Superman
06-15-2006
by Johann Snyder

It was the last thing anyone expected. We expected our culture to be rocked. We expected a huge box-office take. We expected Christianity to be challenged like never before. And then May 19th finally arrived and everyone braced for the impending detonation, only to hear the fizzle of a dud. The Da Vinci Code came to the big screen, and while it made a lasting impression, it wasn't the one we were expecting. The Church held its collective breath bracing for the worst, only to breathe a sigh of relief and confusion when the movie turned out to be…well, boring. Although it's done fairly well at the box office, it certainly hasn't been the breakout phenomenal success everyone was expecting. So now that The Da Vinci Code has fizzled, what happens next? After months of endless warnings and books and urgings to prepare for The Da Vinci Code, what do Christians do now that it's had the impact of a wet noodle? The answer: look, up in the sky…

At the end of June, Superman will return to the big screen after an absence of almost twenty years. Unfortunately, there has been so much focus on the dangers and potential impact of Da Vinci that we have failed to realize the potential blessings and impact that Superman could have on today's culture. In fact, author Steve Skelton has dubbed Superman Returns The Anti - Da Vinci Code. In his book, The Gospel According to the World's Greatest Superhero, he explains how Superman is a modern Christ-like figure and how the Superman story can be a parallel to the gospel story based on the admissions of the Superman storytellers themselves. For example, as Skelton reveals in his book, Bryan Singer, the director of the new Superman movie says, "Superman is the Jesus Christ of superheroes," and that Superman Returns is "a story about what happens when Messiahs come back…" With all the talk of what The Da Vinci Code got wrong, Skelton contends that now is a chance for the church to focus on something that gets it right. The Da Vinci Code necessitated the church to warn people of something that would deceive, whereas with the character of Superman we have a chance to explain why such a character has such mass appeal.

You see, any story that echoes the Gospel is a story that will resonate on a very deep and meaningful level with people, but they may not always understand why. Movies such as Narnia and The Lord of the Rings, or The Matrix and even Superman: The Movie were stories that drew people in because they tugged at something deep with their soul. The themes of good versus evil, the sacrificial hero, battles waged on an epic scale are something that's familiar to us all, even if we don't know why. That's where the Church comes in; we need to explain to people why these stories resonate so strongly with them. When Narnia came out, the Church heralded and supported the movie because of its strong portrayal of the Gospel - which was obvious mostly to those of us already familiar with that story. I read many reviews and forums where people were confused about the contention that Aslan was a representation of Jesus. They didn't see it. They didn't get it. What was so obvious to us needed to be explained to them. They may have recognized that something on the screen echoed with deep seated meaning in their hearts, but they certainly didn't see the gospel message until the parallels were laid out for them. The same held true for The Passion of the Christ. There were some who were confused over what the point was of watching a man get beaten to a bloody pulp for two hours. Again, that which was obvious to a Christian had to be explained to someone who felt the significance of the story but couldn't explain the significance of the story for themselves. Are the parallels in Superman: The Movie to the Gospel obvious to everyone? Will they be obvious to everyone if they're included in the new movie? They will be, if we are willing to engage the culture and explain them to a society that's inevitably drawn to the echoes of The Gospel they see at the movies.

Of course, we also must ask the question "Is it ok to use something for a sacred purpose that was only intended for secular?" Should the church expend as much energy on talking about Superman as we did warning about Da Vinci? Well, if we as Christian are only to champion films made by Christians or are based on Christian material such as Narnia or The Passion, then where was the support of The Gospel of John, Luther, and Hoodwinked (which, by the way, was made by a couple of Christians). Paul certainly didn't shy away from using the culture around him to point to the Truth. He even used pagan gods as a starting point for leading people towards the Gospel. Jesus used parables of people who lied, cheated, indulged in their passions and more to illustrate heavenly principles. Is it then such a stretch to think that characters such as Superman or the X-Men could be used in a similar way?

Although it is too soon to tell if Superman Returns will indeed be one of those stories that echo The Story, signs are positive that it will. The founder of Hollywood Jesus.com recently had a chance to view a rough cut of the film, and his impression was that one would have to be blind to miss the gospel imbedded in this story. Well, truth is there are a lot of blind people around us. Two thousand years ago they were so blind that when the gospel story was taking place right in front of their eyes they still didn't get it. Today, there are still plenty of people who no matter how blatant the message may be, they just won't get it. Well here's our chance. We've spent months showing our culture what we're against with Da Vinci, now we have a chance to show what we're for with Superman; the world's greatest superhero who can point the way to the world's only True Hero. So look up in the sky...and then, look upon the cross and the empty tomb for the Hero that is The Way, The Truth and The Life.