ViewingAmericanHeroismfromSupermanMovies.doc

viewing american heroism from superman movieswu qiong(china international intellectech corp., beijing, 100022 china)abstract: viewing the american heroism as an essential part for social development, this paper reveals how superman movies explain theamerican heroism and how they impact the audiences. among five superman movies, superman: the movie is a remarkable terrific filmwith great story and acting. for the most important part, this movie introduces clearly about the american heroism. superman movies reflectthe idea of american heroism including mission and achievement of hero, goodness of soul, individualism, self-confidence, defender,strength, and courage. with the examples, the paper explores the american heroism in superman movies and the influences of them on theaudiences.key words: superman; american heroism; movie; society中图分类号： i0-05 文献标识码：a 文章编号：1009-5039(2011)08-0373-032011 年8 月overseas english 海外英语本栏目责任编辑：杨菲菲海外视野as an important form of mass media, movie not only is anapproach of art presentation, but also reflects the society and thespirit of people. meanwhile, this kind of media form also influencesthe human behavior and thinking. among all topics talkedabout in these movies, heroism is a permanent and popular themefor both the audience and the producer. superman is one of themost famous topics in the american film history. the heroic spiritof this american hero has influenced people for generations tillnow.1 the relation between movie and societymovie is one of the most powerful forms of mass media bothin art and education. the filmmakers make use of the light tocatch the shadow of the performers and the filmmakers also makeuse of their light of wisdom to catch the shadow of real life.primitive cinema presents events but provides little or no readingof them. events speak for themselves without the interventionof a narrator or narrating presence which attempts to read orto interpret them for the audience. stories are told, but they aretold directly; the camera does not read events but merely recordsthem instead. for example, most of the silent movies such ascharlie chaplins modern time (1936) had recorded the industrialrevolution and reflected the real life of people.the filmmakers mix their point of view in the movies togetherwith the issues. on the one hand, movies emphasize thepositive personalities and things to the public. for example,movies celebrate and commemorate the great personalities orleaders, such as chou enlai (1st prime minister of prc), andmartin luther king. also on the other hand, movies reveal thenegative side of the society to the public, such as the sea inside(euthanasia issues), requiem for a dream (drugs issues),schindlers list (the holocaust), edukators (young people rebellionagainst the capitalist world), etc. thus balazs, a classicalfilm- theorist said:our eyes are in the camera and become identical with thegaze of the characters. they see with our eyes. herein lays thepsychological act of identification.2 american heroismfrom heroic epics of anglo-saxon period and chivalries tillnow, the history of heroism is as long as the history of literature.no matter how different of the ways to present the heroism, fourimportant elements existing in the heroism culture are concludedin this paper. they are: the theme of the justice victory; the enemyof strong but always lose in the end; the spirit of optimismand bravery; the plot of romance and complication.however, america is a new world and she has her ownperspective of heroism besides the traditional heroism. europeanheroism culture had greatly influenced american culture. comparedwith the european countries, the united states is a youngimmigrant country. and its culture is also young as the country.it has land expansion constantly, and the power of the countryhas risen quickly from the independence day of this country. we choose our heroes from among those who exemplify the valuesthat we, as americans, uphold, which reflect our admirationfor both dissenters and traditionalists, for those dedicated tohelping others and those who act alone, for traditional role modelsand for innovators who break the common mold.emerson, the 19th centurys premier thinker on the subject,extracts several characteristics of the hero: sincerity, persistence,intuition, austerity, bravery and virtue. he then defines a hero asa person of extraordinary achievement, courage, and greatness ofsoul.although modern american heroes have the various appearancesand the different background, essentially, only one formatfor the american hero takes shape in our heart. the format isthat the american heroes who held the belief as gods chosenfew as themselves. the heroes portrayed in the culture whetherthe yankee or the cowboy, the white people who explored thewest or the american soldier who fought overseas all have thesimilarities: goodness of soul, individualism and absolute selfconfidence, achievements.heroism goes deep into the hollywood movies. in fact, hollywoodis a crucial part of american culture. almost every year,收稿日期：2011-05-25作者简介：吴琼(1983-)， 女，北京人，在职研究生，主要研究方向为英美文化。