Conservatives Are Losing It Over Superman’s Basic Morality

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I read all about the hysterical right-wing reaction to writer-director James Gunn’s Superman reboot and the claims that it features “woke” Superman propaganda because the alien protagonist is represented as an illegal immigrant, according to YouTube commentator and professional loon Ben Shapiro. He also compared this kindly Man of Steel to New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, “whom he accused of having a ‘deep hatred’ of the United States.”

This all seemed silly at first, yet at the same time made me more apt to like the movie, as did the resulting conservative calls for a boycott that failed spectacularly. Superman cruised to a highly successful opening weekend box-office take and surprisingly good reviews as well.

However, nothing prepared me for the film’s clear evocation of Israel’s genocidal attacks on Gaza. We’re now living in such a state of weird self-censorship that Gunn himself is denying that’s what’s being represented in the film, saying as vaguely as possible, “This is a movie about kindness, and I think that’s something everyone can relate to.” He’s also made the absurd statement that, though the film is political in a way, “When I wrote this the Middle Eastern conflict wasn’t happening.”

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