The Symbol of Superman (2025)
Upon watching Superman (2025) by James Gunn I was puzzled as to what the film was trying to make a point about. The obvious symbolism about Palestine and Israel has been noted by other writers and cultural critics. The Liberal streamer Hasan Piker, who in between getting Dubai Landlords and Iraq War Criminals into office, gave his glowing endorsement of the film, noting how it poked fun at Israel and had a point to make about kindness in an age of cruelty. The resident Daily Wire "Film Buff" Ben Shapiro claimed the film was "woke" which is usually a sign that a film is nothing like the cinematic abominations his company has produced. So needless to say the film seemed as if it had more going on under the cape. Here I sit in 2026, as someone who had seen edit after edit and clip compilation, and how the films central themes were distilled into 'being nice is the real punk rock'. So I decided to sit down and watch the film, and see what all the fuss was about. It made me realise that for all the buzz the film has generated for its so called radical politics, it doesn't really have a coherent through-line if you stop to think about it for more than a few minutes. That isn't to say that the film's themes cannot be summarised; they can: and I will by adapting a famous Mark Fisher quote
It is easier to imagine Super Heroes saving Palestine than American Liberals taking a stand against Israel.
What confirmed this thought to me and is the reference to the title of this post, is the moment in the film where the obvious Palestinian stand ins do not rally around a peoples militia, political ideology or even an appeal to international law. They instead see the symbol of superman as their saviour. They see the symbol of "truth justice and the American way" as the only thing that will prevent their genocide. What compounded my thoughts on the film was a situation I imagined of what the various teens of Gaza would have felt watching this film on a dimly lit iPad as Israel continues to bomb them daily. Do American Liberals think these teens all stood up and cheered? The symbol of superman is a lie Americans tell themselves over and over again.
The levels of idiotic pandering to politically unconscious Liberals is astounding. The film makes statements which bare absolutely no resemblance to the reality of the political situation the film is attempting to comment on. The film boldly says "do not worry, superman will intervene even if it is against the law!" as if America hasn't time and time again supported Israel's crimes against humanity never intervening once. "Benjamin Netanyahu won't get away with his crimes this time!" (like he has thousands of times in the past) he will be extrajudicially killed, dropped on his head by Hawk Girl! Acts of defensive violence against Israel are heroic, but only if you are part of a "corporate metahuman team" like the Justice Gang as if every fortune 500 company hasn't backed the Genocide since day one. "Journalists will save the day by exposing the truth!" as if Journalists haven't been complicit in softening their language, laundering the war crimes of IDF soldiers and posting unverified Israeli hasbara every week since October 8th. The idea that a billionaire would be locked up because a Journalist exposed them is laughably stupid. You would have to be asleep at the wheel to consider any of this coherent political observation.
I am sure you are expecting a long list of these contradictions and these are only a few which come to mind. The problem is not that this is bad writing, it is that it exists in a fictional space in which American Liberals still consider themselves worthy to make such idiotic claims. They actually believe that consumption is a form of radical politics which supersedes what they have done (ironic considering that "your actions define who you are" is a pivotal scene of the film). They are cheering for a world that doesn't exist and patting themselves on the back for things they do not believe. To the American Liberal, what is happening in Gaza is a 'nuanced political issue' with 'both sides' to blame, Hamas are a terrorist organisation and therefore Palestinians are denied political agency and have no right to resist colonial occupation. To the American Liberal Israel can be reformed, it is only the "far right" Netanyahu that is the problem, not the fact he has been elected 4 times by the 'only democracy in the middle east'. To the American Liberal, Superman is what America really represents; being nice to everyone, not 'hate and division'. They believe that being nice to the genocidal fascists will make them realise the error of their ways, not use this as political cover to annex more of Palestine, Lebanon and Syria.
Unfortunately for the American Liberal, Palestine is still being destroyed as we speak. Unfortunately for the American Liberal, Super Heroes do not exist. James Gunn can make as many shows and movies which reference political topics as he likes, and can stay comfortably naive, his films just won't mean anything regardless of which early 2000s brunch-rock playlist he chooses next.