ONLY A MAN IN A FUNNY RED SHEET? OR WHY SUPERMAN.

I embarked on my “Steve Jobs Experiment” about two months ago. I basically wear the same thing every day—Superman t-shirt, pants or shorts, and a Superman hoodie when it’s cold. The only exception would be an affair where something “dressier” is required, and church (mostly because of my up bringing. I’m sure Mother Megan wouldn’t care if I wore the same thing every time to church).

If people are noticing, they are not commenting—or at least not to me. I do get the comments like, “cool shirt” or “hey, Superman” or “Supergirl” or occasionally “Superwoman”. And then I was at the Golden Crown Literary Society Con and an author asked, “Why Superman?” And went on to inquire, “Why not Wonder Woman?”

Given the current hoopla around the new WONDERWOMAN movie (which I saw, and loved), I suppose it’s a fair question. I know that my best friend has loved Wonder Woman since she was a teenager, and when the Linda Carter TV show came out that cemented it for her, and that was her first self admitted girl crush. Since the movie’s release, I have seen a lot of women express similar experiences via social media. Wonder Woman was not my first girl crush, nor did I aspire to be her. Don’t get me wrong, she was nice to look at, and, as my British friends would say, “I wouldn’t kick her out of bed for eating crackers.”

My love of Superman, also couldn’t be described as “a crush.” I didn’t want to date him—I wanted to be him. I grew up with an older brother, so basically watching black and white reruns of THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN with George Reeves. That was my first exposure to the man of steel. Then came the movies in 70s with Christopher Reeve, which I adored. In 2001, there was the TV series SMALLVILLE, and I watched it religiously. The persona portrayed in both film and TV that I grew up with was not as harsh as the original comics, and I liked that. Comic books weren’t something that we had a lot of exposure to. My parents liked to see us reading books, so I realize that my exposure is biased, and based predominantly on the film/TV versions. I confess, I haven’t watched the newer movies, and I can not wrap my head around Batman and Superman fighting, so, as everything in life, my knowledge is colored by my perception.

The story of a boy sent to earth to save mankind seems familiar, in both Judeo and Christian religions. So there are analogies to Moses and or Christ, scholars’ have debated. That alone could be cause for several blogs. However, that is not what I love most about Superman. What I love most about the story is the idea of “nurture vs. nature.” I fully contest that if Superman had landed in Lex Luther’s backyard he would have been a super villain and not a superhero. Instead Martha and Jonathan Kent helped shape him into the caring man he grew up to be.

I identified with Superman on so many levels. He didn’t fit in—and I never felt I did. Also, while it was part of his “costume” he wore glasses—and so did I. He was a reporter—and I loved researching and writing. He lived in my favorite City, Metropolis (which we all know is NYC). He cared about the people in his life deeply, and tried to find the good in them. He carried a torch for a woman he thought he couldn’t have (welcome to the story of my life), and in the end, he actually did get the girl (there aren’t enough fingers and toes to cross). Those are just a smattering of the reasons I loved him as a teenager into adulthood.

Lately, Superman has taken on a whole new meaning for me. I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2009. I had the offending organ removed, and followed up with the standard radiation treatments. Then the cancer marker reappeared, and I had more radiation and tests, and finally a petscan, which revealed another tumor. So in 2016, I had to have a lung removed and the tests showed it was indeed thyroid cancer that had metastasized. The doctor said it was there before the thyroid was removed, so the prognosis is good. Thus, lately, I enjoy the irony of wearing a superhero t-shirt as I fight my way back to health (I say fight because there are many things doctors don’t tell you about recovering from a surgery like that, for fear that if they did, you wouldn’t do it). The Superman symbol encourages me to push on, even when I don’t feel like it. And though, I am not a superhero by any measure, I believe that I do aspire to the level of courage that he displays, if you define courage as—‘knowing something is going to hurt, and doing it any way’. That definition is the reason I know that my best friend truly is Wonder Woman.



I admit there are really no simple answers as to why we identify with superheroes we do. But I would enjoy hearing about your favorite superhero, and why you love them so.