dysfunctional. The amount of money I spend on a nice dinner out with my wife in Metropolis could feed a family of four for a month in parts of Africa, could cover familial expenses for a week in parts of Mexico. The vast disparity in quality of life and cost of living is what drives this economic dysfunction.
Our current system creates a demand, on both sides of the equation. Farmers and a system that demands cheap agricultural products, just as an example, need cheap labor. But that labor that by our standards is cheap, by their standards is incredibly generous, and the small amounts they can squirrel away and send home amount to enough of a carrot to encourage them to act unlawfully. Dealing with it only from the supply side doesn’t eliminate the need- it’s like the cops seizing a heroin addict’s drugs- it doesn’t stop them from being heroin addicts, it just means they’re that much more desperate to fill their need the next go round.
ID: So you’re saying we’re addicted to cheap labor.
S: Yes, absolutely. It’s helped us maintain our lifestyle, because we can have artificially cheap food, build artificially cheap homes, buy artificially cheap goods from China- the American economy hasn’t kept pace with American desire, particularly on the lower end, but these sources have kept our perceived wealth propped up. We’ve all gotten used to living artificially well. The world is not as kind as it’s seemed to Americans. We’ve really been consuming more than our share of the world’s goods and resources, and at least some of our largesse has to come to an end- it’s just not sustainable.
ID: Okay… I think that all helps us frame the debate to your liking, but what’s the solution here?
S: I think enforcement has to play a part. And I don’t really consider myself a law and order person- at least not next to Bruce- but to curb it, what you need is strong regulation and fierce enforcement of the laws. That doesn’t mean abusive, coercive, or terroristic law enforcement policies- and our country, and I do take ownership and say it’s my country and partially my problem, as well, but our country has a history of resorting to domestic terror when dealing with illegal immigrants. And we’re better than that- we can and should continue to be and strive to be better than that.
ID: That tells us what you don’t want, but what do you think is the right approach?
S: I think immigration limits are probably necessary. Without them, people would leave poor countries and flood into rich ones- which would become poor as the distribution of that wealth thinned amongst a distended population. Strict enforcement of immigration limits comes in two ways: one, securing the border, which I honestly think the US has always done a decent job of, and two, in tight employment controls. This comes in both requiring proof of citizenship or eligibility to work from prospective employees in all fields, and in harsh penalties for those found skirting the law. Dry up that demand we talked about, and there won’t be any call whatsoever for a supply of cheap labor. This will, necessarily, increase the costs of goods and services across the country- but that’s the honest cost of living in America.
But more importantly, for our future and the future of the human race, what we must do is continue to develop the third world- the fastest way is to continue to encourage investment and competition in local economies, while cheaply sharing our technologies. It means setting aside the profit motive temporarily in those countries, offering up existing break throughs at or near cost to help kick-start their economic development- which in the long run is good for everyone, because it enhances worldwide production and increases total human wealth- which really is good for companies, because it means more potential customers down the line. And by working to equalize the quality of life and the cost of living across countries, we’d eliminate the draw of working illegally anywhere.
ID: My next questions a bit more contentious, and I’m thinking this discussion’s going to go long, so we’ll break it up, here, and return to it next week.
We’ll be trying to bring you a new section of the interview every Monday. Some of the questions have already been prepared by the interviewer, but to ask Superman a question, leave a comment or send an email to DeathofSuperman@gmail.com.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Mom
Inedible Delicacies: I'd like to spend today talking about your mother. First off, what did you do for Mother's Day?
Superman: I took my mom to breakfast; she insisted we go to IHOP.
ID: IHOP's not so bad. Why insisted?
S: Well, it was mother's day, so the place was packed. There was actually a line trailing outside. I told her I could fly us to the west coast, where it was earlier and we could probably get a seat, but she said, “That would be undignified,” and gave me a motherly smile. We ended up waiting an hour, and by the time we were seated I was famished.
ID: I didn't know you needed food.
S: I'm honestly not sure that I do, but the body gets used to things. Like sleep. I've never really tried to see how long I could function without sleep, but I start to feel psychosomatically tired after sixteen hours. But I was hungry, so I ordered a big country breakfast, a giant mocha, and two plates of appetizers. The appetizers came pretty quickly, and we hadn't finished them by the time the main course arrived. I forgot how much I love IHOP- they had some delicious strawberry pancakes.
