• danc4498@lemmy.worldEnglish
      11·
      21 days ago

      It is interesting that Superman’s archenemy was an incredibly wealthy businessman. That seems to be the exact problem with our world today (there’s just many more of them).

      • Obinice@lemmy.world
        6·
        21 days ago

        The more you look at the villains in all the TV, movies, and books growing up, the more you realise they’re mostly evil capitalists.

        It’s weird that Hollywood etc would green light so many movies about how rich people like themselves are evil, and teaching kids to fight against them.

        The rich landlord is going to close the community club hall! The rich businessman is trying to have us killed to cover up his chemical spills! Etc etc.

        If it’s not a literal alien from another planet, more often than not the bad guy is just a literal normal capitalist.

        And yet try to use the lessons taught in every piece of media you ever watched as an impressionable child, and you’re told that your anticapitalist beliefs are “extremist” and you’re dangerous and must be stopped.

        Weird eh?

  • skisnow@lemmy.caEnglish
    931·
    21 days ago

    Environmentalists in comic books are nearly always deranged villains, and the ones that aren’t are still weak and naïve.

    The only strong environmentalist hero in Western canon is Captain Planet, and he’s got sus narc vibes.

        • ideonek@piefed.socialEnglish
          34·
          21 days ago

          Because of his views.

          https://i0.wp.com/50yearoldcomics.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/gl89-recruit.jpg?ssl=1

          https://i0.wp.com/50yearoldcomics.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/gl89-vapor.jpg?ssl=1

          From: https://50yearoldcomics.com/2022/02/19/green-lantern-89-april-1972/

          He’s consistently an “old lefty” sometimes more “sustainable-first capitalist” sometimes more “anarchist”, but his views on things like pollution are well established.

          • Semjaza@lemmynsfw.com
            20·
            21 days ago

            Turns out he has a superpower, and it is the ability to be environmentalist, anarchist-leaning, and billionaire at the same time.

            • ideonek@piefed.socialEnglish
              16·
              21 days ago

              Fair. And I believe this absurd was addressed in universe multiple time. Often with him losing the money in a process. But yes, it’s one of the unfortunate consequence of our shift in how we see billionaires. Batman is the richest and smartest person in the world who care only about one city… with it’s underfunded mental asylum looking like a hose of horror.

              The irony is clear. They have a better way of fixing the system than fists and arrow. They are the system.

              The lean batman and lean GA are the only one that make sense. But they need to be part of the Justice League with immortal gods. So they need the 9th metal mech and killer ray space stations… which cost money.

              But saying GL is not an environmentalist is like saying that Batman don’t care about Gotham. (Even if they have a stupid way of organizing their priorities.)

              • Semjaza@lemmynsfw.com
                4·
                21 days ago

                I think so and agree with you.

                I’ll add that I think Ollie gets a better treatment with it than Bruce, and Marvel’s Tony who is a bit of a dick, do. (Pym and Incredible both manage to keep inventing game-changing things that never change the order or structure of society or economics, which is relayed to where I’m gonna go but also different in some ways).

                I haven’t read a lot of Green Arrow, but have enjoyed what I have.

                I do remember reading one story that began with Ollie volunteering in Africa working on water infrastructure (not sure if he was also funding things). He takes actions allowed within the confines of the editorial line to fit the views his character espouses.

                But to keep relatablity any never ending story, i.e. the soap opera for boys of serialised comics, will tend towards the status quo of our real world. They can’t show us a better way to live, as how we live needs to be the normal and mostly ideal. So Genosha must fall, Metropolis must be a normalish city, and Gotham remains close to a platonic ideal of the upper-middle class’s view of crime infested 80s New York. (Not the original, but seems to have shifted to it from the gangstery 1950s it once was in pre-modern Batman).

                Edit: I think this is also actually in part what has led me to become more a fan of Superman as I get older.

