Superman & a new YouTube show
A review of "Superman & Lois" and the rollout of "Right Now with Stephen Kent"
Part of what Politicize Me is all about is how politics being in our popular culture isn’t necessarily bad or counterproductive. In many ways, that kind of infusion can really give life to a story. Give it meaning. Superman fans best buckle up, because Ta-Nehisi Coates is looking like the next writer for Superman on the big screen. There is also value to found in pieces of entertainment that consciously steer away from heavy-handed politics in favor of more general themes that broader audiences can unite around. We have a post on that today regarding the CW’s new series within the “Arrowverse” DC franchise.
In other news. Your humble curator here has become quite controversial! My new YouTube show has launched to much…discourse. Mediaite. NPR. DailyMail. The Hill.
Episode 2 drops Thursday morning. My guest is Spencer Klavan, host of the Young Heretics Podcast. Spencer is a lightning rod in the world of political talk and philosophy, with an awesome pod and refreshing perspective on current events. We talk about hope and why it is missing in our politics. We talk a good deal about The Lord of the Rings & Avatar The Last Airbender also, which is a bonus. Here’s Episode 1!
Today we have a new guest post on the new “Superman & Lois” series on the CW by entertainment writer and author, Remso Martinez. Tweet him @HeyRemso with your thoughts on the post!!
Clark, Come Home - By Remso Martinez
Clark is laid off from his job. Lois now suddenly finds herself as her family’s sole breadwinner. Jonathan is worried about high school and girls while Jordan is trying to find his way through the stress of adolescence. These are the Kents, your seemingly average American family. Or so it seems.
The CW’s newest series, “Superman and Lois”, joins the network’s interconnected “Arrowverse” of TV shows based on the popular DC Comics properties, bringing the Man of Steel into a new major challenge- parenthood. The pilot episode paints a picture of the remarkably fantastic and the challengingly ordinary. An alien from Krypton raised by farmers in Kansas. A godlike being forced to hide as a human. Now, the last son of Krypton must determine who he owes his time to; the dangers that face the people of Earth or the more personal struggles that could tear his family apart.
From fights with foes inside of nuclear reactors to being dragged into outer space for a typical comic book slugfest, the show is balanced with more human circumstances, such as what happens to a person’s already chaotic life when the death of a parent (in this case, Clark’s mother Martha Kent) forces everyone’s lives to pause so they can assess the world moving forward.
“Superman and Lois” might be written and directed by a team of open liberal writers led by proud progressive Greg Berlanti, who has carried the Arrowverse since it began in 2012 with “Arrow”, but in terms of broad-based appeal, this new Superman series, at least for now, feels like a program for everyone, including America’s true silent majority- politically apathetic America.
The Arrowverse through series such as “Arrow”, “The Flash”, “Legends of Tomorrow”, “Batwoman”, and “Supergirl” has shown viewers for around a decade just how massive and monumental certain interstellar, sometimes mystical, and most often man-made threats can be. Last year’s “Crisis on Infinite Earths” crossover event showed the heroes facing a threat that could wipe out all of existence. “Superman and Lois” will obviously be filled with a world of fantastic and uncanny elements, but the pilot episode moves the plot in an unexpected direction, something more local.
Upon losing his job due to corporate layoffs at the Daily Planet and almost immediately losing his mother, Clark and the family have to travel to his hometown of Smallville to grieve and handle his late mother’s estate. During this time we see more of the personalities of the Kents come out. Clark for the most part has always been viewed as a Christian, conservative character, embodying the values of small-town, middle America. Lois Lane, however, shows her progressive views when conversing with some of Smallville’s locals. The sons Jonathan and Jordan, new characters made for the series, perhaps have a combination of their parent’s attitudes toward the world or perhaps lean one way or the other, but for them, trying to learn their place in the world is both of their immediate priorities, especially when they learn their father is the world’s greatest heroes. Jonathan and Jordan truly represent the majority of the country who is, at the end of the day, politically apathetic, trying not to get caught up in issues beyond their control when they have enough at home to be concerned about.
When learning of big business buying local banks to crop shortages and the opioid epidemic, the Kents decide to stay in Smallville not only for their family’s sake but to defend this quaint town from being buried by those with ill intent. Call Clark and Lois perhaps the perfect populist pairing- a reporter from the big city of Metropolis who has it out for the 1% and a small town square who just wants to keep the identity of his community together through trying times. Clark and Lois’ differences in personalities highlight their strengths and weaknesses, but their love for each other as individuals shows that some things are more important than what the mainstream world wants to distract us with. Superman can fight monsters and Lois can go after the rich and famous, but if they want to make a true and lasting impact, it starts with the spirit of localism; focusing on the family and their community first.
It is hard to predict the future of any new series, but with this one, it seems to be embodied by the heart of its leading protagonist, Superman. Legendary DC Comics writer and editor Denny O'Neil once described Superman as everyone’s friend, not necessarily the messianic figure he has been portrayed as in recent portrayals on-screen because Clark too, like the rest of us, has his own struggles and pitfalls. It isn’t his powers that make Clark into Superman, however, as any DC Comics nerd, but his humanity and willingness to show incredible kindness, courage, and empathy when needed most. Perhaps that is why people around the world point to Superman as one of the best fictional characters of all time because Superman doesn’t just take one side or speak out for just some people, or even come at us from a stiff political agenda.
Perhaps now a series like “Superman and Lois” is needed now more than ever to give us a reminder, to show that despite our differences in religion, race, and politics, Superman saves those who like him and loathe him alike, because that is what heroes do. ———- By Remso Martinez
P.S.: Do you want to write something for Politicize Me? Email me at Stephen.kent89@gmail.com with your pitch for a piece and let’s talk about it!