ID: Ahem.
S: Sorry. Yeah. Not to advertise or anything. But food is one of the things I get really passionate about; humans enjoy their food, but I can taste every subtle flavor, every dash of pepper or oregano.
ID: Okay, but on the subject of your mother...
S: We talked. And I guess maybe part of the reason why I'm sort of steering clear of our actual conversation is we discussed some of the family's skeletons. It's weird to me the things that bring out candor in my mother- a crowded IHOP being one of the least predictable. And once we'd finished eating, we went to, first Target, and then, when she realized she needed something else, to a Walmart. It seemed like a very odd way to spend a day, but it was one of the first times I've just spent a day with my mother in what seems like forever. Oh, and that thing she needed, was chicken poop- which, I'm not dialed in enough to poop humor to have found it funny the first time, but we made an entire round of Target, with her asking every person in a red shirt she passed if they could point her at the chicken poop, and by the end I was giggling every time- and of course, once we'd made it to their gardening section we were politely told they don't carry chicken poop, which led us to the Walmart. And yet another round of watching my mother wander through a store asking people for chicken poop and getting odd stares.
ID: I can't help but feel that that story was tailor-made for me. Thanks.
S: You're welcome.
ID: I'm going to take a flying leap and guess that you love your mother. What I want you to tell me is why.
S: Okay. I think I can accomplish that with a story. Dad was always the farmer, and while mom was really good at being a wife and mother, she had a bit more ambition than that. And I remember there was a summer when I was just starting high school that they weren't sleeping in the same room. Mom wanted to start up a business, a store; she told him that nobody ever got comfortable farming anymore, that entrepreneurship was the way America was going to feed itself into the future. My dad was reluctant to start up a business- and at the time, he had a point, since statistically speaking keeping the farm going was difficult, but the odds of a new business failing were much, much greater. But one night they had a real loud argument- not that there was ever an argument they had where I couldn't hear even the whispered obscenities through the walls- but mom really laid it out. I think she'd been practicing, perfecting her sales pitch, because she was very professional, and confident, and I found myself really getting invested in her idea. But what finally I think won dad over, and I say this because his heart rhythm changed, is when she told him that if it was going to be ever, it had to be now. See, mom wanted me to go to college, and she knew that if she waited even another year, that even with an overly optimistic model, she wouldn't have rebounded the money they invested. She wanted to help pay for my education, not hurt our chances of paying for it. And, you know, once she'd put it that way, once she'd laid all of her reasoning and preparation out like that, of course he said yes.
ID: So I imagine that led to their, um, reconciliation.
S: Yeah- and I went for a run. There are some things no teenager should have to hear his parents getting up to.
ID: Sounds like you were a bright kid.
S: I was raised well. Dad was a good father, taught me how to be a man, and what working meant, what spending every hour you could providing for your family, and not just monetarily, but providing safety and comfort, respect and affection, he really prepared me to be a man. But my mom taught me so much more. Before I even started school she worked with me and my colors, numbers, my alphabet- worked with me even though my first words were in Kryptonian. She helped me with my reading, my multiplication tables, world geography. Every step of the way, mom was there. And when school asked for volunteers, whether it was for class field trips or because the teachers needed help organizing something, she was always the first to call the teacher or send a note. She always took an active role, in not just my school, not just my education, but in our community. She really prepared me to be a citizen, to be human. I think the combination is what made me the person I am today- and I love the person I am today, so I'm eternally, eternally thankful to the both of them for that.
ID: Your mother, she sounds like she was really at home in education. Why do you think she never became a teacher?
S: I think in a different world she would have been. But in this one, she was the wife of a farmer, and that's a pretty full-time gig, especially when they were both young, she really did a lot of the physical work around the farm. As they got older, and couldn't do as much themselves, they ended up hiring on more hands, and maybe then she'd have been able to go back to school, only she still had dad to take care of, and soon enough me to raise. And I think she prioritized. I think she'd have loved to have been a teacher; I think there was a part of her that felt she was a bad woman for not being more independent, not making decisions like that for herself to go back to school or to get a teaching certificate, but she chose her family over herself. I think the fact that that was what she chose makes it a very feminist decision, and because of the sacrifices involved a very admirable one.
