Who knew we needed a pop-punk Superman?
Well, in an era -- perhaps the tail end of one -- where Marvel Comics dominated everything, DC Comics was sort of an afterthought in terms of big blockbusters, and the Man of Steel had become probably the least cool of the superhero genre, it seems like a reboot and makeover is just what Superman and movie audiences needed.
I'll be honest, I did not see the latest rendition of Superman that hit movie theaters this summer, and I didn't really have any interest in it. But, then I ran across this cool piece of commentary on NPR from Ann Powers - "Why the World Needs a Pop-Punk Superman" - and I am definitely intrigued. The film is now on my to-watch list. And the inclusion of the Teddybear's song "Punk Rocker (ft Iggy Pop)" on the soundtrack as the closing credits song is an added bonus.
Like so many hope-seeking people sweating out this summer, I plunked down my dollars last week to see director James Gunn's Superman. I showed up for the superpup Krypto, but found the old-fashioned Earth-saving shebang to be a balm — a sweet shot of moral clarity at a time when that can seem to be in short supply. And I joined the chorus of surprised chuckles when the scene destined to go viral arrived. In it, reporter Lois Lane and her metahuman lover are sharing a moment of vulnerability that turns into a low-stakes but highly revelatory argument. Wondering what he sees in her, she calls herself "just some punk rock kid from Bakerline," to which he indignantly responds, "I'm punk rock!" Then they're off, thrown into one of rock and roll's classic showdowns, between a "real" punk who found her tribe in the underground and a former clueless kid who probably bought his first Ramones t-shirt and Green Day CD at Target. It's a great early-in-the-relationship values check, as two people still feeling each other out voice their anxieties in the form of a tussle over definitions.
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