reconstructwriter

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refseek.com

www.worldcat.org/

link.springer.com

http://bioline.org.br/

repec.org

science.gov

pdfdrive.com

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Superman 2025 Thoughts

Overall I liked this movie. It was fun. It was heartwarming. It was a little silly and a lot more sincere for it. Superman 2025 wasn’t afraid to have its mushy moments and its caring moments and its ridiculous stuff. Now unlike Sinners (2025) this didn’t blow away my expectations so far out of the park and I would make some changes to it if I got the chance. But it was an enjoyable movie with depth and heart:

Not as long as my Sinners rambling but a long one fair warning! Also spoilers ahead.

The Boravian invasion of Jarhanpur is clearly based on current events, both the Russian invasion of Ukraine – the rhetoric used to justify it, friendship between a country’s dictator and a powerful CEO – and Israel’s genocide of Palestine – the plot and goal behind the invasion, the invading country being a US ally. While several people bring up problems with Superman’s ‘didn’t think this through’ approach to stopping the war, the narrative remains firmly on the side of Jarhanpur all the way to the end. In a time where even non-profits are banning aid to Palestine this is a bold move and a much needed one from a moral and narrative standpoint – an invasion turns out to be a problem no amount of strength can solve.

Speaking of bold moves this movie also goes hard into Immigration, the conflict of those who immigrate both within and without. Superman’s character development is centered around his internal conflict between where he was born and where he was raised. So many people here refer to Superman as alien and foreign – which makes it easier to turn people against him. Finally there’s his experience in captivity – he’s beaten up for no reason other than malevolence, not read his rights and stripped of those rights because he’s ‘an alien’, disappeared quite literally off the face of the earth and tortured both physically and emotionally. Hot Damn if that is not exactly what is happening in this country Right Now! I know DC is as money-grubbing as any other company but they at least use their multi-billion dollar platform to speak out against crap like this!

The scene where Malik is dragged down and forced to play a game of Russian roulette by Lex Luthor is just heart-breaking, but I don’t think its just a ‘poor little lamb’ situation. Malik chooses to help the fallen Superman back to his feet, he chooses not to submit to interrogation and does everything he can to convince Superman of the same. He chooses to be a hero and in the face of his choices Lex Luthor coldly murders him in a game, but Metamorpho chooses to help Superman. Ultimately he subverts the mauve shirt trope and is given a front pager on the Daily Planet as a hero at the end.

Superman’s capture also gives other characters a chance to shine – namely Lois Lane and Mr. Terrific! Much like in Man of Steel Lois Lane plays a larger role in this movie, from being the devil’s advocate against Superman’s rash actions and constant ‘self-interviews’ to being the one who actually writes – well dictates because she’s also flying at the time – the story which busts Lex Luthor. Finally she goes further in this movie as the rescuer instead of the damsel in distress!

Which she definitely couldn’t have done without Mr. Terrific. Of the Justice Gang he might be the most ruthless – being the one to kill the Kaiju earlier by feeding it bombs (ouch) – yet of the three Superheroes he’s the only one moved enough to partner up with Lois Lane to rescue Superman, who’s a political prisoner of the US government. It’s his ride that gets them there, his technology and kick-ass that gets them both through the camp and portal and locates Superman. He’s also the one who shuts down the rift creeping through Metropolis and towards Gotham, casually slapping aside one of Luthor’s scientists with a satisfying ‘I don’t need your help’. And he doesn’t. He's terrific!

The movie also avoids most ‘and the Cops and/or US military saves the day’. Everyone else saves the day: superheroes of course but also the reporters in the Daily Planet, the surprising mole in Luthor’s camp and hell Malik does more against Luthor than cops or military, I’d argue. The only ‘on the side of the heroes’ thing they really do is arrest the bad guy right at the end – after everyone else has done all the hard work and sacrifices of exposing and stopping him.

I also love the characterization. Superman feels and feels freely. He rages, he cries, he’s got heart in a way the character has been missing for the last couple of films. People will die if he doesn’t do this thing and that’s his biggest consideration. While he comes off as hot-headed he’s NEVER malicious, even to his enemies. This Superman feels, after just this movie, the kind of person a world of people would mourn if he were killed.

I also love Lex as the villain – a quintessential villain of our time. He’s the tech bro who cares about popularity and having a spotlight on his massive ego at all time. He’s the billionaire face of every ‘eat the rich’ slogan for the violence he commits against billions, against multiple countries for petty envy. Finally he’s an arms-dealer who is just fine with war and genocide just to be able to murder one man. He uses and abuses Ultraman like a mere video game character to hurt Superman. He's petty, murderous and cares for nothing beyond his own ego. While both he and Superman are shown losing their tempers, he’s the one who throws stuff at his girlfriend in a petty desire to hurt. Superman at most does some property damage to someone who can replace it with his pocket change and then some.