And I want to clarify something you said earlier. I don't just love my mother, but I'm very proud to have had her as my mother. I think she still has a lot of greatness left in her, and I know she'll continue to make me proud.
We’ll be trying to bring you a new section of the interview every Monday. Some of the questions have already been prepared by the interviewer, but to ask Superman a question, leave a comment or send an email to DeathofSuperman@gmail.com.
Superman: I took my mom to breakfast; she insisted we go to IHOP.
ID: IHOP's not so bad. Why insisted?
S: Well, it was mother's day, so the place was packed. There was actually a line trailing outside. I told her I could fly us to the west coast, where it was earlier and we could probably get a seat, but she said, “That would be undignified,” and gave me a motherly smile. We ended up waiting an hour, and by the time we were seated I was famished.
ID: I didn't know you needed food.
S: I'm honestly not sure that I do, but the body gets used to things. Like sleep. I've never really tried to see how long I could function without sleep, but I start to feel psychosomatically tired after sixteen hours. But I was hungry, so I ordered a big country breakfast, a giant mocha, and two plates of appetizers. The appetizers came pretty quickly, and we hadn't finished them by the time the main course arrived. I forgot how much I love IHOP- they had some delicious strawberry pancakes.
ID: Ahem.
S: Sorry. Yeah. Not to advertise or anything. But food is one of the things I get really passionate about; humans enjoy their food, but I can taste every subtle flavor, every dash of pepper or oregano.
ID: Okay, but on the subject of your mother...
S: We talked. And I guess maybe part of the reason why I'm sort of steering clear of our actual conversation is we discussed some of the family's skeletons. It's weird to me the things that bring out candor in my mother- a crowded IHOP being one of the least predictable. And once we'd finished eating, we went to, first Target, and then, when she realized she needed something else, to a Walmart. It seemed like a very odd way to spend a day, but it was one of the first times I've just spent a day with my mother in what seems like forever. Oh, and that thing she needed, was chicken poop- which, I'm not dialed in enough to poop humor to have found it funny the first time, but we made an entire round of Target, with her asking every person in a red shirt she passed if they could point her at the chicken poop, and by the end I was giggling every time- and of course, once we'd made it to their gardening section we were politely told they don't carry chicken poop, which led us to the Walmart. And yet another round of watching my mother wander through a store asking people for chicken poop and getting odd stares.
ID: I can't help but feel that that story was tailor-made for me. Thanks.
S: You're welcome.
ID: I'm going to take a flying leap and guess that you love your mother. What I want you to tell me is why.
S: Okay. I think I can accomplish that with a story. Dad was always the farmer, and while mom was really good at being a wife and mother, she had a bit more ambition than that. And I remember there was a summer when I was just starting high school that they weren't sleeping in the same room. Mom wanted to start up a business, a store; she told him that nobody ever got comfortable farming anymore, that entrepreneurship was the way America was going to feed itself into the future. My dad was reluctant to start up a business- and at the time, he had a point, since statistically speaking keeping the farm going was difficult, but the odds of a new business failing were much, much greater. But one night they had a real loud argument- not that there was ever an argument they had where I couldn't hear even the whispered obscenities through the walls- but mom really laid it out. I think she'd been practicing, perfecting her sales pitch, because she was very professional, and confident, and I found myself really getting invested in her idea. But what finally I think won dad over, and I say this because his heart rhythm changed, is when she told him that if it was going to be ever, it had to be now. See, mom wanted me to go to college, and she knew that if she waited even another year, that even with an overly optimistic model, she wouldn't have rebounded the money they invested. She wanted to help pay for my education, not hurt our chances of paying for it. And, you know, once she'd put it that way, once she'd laid all of her reasoning and preparation out like that, of course he said yes.
ID: So I imagine that led to their, um, reconciliation.
S: Yeah- and I went for a run. There are some things no teenager should have to hear his parents getting up to.
ID: Sounds like you were a bright kid.
