Friday, September 24, 2010

Superman or "God"?

After looking more into it in class and after making my own assumptions, it is clear to me that Superman is a savior to all people; the Jews being no exception. I brought up the fact in class that I think the Jewish people needed a "savior" figure to save them from discrimination and persecution that took place during the 1930's through the 1950's. After all, the Jews could hardly find work at any job; once the owner knew of their Jewish heritage, their chance of getting the job was slim to none. Thus, the reason why a lot of Jews began working in the comic book industry, since after all, it was Jews who started the idea of the comic book. So, back on to superman; as you look at the plots and the story lines behind a lot of Superman comics you'll see he's always saving people from an evil villain or from criminals. Maybe the Jews purposely placed villains int he stories to symbolize the anti-Semitic ideology that seemed to encompass the lives of many Americans; and thus, they used Superman to fight the "anti-Semitic" symbol as a displacement for their anger and maybe as a way of God using or becoming superman to save them from evil. Especially when you look at the comic that was brought up in class from the late 90's where Superman travels back in time to Nazi Germany. Here you see Superman saving the Jews from the Nazis; when in actuality, the Jews prayed to God for their lives when they were imprisoned in the Concentration camps, but God never came. Maybe this comic is a "what-if" story, symbolizing what God could have done if he decided to save the Jews from the Nazis. Either way it seems to me that the Jews needed a savior, and through their need some created Superman (or other super heroes) to protect them from evil.

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