Editorial: Superman or Clark Kent which is the true face?

Editorial: Superman or Clark Kent which is the true face?

I express my views on Who is the true persona, Clark or Superman.

Editorial Opinion
By BobGarlen - Nov 18, 2010 05:11 PM EST
Filed Under: Superman
Source: Robert Garlen



SUPERMAN, one of the most Iconic and Beloved Super Heroes ever to exist. So many people have followed his exploits almost religiously and in ways almost like some people worship him and in modern times that's how many people view and write the character, as a GOD. Well I'm sick of it, I'm sick of hearing that Superman isn't relatable, that Superman is above us in every way. That's never how I've seen Superman and god forbid i let my kids see it that way.

First off Superman isn't a God, He's a most relatable character. See I believe that Superman isn't the Dominant persona, but the Career choice of Clark Kent. Superman as grand as he is, just isn't possible, unlike Batman he was raised with two loving parents who gave him the morals and views of a baptist( Modernly i think it's Baptist, maybe Christian, although to say Jewish would be closer to home, as he was originally a Jewish parable) A person really can't be raised to be Superman, and I like many people believe that who you are is in how you're raised (needless to say theirs exceptions to this rule, mainly mentally ill folks who's status view are very different due to their illness) You just can't raise a kid to be Superman, that's plain fact. Superman is a choice, i remember a specific line from the Lois & Clark: The Adventures of Superman, which Clark proposed to Lois and she had asked him "Who's asking? You or Superman?" only for Clark to retort "Clark is who i am, Superman is what i can do!" Which has since really stuck to me on who is who in this story. It's true how i thought, Superman being a main construct in the being is illogical. Even though he's not one of them, he was raised by humans, his thought process, his way of learning, emotions are all Human based, it doesn't matter that he has powers beyond mortal men, it doesn't matter that he could very well be scientifically smarter than anyone else on the globe, what does matter is where he risen from. A small American town that is the dream of many people and in that hometown is where the person was born, Superman is a choice. Clark takes on many disguises. I'll go through each of them, from the Clark i believe in as the true face, to the many forms he takes.


Smallville Clark: This is who i see as being The real man behind it all, Smallville Clark is where all this began, where he was raised, a good ol' farm boy who enjoys the out doors and loves the simple life, This is what i see as being Superman's true face, where he get's superman's morals and nature.

Fortress Kal-El: This is the Clark Kent i see most in Smallville nowadays, the Kind that sees his destiny and strives to attain it no matter how he must change and what he changes into giving him a very demanding and strong opinionated do good or else attitude, this is what would also evolve into the Politically Correct Superman persona, in my opinion. a Small part of Superman showing his very strong and indomitable willed views.

Metropolis Clark: Clark Kents, bumbling work-a-holic persona that we all know and love. The man who writes the best story he can and yet still trips over his shoe laces, this is the joke. the Patsy to make everyone not believe Clark Kent could be:

SUPERMAN, the face of the public the idol career choice of Clark Kent, a Supercop with the morals of a small town boy wanting and Trying to make a difference.

This is a choice, Clark has always had his choice to do this. And when he finally chooses to stop, who do you think will be left, Clark or Superman? I know my answer, what about yours?
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secretasianboy
secretasianboy - 11/18/2010, 6:00 PM
hmmm...you know i think neither are masks both are just different sides to the same character
Ibz
Ibz - 11/18/2010, 6:36 PM
good article dude, superman=hope, something that is needed in this day and age thats why it is so important that we finally get a great superman movie that can bring hope to us all
patriautism
patriautism - 11/18/2010, 7:11 PM
He is always just Clark. He just acts clumsy and stuff as Clark to hide the fact that he is Superman, but the two are really just one in the same. Although if Superman represents his alien side, and Clark his human side, I would say besides his powers he is more human than Kryptonian. So Clark I guess.
It really isn't as simple as Batman, in the fact that Batman is Bruce's true persona.
BobGarlen
BobGarlen - 11/18/2010, 7:24 PM
the next article i'm doing will be about Superman's Relatablility to the Public and after that i take on Superman's Physique.
superotherside
superotherside - 11/18/2010, 9:09 PM
@Robert Garlen wow, awesome article dude and very true!
BobGarlen
BobGarlen - 11/19/2010, 12:58 AM
@Superguy How? Just because i get a Green Lantern Ring, would i be more Green Lantern and less Robert? No. I'd be wearing a badge that says i can do this or that. Superman's Shield and suit is a giant badge that allows him to be a hero. You really think he's 100% Superman? No. He's who his parent's raised him to be, They didn't raise him to be a buffoon, They raised him as a good Ol' farm boy, they didn't raise him to wear tights. Superman like Metropolis Clark are both masks. Superman Returns has a scene where Clark Kent is home on the farm that's who Superman really is the Farm boy. You can't raise a child to be Superman, and you can't really say that you are Superman, it's just not possible. He would be Clark Kent. He was raised as Clark Kent, to him he is Clark Kent. Which way he acts as Clark Kent is different, he can be himself or he can be the clown no one suspects. But he is not the Boy Scout all of the time. Hell i could imagine Clark and John sitting out on the back porch looking at the sky with a Beer in hand, it's easy to because he is Clark Kent. He wasn't born Clark or Superman, but he wasn't Raised Kal-El or Superman either. Without his powers he's more human than most people.