S: I was raised well. Dad was a good father, taught me how to be a man, and what working meant, what spending every hour you could providing for your family, and not just monetarily, but providing safety and comfort, respect and affection, he really prepared me to be a man. But my mom taught me so much more. Before I even started school she worked with me and my colors, numbers, my alphabet- worked with me even though my first words were in Kryptonian. She helped me with my reading, my multiplication tables, world geography. Every step of the way, mom was there. And when school asked for volunteers, whether it was for class field trips or because the teachers needed help organizing something, she was always the first to call the teacher or send a note. She always took an active role, in not just my school, not just my education, but in our community. She really prepared me to be a citizen, to be human. I think the combination is what made me the person I am today- and I love the person I am today, so I'm eternally, eternally thankful to the both of them for that.
ID: Your mother, she sounds like she was really at home in education. Why do you think she never became a teacher?
S: I think in a different world she would have been. But in this one, she was the wife of a farmer, and that's a pretty full-time gig, especially when they were both young, she really did a lot of the physical work around the farm. As they got older, and couldn't do as much themselves, they ended up hiring on more hands, and maybe then she'd have been able to go back to school, only she still had dad to take care of, and soon enough me to raise. And I think she prioritized. I think she'd have loved to have been a teacher; I think there was a part of her that felt she was a bad woman for not being more independent, not making decisions like that for herself to go back to school or to get a teaching certificate, but she chose her family over herself. I think the fact that that was what she chose makes it a very feminist decision, and because of the sacrifices involved a very admirable one.
And I want to clarify something you said earlier. I don't just love my mother, but I'm very proud to have had her as my mother. I think she still has a lot of greatness left in her, and I know she'll continue to make me proud.
We’ll be trying to bring you a new section of the interview every Monday. Some of the questions have already been prepared by the interviewer, but to ask Superman a question, leave a comment or send an email to DeathofSuperman@gmail.com.
Monday, April 6, 2009
The End of the World
Incestuous Democracy: I’d like to ask you a bit of a hypothetical this time. Normally I don’t like to play these kinds of games, but I think you’re uniquely qualified, for a lot of reasons, to answer. How do you think the world’s going to end?
Superman: Let me say, first, that I don’t believe the world will end in 2012. Ted Kord
ID: The inventor and industrialist who goes by the name Blue Beetle
S: once he came up with this complicated mathematic algorithm. Basically, he’d taken the idea, as developed by, Terrence McKenna, of Novelty theory, and found a basic proof using rudimentary quantum mechanics. It didn’t prove, as some people think, that the world would end in 2012, but, as Ted explained, after that point, “things got weird.” Ted, and he’s I think in line with McKenna on this, but he thinks that at that point technology becomes so rapid in its evolution, that the slight derivations in method amount to exponential fragmentation of divergent realities- basically, that the normal, parallel-world model of the multiverse grows with such a speed that the equation starts to have difficulty distinguishing between differences in realities. One of Ted’s “theories,” there, is that at some point interdimensional travel becomes possible across these realities, so what you see is a technological cross-breeding, which is part of the reason for the odd shifts in the equation. Of course, Ted’s been known to get a little silly when he holes up in his lab for too many hours without food or sleep.
ID: Okay, so not in 2012…
S: I’m thinking. It’s something the League, like every other security-minded organization should probably spend more time doing.
ID: In a post-9/11 world?
S: I hate that term. The world post-9/11 isn’t any different. The only thing we learned was that bad people are willing to do bad things in America just as readily as in other parts of the world. The fact that we Americans, and I’m as guilty of this as anyone, were sheltered from the problems of the rest of the planet doesn’t change the fact that it wasn’t the world that changed- it was our ability to perceive the many facets of reality that did.
But it isn’t just that we weren’t able to stop it- though God knows I take that failure very personally- though I take some small comfort from what Ollie told me later, that “while we were stopping a hurricane, humanity got hit by a little rain.” The real issue, I think, is we failed to even imagine it. Even Bruce, who I think could outmaneuver the devil himself, was out-thought that day. And that still scares us all.
But imagination. Hmm. I’m an optimist, but I think I’m an optimistic realist, so you can let that color what I say, or you can join me in my estimation, but I don’t think the world is going to end in a puff of smoke, or a ball of fire. I think that, if we’ve seen anything, it’s that the people on this planet want desperately to survive. And humanity is nothing if not resilient. Even if you take superhumanity out of the equation-which, statistically wouldn’t make sense, as their portion of the population is trending upwards, not down- the species refuses to go quietly into that good night.