Then there’s Superman’s parents. Jonathan says it best when he says: "Parents aren't for tellin' their kids who they're supposed to be. We are here to give you tools to make fools of yourselves all on your own."

Now THAT is what a parent should be! And in a time where cries of ‘for the children!’ and ‘parental rights!’ are reaching their peak it’s a saying that dearly needs said. A moment of true parental love, of being proud of what your kid made THEMSELVES, not what you made them. Meanwhile Jor-El and Lara end up being an up to eleven variant of parents who direct and/or live through their kids and call it love. It’s wrong of parents to treat their kids as extensions of themselves and I’m glad the Kents are having none of that.

Eve is a surprising breakout! I love that the seemingly airheaded self-absorbed girlfriend pulls one over Lex. Given she knows about the dimensional prison and the fate of Luthor’s other ex-girlfriends and his surveillance its little wonder she subtly gathered dirt on him and its a clever way to do so. While I might not get her fixation on Jimmy he's objectively not a bad choice given her situation. Finally, once Luthor initiates physical violence against her, she’s done – and the movie also shows what reporting an abuser costs too!

Superman 2025 also comes with a lot of allusions, references and outright compilations of other stories, characters and more from older movies and comics, so Super-nerds should be very happy. And they aren't obnoxious about these nods like Star Wars has been. That being said there was room for improvement here:

The twist of Jor-El and Lara’s message actually being ‘we love you now go forth and conquer, subjugate these lesser beings and give us a billion grandbabies off them’ is bonkers. I feel like it upends the film’s general pro-immigrant message by being a summation of the worst cliché anti-immigrant fears. Also anyone with an amateur’s understanding of biology or linguistics, if that, should be able to poke some logic-shaped holes in this. I’d rather the movie have stuck closer to the original comics they were inspired by or at least used ambiguous words. ‘Master’, for example, can be used ominously while still having very different meanings depending on the culture even here on earth.

*tired sigh* Can we stop undermining our own narratives with bigotry.

Speaking of...

The Perfect Victim myth is a tired lie with unfortunate implications – far moreso when applied to an entire country and especially given the irl invasions and genocides going on right now. We don’t need to further ingrain the message that any PoC (or any target of a wrong) fighting back, even against the worst invasion, colonialism and fucking genocide, is ‘just as bad’. The Boravian army and president weren’t stopped by anything less than violence and the level of heroicness isn’t diminished if people from Jarhanpur do so as the Justice Gang. Instead of the Justice Gang being the cavalry to the rescue or something, the movie shows Jarhanpur farmers with hand tools fleeing helplessly before the might of Boravia tanks and focuses on teary-eyed kids hoisting a home-made Superman flag.

Ultraman/Superman’s Clone – Superman’s attitude towards him undermined his otherwise compassionate characterization. He had all the kindness in the world for robots without programmed personalities and random squirrels but why not even a direct word to his own clone? Here is a man, stranger and brother, who was no doubt raised in hell as a child super soldier. Has Ultraman known one kind word, one gesture of compassion in all his short, brutal life? Couldn’t Superman have given...well anything except a ye ole bog standard superhero fight scene. I don’t see any continuation of ‘choices make the man’ theme here or acknowledgment that each could’ve been the other in a different life. Even a short two-sentence exchange of Superman rehashing his father’s words to his clone and Ultraman shouting ‘then I choose to kill you!’ would be more meaningful.

Beyond those issues I’m mostly nit-picking the rest of my complaints.

While I loved Mr. Terrific’s stand-out character my favorite of the JLA back in the day was Hawkgirl and I was a little worried about how she’d be portrayed in a movie where she’s contrasted with a wholesome hero. I mean, she is a more temperamental, ruthless hero who would be well-contrasted with this Superman. The results didn’t make me rage-quit but did disappoint. I think she got the least amount of spotlight and most of what she did get was focused on her surface traits, not her depth. Disappointment.

Though at least they don’t pair her up with this Green Lantern. That would’ve just been an insult.

If I’d been Superman I would’ve probably been just as bull-headed in stopping the war, but I’d have dragged the Boravia dictator out onto the battlefield he created instead of a random cactus. It rubs his own shit in his face better, has a bigger intimidation factor as he’s surrounded by all the tanks and weapons I’ve turned into so much scrap metal and gives me a stronger bargaining position. Not only does he need me to get him out of here but every second we stay ups his chances of getting shot. It’d still be a political nightmare – given the politics of the day are a-okay with genocide was there a politically correct option for Superman? – but the treatment would be less of a public relations fiasco.