He's Clark all the time it's the type of Clark he is that throws people off.
Angelus
Angelus - 11/19/2010, 3:56 AM
I dont where I heard this but one claimed that the persona of Clark Kent is how Kal El sees us humans. But I highly doubt it. He is them all.

BMP!
Denn1s
Denn1s - 11/19/2010, 4:46 AM
well it is actually a tough question. he wasn't born superman. if he stayed on krypton he wouldn't have superpowers. he would be normal. he became superman when he came to earth and he was raised as clark. so...tough question...
ThunderCougarFalconBird
ThunderCougarFalconBird - 11/19/2010, 4:49 AM
Great article! I'd like to start with this quote from Kill Bill

"Batman is actually Bruce Wayne, Spiderman is actually Peter Parker; when that character wakes up in the morning, he's Peter Parker. He has to put on a costume to become Spiderman and it is in that characteristic, Superman stands alone. Superman didn't become Superman, Superman was born Superman. When superman wakes up in the morning, he's Superman. His alter ego is Clark Kent, his outfit with the big red “S”. That's the blanket he was wrapped in as a baby when the Kents found him. Those are his clothes. What Kent wears; the glasses, the business suit, that's the costume; that’s the costume that Superman wears to blend in with us. Clark Kent is how Superman views us, and what are the characteristics of Clark Kent; he’s weak, he’s unsure of himself, he’s a coward. Clark Kent is Superman’s critique on the whole human race."

This one moment almost destroyed any faith I had in Tarrantino as it is wrong on so many levels!

I like your quote from Lois & Clark as that pretty much sums it up for me. I Hera what people are saying about two sides of one coin but deep down in his heart it is Clark who becomes Superman and not the other way around.
KeithM
KeithM - 11/19/2010, 9:01 AM
Good article Robert. You're spot on.

@Superguy: If, say, a kid born of Czechoslovakian parents (i.e. a country that no longer exists) was adopted at birth by a couple from Kansas, and lived there his whole life, how Czechoslovakian would he be?

Superman has alien genes, but in all other respects, he's a Kansas farm boy. Every cultural, linguistic, political, moral touchpoint he has are all human and more specifically American.

People who overplay the alien aspect of the character are really missing the point. He's one of us. A Super man. I hate that line in STM when Jor-el is basically telling Kal that he's a god and that humans are basically savages. No, no, no. Wrong attitude. (I also don't like the logic of Jor-el being able to record long lectures for his son, but didn't have time to build a space-ship for anyone else, including himself and the wife, plus the small fact that due to the speed of light, any information Jor-el has about Earth is at least 2 million years out of date, but let's not quibble)

Jor-el is from a culture and society so decadent and lacking in foresight that they're now extinct. Clark is not one of them. He's one of us. Through and through.

He's not some alien god here to "show us the way", he's just a well-brought up man of conscience who, through an accident of birth, actually has the power to do something about the wrongs in our world. He COULD NOT make the right decisions if he thought like an alien. The fact that he makes very human decisions indicate that he thinks like us, not like a Kryptonian. And that's the real Clark.

If they wanted to emphasise his alien heritage then he should be making decisions and acting in ways that would indicate an alien way of thinking. Apart from when writers don't get the character, like in Superman Returns, that's not how he's portrayed. He doesn't feel "alienated" at all - he feels very much a part of things and that's why he's compelled to do good. Because he belongs.