So no matter what the threat, whether it’s a planet-killing asteroid or a planet-eating megapredator- I’ve seen the Earth defend itself against the worst threats in the universe; I honestly can’t imagine an outside threat that could pose a genuine danger to the planet as a whole.
And, you know, I’m not one of those people worried about technological hubris, either. Maybe I’m jaded, coming from Krypton, but technology, by and large, can yield a hundred civilian applications for any technology for every military one- the difference is merely that most of our focus and funding tends towards the militaristic because of global instability. I think, as you see things stabilize worldwide, you’ll see the perceived necessity for violence diminish, and the focus on useful rather than vengeful technologies thrive.
I think the end of the world will be quiet. I think humanity’s number will dwindle, because the sun’s power will fade, so the amount of life the planet can sustain will shrink, and humanity will move off-world. So I think the end of the Earth will be witnessed by only a handful of residents. The sun will die, fizzling slowly into darkness, and they’ll sit on their porches watching it go. They’ll go inside, then pick up a book and wait for the end to come, because they figure they’re too old to start over fresh someplace else.
I think my dad was that kind of guy. Most small farmers got out years ago, but he kept his farm going even though he knew he wasn’t earning sweat equity anymore, just barely keeping the place going with his own blood. He was just too old to learn how to live some other way, so he worked himself to death in a field, because that was the way his dad died, and that was the way he wanted to die, too. He saw a nobility in that, working ‘til his heart burst, but working with his hands, “like a man ought to.”
I think that’s how the world ends, with a few stubborn folks who refuse to be moved from their homes. Humanity, though- humanity’s going to keep going for as long as it can find new places to hang its collective (and dispersed) hats. And that makes me smile, the way I know it’d have made pa smile; there’s something gratifying about knowing the world will go on without you, maybe better for your time and maybe not, but that it’ll go on regardless. It’s why I’m glad the world has Kara, now- I hated the thought that I would be the last of my kind; it’s nice to know that something will survive you.
We’ll be trying to bring you a new section of the interview every Monday. Some of the questions have already been prepared by the interviewer, but to ask Superman a question, leave a comment or send an email to DeathofSuperman@gmail.com.
Superman: Let me say, first, that I don’t believe the world will end in 2012. Ted Kord
ID: The inventor and industrialist who goes by the name Blue Beetle
S: once he came up with this complicated mathematic algorithm. Basically, he’d taken the idea, as developed by, Terrence McKenna, of Novelty theory, and found a basic proof using rudimentary quantum mechanics. It didn’t prove, as some people think, that the world would end in 2012, but, as Ted explained, after that point, “things got weird.” Ted, and he’s I think in line with McKenna on this, but he thinks that at that point technology becomes so rapid in its evolution, that the slight derivations in method amount to exponential fragmentation of divergent realities- basically, that the normal, parallel-world model of the multiverse grows with such a speed that the equation starts to have difficulty distinguishing between differences in realities. One of Ted’s “theories,” there, is that at some point interdimensional travel becomes possible across these realities, so what you see is a technological cross-breeding, which is part of the reason for the odd shifts in the equation. Of course, Ted’s been known to get a little silly when he holes up in his lab for too many hours without food or sleep.
ID: Okay, so not in 2012…
S: I’m thinking. It’s something the League, like every other security-minded organization should probably spend more time doing.
ID: In a post-9/11 world?
S: I hate that term. The world post-9/11 isn’t any different. The only thing we learned was that bad people are willing to do bad things in America just as readily as in other parts of the world. The fact that we Americans, and I’m as guilty of this as anyone, were sheltered from the problems of the rest of the planet doesn’t change the fact that it wasn’t the world that changed- it was our ability to perceive the many facets of reality that did.
But it isn’t just that we weren’t able to stop it- though God knows I take that failure very personally- though I take some small comfort from what Ollie told me later, that “while we were stopping a hurricane, humanity got hit by a little rain.” The real issue, I think, is we failed to even imagine it. Even Bruce, who I think could outmaneuver the devil himself, was out-thought that day. And that still scares us all.
