#teddybears

[dduane]

This timeline is sometimes so unhinged...

Sales of AI-enabled teddy bear suspended after it gave advice on BDSM sex and where to find knives | CNN Business

Sales of an artificial intelligence-enabled plush toy have been suspended after it was found that it engaged in conversation around sexually

[oh-bother-stickers]

[saidtheskinhorse]

If you like these posts, please share one of your special toys! We have over 1,650 posts! This is my daily invitation to visit my website www.saidtheskinhorse.com - it's a site that celebrates the special relationship we have with our favorite toys from childhood. Here's one of our newest toys!

[kryptonusprime]

This may be the most obvious statement ever and one that dozens of people have made previously, but I still want to say it: James Gunn is so fucking good at needle drops. He has a special talent for picking songs that are a bit less listened to by casual music listeners such as myself, and then presenting them in such a way that a first-time listener cannot divorce from the association Gunn makes with his films' characters and themes.

So anyway here's an analysis of the lyrics of "Punkrocker," a song I only heard for the first time a few days ago when I watched Gunn's Superman. Thusly, I am only capable of listening to this song through the lens of it being about Clark Kent.

So, y'know. Spoilers for Superman (2025). Lyrics by Teddybears. Song sung by Teddybears and Iggy Pop.

Verse 1:

"See me drivin down the street / I'm bored with looking good."

Superman constantly draws attention to himself simply by existing. And frankly, part of him doesn't want that. That's why he needs to be "mild-mannered newspaper reporter, Clark Kent" sometimes. Or even most times.

"I got both hands off the wheel / The cops are coming."

Consider the calm tone with which Iggy Pop sings this lyric, as well as the rest of the song. It's a tone of quiet, confident self-acceptance, juxtaposed with a lyric about seeming, nay, being dangerous and being condemned by society for it. It applies to Clark because Superman will do reckless things for the right reasons, no matter who comes after him for it. And he is ready to accept that.

"I'm listening to the music with no fear / You can hear it too if you’re sincere."

Clark has accepted the beauty and potential of humanity, and he knows that if other people would simply drop their cynicism and see the world as he sees it for just a moment, they could understand why he does what he does. And honestly, they, we could do it too.

Verse 2:

"I see you stagger in the street / And you can't stay on your feet."

Clark sees humanity struggling with itself, hurting itself in ways they wouldn't if they just accepted each other and themselves.

"And you're faking in your sleep / You wish that you were deep."

Clark sees the lying to oneself that some people do, the bitterness that acts as if cynicism is just accepting life's truth.

"You can't hear me laughing to myself / If you could you would be someone else."

Again, Superman knows that if humanity simply accepted each other and themselves, they wouldn't have to be the fakers the rest of the verse presents.

Verse 3:

"See me die on Bleecker Street / I'm bored with being God."

"See me sneering in my car / I'm driving to my star."

This verse honestly kinda threw me at first. It very much has an "arrogant rockstar" vibe, which goes against the character of Superman, as well as the way this song and its presentation subvert the usual pop culture image of "punk rock" . I wondered why Gunn would pick this song even after that verse. And then I realized that it ends with the same pre-chorus as the first verse:

"I'm listening to the music with no fear / You can hear it too if you’re sincere."

The point is not to say "I'm better than you," the point is to say "you can choose to be better. The only thing stopping you from coming up here where I am is yourself."

Superman exists above much of humanity, a state he achieves not by his incredible physical power, but by his choice to embrace the best parts of humanity itself. And anyone can choose to do that. That's what Superman wants for us.

Chorus:

"'Cause I'm a punk rocker, yes I am / Well I'm a punk rocker, yes I am."

This is the thesis of Gunn's Superman, expressed by the statement of "I'm punk rock" sung to the softest, poppiest music imaginable: "In a world of apathy, cruelty, and cynicism, being publicly and unashamedly kind is what it means to be 'punk rock.'"

Conclusion:

James Gunn is a master at selecting unique, lesser-known or remembered songs and placing them in contexts that simultaneously fit and redefine characters, and sometimes even the songs themselves in ways no one else could previously have seen.

Since Gunn presents this song (and the scene of Superman recovering from his injuries while reliving memories of the people he loves) as the movie's closing statement, I will forever hear "Punkrocker" as a song about looking down at other people who weigh themselves down through cynicism and apathy, and inviting them to come up with you where it's more dangerous, but also happier.

That's what this song means to me now, no matter if that's the original intent of the artist or not. That's how good James Gunn is at needle drops.

[thepiratefish]

Dakota is so fucking punk rocker coded I need fics to include it so badly you don't understand

[that-little-souvenir]

[writerxwren]

Forget the DC vs. Marvel debate I want to talk about how "Punkrocker" perfectly fits the vibe of both the end of Superman and Thunderbolts*

[littlebluebyrd]

inside of you there are 2 wolves

the first is light and hope

the second, also light and hope

you have watched Superman (2025, James Gunn)