Superman is still the "real him" in the same way that a cop in a uniform is still THAT guy, but in a uniform. A cop has to act professionally, and has to present himself in a certain way in order to display authority and command respect, but it's still just the same human being behind it, not a completely different persona.

Superman is Clark being a super-cop is all. He acts differently because he needs to to do the job, but he's not actually thinking any differently - just moderating his behaviour in order to facilitate his self-appointed role.

Daily Planet Clark however, is pretty much what Tarantino said, even if that wasn't the writer's original intent. I'm not a fan of the buffoon Clark myself, I prefer it when they portray him as simply unassuming. I don't know about you, but I'm more likely to take notice of some idiot stumbling about, tripping over his own laces and generally making a twat of himself than someone who just blends into the background. But that's just me.

And that's why Robert is spot on in his analysis (I have a few minor disagreements, but only over some of the details). He's the Clark raised by Ma and Pa Kent before anything else.
KeithM
KeithM - 11/19/2010, 9:53 AM
fangz I disagree that he's messed up, confused or sad in the slightest.

He had a damn near perfect upbringing - loving parents, a strong moral background, a nice, small town where everyone knows each other (giving him a strong sense of community spirit) and brought up on the ideals of the American dream - peace and liberty for all - and, once he becomes Superman, a sense of purpose and worldwide adoration.

Add a bit of world travel to the mix and I see him as being very solid, centred, balanced person indeed. Only that kind of person would be fit to be Superman. As interesting as the idea of a guy with Superman's powers being a bit messed up is (perhaps an Ultimate Superman?), what makes Superman, well, Superman is the fact that it's the very human Clark Robert and I are talking about which make him that.

Having said that, he should be anything but perfect too. The point of being human is that one does make mistakes - it's how we learn. He might also struggle with the stresses and strains of trying to be everywhere at once, in the media glare, the pressures of expectation and fame... But the point is that Clark is SO human, SO balanced, that he actually can and does deal with this stuff, all the while learning and striving to be a better MAN (as all good men do) - and only by becoming a better man can he be a better Superman. And going back to Robert's article, it's his upbringing that gives him this strength of character, NOT his alien heritage (which only gives him strength of body).
Stumblin
Stumblin - 11/19/2010, 11:48 AM
"good article dude, superman=hope, something that is needed in this day and age thats why it is so important that we finally get a great superman movie that can bring hope to us all" -Ibz

What is this crap? Superman = hope? Talk about putting a fictional character on a pedestal. Just how does a fake character give hope? And hope for what? That someone will fly down from the sky? I mean that's seriously the cheesiest thing I've seen and makes zero sense. Just how does a good Superman movie give hope? Hope that DC can produce a decent movie for once?
BobGarlen
BobGarlen - 11/19/2010, 1:33 PM
@Superguy, we're not talking skin color here, we're talking something deeper. If a couple from Kansas adopts a baby from a foreign country, say china, and his name is Jo Sing and raise the baby as their own, say they change his last name Walker, he's still got his heritage be he is more American in spirit than Chinese. His blood may be Kryptonian, but I'm of the idea you're who you're raised to be. He was raised to be Clark Kent not Superman. Clark came to a time where he had a choice, either be Superman or Not. You don't understand, Heritage isn't everything. Adolf Hitler has Surviving family, he has Nephews and Aunts, there heritage is that of a genocidal maniac, but are they? no they're very different hardworking honest people. So don't try to pass on me that a person is in their heritage bullshit, who you are raised as is who you are, because that's what you know. Clark Knows he's not Human, but does that make him Any less Clark? No that is his name, his life. Superman is his Choice, Kal-El is the side of him that has powers, But Clark Kent is what makes him who he is. Superman is a mixture of both, But Clark Kent is who he's known as, and who he was raised as, you can't raise a kid and expect him to be a super hero. If you do that, then you're not really raising your brainwashing. He made a choice, he has his abilities, but it's always been choice, whether or not he fits in doesn't matter, because He has those feelings as Clark. and to be honest at some times every child has felt like an outcast but that child is still the same person no matter how they feel.
KeithM
KeithM - 11/19/2010, 1:46 PM
Superguy:

1. I thought Kal-el wasn't even born on Krypton - he was sent in the rocket while he was still within his birthing matrix and therefore was actually "born" in deep space (unless the origin has been changed again since in one of DC's many crises of course - I lose track), but regardless of which origin you use, in all of them he was basically sent away straight from the (artificial) womb - he was never brought up on Krypton at all. Everything he knows, every sensory input he's ever known since birth has been of Earth and humanity.

