Memo to Fr. Barron: The Man of Steel is no superman

Compare the Man of Steel poster (source: Warner Bros) with Christ Before Pilate, the painting by Duccio di Buoninsegna completed in 1311 (source: WikiPaintings.org).

C.S. Morrissey reveals the key to understanding the Man of Steel movie in The B.C. Catholic.

Part 1: The Man of Steel embodies supernatural virtue

Part 2: The Man of Steel is no superman

To use the language of Fr. Barron's preliminary analysis, Morrissey sees further that Krypton represents the heteronomous (Platonic) state, whereas Zod in fact represents the autonomous (Nietzschean) individual, since it is Kal who, according to the movie's visual symbolism, represents Biblical theonomy in the life of the Christian:

This summer, many people are comparing the myth of Superman with the life of Christ. The new Superman film, Man of Steel, invokes the parallels.

But it would be a mistake to think that the filmmakers are offering the Superman story as a substitute for Christianity. Instead, the movie is best seen as depicting what any Christian striving to live a life of super-heroic virtue, by modeling their life on Christ, can expect to encounter: namely, opposition from a world mired in darkness.

Clark Kent says in the film: “My father believed that if the world found out who I really was, they’d reject me, out of fear. He was convinced that the world wasn’t ready. What do you think?”

Clark learns that his real name is Kal-El and that he has a father Jor-El from beyond this world, a father who entrusts to him a mission involving the salvation of this world. True, that much of the story clearly parallels the vocation of any Christian, since it obviously resembles the life of Christ himself.

Read the rest of Part 1 here.

Part 2: Memo to Fr. Barron: The Man of Steel is no superman