Going On The Account: Blogtober – Look, Up In The Sky- Aw F#$&!

This is the ninth day of Blogtober, where I pay the price with my sanity for having  Speaker7 and Sips of Jen and Tonic con me into putting out content every day this month.

Geeze, I mean, Paul Krugman gets a few days off between pieces, you know…

Speaking of things to complain about, I’m going to warn everyone here that going forward there may be a few things in this piece that will be upsetting.  Most of it is conceptual discomfort, but there’s a little a bit of bad language as well…

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There’s this thought that’s troubled me for a few days:  Could Superman be an asshole?

“Why in God’s name are you wondering?” you ask.

The last few weeks here in the greater New York area have been an adventure, to put it mildly.  And part of the tapestry of disaster has been the continuing presence of Governor  Chris Christie, chief executive of New Jersey, who in addition to making the news for some of his political maneuverings (speaking of knowing how to tell which way the wind blows…) has been a force to be reckoned with in terms of handling the crisis.  Which coming a year after his famous plea in the face of Hurricane Irene has given him a reputation for being the right man in the right place at the right time.

I’m no big fan of the man, especially his anti-union position and his short sighted cancellation of a necessary rail tunnel project.  And even without these very good reasons not to like him, more often than not his demeanor is off-putting and discourages any potential empathy one could have.  And as we’re sitting on opposite sides of the table to begin with, it makes it that much harder to find common ground; about the only thing we share is an appreciation of the Springsteen song “She’s the One”…

But you watch him in the middle of a crisis like this, and the first thing going through your mind is, “Thank God he’s here.”  Come the 11th hour, and the ten before that don’t count anymore.

And I find myself surrounded by lots of people who also can’t put up with the man, but can’t see anyone else they’d rather see at the tiller when the storms pick up.  And all of us who are feeling that, when we admit to those feelings, come to the same conclusion…

…namely, how much this reminds us of Rudy Giuliani.

Everyone remembers Mayor Giuliani’s handling of 9/11.  Most of the folk who call him “America’s Mayor” don’t recall Abner Louima, Amadou Diallo, or any of the other ham-fisted “my-only-tool-is-a-big-hammer” policies he used for the other seven years and eight months of his term.  Heck, he and I share no Springsteen songs in common, especially since Giuliani threw out all of the Boss’ records he owned when “American Skin” came out…

But when you look back on those bad days in 2001 and ask, “Who would have been better?” and can’t answer that, it keeps you awake at night the more you consider the questions it raises.  Questions about what it takes to be the right person for a crisis when the shit gets real, what happens to the hero while waiting for the moment for that person to come forward, wondering if whether you could do as well or better were it you, why the good people you know never seem to be the ones tested should it all get royally screwed (while secretly hoping that moment never comes).
And that questions ultimately lead to the query, could Superman be an asshole?  Does the guy in blue and red with the big “S” on his chest become unbearable when he’s not putting Luthor in his place, keeping us from kneeling before Zod, changing the course of might rivers flooding over their banks, and whatever else needs be done on behalf of truth, justice and the American way?  If he didn’t have a Fortress of Solitude to get the hell away from us and stay there, would he be insufferable to be around?  Would he even know who Bruce Springsteen is…?

Given half a chance, would Superman be like we see him in SUPERMAN III?  All the fucking time, without needing synthetic kryptonite as an excuse to be a complete dick?  Would we find that all those covers and panels at Superdickery.com were not taken out of context?

Is there really anything in the real world to make me fear finding my superheroes are not all that super? Hey, the way Frank Miller took it out on Occupy Wall Street last year, it’s not exactly a baseless worry…

It’s enough to make you swear by Captain Marvel, had National Comics not sued his ass away for a while, the bastards…

At least until Brainiac shows up; and then, well…