Comments on: Review: Superman Returns

By: lisa80

lisa80 — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 03:37:35 +0000

oh,i like here

have a nice day with you

By: Alex

Alex — Thu, 06 Jul 2006 17:23:14 +0000

Fr. Stephanos,
Thanks so much for your interesting post! There’s lots of discussion out there about the Christological interpretation of Superman. For example, “Kal-El” can be interpreted to mean, in Hebrew, “All God” or “All that is God.” I have an article that should be out at Charles Colson’s Breakpoint very soon on this topic. I’ll post an link to it here at the blog when it appears.
-Alex

By: Fr. Stephanos, O.S.B.

Fr. Stephanos, O.S.B. — Thu, 06 Jul 2006 16:16:51 +0000

I saw it yesterday.

While Superman is unconscious in a hospital, Perry White (the editor-in-chief of “The Daily Planet”) and reporter Jimmy Olsen are working on a “just-in-case” front page headline:
SUPERMAN IS DEAD.

The month and day that appear with the headline caught my eye: September 29.

That’s the Catholic feastday of the archangels Micha-El, Gabri-El and Rapha-El!

Interesting!

Superman’s native Kryptonian name, “Kal-El,” name sounds like Hebrew. The suffix “El” is one of the ancient names for God, used throughout the Bible. It is also found in the names of great Biblical figures like Isra-El, Samu-El, Dani-El and angels such as Micha-El, Gabri-El and Rapha-El.

“Micha-El” means “like God” or “likeness of God”.

“Gabri-El” means “mighty one of God”.

“Rapha-El means “God heals” or “God has healed”

The prefix of Superman’s name, “Kal,” sounds close to the root of several Hebrew words: “lightness,” “swiftness,” “vessel,” and “voice.” “Kal-El” sounds similar to something in Hebrew that could mean:
“Lightness of God”…
“Swiftness of God”…
“Vessel of God”…
“Voice of God”.

No one seems to know whether the comic-book creators of Superman were aware of– or so much as intended– these Hebraicisms.

By: Ashley

Ashley — Mon, 03 Jul 2006 15:11:13 +0000

Still haven’t seen it yet. Trying to work it into my (Extremely) busy schedule.

I did see Click however, if you’d like to talk about that one.

AND I am SO PSYCHED about Pirates 2. I’m going to see it next Saturday and I’m hoping it’s at least as good as the original.

I’ll keep ya posted.

By: Alex

Alex — Mon, 03 Jul 2006 13:58:31 +0000

I don’t mind angst if it’s balanced with hope, joy, and optimism, not formulaically, but as an appropriate balance to the darkness. These are, after all characters in tights and capes and they can only handle so much realism before the fun is sucked out. The first clue, I think, is that the blue, red and gold of the costume were darkened in the design for the movie. It’s supposed to key us in on the tone of the film, and I think we’re to appreciate that darker mean “serious” thus more worthy of being a dramatically legitimate story. But I think the Spider-Man films offer the standard for balance between darkness and light. We’ll see how they handle this when they explicitly address it in the next film.

Thanks for writing!

By: Gina

Gina — Mon, 03 Jul 2006 13:47:15 +0000

Haven’t seen the film, but in reading reviews, I definitely got the sense that it was something of a downer and that a healthy shot of “hope, joy and optimism” was exactly what it needed. I had planned to see it, but now I’m thinking I might wait for the DVD. I’ve had it up to here with superhero angst and am not in the mood for more right now. In fact, I’m wondering if the genre is about played out, at least for the time being, because angst is all it seems able to manage anymore.