viewing american heroism from superman movieswu qiong(china international intellectech corp., beijing, 100022 china)abstract: viewing the american heroism as an essential part for social development, this paper reveals how superman movies explain theamerican heroism and how they impact the audiences. among five superman movies, superman: the movie is a remarkable terrific filmwith great story and acting. for the most important part, this movie introduces clearly about the american heroism. superman movies reflectthe idea of american heroism including mission and achievement of hero, goodness of soul, individualism, self-confidence, defender,strength, and courage. with the examples, the paper explores the american heroism in superman movies and the influences of them on theaudiences.key words: superman; american heroism; movie; society中图分类号： i0-05 文献标识码：a 文章编号：1009-5039(2011)08-0373-03issn 1009-5039overseas english 海外英语tel:+86-551-5690811 5690812373overseas english 海外英语海外视野本栏目责任编辑：杨菲菲2011 年8 月there is a well-known movie talking about heroism as its themetopic. there are numerous such movies: the ten commandmentsin 1956;ben-hur in 1959;spartacus in 1960; apocalypse now in1979; born on the fourth of july in 1989; forrest gump in 1994;independence day in 1996; mission impossible in 1996; savingprivate ryan in 1998; u-571 in 2000; pearl harbor in 2001; theday after tomorrow in 2004; world trade center in 2006 and soon so forth. also some famous comic heroes are well -known onthe big screen such as superman, batman, robin, spiderman andx men. all these movies expressed the theme of heroism in theamerican way.one could imagine its insights and grand scope to be inspiringand instructive for the later reflections that were to shapethe concerns that became the american museum of the movingimage. as in along the lines that society shapes the individualswho shape society, we have here no less than media shapedculture.3 supeiman and its reviewssince 1970s, five superman movies have been produced.they are superman: the movie in 1978, superman movie in1980, superman movie in 1983, superman :the quest forpeace movie in 1987 and superman returns in 2006.in superman: the movie (1978), the little kal-el (superman)had been sent to the earth by his real parents (father named joe-el) before their home planet krypton was destroyed. after kal-elhad landed, he met his stepparents jonathan kent and marthakent. kal-el got his name as clark kent by his stepparents andgrew up as a super man. he worked in the daily planet as ajournalist with the identity of clark, and was fond of lois lane(his colleague in the daily planet) who was beautiful and hardworking. with two missiles, lex luthor, who declared himself tobe the best intelligent criminal person, planned to induce a bigearthquake in the san andreas fault, which will result in thewestern coast of california sinking into the ocean. that wouldturn the desert land he had just purchased into coastal property,making luthor a very wealthy man. superman became the numberone person who lex luthor wanted to uproot. lex luthorused a meteorite from the planet kryton to arrest superman in hisbasement when the missiles were going to hit their targets. however,lex luthors plan didnt work out. after getting rid of themeteorite with the help of lex luthors beautiful partner, supermanresolved the catastrophes, such as rail broken and flood.using the extra capabilities, he saved many peoples lives includinglouis lane. at the end, superman captured lex luthorand otis (luthors another partner), and delivered them to prison.the world was safe again.in superman , general zod and his two awkward attendanceswho had been immured in the fantasy zone by jor-el(thereal father of superman)break out from it and came to the earth.they wanted to rule the world and kill superman for revenge.in the superman movies, they introduced the natural disastersuch as california earthquake, the puzzle that the computerera brought to our daily life (superman) and the menace of nucleararms during the cold war (superman ). those wereproblems people faced with during the seventies and eighties inthe last century in america. people underwent those difficulties.they didnt know how to handle those problems because some ofthe problems were caused by the nature and others were whollynew subjects to them such as the computer and nuclear arms.as a classic representation of superman movies, superman:the movie is applauded for its high qualification in both storyand acting. this paper mainly talks about the american heroismbased on superman: the movie.in 1970s, the americans, as a nation, desperately neededsomeone or something to look up to after kennedy assassination,vietnam and watergate. in 1978, they are donner and reevewho brought superman: the movie out in light, embodying themyth of the character as well as making the spiritual dependenceof americans.superman is an imagined fantasy. however, this movie reflectedthe ideas that people had during that certain period. insuperman: the movie, we can notice the complete heroic characteristicof this number one role such as mission and achievementof hero, greatness of soul, individualism and self -confidence,defender, and courage, etc.superman has a mission in life since he arrived at the earth.before his stepfather died, he said to superman you are here fora reason. now the audiences know the reason is to fight for thetruth and justice in the american way.superman inherited his heroic personalities from his fatherjor-el. in the beginning of the superman: the movie, we saw awhite haired man, dressed all in white, wearing an s on hischest. that is supermans real father jor-el, marlon brando. thissame sign as the ones on supermans chest means they have thesimilarities in the character. jor-el was one of the best scientistson krypton. he upholds justice and punished the criminal. jor-elwas portrayed as a god image in this movie. god sent his sonjesus christ to the earth to save the masses. jor-el also sent hisson superman to the earth and let his son to protect and helppeople on the earth.to heroes, missions equal great achievements. the hardermissions they have, the greater achievements they will accomplish.in heroic terminator movies, the terminator, portrayed byarnold schwarzenegger, also bears the mission of protecting thesurvivor of human from