this post was submitted on 04 Sep 2023
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Superman's primary villain is literally a white collar criminal that uses the system in order to stymie efforts to hold him accountable. A lot of superhero media could stand to be more critical of the police and prison system but it's a little more complicated to dismantle capitalism than it is to foil violent crime and respond to accidents and disasters.
Yes, and the society that Superman lives in is one that is inherently good and functional, and just needs to be groomed once in a while (or defended from exterior elements).
Granted, they tried to get Superman to force nuclear disarmament, and that didn't go so well.
Superman is actually the zenith example of defenders of the status quo. Superman's job is to return things back to normal which IRL we can no longer pretend is acceptable.
I don't think every piece of media has to promote revolutionary politics in order to justify its existence.
Well, this was a point that was even made in Superman 1978, in which culture was recognizing the modern age as becoming too corrupt and complicated for a simple superhero. It's still possible to enjoy it, but the Superman narrative, in failing to keep up with the times loses its relevance. That's okay. People still like swashbucklers too.