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Superman Deconstructed

JWPlatt

JWPlatt

Commodore
Commodore
Kill Bill (Vols 1 and 2) is one of the few movies I can watch any time just for the experience and not get bored. I especially like Bill's monologue about Superman toward the end. Not for any meaning, but just, again, it is entertaining and Bill's (actually Tatantino's) point was a new thought for me at the time. I try to not think too deeply about things when it's just for entertainment; I get easily bored by stories with pretentious messages or clever allegory. And I despise how deconstruction of superheroes is so in vogue in today's generation of writers, hence the ironic subject heading. But Bill's monologue did not deconstuct Superman, but instead, us, which I do enjoy. In any case, here's the monologue:

Bill said:
As you know, l’m quite keen on comic books. Especially the ones about superheroes. I find the whole mythology surrounding superheroes fascinating. Take my favorite superhero: Superman. Not a great comic book, not particularly well-drawn, but the mythology. The mythology is not only great, it’s unique…

Now, a staple of the superhero mythology is, there’s the superhero and there’s the alter ego. Batman is actually Bruce Wayne, Spiderman is actually Peter Parker. When that character wakes up in the morning, he’s Peter Parker. He has to put on a costume to become Spiderman. And it is in that characteristic Superman stands alone.

Superman didn’t become Superman. Superman was born Superman. When Superman wakes up in the morning, he’s Superman. His alter ego is Clark Kent. His outfit with the big red 'S'... that’s the blanket he was wrapped in as a baby when the Kents found him. Those are his clothes. What Kent wears – the glasses, the business suit – that’s the costume. That’s the costume Superman wears to blend in with us.

Clark Kent is how Superman views us. And what are the characteristics of Clark Kent? He’s weak, he’s unsure of himself, he’s a coward. Clark Kent is Superman’s critique on the whole human race.
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I don't especially enjoy critical analysis any more than having to explain a joke to the humorless. So I wasn't looking for an analysis, but I found one while finding the script text. Here it is for those who enjoy meaning behind their entertainment:

Jonathan Lauret said:
In Bill's monologue from Kill Bill: Volume 2, Bill asserts that people who disguise themselves from the world can never change who they really are. He uses rhetorical devices such as anaphora, analogies, juxtaposition, parallelism, colloquial yet informative diction, and a rhetorical question in order to get his point across. His purpose is to juxtapose Superman and Beatrix in order to show Beatrix that she can never change who she really is no matter what she does. The intended audience is solely Beatrix.
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https://prezi.com/xxntpdffey6h/the-superman-monologue-from-kill-bill-volume-2/
 
I'm not an expert but isn't it the Chris Reeves superman that's bumbling and awkward? Wasn't that specific to his Superman in the 70's/80's films?

And wasn't that bumbling Kent based primarily on Cary Grant's performance in Bringing up Baby?

Maybe that influenced what came after but I'm sure earlier versions weren't as bumbling. Dunno though.
 
hux said:
I'm not an expert but isn't it the Chris Reeves superman that's bumbling and awkward? Wasn't that specific to his Superman in the 70's/80's films?

And wasn't that bumbling Kent based primarily on Cary Grant's performance in Bringing up Baby?

Maybe that influenced what came after but I'm sure earlier versions weren't as bumbling. Dunno though.
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I think he was a bumbler before that. He's pretended to a coward as Kent since the beginning.
 
Bill was specifically speaking of the comics. He didn't mention whether he was extending his thoughts to the films as well. I don't do comics, so I have to take his word for his evaluation of Superman in the comics. Was he accurate there?
 
JWPlatt said:
Bill was specifically speaking of the comics. He didn't mention whether he was extending his thoughts to the films as well. I don't do comics, so I have to take his word for his evaluation of Superman in the comics. Was he accurate there?
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Kent being a critique of humanity? I'd say no. Kent is a disguise and is purposely everything Superman is not to prevent anyone from connecting Kent to Superman. Batman uses Bruce Wayne in the same way by presenting him as a lazy rich playboy. Neither "Kent" or "Wayne" are real. They're an act. Superman and Batman are acts too, personas that help them fight crime.
 
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I personally go with "Kent is the real person, Superman is the disguise". Its a thing John Byrne went with post COIE, before that it was usually shown as the other way around to various degrees. To me, its the opposite of Batman, to whom Bruce Wayne is more of the disguise. Clark Kent is who he is because of how he was raised by the Kent's, and he has more to his life then just putting on his costume and saving people.
 
kirk55555 said:
I personally go with "Kent is the real person, Superman is the disguise". Its a thing John Byrne went with post COIE, before that it was usually shown as the other way around to various degrees. To me, its the opposite of Batman, to whom Bruce Wayne is more of the disguise. Clark Kent is who he is because of how he was raised by the Kent's, and he has more to his life then just putting on his costume and saving people.
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But that's not always the Kent he presents in public. I always divide up as "Clark Kent" ( public persona), Clark Kent (the guy his friends and family know) and Superman, (when he puts on the suit).
 
kirk55555 said:
I personally go with "Kent is the real person, Superman is the disguise". Its a thing John Byrne went with post COIE, before that it was usually shown as the other way around to various degrees. To me, its the opposite of Batman, to whom Bruce Wayne is more of the disguise. Clark Kent is who he is because of how he was raised by the Kent's, and he has more to his life then just putting on his costume and saving people.
Click to expand...

The comics did this well before Byrne as well. The Curt Swan era often presented Superman as considering himself proud to be Clark Kent. Far from bumbling, in the seventies he was a successful news anchor. He always pretended to be weak for fear of breaking his identity, but he often found sneaky ways to get back at Lombard for bullying him--nothing more human than that.
 
Heh, how about that. I've been meaning to do my OP piece for maybe a year, but always had something better to do. Bad timing. Go figure.

There could be a thread merge without confusion because there's no overlap in post dates, but the other thread is a month old. And the topic title of "Which is the main identity?" is utterly stupid. It says nothing about the subject. People who come up with titles like that should be shot... with remedial topic title education. Few things irk me more than coy, passive, annoying titles like that. I wouldn't have guessed its real topic, and I don't click on stupid topic titles, so I wouldn't have looked.
 
Yeah, the mistake Bill makes is that there are only two personas, when actually there are three - Clark Kent, Superman and Kal-El. Kal is the real persona, raised by the Kents plus the archives in the Fortress and deeply appreciative of human strengths whilst understanding of our weaknesses. Superman is the inspirational hero archetype he creates to drive us to better ourselves, when actually he doubts himself as much as anyone. And Clark is, as others pointed out, a convenient disguise designed to be as far from Superman as you could get whilst still being a good person - not a coward, but ineffectual and bumbling.
 
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