Mr. Wonderful: New Editorial: With Great Chutzpah Comes Great Responsibility: I LOVE TO HATE SUPERMAN

jaydeitcher:

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Here is my latest masterpiece! It discusses Superman as an iconic image of assimilation and the loss of one’s culture. Enjoy it, you guys and gals rock!

Excerpt:

I have a love/hate relationship with Superman. When my addiction to comics began, I hated Superman because he seemed to be everything I could not be. Superman was the perfect pretty boy who American society loved. I connected to Spider-Man’s flaws and the race themes of the X-Men, but Superman I absolutely despised. He was the authority figure in comics, squeaky clean, white, Christian (if you weren’t outwardly Jewish, Hindu or Muslim, you were a Christian to me) and loved by all. I later realized the many Jewish themes to his comic, and learned the history of his Jewish creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. I grew a deep respect for his creators and finally felt my connection to Superman, but I still love to hate Superman.

Most Jewish historians are very kind to Superman. History books on Jews and comics are written to not threaten the gentile masses. The Jewish comic historians are almost begging for the Jewish influence on the comic industry to be acknowledged. Because the entire superhero genre was influenced by Superman, we feel we need to kiss his @$$. Lucky for you, I am essentially kryptonite, I am the man who does not fear taking down Superman!

This is not meant to be simply an attack piece, but this is not a politically correct ode to the Man of Steel either. Superman is my history- Jewish history. He is Moses on a ship to escape anti-Semitism, an immigrant in a new country, a nice Jewish boy who was forced to change his name and his identity. Upsettingly, the identity he took on was what the racist culture told his creators a Superman had to be- everything they were not…

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