With the U.S. election now frighteningly close, I thought it would be a good time to remind everyone of what superheroes are, and have always been, really about.
Back in August (so about 15 years ago), the treasonous, twice-impeached, tax-dodging fascist running for president shared an image that made every superhero fan on the planet cringe in horror and secondhand embarrassment: a badly doctored photo of the Justice League with his own head and those of his sycophantic underlings pasted onto the heroes’ bodies.
I could write a thesis with one chapter devoted to each mash-up and why these real-life bigots in no way represent the values that the heroes in that image fight for. (I especially love RFK Jr., The Man Who Decapitates Whales, as Aquaman). But the one I want to focus on is Superman, who was unfortunate enough to end up with the Republican candidate’s face.
The idea that the Cheeto-dusted dictator who has endangered an entire community by spreading racist lies, who insulted and implicitly threatened Jewish people who don’t buy into his hateful propaganda, and who described immigrants as “vermin” thinks he is fit to touch the cape, never mind wear the body, of an undocumented refugee who was created by two Jewish boys and has always fought to make everyone feel welcome in his adopted country would be laughable if it wasn’t so insulting.
I can debunk this whole mess in a single page. It’s this one, from Action Comics #987. It features the real Superman swooping into a factory where a white supremacist (note the red-white-and-blue headscarf) tries to gun down immigrant laborers for allegedly stealing his job. Superman correctly quashes that argument, telling the terrorist that the immigrants have done nothing to him and that he himself has allowed racism and hatred to ruin his life.
If Superman were real, that is exactly what he would say to every single person in that edited photo. He has spent his entire existence standing up to bullies in all areas of society. In the 1950s, he starred in public service announcements where he taught children about the dangers of xenophobia. From his first appearance in 1938, he has gone after corrupt politicians—including Adolf Hitler, whose notes the far right loves to crib from these days—to ensure they served the people, not themselves.
And yes, there have been times when Superman unfortunately reflected the prejudices of the era. We now look back on these instances the same way we look at that photo: with shame and disgust, and with the knowledge that its creators had allowed their own small-mindedness to infect something wonderful.
Is Kamala Harris perfect? Of course not. No candidate is. There are legitimate reasons to be concerned about some of her viewpoints and policies. But it will be much easier to deal with those concerns and continue fighting for the things we believe in if we do not also have to fight for our democracy and basic rights as well.
I urge you: if you are able to vote, whether by mail or in person, vote for Harris, the one person who has a chance of defeating the autocrat fanboy with 34 felony convictions. While you’re at it, vote blue all the way down the ballot, as that is the only sure way to protect your community’s right to read what they want and do what they need to with their own bodies.
One last note: in 2021, DC changed Superman’s slogan to “truth, justice, and a better tomorrow.” This reflects the fact that Superman is constantly looking at the world and asking himself how he can make it brighter for everyone, no matter who they are or where they come from. Republicans detested the new slogan, which replaced the long-standing “truth, justice, and the American way,” not because they love our nation but because they love nationalism. That is the modern conservative platform: uncritical, fanatical devotion to a cherry-picked past where America could do no wrong, because having to face a future in which people who don’t look, act, or worship exactly like them get to prosper is just too scary for them to handle.
Those values are not Superman’s values. If they aren’t your values, make that clear at the ballot box.