But imagination. Hmm. I’m an optimist, but I think I’m an optimistic realist, so you can let that color what I say, or you can join me in my estimation, but I don’t think the world is going to end in a puff of smoke, or a ball of fire. I think that, if we’ve seen anything, it’s that the people on this planet want desperately to survive. And humanity is nothing if not resilient. Even if you take superhumanity out of the equation-which, statistically wouldn’t make sense, as their portion of the population is trending upwards, not down- the species refuses to go quietly into that good night.
So no matter what the threat, whether it’s a planet-killing asteroid or a planet-eating megapredator- I’ve seen the Earth defend itself against the worst threats in the universe; I honestly can’t imagine an outside threat that could pose a genuine danger to the planet as a whole.
And, you know, I’m not one of those people worried about technological hubris, either. Maybe I’m jaded, coming from Krypton, but technology, by and large, can yield a hundred civilian applications for any technology for every military one- the difference is merely that most of our focus and funding tends towards the militaristic because of global instability. I think, as you see things stabilize worldwide, you’ll see the perceived necessity for violence diminish, and the focus on useful rather than vengeful technologies thrive.
I think the end of the world will be quiet. I think humanity’s number will dwindle, because the sun’s power will fade, so the amount of life the planet can sustain will shrink, and humanity will move off-world. So I think the end of the Earth will be witnessed by only a handful of residents. The sun will die, fizzling slowly into darkness, and they’ll sit on their porches watching it go. They’ll go inside, then pick up a book and wait for the end to come, because they figure they’re too old to start over fresh someplace else.
I think my dad was that kind of guy. Most small farmers got out years ago, but he kept his farm going even though he knew he wasn’t earning sweat equity anymore, just barely keeping the place going with his own blood. He was just too old to learn how to live some other way, so he worked himself to death in a field, because that was the way his dad died, and that was the way he wanted to die, too. He saw a nobility in that, working ‘til his heart burst, but working with his hands, “like a man ought to.”
I think that’s how the world ends, with a few stubborn folks who refuse to be moved from their homes. Humanity, though- humanity’s going to keep going for as long as it can find new places to hang its collective (and dispersed) hats. And that makes me smile, the way I know it’d have made pa smile; there’s something gratifying about knowing the world will go on without you, maybe better for your time and maybe not, but that it’ll go on regardless. It’s why I’m glad the world has Kara, now- I hated the thought that I would be the last of my kind; it’s nice to know that something will survive you.
We’ll be trying to bring you a new section of the interview every Monday. Some of the questions have already been prepared by the interviewer, but to ask Superman a question, leave a comment or send an email to DeathofSuperman@gmail.com.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Last Son
Indirect Distraction: I kind of feel like we’ve been straying from the point- it’s interesting to hear you talk, candidly, about your relationships, but I think we should refocus. You’ve been called ‘the man of tomorrow’ and ‘the last son of Krypton,’ but how do you think your illness impacts either of these?
Superman: I think there was still a sense, when I first, um, arrived on the scene, as it were, that we were still on the cusp of the future. That jetpacks and an end to disease were coming, soon, if we could just hold our breath a little longer. I think that’s where the whole ‘man of tomorrow’ thing comes from. People thought, in a few years, that will be me, or at the least in a few years that’ll be my kids. When people learned that I was from another planet, that I had future technology in my hands, well, that just played into it all the more.
As to being the last son of Krypton… I’m not. At least, not strictly. Because there’s Kara.
ID: Your cousin, Supergirl.
S: That’s… always a really weird thing for me to hear her called. I don’t remember much about Krypton- at that age the world was mostly shapes and colors- but I remember quite distinctly my mother, my father, and Kara. She used to, I guess babysit, would be the word. And when my father sent me to Earth in a rocket, he sent Kara, too, to look after me. It was rotten luck that caused her ship to be damaged in the planet’s explosion. At the time, physically, and emotionally, she was about the equivalent of 16. So at least chronologically, she’s older than I am- it’s odd for me to think of her as a girl.
ID: Yet she is a girl, though she’s blossoming, becoming a woman. How’s, how is your relationship, now? Do you find yourself mentoring her?