                • ideonek@piefed.socialEnglish
                  3·
                  21 days ago

                  I couldn’t agree more. But I could live with the status quo of the environment, I think it could be done well… IF you are willing to let your characters change. But they insist on Batman that needs to stay broken even when he overcomes all his obstacles. He’s a fantasy of a perfect man, right? He should be self-aware and smart enough to start therapy by now. He already raised a family of heros, and which one of them surpass him in some way… the only reasonable place for him to be is retirement. But as long as batman toys and movies are selling better than Nigtwing’s no one will pull the trigger. At least not permanently.

                  I also moved to Superman - unfortunately I’m taking a brake on US culture until the president is in the office. But I can’t wait to pick up where I left. Superman resonates so much more with me now.

                  I’m in a small minority that loved Superman revealing that he’s Clark Kent to the word. It’s consistent with his “truth” value, it opens to discussions ethics of having “all hearing” reporter who reports on things he’s part of… it created fresh type of conflicts. And I loved his son, as a Superman who ask himself “should I be doing more and what more even mean”… I loved the House of El and the Superman’s legacy…

                  You can disagree and it’s fine. The point is, we deserve stories that are more than retelling the same one over and over again.

                  We could have the metropolis that is normalized with heros who address modern problems that became “norm” to readers. I want to know

                  But they will not play the long game, when the short term profits are on the line. Status Quo strikes again.

          • skisnow@lemmy.caEnglish
            61·
            21 days ago

            Sure, but we’re really in “exception proving the rule” territory where you have to reach back to 1972 for an environmental plotline.

            • ideonek@piefed.socialEnglish
              131·
              21 days ago

              Come on, man. You are portraying a scenario when I opened all comics starting now and stopped when I reached a first one with environmental theme? Is this arguing in good faith? The image is old because it’s an important part of his worldview for a long time. One of his enemy from this year is named “Fresh Water Killer”.

              • skisnow@lemmy.caEnglish
                11·
                21 days ago

                I’m not doubting he’s pro-environment, but my original comment referred to characters defined by their environmentalism, and the fact that you’re pushing him so hard as a candidate off something that’s very much a secondary characteristic proves how thin the field is overall.

                • ideonek@piefed.socialEnglish
                  2·
                  21 days ago

                  What his primary characteristic in your mind?

                  I agree how the filed is overall. He’s a very small represnetiarion. But I stand by that he’s a valid one.

  • SaharaMaleikuhm@feddit.org
    591·
    21 days ago

    Couldn’t he just take all the billionaires and fly them into the sun or smth? I don’t know if that alone would fix things, but it’s a start. Also literally no downsides.

  • jmcs@discuss.tchncs.de
    43·
    21 days ago

    We can solve those problems directly or indirectly by tying superman to a dynamo. With free energy even the issues with materials can be solved over time.

    • madcaesar@lemmy.world
      331·
      21 days ago

      Just have superman round up every billionaire and political leader and drop them off on an deserted island, and the rest of us can start fixing our problems like adults.

      • A_Union_of_Kobolds@lemmy.world
        8·
        21 days ago

        I would say the energy output Superman is capable of implies he’s actually a step-up transformer as well as a solar panel. He’d be much more efficient, but of course you only have one Superman.

        Now im curious. I’m just an electrician, not an engineer. How much of the grid could Superman power? Someone figure out his kilowatt-hour figures please 😅

        • brucethemoose@lemmy.world
          8·
          21 days ago

          The problem would be transmission, kinda like with huge powerplants that exist today.

          The most efficient solution? Probably Superman bullying world leaders and billionaires into funding room temperature superconductivity research, heh.

          • A_Union_of_Kobolds@lemmy.world
            2·
            21 days ago

            Yoda could barely lift that X-Wing, Superman can outrun bullets. The sheer kinetic force he’s capable of producing would be orders of magnitude higher than Yoda, and more consistent too

        • el_bhm@lemm.ee
          4·
          21 days ago

          Depends on the writer I guess.

          Morrison? He just does a one energy cumblast while macrodosing some shrooms and Earth goes into overdrive. Humanity needs a new Si prefix for Wh.

      • rumschlumpel@feddit.org
        2·
        21 days ago

        Superman probably doesn’t need as much raw materials as a planet-wide supply of solar panels. It seems like copper is currently the biggest issue, and one that isn’t easily solved by switching to other renewable energy sources.

