I don’t care if I’m the only person in the world, I love Clark Joseph Kent for being “boringly” nice. So what, he’s “unproblematic” and “uncomplicated.” He lives in a world on fire and chooses to be the rain, tirelessly trying to cool the heat. He’s a drop of sunshine in a storm that refuses to be swallowed or snuffed out.
He comes from a sheltered rural upbringing where he could spend all day tending to the fields and enjoying the warm sun on his back. Clark Kent has all these amazing powers. He has shoulders that can carry any weight, a breath that can turn fire to ice. His skin is like steel, but he’s not invulnerable.
He has a soft, kind heart. People who don’t get him would think it’s absurd his doting mother worries about him getting hurt. Him… Superman. Like anyone or anything could be a threat to him. She caresses his cheeks with her thumb and looks up into his eyes and reminds him, “you don’t have to be their hero.” Pointless. She knows he will. He cannot turn away from the fire, even when he risks getting burned. Not if he knows there is anyone out there that needs him.
Because of all Clark Kent’s many super powers, his true strength doesn’t lie in those gifts he got from the stars. It comes from the gift he was given on a midwestern ranch, raised by one Martha and Jonathan Kent. His super power isn’t in his skin, but beneath it. It’s in his heart, that cares and loves so much.
Too much to turn his back when there’s something, anything he can do to help others. Because that’s how he was raised. That’s why he fights until blood soaks his shirt. It’s not about justice. It’s not about revenge. It’s about love.
Clark Kent has gone to sleep every night with the ability to hear miles away.
He can hear every prayer, every cry for help, every person’s suffering. He cares so much, and he has so much to give. But Clark doesn’t want to hurt anybody. In order to save some people, it will require him to get his hands dirty. To stand between those that would hurt and oppress, he might have to do harm to do good. This cost has always stopped him from intervening before. He can’t pay it. A people-pleasing mild-mannered man from the midwest doesn’t have the guts.
Until he does. “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing,” a theme that is constantly revisited and explored in his character.
Clark does find the nerve to fight and get his hands bloody. While he feared he wouldn’t be able to sleep with red fingers, not so. It’s easier to sleep with those than pristine ones knowing there are people hurting somewhere he could do something for. If you step in the fire, you might get burned. “Only wanting to help” and fighting for the love his parents taught him, people won’t get it. They’ll misconstrue him time and time again. They’ll fear him for his power. They’ll call him a “monster.” They’ll be unable to trust he could have pure intent.
Clark will shoulder that all. He’ll deal with being whatever the media decrees he is that week, whether a messiah or menace. He’ll deal with the enemies he’ll involuntarily collect just by existing with these powers and exercising them. He’ll face every consequence, because that’s who he is. Selfless. It would be easier for him to do nothing. That way, he’d be spared hardship and could know a carefree life. To live in Smallville forever, never raise a hand. Turn a blind eye.
Yet he can’t, because that would be choosing his own comfort over others. He can’t live with himself if he lets other suffer while he gets to sleep cozily. That’s what makes him Superman. Not his powers, not his strength. His choices and commitment to love and do good. To get dirt on his hands, if that’s what it takes.
Ah, but he is too “perfect,” right? Which makes him a bad character. Hmm. How easy it is to write Clark off as “too perfect” and not accredit all the strength that it takes to deal with being thought of as “perfection.” With the mistrust people feel because he is just “too nice” and there has to be more. Villains tell Clark that with all his power, deep down, he must have moments he wants to hurt people. That the boy scout that wants to “do good” must just be an act, and they hurt him and others to try to push Clark to his limits and break him. Clark refuses to be broken, though, or let anything take away what makes him who he is in the “never ending battle.” He doesn’t let his love get tainted or demented.
He isn’t “perfect.” He’s good. Through sacrifice and choices, through hard work.
He never lets Clark Kent, mild-mannered farm boy, get lost in the battle field. He never forgets when he is fighting, what he fights for. In a world with such oppression, it would be easy to turn cold. It would be easy to hate. Yet if he were to do so, it would betray everything he stands for. Because he wouldn’t be fighting for anyone but himself. His hands are for protecting, shielding, saving. He doesn’t want to hurt anybody, never has. The only reason he will ever hurt anyone is to save someone else. Clark will always be this way, because he is strong. This “perfection” is a product of commitment. Of dedication. Of love.
I’d like to share the comic that brought me into DC and made me fall in love with Superman. Superman: Man of Tomorrow issue #12, which I highly recommend.
Everything about this message is so precious. Clark Kent can carry Atlas’ curse’s weight, because he possesses the strength and resolve to achieve it. That strength doesn’t come from his arms, though. It comes from his heart.
Yes. Clark is boringly “nice,” “unselfish,” and “unproblematic.” He is some kid from the midwest whose mother still bakes him pies and, if he had it his way, wouldn’t hurt a fly. Yet he won’t choose having it his way over saving someone else’s skin, because he is a boring nice guy. There are so many fans that hate on Clark and call him “lame” and harass DC to make him more twisted. Because a sweet little dude that takes kittens out of trees, who cares about that? Because male characters should be “tough, aggressive, dark,” and some pure and sweet male character is just a total snooze. I’m just going to come out and say it.
Sorry, but there are plenty of DC characters like that. Have you considered that maybe you just don’t like Superman’s character, and his content isn’t meant for you? For some of us, a character who chooses kindness and stays true to himself and is a meek mild-mannered guy just trying to do good in the face of evil hits home. Superman’s story is more than about some guy throwing his fists and beating bad guys. It’s a story about not letting the world break your heart.
About not letting oppressors make you cold, and fighting for love. Not letting those that would abuse or do harm break your commitment to be good.
Some of us need that, and if you don’t, then move on. Stop whining that Superman is “plain” and find a character that you like and hits home with you. I actually love dark, grungy male characters that are fundamentally flawed too, and rather than being raised in a nice home that allowed them goodness, they have to fight to be better. This isn’t my taking issue with those characters. I love them so much. But by gosh, Superman is not garbage because he’s not them. You just don’t like his character, he’s not “poorly written” because of that.
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