Man Of Steel : The latest Superman movie

[muman613]

As many here know, I do not watch many new movies (especially in theaters).... But from time to time I am attracted to the themes and plots which fascinated me when I was a young man. Many who know me know I am a fan of Star Trek and Star Wars style science fiction. I also have a particular fascination with the story of Superman. In many cases themes of these stories borrow heavily from our Holy Texts and often cause one to think about universal wisdom. In the case of Superman we have the Messianic figure who saves the world from it's own worst nightmare. Superman's father is named Jor-el and Superman is named Kal-El and we all know that the House of El (El is a name of Hashem, from Eloykim).

Aish.com has even commented on the similarities in the Superman story and the Torah:

http://www.aish.com/ci/a/48949071.html

Jewish Connections

Superman is Kal-El of the family that had been known on Krypton as "The House of El," in Hebrew Beit El, which means "The House of God." Over the nearly seven decades since Superman first appeared, there have been numerous Jewish connections from Jewish creators Siegel and Shuster to Jewish director of Superman Returns, Bryan Singer.

The story has been told that 16-year-olds Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster didn't work on their comic strip on Thursday nights. They had nothing to draw on. Mama Shuster needed her challah board.

In addition to the Moses connection, Superman also had a firm basis in the story of Samson. Despite his present panoply of abilities, his original powers were much more focused on heroism through tremendous strength alone. Long before there was x-ray vision, super-breath, or even flying, the best Superman could do when Superman was first created was jump an eighth of a mile or, as they used to put it, "leap over tall buildings in a single bound." As the stories grew over the years, so did Superman's powers, but his first encounters with criminals -- and with Nazis -- in the 30s and 40s had him behaving more like Samson than the Superman we know today. Mostly land bound, he lifted cars and tanks and shook out the bad guys. Bullets couldn't hurt him, but exploding mortar shells could.

Even Superman's now-familiar red boots were originally more like Samson's footwear. Joe Shuster's original drawings had him wearing sandals laced up to the calf. Reportedly, a colorist tired of all the detail work filled them in with red and turned them into the red boots now known as part of the Superman costume.

In the meantime, Superman was becoming a metaphor for the Jewish American dream. He was from a far away, strange place, but managed to maximize who he was and who he had become into a synthesis good for himself and for his adopted homeland. Famous cartoonist Jules Feiffer has said: "It wasn't Krypton Superman came from, but the planet Minsk." And true enough, Clark Kent was his less alien, more assimilated self.

The trailer for the new Superman movie seems interesting. If I am going to watch a movie this year it seems at this time that 'Man of Steel' just may be that movie...