the chasing of the robots who come fromthe future computer empire.superman does have dual-identity. on the one hand, he isthe most admirable super hero who always comes out in the dangerousmoment and works for peace. on the other hand, he isclark kent, a zilch, who is timid, myopic, working class, and sociallymaladroit. every time when superman stood in front of themasses, there would be a disturbance. so the only way of showinghis high moral and good qualities, like intelligence, integrity, andindustry to the audiences is through the identity of clark kent.within high moral is the prerequisite of a man who could benamed as a hero. in american heroic movies, heroes do not alwayswear the magnificent clothes surrounded by the flash bulband looking arrogant. they present their good qualities such assincerity, persistence, austerity, bravery and virtue and greatnessof soul. in american heroism, humans bearing those good qualitieswith extra-achievement are proclaimed as heroes. the goodnessof soul is a universal characteristic of heroes. in the americanheroic movies, the heroes such as rocky in rocky movies,and rambo in the first blood, also bear that goodness of soul.in superman: the movie, the individualism and self -confidenceare emphasized together. superman always helps the publicand saves their lives by his own capability. he does not need3742011 年8 月overseas english 海外英语本栏目责任编辑：杨菲菲海外视野anyone to revolve the problems with him together. superman performshis first public heroics the first night after he went to thedaily planet. ripping open his shirt, for the first time revealingthe family crest, the s in a pentagram that jor-el wore on krypton,he raced into a revolving door emerging as superman, andleapt up, up and away to save lois who had just lost her grip andfell from the helicopter crashing on the edge of the planet buildingas spectators pointed and screamed. a blue streak caught herin mid -air. ive got you, miss, said the polite superhero. youve got me! screams lois. but whos got you? this questionseems a little ironic. in the movie, when people saw him flying,they just thought that its a plane or its a big blue bird. nobodygot superman because he has such extraordinary capabilityof flying. we can notice that this american superhero is a selfconfidentindividual but not the rescues team.as superman made his way towards luthors hideout, hewas put through a number of constant tests. bullets, fire andice. he was such a brave man and he just went through it fearlessly.in this plot, it hinted about the american heroism that ahero is fearless in front of the troubles and goes through thembravely, then a stronger man both in mental and physical thanever before will appear in front his people.superman is an ultimate strongman. he is entitled man ofsteel. he was in the tradition of the heroes who are legendary indifferent culture, from samson and hercules to beowulf. thesetraditional heroes including superman fight against crime, tyrannyand social injustice. they act alone as a survivor, bearing confidencein their heart.in superman: the movie the elements, good vs. evil and theprotagonist vs. antagonist, are clearly spelled out. supermancaught a cat-burglar who tried to scale the side of a building, andcaptured three robbers who had gotten away from police chase.he protected the public possessions from losing, and he alsosaved the lives of victims. when the navy missile hit the sanandreas fault, the nuclear blasted and produced a huge earthquakethat luthor had anticipated, and within seconds bridgesshake, train tracks broke up and large dams cracked one by one.superman resolved each catastrophe: he stopped a bus fromfalling, allowed a train to pass over his back, and prevented aflood when the dam broke. in the series of superman movies,whatever the problems made by lex luthor or general zod, supermancan always resolve them with his super power and intelligenceat the end of the movie and protect his people on theearth. wherever criminals came out, threatening the safety of lifeand possessions of public, superman might be there fighting againstthem to save his people. death is the first thing we fightagainst with in all our lives. not only in america, but also in therest of the world, people call them heroes who use their efforts toprotect and save the peoples life.superman is the great superhero in the american big screensince 1970s. in the superman movies, they contain the resentmentand love, pride and regrets.being superman is the childhood fantasy of every little boyand girl. he is an enduring emblem of the american dream, theyoung immigrant who comes to the united states, embraces theculture and makes something of himself and enriches his adoptednation. he is a classical hero in the modern age that fights criminals,rescues the helpless and has a sense of morals and justiceas strong and unshakeable as he is.we commemorate the spirit of superman. for example:shark oneal, a famous nba star has a tattoo of man of steel(superman) on his right arm. he said the spirit of superman supportshim to fight for the mvp in his professional basketball career.after superman: the movie was shown in 1978, a series ofcomic heroes were revised and put on the american screen suchas batman, spiderman, the incredible, and so on. the supermuseum, in metropolis illinois, features the lifes work of jimhambick who has been collecting everything dealing with theman of steel (superman) since 1959.we have another way of physical commemoration of superman.celebrating 35 seasons, six flags over georgia, announcesan astonishing, next-generation roller coaster of epic proportions,superman - ultimate flight, the souths only flying roller coaster.roller coasters such as ultimate flight in georgia aresp