We waited for the return of our hero, refreshing our browsers, flipping through channels and digging through old periodicals. We’ve spent days asking “where can I go to see if I need the Man of Steel or not?” Is this some innate desire that we have for our questions to be answered or is it something more?
The articles were printed all over questioning if we needed the man of steel. People argued bitterly over the topic. High schoolers wrote essays. There was no consensus. Now that time has passed, we can see that we don’t need articles about needing Superman.
Yes that very question was vital once upon a time but society hasn’t changed. We know the lessons that each article argued. We know how some people say that he slows us down while others say he inspires us but we have not changed. We are still the weak mortals that could be surviving with or without the man of steel.
The articles had moved papers. After his death they moved more and even more so after he returned but they turned into dark repetitions of questions that were unable to be answered. It became a rhetorical being that didn’t matter.
There are more important stories to be told through the print though. As not if we need the man or not, simply give us the entertainment and information that we want. If you want us to question if we need the last son of Krypton show him as a bastion of strength attempting to do what is right. Show him dealing with the threats that he must fight against. Don’t ask if we need him directly, let him interact with our lives that we might ask the question and come to our own decision, something that defines how we live.