Interpretation of American Heroism from
Superman
Jiayun Zhao
Xi’an International University
18292467450
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Interpretation of American Heroism from Superman
Abstract: When we are talking about American heroism, the first word coming to
our mind is Superman. The Superman is a representative in which thoughts of
American heroism are explicitly manifested. In this paper the author reviews the
definition of the American heroism, including bravery, personal independence, and
self-confidence firstly. Then, the author analyses the American heroism in Superman
in detail. Lastly, the influence of American heroism on the young people is explored
further.
Key words: American heroism; Superman; American culture; influence
1 Introduction
American movie and American culture have a tight relationship and they cannot
be separated. The former is a mirror, in which you can see many cultures of America.
Especially the topic of hero movie, it presents the American spirit—American
heroism which is known by increasing people in the world. At the same time, it also
represents peculiar American cultural connotation. There is no doubt that the typical
manifestation of hero images is Superman. The film tells a story that a man who has
superpower is sent to the earth by his birth parents, and uses his extraordinary power
to help people and finally saving the whole country. In this paper, the writer would
like to expound the evolution of the American Heroism and its characteristics at the
beginning. Then analyse this film in detail and find the manifestation of American
heroism in it. Finally is the film’s influence on the young generation. The author
hopes this thesis can helps people to know the hero culture in American history. At the
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same time try to use an objective way, especially the young generation, to judge hero
movies mingled positive and negative aspects. Furthermore, as a cultural carrier,
movie plays a crucial role in cultural exchange. In order to promote the friendship and
learns essence from America, it’s necessary to learn American hero movies and the
American spirits in it.
2 The Evolution of American Heroism and its Characteristics
2.1 The Evolution of American Heroism
In the book A Concise History of America and Its People made by James Kirby
Martin, the first settlers of America are largely Puritans from Europe. The characters
of the founder fathers as well as other first settlers are much more independent and
gallant than other Europeans, and they want to be free from the monarchy system.
Their spirits are accepted and appreciated by the people in the North American and
then passed on from generations to generations in this country. This is the first period
of American heroism.
The second period is the time of independence. The Declaration of Independence
clearly affirms the idea of heroism, stating that: “We hold these truths to be
self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator
with certain unalienable Rights, among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of
Happiness”. This offers a possibility for the development of American heroism.
Cowboy, the first typical image of hero in America appeared during Westward
Movement in the late 19th century. The group of people is all brave, decent and
uncontrolled by the old world and thought. The image of the cowboy in movie is the
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direct reflection of that culture. In western novels such as Owen Wister’s The
Virginian (1902), the character is a semi-educated man whose natural decency,
courage, and compassion make him a powerful symbol of the supposed virtues of the
frontier. The enormous popularity of traveling Wild West shows spread the cult of the
cowboy.
2.2 The Characteristics of American Heroism
From the above, it’s not difficult for us to sum up the feature of the hero—
bravery, personal independence and self-confidence.
There are three kinds of heroes respectively are the person who is omnipotent
like Superman; the man who saving world in a great danger like James in The Hurt
Locker; and the civilian hero like Sam in Transformers. Whether which kind of heroes
belong to, these numerous splendid people have the same quality—bravery.
Except the bravery, the other two characteristics of heroes cannot be neglected
they are personal independence and self-confidence. Without exception, every hero
movie has one super hero, no matter how many people in the group there always have
a leader which can lead others to go to success or takes them out of danger. Such as
Independence Day, I Am Legend and newly-released Big Hero 6. All of these films
reflect that personal independence and self-confidence are the essential character for
heroes.
3 The American Heroism Reflected in Superman
America is a “new world”. Although it is not endowed with a long history, it has
its own unique cultural characteristics, which directly influence the Americans and
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even their movies. In the first place, Superman has extremely individualism that
actually relates to American’s sense of independence. According to The Declaration
of Independence we can find that from the very beginning, people have already
emphasized the importance of the equality, freedom and individual independence.
This is the reason of the American’s particular character. From the materially point, in
the Superman film, there is no slave, exploitation and oppression, everyone is
independent. Spiritually, everybody is free, and they have their own rights to do things
and declare themselves with freedom. From the Superman perspective, he is much
freer than any other ordinary people physically. For instance, he can run faster than
the train even the bullet and also can fly in the sky. Certainly, these are also requisite
power for him to do rescues. From another point of view, he is independent to do
whatever he wants to help others. It also shows his ability by the way.
Secondly, Americans have a strongly sense of time. In their minds, people cannot
live without attention of time. We can notice the efficiency of Superman’s
accomplishment of tasks, and he can do several things during a short time. He
captures the jewel thief, the robber and helps a girl save a cat in the tree and all of
these happen in a few minutes. On one hand, it shows the capability of Superman. On
the other hand, it represents Americans’ attention of time.
In addition, America gradually becomes a powerful country after World War and
the “Cold War”. However, in the subconscious of the Americans, they still have a
sense of insecurity, and crisis awareness is deeply rooted. Just like the sword hanging
above the emperor, the crisis awareness is a kind of caution to tell them to be a light
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sleeper. There are a large amount of calamities in the film. Just like the plunder,
airplane crash and earthquake. Every of them remind people to be level-headed.
It’s obvious that Superman is a self-confident person. During America economic
depression, a kind of power that can defeat every evil and give faith to every citizen
of America is needed urgently. As a superhero he is considered to be an omnipotent
man. He performs every rescue activity confidently by himself. On one hand, his
superpower gives him the self-confidence. On the other hand, the spirit in his mind
guides him to accomplish the missions just like his stepfather tells him before he dies
“you are here for a reason”. Now we know his existence is healing the world.
4 The Impact of American Heroism on Young Generation
Young generation is the hope of country, at the same time they can also be
affected by outside influence. So they should be paid close attention. As we all know,
youth are more curious than adults, and they learn new things faster than adults.
Movie as a burgeoning form of entertainment is popular among young people. In the
movie there are many things that can be learned both positive and negative. Even the
affirmative one will have the passive part. When children watch the movie they learn
from it no matter it is right or wrong. If parents pay less attention on their children,
the youth may do the bad things just like the actor does in the film. It’s good for
young generation to get the active affection, for example, be self-confident people.
While we must realize that every coin has two sides, the negative effects do exist. For
instance, the young people who learns from the bad guy in the film and do illegal
things. Only when we pay more attention on the young people, can they get less
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inactive affection.
5 Conclusion
Movie, as a quickly developed form of mass media, reflects the life of people. At
the same time, our lives are surrounded by the influence of movies on the dress, the
language, and of course the spirit. From the above analysis we know the evolution and
the characteristics of the American heroism. Superman is a good emblem of American
heroism, because he has the personalities that an American hero should have.
However, as time goes by, the social environment and people’s thinking are not like
before and we should see things in the light of the development. Different cultures
have different values, it’s better for people to absorb the essence and develop their
own culture.
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Reference
[1] http://www.supermansupersite.com/coaster6.html
[2] Brinkley, Alan. American History: A Survey Volume Ⅱ:Since1865. New York:
McGraw-Hill, 2003.
[3] Wu, Qiong. “Viewing American Heroism from Superman Movies.” Overseas
English 30.3(2015). August 2011<http:// www.overseaen.com>.
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