bloggedy blog: the personal weblog of a music lover and aging punk wannabe

:: Wednesday, May 07, 2003 ::

(Son of) Man and Superman
That special "American icons" issue of Rolling Stone (see the recent post on Airplane reading), converging with an intermittent Bible study series on "Christianity and pop culture" that I'm leading with our church youth group, has sparked my thinking about the "Jesus" icons we have in our culture. The Rolling Stone issue talks about "the dead rock star" icon, and the author of that piece, none other than Marilyn Manson, compares the dead rock star archetype to Jesus -- a hero frozen in time, at his/her zenith, incomparable. Another piece, Kevin Smith's story about superheroes, got me thinking about the "Jesus as superhero" icon. In our culture steeped with images of superheroes, how can we not compare Jesus to Spider Man, Batman or, of course, Superman? This, I know, is not an original thought. But then my thinking along this line was further stirred when my copy of Mars Hill Review arrived in the mail.

Among the many excellent essays in this current issue of Mars Hill Review is "God in a Cape: Superman as Modern Mythic Savior," by Gary D. Robinson, a Church of Christ minister in Pennsylvania. It's obvious from reading his essay that Robinson has thoroughly investigated the Son of Man-Superman connection from all angles. He even mentions a connection between Jesus' tomb and the telephone booth: Did Jesus lay aside his grave clothes? Jeepers, Mr. Kent, you lay aside your business suit and glasses too!

My favorite part of the essay is near the end, and summarizes my thoughts about the metanarrative of Christianity:

The suggestion that Superman might be Christ got up in spandex and a cape is anathema to some believers. ... Yet some have suggested that there is really only one Story -- the story of redemption -- of which every other story, from Cinderella to The Phantom Menace, is a shadowy replica. If this is true, then the Man of Steel is not to be regarded as a mere gaudy relic of misspent youth nor a figure of blasphemy. Rather, Superman is an archetype. He takes his place among the storybook redeemers like Robin Hood, Tarzan, and the wolf-killing hunter from Little Red Riding Hood.

What do you think? Is there truly only one story, the story of redemption?

:: Andrew 14:17 + ::
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