As I said before, I don't buy the STM silliness of Jor-el somehow being able to record all this stuff for him when he doesn't even have time to build a rocket for himself and his wife - but even in STM, he doesn't know he's alien until he's already almost a man anyway - so for his entire development he thinks he's just a Kansas farm boy with gifts. For him to suddenly develop an alien mentality is not only daft, it's also never been portrayed that way.

2. You like Superman Returns? You think they got him right? I can never take you seriously again.
KeithM
KeithM - 11/19/2010, 2:09 PM
@Stumblin: The human race has long symbolised "hope" (along with other things) through fictional characters: e.g. Zeus, Odin, Odysseus, Jesus, King Arthur, Santa, Robin Hood, God himself (the ultimate hope - that there is life beyond death). These are all fictional too, but they all in their own way served a need in humanity to symbolise our fears, hopes, dreams and nightmares.

PS: I have no idea if there is an actual "God" or not - but our mythological representations of the gods are clearly inventions of the human mind.

Using fictional heroic tales and characters as symbols of hope, fear, etc., or as moral (or religious) parables is nothing new and goes back as far as the Epic of Gilgamesh, through the Greek myths, The Bible, The Knights of the Round Table, Robin Hood and so on. Superheroes are just a modern version of the heroic tradition as parable and Superman the iconic representative of that modern interpretation.

I mean, I don't ask myself "what would Jesus do" (I mean how on Earth does a fictional character from 2000 years ago based on an even earlier character - Osiris, from 1500 years before that, have any relevance to me?), I ask myself "what would Superman do"...

I know he's not real and that actually makes it easier to use him as a moral guide if you like - I don't have to wonder what he's really like and if he's only in it for the money, fame and girls...
Stumblin
Stumblin - 11/19/2010, 4:40 PM
Yeah, Superman is nothing more than a comic book icon, that's it. Comparing his impact to religious figures is just silly. If you really ask yourself "What would Superman would do in this situation" you should find yourself real people to look up to.

I just find it silly for anyone to look up to a comic book character. Their is one thing to relate another to put them the same category as say Jesus.

Santa Claus has more affect on kids than Superman's actions. When you ask a kid what they think of Superman they say he can fly and kick butt. That's it. Santa, they say if your good you get cool shit.

I swear this is the silliest debate I've had it hurts my head.
KeithM
KeithM - 11/19/2010, 6:41 PM
I imagine a lot of things hurt your head Stumblin. You're not exactly a thinker are you?

Who said I don't relate or look up to real people too? Why do certain types of people think that if you say something it excludes any and every other possibility?

Neither Santa nor Jesus have had the slightest effect on me whatsoever since I was a little kid and realised that they were silly, childish nonsense and of absolutely no relevance to me or my life. Unlike Superman, who I could relate to morally long into my adult life, even when I outgrew the rather simplistic moral tales the comics themselves were telling.

And unlike Jesus, nobody ever went to war, killed anyone or molested children in Superman's name.

Superman > Jesus+Santa combined.
KeithM
KeithM - 11/19/2010, 8:14 PM
Yeah - it was during his dark period in the 90s. :)
LP4
LP4 - 11/24/2010, 9:08 PM
This is a toughie because they always switch which is the more dominant force. In the Chris Reeve films, they kinda said Superman was the real persona while Clark Kent was the disguise (in Superman II i think Superman said that). But in the Dean Cain series they switched it and made it seem like Clark Kent was the main persona with Superman as a disguise. Same with Smallville- Clark Kent is the real persona in a world where "Superman" doesn't even exist yet. So it's hard to say. In MY personal opinion...?

Personally...I always felt Superman was the real face while Clark Kent was indeed the disguise. I mean, let's face the fact: Kal-El was BORN to be Superman :) he wasn't born as Superman but sure enough he was intended to become just that. It was destiny simple as that. I just always felt Clark Kent was a disguise he used to try to blend in with humanity and that has always been the staple reason for why he chose that identity...thus leading me to further say- SUPERMAN is the TRUE face. Clark Kent is just a disguise.
Knightstalker
Knightstalker - 11/26/2010, 11:28 PM
I have NEVER agreed with the idea that once Clark Kent is approaching 30 and adopts the Superman persona that suddenly Clark is just a mask. How does anyone simply transition like that? It just doesn't happen.
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