      • Velypso@sh.itjust.works
        131·
        21 days ago

        1 turn = 1 day

        Completely artificial plastic was invented in 1907 - 118 years ago.

        1 year = 365 days

        118 years x 365 days = 43,070 days

        So 43,071 rounds should do it, and then just clonk Leo Baekeland over the head or something.

        • edgemaster72@lemmy.worldEnglish
          11·
          21 days ago

          Oh no, you didn’t account for leap days. I believe there’s been 30 since 1907, so you’ll need to add to your total, and maybe a few extra buffer days to make sure everyone knows why you’ve done this so that no one else invents completely artificial plastic either.

  • Hazel@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
    21·
    21 days ago

    This just makes me think of Captain Planet. He knew how to solve these sorts of issues. By beating up assholes and making them stop.

  • alekwithak@lemmy.world
    16·
    21 days ago

    Nobody understands Superman, especially most of his writers.

    Dude is alien Moses created by two Jews during the Holocaust. His arch nemesis is a billionaire/the president. C’mon.

    • Anomalocaris@lemm.ee
      4·
      21 days ago

      has there even been a plot line where the system in so corrupt, superman has no choice but to become a villain to safe the world.

      ie he didn’t have the “consent” of the us president.

      probably happened when lex was president.

  • MrNesser@lemmy.world
    13·
    22 days ago

    Isn’t superman pro free will

    He will protect against threats but if you fuck it up your mostly on your own

    • Corn@lemmy.mlEnglish
      131·
      21 days ago

      Does superman think humanity chose capitalism? If Superman landed in 1600s Europe, would he think humanity chose feudalism and help put down peasant uprisings? 1700s Haiti, would he help stop slaves from stealing or enacting violence against the French?

      • NotAnotherLemmyUser@lemmy.world
        21·
        21 days ago

        When it comes to the economy, capitalism with a heavy dose of regulation is the best option we have right now.

        Attempts at communism have failed miserably and just led to dictatorships.

        Unless you’re proposing something better than either of those?

        • MrNesser@lemmy.world
          2·
          21 days ago

          Oddly a form of communism would work but only in a post scarcity society where all your needs are met.

          • rumschlumpel@feddit.org
            2·
            21 days ago

            Aren’t we already living in a post scarcity society in terms of economic output? Our only real limit is currently that we are using up natural resources too fast, but that would be greatly mitigated by cutting down on billionaires and a couple of other extremely wasteful activities.

    • Buddahriffic@lemmy.world
      9·
      21 days ago

      Only watched half of the video (because it’s something I’m well aware of), so it might have gone into it, but another angle is that there’s often villains that make good points and then suddenly take it in a batshit direction.

      Like Thanos had a point but apparently never understood exponential growth and how reducing all life by any constant factor is just delaying the same result, even if his snap made 99% of people disappear (unless he snaps enough people that the population collapses entirely, which is what he wanted to avoid).

      There’s many other examples where reasonable starting points end up in unquestionably evil conclusions. Pretty sure it’s just propaganda to make people who don’t think much about things link those reasonable beginnings with “evil” in their minds.

      Also there’s characters like Bruce Wayne and Tony Stark who are billionaires but their stories always ignore the realities of what must be done in order to become a billionaire (ie underpay staff doing the actual work by billions). In Stark’s case, they sidestep that by giving him super advanced AIs and automation robots, though he’s still the owner of a large corporation, that he still benefits from despite offloading any of the responsibility of even running it to everyone else.

      • kameecoding@lemmy.world
        8·
        21 days ago

        It’s addressed in the video, that these characters are always written to then go over the proverbial line.

      • Semjaza@lemmynsfw.com
        3·
        21 days ago

        They even rewrote Thanos to have those Malthusian undertones, originally he just had a bone for Marvel’s legally distinct from DC’d genki goth girl personification of death and wanted her to notice him.

  • jsomae@lemmy.ml
    10·
    21 days ago

    This is what I like about Wonder Woman. She shows up and is like. “Oh shit! There’s a world war going on! Better go stop that.” Meanwhile in the present super man is stopping random petty theft.