I really do think that for better or worse, Batman v Superman was a very thorough deconstruction of the Superman character from Man of Steel and is interesting to watch unfold.

"All this time I've been living my life the way my father wanted; righting wrongs for a ghost. Superman was never real."

Regardless of if it was for better or worse, Batman v Superman is a deconstruction of Superman. A way of representing him, establishing him in a real world with real consequences. And BVS as a movie was quite aware of this a meta way. Now this deconstruction was not done on a whim, like is said often times, this is set up extensively in the previous movie, Man of Steel. For a movie that was supposed to be set in the real world, Man of Steel seemed to present a lot of idealism.

Even his less than idealistic Foster Father says this: "But you're not just anyone Clark, and I have to believe; that you were... that you were sent here for a reason." Assigning a predetermined destiny, a very idealistic one, to him. In a movie about choosing one's destiny.

Clark, in this movie spends his time searching for this purpose. And everyone has something to say.

"So that Krypton can live again. On Earth." - Zod.

Until he meets up with Jor-El, his idealistic biological father who actually sent him to Earth.

"...so that you can be a bridge between two peoples....
....(referring to Lois Lane) look, you can save her Kal. You can save all of them."

This is the last time that Clark, Kal, Superman, speaks to his father. This is what he ultimately takes away from him.

That because of his power he can and will save them all. A dangerous thing to believe in the real world.

Not surprising coming from Jor-El, who is a flawed person by design. Each child on Krypton is genetically engineered to fufill one purpose in life. Born with a limited view on life. Jor-El is no exception, which is why he chooses to die on Krypton, because he can't live in the real world. In Man of Steel, Superman still doesn't wind up saving everyone like he thought he would. He even kills General Zod with his bare hands. Now, in Batman v Superman, he continues to try anyway. He is flying across the world, from the fictional African state of Nairomi, to Mexico. There is a lot to be said about the questions this raises about the omnipotence of God, but that's a digression.

The really important bit is that he is summarily proven wrong, given a rude awakening of sorts, by Lex Luthor. The Capitol Building is bombed while he is still inside, killing everyone within but him.

"I didn't see it Lo; I was standing right there and I didn't see it....I'm afraid I didn't see it because I wasn't looking. All this time, I have been living my life the way my father saw it , righting wrongs for a ghost, thinking I'm here to do good. Superman was never real, just a dream of a farmer from Kansas."

Perhaps his powers might have meant something in an idealistic world. But only then does he accept that doesn't exist in such a world. He is in the real world.

"My world doesn't exist anymore."- Superman

Briefly, he leaves the city to in search of guidance from his past. And in a scene intentionally reminiscent of Excalibur (1981) [Arthur speaks to an apparition of Merlin] he has a surreal experience, where he receives advice from his memory of his foster father.

He tells him a story of how he saved his farm from flooding by diverting water away. But that admist the celebration they had inadvertently drowned the horses of their neighbours.

This is to highlight the complexity of choice in real life, there's good and bad and the in between. But he tells him to hang on to the good as he did his mother.

From there on, Superman starts his journey to accepting his place, the movie, itself, finally establishing him squarely in the real world. Not a fiction living in Utopia.

"This is my world."

Submitted July 01, 2017 at 05:50AM by mide117 http://ift.tt/2t0vJHh