Magic Stories

Movies Update

Although I haven’t written much lately, we’ve still been making our regular trips to the movies, it’s just that there hasn’t been much to write here about.

‘Omen 666’ was even worse than the oririginal, ‘Stick It’ was good with some amazing gymnastic scenes, ‘Fast & The Furious 3’ was ‘Stick It’ with some amazing driving scenes, I didn’t mind ‘X Men 3’ though Sue-Anne thought it wasn’t as good as the first two, and ‘The Break Up’ was supposed to be a comedy but it was just depressing!

So today we saw ‘Superman Returns’ and it is truly a great movie. Entertaining, engaging, exciting with elements of drama, comedy, romance and thrills. Stand out performances from Kevin Spacey and Parker Posey, and Brandon Routh does a good job as the man of steel. (Though, according to ‘Smallville’ he and Lex are supposed to be the same age… which means he’s a little too young for this movie). Trivia aside though, it is definitely worth seeing and work on a sequel with director/producer Bryan Singer is well under way.

Bryan Singer also gets a credit for co-writing the story, however when I was watching it, I couldn’t help think that I’d seen certain elements before. A quick internet search reveals that others have also seen a connection between this Superman story and the Gospel. Bryan Singer certainly didn’t deny this is a recent interview when he said the notion of Superman as a messianic figure is simply another case of contemporary storytelling borrowing from ancient motifs."These allegories are part of how you’re raised. They find their way into your work," he said. "They become ingrained in your storytelling, in the same way that the origin story of Superman is very much the story of Moses."

Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the creators of Superman were, like Singer, Jewish. You can certainly see similarities between the Moses origin and that of Superman – both were set adrift by their parents to be raised by someone else.

But Singer says that his Christian neighbours had a big influence on the community he grew up in. Maybe this accounts for the numerous Christian motifs in the film. (Possible spoilers coming up so read no further if you haven’t seen the film yet)

  • The repeated quote "from the father comes the son, and the son the father."
  • The fact that El (as in Jor-El and Kal-El) is apparently the Hebrew word for God. Superman is sent by his father because humans "lack the light to show the way".
  • The constant theme of ‘Does the world need a saviour’ and Superman saying "You wrote that the world doesn’t need a saviour, but every day I hear people crying out for one."
  • Superman takes a beating while the fallen woman looks on and sheds a tear in a scene reminiscent of a PG version of ‘The Passion of the Christ’.
  • Superman is stabbed in the side with a shard of Kryponite just as Jesus was stabbed in the side by a Roman sword while on the cross.
  • Both Superman and Jesus sacrifice themselves to save humanity.
  • After his sacrifice Superman assumes a cross position echoing the crucifixion.
  • The empty hospital bed in Superman is reminiscent of the empty tomb of Jesus.

Of course Superman isn’t Jesus and the stories are quite different, but it is fascinating that so many allegories have found their way into Singer’s work. Perhaps these familiar elements, along with many more, are part of the reason that the story resonates so well with so many people. After all, the true art of storytelling is connecting with your audience.

Although I haven’t written much lately, we’ve still been making our regular trips to the movies, it’s just that there hasn’t been much to write here about.

‘Omen 666’ was even worse than the oririginal, ‘Stick It’ was good with some amazing gymnastic scenes, ‘Fast & The Furious 3’ was ‘Stick It’ with some amazing driving scenes, I didn’t mind ‘X Men 3’ though Sue-Anne thought it wasn’t as good as the first two, and ‘The Break Up’ was supposed to be a comedy but it was just depressing!

So today we saw ‘Superman Returns’ and it is truly a great movie. Entertaining, engaging, exciting with elements of drama, comedy, romance and thrills. Stand out performances from Kevin Spacey and Parker Posey, and Brandon Routh does a good job as the man of steel. (Though, according to ‘Smallville’ he and Lex are supposed to be the same age… which means he’s a little too young for this movie). Trivia aside though, it is definitely worth seeing and work on a sequel with director/producer Bryan Singer is well under way.

Bryan Singer also gets a credit for co-writing the story, however when I was watching it, I couldn’t help think that I’d seen certain elements before. A quick internet search reveals that others have also seen a connection between this Superman story and the Gospel. Bryan Singer certainly didn’t deny this is a recent interview when he said the notion of Superman as a messianic figure is simply another case of contemporary storytelling borrowing from ancient motifs."These allegories are part of how you’re raised. They find their way into your work," he said. "They become ingrained in your storytelling, in the same way that the origin story of Superman is very much the story of Moses."

Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the creators of Superman were, like Singer, Jewish. You can certainly see similarities between the Moses origin and that of Superman – both were set adrift by their parents to be raised by someone else.

But Singer says that his Christian neighbours had a big influence on the community he grew up in. Maybe this accounts for the numerous Christian motifs in the film. (Possible spoilers coming up so read no further if you haven’t seen the film yet)

  • The repeated quote "from the father comes the son, and the son the father."
  • The fact that El (as in Jor-El and Kal-El) is apparently the Hebrew word for God. Superman is sent by his father because humans "lack the light to show the way".
  • The constant theme of ‘Does the world need a saviour’ and Superman saying "You wrote that the world doesn’t need a saviour, but every day I hear people crying out for one."
  • Superman takes a beating while the fallen woman looks on and sheds a tear in a scene reminiscent of a PG version of ‘The Passion of the Christ’.
  • Superman is stabbed in the side with a shard of Kryponite just as Jesus was stabbed in the side by a Roman sword while on the cross.
  • Both Superman and Jesus sacrifice themselves to save humanity.
  • After his sacrifice Superman assumes a cross position echoing the crucifixion.
  • The empty hospital bed in Superman is reminiscent of the empty tomb of Jesus.

Of course Superman isn’t Jesus and the stories are quite different, but it is fascinating that so many allegories have found their way into Singer’s work. Perhaps these familiar elements, along with many more, are part of the reason that the story resonates so well with so many people. After all, the true art of storytelling is connecting with your audience.

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