Superman, Part I
This is a two-part post because there is a video I want to post, but I can't do so right now. Anyway, the release of the Man of Steel this June has got me thinking about Superman. Isaac loves pretending to be Superman and he is obsessed with the idea of a good guy that is invincible (or inbincible). I have always had a fondness for the Caped Crusader, so this is okay by me. The back story of Superman is pretty interesting and always fertile ground for analysis, pulling in the high brow thinkers like Umberto Eco. For the first time though, the Superman story means more to me.
In the story, Jonathan and Martha Kent raise the alien baby from Krypton, Kal-El (Superman's Kryptonian name), as their own son calling him Clark. They impart in him the strong moral values of a Midwestern upbringing and because of this he uses his powers for good. Superman's true father, Jor-El, died when Krypton was destroyed, but his last act was to save his son, sending him to Earth.
As a Dad, I feel like Jonathan, the Earthling that found baby Superman's crashed ship. I know on a rational level that Isaac is mine, but he is so extraordinary that I really do feel like he is a gift. I also understand Jonathan's apprehension in sending his son out into the world. Will they understand just how great he is? Will the world react negatively to him? Did I do a good job raising him? Did I teach him the right lessons? How can I help him live up to his abilities, super as they are?
Jonathan's fears for his son are the fears I think all fathers share about their kids. There is this sense that we are shepherds, cultivating their latent abilities, in hopefully good ways, but you never know. All fathers also see their kids as, in some way, super or at least superior. It is the flow of evolution, the offspring are superior to their parents. Even at almost 3 I see things in Isaac that stun and amaze me. He can remember things that I cannot. He can say dinosaur names that I struggle with. He is so full of energy and has such a brilliantly vibrant imagination. I know I am his Dad, but I really do think Isaac is super.
My hope, like Jonathan's, is that I give him the right lessons and tools to really bring out the best in his abilities. Superman is a great story, a great myth, that works on so many levels, but it has taken on an extra bit of significance since I became a Dad. I marvel in my little boys abilities just as much as that Kansas farmer did in his son's.
In the story, Jonathan and Martha Kent raise the alien baby from Krypton, Kal-El (Superman's Kryptonian name), as their own son calling him Clark. They impart in him the strong moral values of a Midwestern upbringing and because of this he uses his powers for good. Superman's true father, Jor-El, died when Krypton was destroyed, but his last act was to save his son, sending him to Earth.
As a Dad, I feel like Jonathan, the Earthling that found baby Superman's crashed ship. I know on a rational level that Isaac is mine, but he is so extraordinary that I really do feel like he is a gift. I also understand Jonathan's apprehension in sending his son out into the world. Will they understand just how great he is? Will the world react negatively to him? Did I do a good job raising him? Did I teach him the right lessons? How can I help him live up to his abilities, super as they are?
Jonathan's fears for his son are the fears I think all fathers share about their kids. There is this sense that we are shepherds, cultivating their latent abilities, in hopefully good ways, but you never know. All fathers also see their kids as, in some way, super or at least superior. It is the flow of evolution, the offspring are superior to their parents. Even at almost 3 I see things in Isaac that stun and amaze me. He can remember things that I cannot. He can say dinosaur names that I struggle with. He is so full of energy and has such a brilliantly vibrant imagination. I know I am his Dad, but I really do think Isaac is super.
My hope, like Jonathan's, is that I give him the right lessons and tools to really bring out the best in his abilities. Superman is a great story, a great myth, that works on so many levels, but it has taken on an extra bit of significance since I became a Dad. I marvel in my little boys abilities just as much as that Kansas farmer did in his son's.