S: Obviously, yes. It’s a very odd state of affairs. When it comes to Krypton or things Kryptonian, when I’m with her, I feel very much like I’m a Native American kid raised off the reservation, who’s been playing cowboys and Indians because that’s the closest reasonable facsimile I had. But she knows the people and the culture that I largely missed out on. The robots and the technology my father sent me with taught me how to read, write and speak Kryptonese, but she taught me my first Kryptonian swear words, and tells me stories about Kryptonian food, the way it tasted, the way it smelled. She’s still working with Earth ingredients, trying to capture the proper flavor and texture. Kara really is the last Kryptonian survivor- and I’m happy its legacy rests with her- I always felt like I was a fake- I know Krypton from books and pictures, and video archives- she smelled its air, felt its wind on her skin- Krypton’s a fairy tale to me, but for Kara, it was home.
Of course on Earth, especially interacting with humans, the tables are completely reversed. I’ve lived on Earth more than twice as long as she was on Krypton- and I was raised by human beings. And she has lots of questions, which she’s finally gotten comfortable enough to ask- though it’s mostly just culture shock.
ID: About that, I actually sort of wanted to ask, who was responsible for the design of her costume, or is it based on traditional Kryptonian garb, and the planet really was the paradise it’s sometimes described as?
S: Careful.
ID: Aww- you’re defending your cousin’s honor.
S: Not at all. Kara’s a big girl- with an exceptional left hook. I speak with absolutely no hyperbole when I say she could take your jaw clean off- and might. She’s still learning about human customs and vulnerabilities.
But you’re pouring a bit of salt in a wound there, actually. Kara’s had a rough time adjusting. I don’t want to… go into her past- I think revealing certain things would be breaking her trust. But suffice it to say that she has lingering issues with her father.
ID: All right. Let me ask a hard question. Kara’s certainly had a rough time, including some rather nasty press coverage coming out of the Daily Planet. But putting that S on her chest, it’s a lot to live up to- you’ve made it a lot to live up to. And with your illness, she isn’t just there to augment you, pretty soon she’s going to be the standard bearer of that symbol. Do you think she’s up to the task?
S: I do. I’ve seen a lot of people try to do this, and it’s really, really tough work, emotionally. It grinds some people to dust, and consumes others. But what it takes to succeed in this is an unwillingness to bend in the face of adversity. Kara’s held on a lot longer than most, through some of the toughest times I’ve seen, and I think if she can go just a little longer, she’ll break through, and be the kind of hero she wants to be, which will put her on the path to the hero the world is going to ask her to be.
ID: So you think she’ll make a suitable replacement for you when you’ve passed?
S: God, I hope not. Because Kara’s her own person. I want her to be who she is, to find that place that I’ve been lucky enough to find, where the kind of person the world wants you to be and the kind of person you want to be aren’t mutually exclusive, and at least for me, have been complementary. I don’t want Kara shoe-horned into my roles in the community, because they wouldn’t suit her; she has to find her own path and her own way. I mean, I’m proud of her already, as proud as any father could be, but I’m disappointed, too, that I won’t get to see it all the way through.
ID: God. Um, I’m sorry. I’d forgotten, my condolences, about your own father.
S: Yeah, thank you. He… he was my dad, you know? There were times we disagreed, hell, even fought, over the right direction for me, for my life. But any time we argued, and he didn’t know if I was right, didn’t know if it could ever be right to interfere in such a massive way, I’d tell him, “I may not always be right, dad, but I’ll always do right by those who depend on me. Because that’s the kind of man you raised me to be.” I’m going to miss him, so much.
We’ll be trying to bring you a new section of the interview every Monday. Some of the questions have already been prepared by the interviewer, but to ask Superman a question, leave a comment or send an email to DeathofSuperman@gmail.com.
Superman: I think there was still a sense, when I first, um, arrived on the scene, as it were, that we were still on the cusp of the future. That jetpacks and an end to disease were coming, soon, if we could just hold our breath a little longer. I think that’s where the whole ‘man of tomorrow’ thing comes from. People thought, in a few years, that will be me, or at the least in a few years that’ll be my kids. When people learned that I was from another planet, that I had future technology in my hands, well, that just played into it all the more.
As to being the last son of Krypton… I’m not. At least, not strictly. Because there’s Kara.
ID: Your cousin, Supergirl.
