(I wrote this after watching Superman Returns and was inspired during the final scene when Lois is typing on her computer "Why the World Needs Superman", but could not type anything. So this is written in a sort of "article/reporter"-like tone if you will, just for fun. Maybe it'll be the intro to my new book coming out in 2020.)It’s interesting how when you are a kid, and your imagination runs wild with dreams of becoming a super hero, an NBA star, or even a doctor, but at the same time you realize that deep down, maybe you will never be able to attain what at the time, you thought was impossible. When a dream stays a dream, nothing more; that sometimes dreams don’t come true.
I wanted to be Superman when I was young. After watching Superman The Movie with Christopher Reeve, I knew that I would be the first Superman other than the real Superman of course. Even at that time, my ethnicity didn’t come into it. I would be the first Asian “Man of Steel”, but I never coined that term. I would dress up (to the best of my ability) as Superman; an old white beach towel for a cape, white tube socks pulled over the bottom of my blue jeans to emulate red boots and blue tights, I even drew a super “S” on a piece of paper and taped it to the front of my Ninja Turtle t-shirt. I would lay on the carpet, arms stretched out, flap my cape around, look at the ground with tiny little lint people in danger and go down and rescue them. Yup, I was Superman, the real deal, the Asian “Man of Steel”.
But in the back of my mind, I knew the limitations I had as “Superman”, I knew I couldn’t really fly, I knew that if someone wanted to punch me, they could and it would hurt like hell. I knew I was fast, but definitely not faster than a speeding bullet. As much as I imagined my life as Superman’s I knew Superman was fiction, not real, only in my imagination.
After watching “Superman Returns” I started to think about why I have (present tense) this obsession with the guy? Why after all these years and knowing that he’s not real do I still get so excited about him? Look on ebay for “authentic” costumes, emulate Clark’s gestures, feel so connected to him? I think maybe one connection to him that I feel is that I feel like I’m an alien, like he is. Though I’m not from the planet Krypton, most of the time I feel different from everyone, like I don’t fit in, like my home isn’t here. “I don’t belong here” as Switchfoot says. Either I’m not white enough, not Chinese enough, not foreign enough, not smart enough, not good enough, not talkative enough, not opinionated enough, not good looking enough, not open enough, not excited enough and so on. I just don’t belong. It’s like there’s one more piece in a 3000-piece puzzle but I’m part of a 2000 piece puzzle. I get lonely, I feel vulnerable, I feel depressed, only thing is I actually ENJOY it. Call it a Superman/Kal-el complex if you will, but I enjoy being the outcast, and because of this, I can identify with Superman. I know what it feels like to like a girl so much, but she doesn’t even know you’re there or wouldn’t give you a second look or thought at maybe even the slightest possibility. I know what it feels like to pour your heart out, only to have it taken advantage of. I know what it’s like to be alone. A loner. Isolated. This is what beats at the core of my soul.
Then I read about Adam. God’s creation in His own image. Adam was in deep intimate relationship with God, yet he was lonely. God told him to name all the animals, which must have taken maybe hundreds of years, the whole time without a suitable helper, no help, no companionship. He only had animals that could not communicate, though I bet he tried. He was alone. Which brings it back to me, Superman and Adam. We are all alone, isolated. Though we are all destined for something bigger, the lack of community and vulnerability cause our souls to cry out “helper!” Superman and Adam on the other hand achieved greatness, (saving lives, naming the animals), yet something was missing inside of them; a deep longing for relationship with another person.
Also, the source of their power is something to be looked at. For Adam, He had God. It’s a mental trip to think about how it was when then before the fall. Adam knew God intimately and had Him I can imagine almost physically in life, talking to Him, laughing with Him, knowing Him and his purpose. God was his source of power. For Superman, he receives his strength from the sun as well as his father. The red sun gives him physical strength, while his father gives him emotional strength. For me, I’d like to think God gives me strength, but although a lot of times I must confess that I try to find strength within myself, which when you think about it, is like trying to drive a race car on an empty tank. I can barely lift my own weight and I want to find strength to overcome a death or overcome a tragedy?
People in Metropolis call for Superman when they’re in need. But even Lois Lane at the end of the movie couldn’t type why the world needs Superman. Could it be that sometimes even when a savior is plainly given to us after we cry out for one and he is always for us, helping us, guiding us, we also at the same time have in the back of our minds a sense that maybe we could have done it on our own. Did I really need him? Was it just coincidence? Or does my life and death really depend on “his” assistance. For me, I know I need Superman, but who are we really talking about here anyway? Don’t look at me, just look up…or down, or left or right, because He’s everywhere. He’s always around.
