Given Name and Superman
Superman Real American
In “What Makes Superman So Darned American,” Gary Engle analyzes why Superman is a true American immigrant and why people could relate to him in such an iconic way. He takes us into a deeper meaning of who Superman is, and he also adds a religious take on Superman’s kryptonian name. The revelation that Engle has shown in this article is a very inspiring look on not only who superman is but also what it means to be an American. Gary talks about his childhood and how he had two people he looked up to; John Wayne and Superman. They both embodied great American characteristics especially in the late 30s and early 40s. After a long battle within himself between the John Wayne (The Duke) and Superman he finally comes to the conclusion that Superman is who is a greater example of a great American. Superman, yes an immigrant, just like the American people when they came over on the Mayflower. People came over to explore a new continent and to make better for themselves and their families, they wanted to start a new. Just like Superman when the pilgrims came here they were a superior group of people over the Native Americans. All of our background roots started somewhere else besides the United States. Gary goes on to say, “Throughout American popular culture between 1880 and the Second World War the story was the same. Oxlike Swedish farmers, German brewers, Jewish merchants, corrupt Irish wad healers, Italian gangsters-there was a parade of images that reflected in terms often comic, sometimes tragic, the humiliation, pain, and cultural insecurity of people in a state of transition. Even in the comics, a medium intimately connected with immigrant culture, there simple was no image that presented a blending of identities in the assimilation process in a way that stressed pride, self-confidence, integrity, and psychological well-being. None, that is until Superman.”(qt. in Engle 750). Back when America was being establish the
In “What Makes Superman So Darned American,” Gary Engle analyzes why Superman is a true American immigrant and why people could relate to him in such an iconic way. He takes us into a deeper meaning of who Superman is, and he also adds a religious take on Superman’s kryptonian name. The revelation that Engle has shown in this article is a very inspiring look on not only who superman is but also what it means to be an American. Gary talks about his childhood and how he had two people he looked up to; John Wayne and Superman. They both embodied great American characteristics especially in the late 30s and early 40s. After a long battle within himself between the John Wayne (The Duke) and Superman he finally comes to the conclusion that Superman is who is a greater example of a great American. Superman, yes an immigrant, just like the American people when they came over on the Mayflower. People came over to explore a new continent and to make better for themselves and their families, they wanted to start a new. Just like Superman when the pilgrims came here they were a superior group of people over the Native Americans. All of our background roots started somewhere else besides the United States. Gary goes on to say, “Throughout American popular culture between 1880 and the Second World War the story was the same. Oxlike Swedish farmers, German brewers, Jewish merchants, corrupt Irish wad healers, Italian gangsters-there was a parade of images that reflected in terms often comic, sometimes tragic, the humiliation, pain, and cultural insecurity of people in a state of transition. Even in the comics, a medium intimately connected with immigrant culture, there simple was no image that presented a blending of identities in the assimilation process in a way that stressed pride, self-confidence, integrity, and psychological well-being. None, that is until Superman.”(qt. in Engle 750). Back when America was being establish the