S: That’s… always a really weird thing for me to hear her called. I don’t remember much about Krypton- at that age the world was mostly shapes and colors- but I remember quite distinctly my mother, my father, and Kara. She used to, I guess babysit, would be the word. And when my father sent me to Earth in a rocket, he sent Kara, too, to look after me. It was rotten luck that caused her ship to be damaged in the planet’s explosion. At the time, physically, and emotionally, she was about the equivalent of 16. So at least chronologically, she’s older than I am- it’s odd for me to think of her as a girl.
ID: Yet she is a girl, though she’s blossoming, becoming a woman. How’s, how is your relationship, now? Do you find yourself mentoring her?
S: Obviously, yes. It’s a very odd state of affairs. When it comes to Krypton or things Kryptonian, when I’m with her, I feel very much like I’m a Native American kid raised off the reservation, who’s been playing cowboys and Indians because that’s the closest reasonable facsimile I had. But she knows the people and the culture that I largely missed out on. The robots and the technology my father sent me with taught me how to read, write and speak Kryptonese, but she taught me my first Kryptonian swear words, and tells me stories about Kryptonian food, the way it tasted, the way it smelled. She’s still working with Earth ingredients, trying to capture the proper flavor and texture. Kara really is the last Kryptonian survivor- and I’m happy its legacy rests with her- I always felt like I was a fake- I know Krypton from books and pictures, and video archives- she smelled its air, felt its wind on her skin- Krypton’s a fairy tale to me, but for Kara, it was home.
Of course on Earth, especially interacting with humans, the tables are completely reversed. I’ve lived on Earth more than twice as long as she was on Krypton- and I was raised by human beings. And she has lots of questions, which she’s finally gotten comfortable enough to ask- though it’s mostly just culture shock.
ID: About that, I actually sort of wanted to ask, who was responsible for the design of her costume, or is it based on traditional Kryptonian garb, and the planet really was the paradise it’s sometimes described as?
S: Careful.
ID: Aww- you’re defending your cousin’s honor.
S: Not at all. Kara’s a big girl- with an exceptional left hook. I speak with absolutely no hyperbole when I say she could take your jaw clean off- and might. She’s still learning about human customs and vulnerabilities.
But you’re pouring a bit of salt in a wound there, actually. Kara’s had a rough time adjusting. I don’t want to… go into her past- I think revealing certain things would be breaking her trust. But suffice it to say that she has lingering issues with her father.
ID: All right. Let me ask a hard question. Kara’s certainly had a rough time, including some rather nasty press coverage coming out of the Daily Planet. But putting that S on her chest, it’s a lot to live up to- you’ve made it a lot to live up to. And with your illness, she isn’t just there to augment you, pretty soon she’s going to be the standard bearer of that symbol. Do you think she’s up to the task?
S: I do. I’ve seen a lot of people try to do this, and it’s really, really tough work, emotionally. It grinds some people to dust, and consumes others. But what it takes to succeed in this is an unwillingness to bend in the face of adversity. Kara’s held on a lot longer than most, through some of the toughest times I’ve seen, and I think if she can go just a little longer, she’ll break through, and be the kind of hero she wants to be, which will put her on the path to the hero the world is going to ask her to be.
ID: So you think she’ll make a suitable replacement for you when you’ve passed?
S: God, I hope not. Because Kara’s her own person. I want her to be who she is, to find that place that I’ve been lucky enough to find, where the kind of person the world wants you to be and the kind of person you want to be aren’t mutually exclusive, and at least for me, have been complementary. I don’t want Kara shoe-horned into my roles in the community, because they wouldn’t suit her; she has to find her own path and her own way. I mean, I’m proud of her already, as proud as any father could be, but I’m disappointed, too, that I won’t get to see it all the way through.
ID: God. Um, I’m sorry. I’d forgotten, my condolences, about your own father.
S: Yeah, thank you. He… he was my dad, you know? There were times we disagreed, hell, even fought, over the right direction for me, for my life. But any time we argued, and he didn’t know if I was right, didn’t know if it could ever be right to interfere in such a massive way, I’d tell him, “I may not always be right, dad, but I’ll always do right by those who depend on me. Because that’s the kind of man you raised me to be.” I’m going to miss him, so much.
We’ll be trying to bring you a new section of the interview every Monday. Some of the questions have already been prepared by the interviewer, but to ask Superman a question, leave a comment or send an email to DeathofSuperman@gmail.com.
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