THIS MADE ME LAUGH SO HARD this was like a psychic attack on me but in a positive way like target audience REACHED, how did you know I so want a locket with kon pics in it LMAOOOOOO
Kon El is a critique of teen stars and how society views them. From how his manager obtains him to the relationships he holds with women and the views held by the public, Kon El is shown to be a super hero version of a child star. The critique comes from not only how he is treated by the managers and partners he has, but also the response of the public and how they view his abuse. The use of Kon’s character is a desperate shout for the public to wake up to the abuse that teenagers in the world of fame go through and to stop acting like it is alright.
Before diving into the social commentary, it’s important to establish that Kon El is a child star. He comes into the world at 16 years old and has knowledge that fits that age, if slightly more intelligent due to the fact that information was uploaded into his mind during his creation process. So, he is a 16 year old in body and in mind. But in life experience, he is much less. He is only a few weeks old at most when he’s introduced to the public and thrust into the life of stardom, as he immediately takes up the role of the next Superman, a big hero in the public eye. The way that Kon is forced into stardom because he was made to be a hero and the subsequent actions of his tour across America, his posters, and the overall showboating are all treatments that a teen star - especially an actor or singer - would experience. Kon holds the age of a teen star and has many experiences one would go through. Therefore, he is indeed a teen star.
That leads into the abuses and critiques.
The first critique is the responsibility of work and lack of compensation that teen stars often get. A teen or child star is often too young to be working, yet they are able to handle the job of acting. While a 13 year old cannot get a job making burgers at a MacDonald’s, they are somehow able to go off and get acting jobs because of their talent. And in these jobs, a child is not making as much as the adults are more often than not. They may have leading roles but they won’t be making the same amount as an adult will. Sounds, to put it frankly, like textbook exploitation. Child labour. Now, how does this relate to Superboy? He is a teenager being given a job. While 16 is an average age for a teenager to be working, keep in mind that Kon does not have the same experience as a 16 year old does. He is also thrust into the world of heroes because his creators want him to be the next Superman. He is not given the option of if he does or does not want to be a hero, it is all he knows because it is what he was programmed for. He’s like a child who’s parent is pressuring him to try out for a role in a show. One who has been forced to believe this is his only option. And while Kon does end up enjoying being Superboy, one has to question if that enjoyment is fully genuine or if it comes from expectations set for him. As for compensation, Kon is one of the few heroes who does end up getting paid for his work because he had a manager. That being said, his compensation is not enough when he’s doing a job that has both publicity to it as well as literal life endangering scenarios. Later in the Superboy 1994 Kon is eventually shown to not have a line of income nor money at all - hence why he was living in the Young Justice base. This means that he was not well compensated at all for the work he did even when he had a manager. It’s clear exploitation that mirrors what child and teen celebrities actually go through. So many child actors have struggled with money because they did not understand what they were doing and/or didn’t actually make enough to support themselves long term as they (or their guardians) may have hoped. It’s all too easy to blow through money and it’s very possible the same happened to Kon because he had nobody there to help him.
His manager is the next issue. Rex Leech was the manager for Superboy in the 1994 run, he was the person who got Superboy the world tour and handled his public image. The issue in the world of teen and child stars is that it’s easy to get stuck with a bad manager. It is a manager's job to get their star different opportunities and to make money. That being said, not every manager is good for their celebrity, taking advantage of somebody’s livelihood for the sake of their own paycheque. In Kon’s case, Rex Leech starts their working relationship through manipulation - helping to set up the villain attack in order to get Kon to sign with him. Leech wanted to be the sole manager of Superboy, that was his goal in getting Kon. Rex Leech then proceeds to trademark the name Superman - which is what Kon was currently going by during the Death of Superman arc. He literally makes money off of the name and usage of Superman because the kid is now a card in his hand. The name is only given back to Clark Kent’s Superman after a legal battle because Kon wanted to give it back. This is also where Leech then trademarks Superboy and gets the rights to continue using the iconic ‘S’ symbol, with the agreement detailing that proceeds made from projects would be going to charity. To add to the last point, it’s possible that Kon's share, which was a good amount due to him being a celebrity, went to charity outside of what he used to buy a house in Hawaii while Leech pocketed what was made by the studio. Rex Leech is essentially a shady businessman and a bad manager. He does what is most profitable then makes bad financial decisions that affect him, his daughter Roxy, and Superboy. While he is able to conced to Superboy when he wants to stay in Hawaii to become a hero there, it doesn’t change that he created the World Tour for profit and likely only gave it up to not lose his star. Rex Leech is an exploitative manager. He sets up the scenario to make Superboy sign with him and then does what it takes to make money. While he’s tame, he’s still a reflection of what some real world managers can be like to their stars. There are plenty of teens and children who suffer under bad managers who just take advantage of them for the sake of money. They’ll have them sign harsh contracts and then hold them to it while they reap the benefits.
