This is an open-comment theology blog where I will post various theological musings, mostly in sermon or essay form, for others to read and comment on. If what I say here interests you, you may want to check out some of my books. Feel free to criticize, to critique, to comment, but keep comments to the point and respectful. Many of these posts have been published elsewhere, but I wanted them collected and made available to a wider audience.
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Off-Topic: Superman
There is this scene in the first SUPERMAN movie where Superman reverses the spin of the earth which allows him to go back in time and save Lois Lane after already having saved New Jersey (oh, the countless jokes that bubble to the surface after having written that). Many consider this the stupidest part of the film, and visually it is pretty week. But it is actually symbolic of an important truth about the Man of Steel: his power is even greater than we think it is. The reverse-spin was just a way to explain how he did something so huge. In the film, Superman's act in this case violated a limit his father placed on him. Jor-El had told Superman there were some things he could not do, this was one of them. In the comics these limits are self-imposed. The infinite imposing limits out of respect for humanity is the essence of the Superman story.
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