If you read this in the hopes of getting a movie review I apologize. I will say that I very much enjoyed the movie and hope that Christopher Nolan and Zach Snyder create a sequel that is as well done as this one. It's far more than a superhero movie or an action flick. Look close and you will find a hidden treasure waiting to be unearthed, or perhaps not and I read to much into movies.
Most people know at least a little about Superman's origins. They know at the very least he is an alien. The beginning of Man of Steel does a good job at filling viewers in on the origin of Kal-El and how he came to be on Earth as Clark. It also starts the first in a poignant set of flashbacks of a young Clark growing up on Kent Farm. Superman in all his strength and glory as the Man of Steel struck chords deep within me because of his origins. He is adopted by the Kent's and that more than anything really and how in depth that part of the story is played out is one of the biggest things that makes me a fan of this movie. You get a couple who has no children who find themselves quite suddenly the parents of an alien baby they know nothing about. They take this baby and they make him a Kent, he becomes their son. This is done knowing that he isn't from Earth and that is going to present a problem with the world at some point down the road. Fortunately or maybe not so fortunately for them Clark isn't your average little green man kind of alien. Clark is Kryptonian and has abilities that go along with his lineage.
It doesn't go into when Clark's abilities manifest themselves except for his x-ray vision. And in doing that alone it highlights a fairly common situation amongst kids. If you act different other kids are going to notice and you're going to be made fun of. To give away as little as possible but explain myself, Clark asks his mother what is wrong with him and she tells him nothing. Most teenagers wonder this from time to time as puberty hits. When you add in the fact that Clark isn't from Earth, he certainly isn't human, and he's being raised by two humans it creates an interesting but I think true picture of adoption.
Perhaps not so relevant if you look like your parents but if you've got a trans-racial family people will notice. It's in our nature to spot things that aren't "right" or don't match. We've got sameness wired into our brains and if anything at all deviates from that picture in our head our eyes catch it and our brain's will point it out. Whether or not our mouth's follow is a different story altogether. Part of me is dreading the day that my kid's are informed of the fact that they don't have the same skin color as I do. Not in the sense of it is a burden but for the fact that it will likely cause hurt and confusion and as a father that is not something I'm going to want my child to feel.
At the same time I don't want to raise my children to be colorblind. I want them to know that it's completely o.k. that our family doesn't match. I want them to see the differences between themselves and other kids and other families. Humans are fearfully and wonderfully made and I want them to cherish the fact that they were created in the image of their Creator. To teach our kids that they are all special and yet everyone is the exact same seems like an injustice! Because people aren't all the same. It's a little hard to be special if everyone is the same. Yes, we are all people but we are different. Those differences are what make us who we are. God didn't just make a mold and create every human in the world from it. He made us individuals to bring Himself glory. My point being that we are different that is perfectly alright, it is how we were made!
Which leads me to my next point;The next flashback Clark does a few things that attract unwanted attention to himself. It leads into a talk between him and his father. Jonathan tells him that one day he would have to decide whether or not he wanted to show the world who he was or to hide himself. Clark looks up at him and asks 'Can't I just keep pretending I'm your son?' I will admit that right then I almost lost it. Those are words I don't ever want to hear from my kids. But Jonathan Kent's response is perfect. He looks Clark square in the eye and tells him 'You are my son'. It was a very strong moment in the film and hit me quite hard personally. I pray that those words never leave the mouth's of my children and that doubt never creeps into their heart's. Again, the movie hit on what I feel like is a common theme. A child who isn't completely sure where he belongs because he knows that the Kent's aren't the people he shares blood with but they raised him, they are his parents. And then he finds his footing again, secure in the fact that No, Martha didn't give birth to him, but Yes, the Kent's were his parents. They had given him the life his biological parents had hoped for when they sent him to Earth.
As the movie progresses and he discovers his origins and he gets the famed blue suit and red cape with the 'S' on the chest that symbol is explained. On Krypton it means hope. That is exactly what he was for the Kyrptonian's, he was hope, he was the last in existence. I think beneath it all as he eventually reconciles the two worlds, the one he was born in and the one he was raised in he realizes that both sets of parents loved him and did what they thought best for him. By doing so they gave him his own reason to hope and have faith that he wasn't a little boy no one wanted. He was a child that four people did everything they could for because they loved him. He was a son. He was loved. He had been given the very thing that his biological parents had sent him to Earth seeking, hope. Hope in who he was and what he could do and assurance that he belonged.
I want my children to know that they belong and they are mine. No matter the physical differences between us we are a family. Like the Kent's I know that one day they will realize or someone else will do it for them, that they don't look like me or they act different from other kids. But I also know that like the Kent's my kids will have my last name, they will belong if only for a short time to Me and that the fact that they are Henegar's cements their status as my kids and no difference can change that.