The third point is Kon’s romantic relationships, the grooming he goes through. This is one of the most tragic parts of a young celebrity's world - being taken advantage of in romantic and/or sexual ways by the adults around them. In the early Superboy series, there’s no denying that he was a flirt. What was not okay was the adult women who flirted back and even dated him. The two important relationships that he has in the 1994 series include Tana Moon, who was a reporter, and Knockout, who is a villain. To begin, Tana Moon was a reporter who was definitely an adult but age was ambiguous, likely around her mid 20s. There are a lot of things wrong here, but the most pressing is definitely her age. Kon is 16 and he stays 16. Tana called him “kid” as a nickname, like an acknowledgement of his age that she refused to elaborate on. They were dating, though they did briefly break up as Tana decided he was too childish for her. Likely because he was a literal teenager. They did eventually get back together but that ended with Tana’s death, which Superboy ended up getting blamed for. It’s a completely inappropriate relationship in terms of their age difference, but also the fact that Tana was a reporter. She was outright using him for stories, even if she did have creepy feelings for him as well. It was an unhealthy relationship no matter how the comics portrayed it. The second relationship was with Knockout, an immortal fury who appeared in her 30s but was likely a lot older. Knockout was a villain who decided she liked Kon because he could almost keep up with her. She is extremely flirty and uses innuendos when talking to him, calls him “pup” - which definitely acknowledges his age, and outright sexually assualts him by kissing him without consent. It’s a bad relationship, outright abusive, as Knockout abuses Superboy’s trust by tricking him into helping her hide from the police by denying her involvement in a murder. It ends when he finds out the truth and almost commits a murder-suicide by drowning them before deciding to turn her into the police. These relationships are both awful for Kon even when they aren’t portrayed as predatory. It’s very unfortunate that this reflects real world teen actors getting into predatory relationships and being taken advantage of. There are horror stories of how badly child and teen stars are abused by older men and women around them while they either think it’s fine or feel like they have to keep it hidden for the sake of their careers. It’s one of the darkest sides of being a young celebrity, and it’s one that isn’t always explored properly in the media. And while Superboy 1994 doesn’t actually do a good job in portraying these relationships as wrong, a reader can now understand how bad it is when reading them with the knowledge of the abuse people go through in today’s world.
Finally, the critique of the public. The public who does nothing for Superboy, who treat him as though he’s the issue when he’s really a victim. There is not enough outcry, not enough people who rally behind him to try to help. Rather, people blame him for Tana’s death and judge him for believing Knockout when she claims he’s innocent. To some degree, he’s driven out of Hawaii because of the people’s hatred. And nobody around him really helped him, not back then. Kon’s only support system was those who were taking advantage of him, such as Tana Moon and Rex Leech. Due to how busy Superman was with coming back to life, he wasn’t able to support Kon how he needed to. Other people either didn’t really know him or didn’t want to deal with him after the true Superman came back. It leads to an awkwardly vulnerable Kon who only had the public’s approval and the support of those who weren’t exactly good for him. And the public didn’t seem to care because they saw him as a celebrity. They had posters and they watched his heroic deeds and they idolised him because he had a good reputation. But this also meant that any stains on his reputation were blamed on him. Any deaths, any bad missions, anything that went wrong was piled onto him. This is what happens to child celebrities in the real world as well. They are made to be idolised and then they are hated when something goes wrong as they grow up. A single event can turn someone from beloved to hated by the public even when something may not be that person’s fault. The person is not given the grace nor the support that they may need because they are not seen as human the same way that the average person is. They are seen as above and therefore they can fall from grace and have nobody the moment something goes wrong. Kon is supposed to be a superhero, so why can’t he save everybody? This person acts in roles that such sweet kids, how did they become like this? The court of public opionion is such a double-edged blade as it can keep a person held up above the world but it can also tear them down just as easily, which is demonstrated by how people go from idolising to hating Kon.
Overall, Superboy 1994 and Kon as a character are a harsh reflection and critique of the culture and experiences around child actors. He’s taken advantage of, he’s judged, and he’s treated like a child star is. He’s held up before being brutally torn down like many teen and child stars can experience in their lives. It’s hard to admit it, but the 1994 Superboy run calls for change in the treatment and expectations that are set for children and teenagers who are in those world famous spheres. It demands self-reflection from the public and how we treat those we supposedly love.
“why does Jason still wear the Bat symbol if he hates Bruce?” / “why does Commander Cody go by Kote if Jango gave him that name as a painful joke?”
sometimes, taking someone’s name/symbol/title and immediately dropping it in favor of finding something easier to swallow feels like giving in. sometimes taking that name/symbol/title/whatever and making it your own, making it a mockery of what they originally intended for you, is more powerful and self-fulfilling than anything else could be.
sometimes it’s more important to be defiant than it is to be hurt.
sometimes, hatred and guilt for a mentor or guardian can live side by side with a sliver of pride or duty that comes with receiving that inheritance, even if it was given in different circumstances.
sometimes, it’s better to show them that symbol and say this is mine now, and I am so much more than you could have ever imagined when you gave it to me.
I could make a long post about how a lot of superboy 1994 is about child celebrity grooming and sexualization and exploitation by hollywood and the media but is there even an audience for it
skirting just under the finish line for @90skonweek ! i've been crazy busy all week but i just had to get something out for my favorite era of my favorite guy... consider this originally for day 3's prompt: media!
I’m sorry Kon-el that none of the adults in your life were looking out for you when you needed it
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we know that knockout was supposed to be a bad person, but Tana was no better, she knew it was wrong and had a relationship with him anyways
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as you can see I’ve been reading the superboy comics, but I’m also reading “straight on ‘til morning” which is a fic about Kon and him realizing how messed up his relationships were now that he’s older and the fact that none of the adults he was around were looking out for him
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