Finally technological incompetence played for laughs is cliché. Sure, there’s rural folks who are that bad and worse – though often for unfunny poverty/lack of resources reasons – but come on I’ve heard this one a million times.

Also their accents? I thought they were supposed to be from Kansas, not my neck o’ the woods.

[reconstructwriter]

in a world where a prominent branch of anti-trans activism focuses on fearmongering about "parents' rights," trans rights and youth rights become inextricable.

trans kids deserve to be called the right pronouns and the right name by schools and doctor's offices, regardless of "parental consent." trans kids deserve to undergo the right puberty at the same time as their cis peers, regardless of "parental consent."

the very concept of "parents' rights" is a smokescreen that enables the abuse and dehumanization of children by adults. this is bad for cis kids, too.

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Picture IDs:

First Image [picture of a brightly-polished 16th century greatsword with a bow-shaped crossguard ending in spirals, an elongated black hilt, a blade with two spikes jutting out near the point of balance while the rest of the blade length has wavy cutting edges instead of straight, tapering sharply to a point at the very end]

Second image [art of a Jedi Temple Guard in medieval full-plate and billowing pink trousers/waistcoat combo. The Jedi has a greatsword-sized yellow lightsaber held with two hands in a guard position (specifically Zornhut, the wrath guard), hilt held over the shoulder, sword pointed at the foe from behind the back and stance kept low, wide and ready to deliver a strong diagonal cut.]

urge to make an oc who is head of the temple guard and casually wields a huge fucking zweihänder-sized lightsaber. like with a massive hilt and everything. i'm talking 16th century german battlesword type shit.

he wears plate armor. he is huge. it is like he came to the galaxy far far away straight from a dark souls game. and anakin WILL be hearing boss music during o66.

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Good/Bad media alignment chart

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Temeraire really said: yeah, sex is cool, but have you tried math and revolution?

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“Mon is not fully committed to the Cause yet, she hasn't given up her life and enjoys her status quo—” Mon Mothma is doing money laundry to fund terrorist activity/organization. Do people understand that? I think it's important people understand that.

from the perspectives of Imperial auditors and financial regulators that’s literally what she’ll be charged with if she’s caught. Slush fund accounts and blaming Perrin's gambling and strategic child marriages only cover her tracks until the right financial regulator goes looking; until one civil servant with the same amount of Freak as Syril Karn decides to go after discrepancies and she no longer can paper over the cracks. She's being observed by her own driver. She's got enemies everywhere, yearly financial audits, and multiple obligations to powerful people. She's borrowing time with a highest interest rate known to man and she will have to pay that debt with everything she holds dear.

Mon has long been radicalised; she's put everything on the line as down payment for it. She just puts up a front so well it’s apparently tricked the audience.

Moreover, the political thesis of the show is that resistance is everywhere; it’s an old lady clearing the underground rain tunnels for potential rebels as well as it is manifestos and prison breaks and overt attacks on Imperial buildings.

It’s also one person in the heart of the imperial core committing stunning amounts of financial crime.

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in this fantasy world, theres no homophobia or sexism! but the governments are still patriarchal monarchies and everyone still adheres to the standard nuclear family, two things that have absolutely no relation to homophobia and sexism whatsoever

[reconstructwriter]

Made this handy-dandy chart and I'm going to leave it here.

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I promise this isnt an ad, I just NEED people to know you can smell like Maul. 😭 The heavy grit implies this man is smooth AF.

Let Obi-Wan soothe you:

The Vader one is brutal, why they do it to him like that, chokeberry, smoke, charcoal and SAND:

And why not smell like Yoda?:

Was very entertaining to just find these out in the wild lol

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ok i absolutely need to know what accents u all have pls reblog and tell me or comment or whatever I must know

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Anyone else very tired of this Government or is it just me and this heavyweight dragon

[reconstructwriter]

Anas Family: https://www.gofundme.com/f/restoring-hope-for-my-family-and-gazas-struggling-communit

Vetted here: https://www.tumblr.com/nabulsi/751918758055002112/donate-to-help-anas-family-in-gaza-save-us-from?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/enasfamily55/ https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-enas-and-her-children-in-gaza

Vetted by @gazavetters #630

Nessma’s Family: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-nessmas-family-survive-war-hardships?attribution_id=sl%3A9b8ccc83-85f3-41cd-a74f-87712f1f724d&lang=en_GB

Vetted by @gazavetters #530

@eileenfamily14: https://www.gofundme.com/f/f7zj4-help-eileens-family-in-their-time-of-need?attribution_id=sl%3Acafc9021-71b4-4c2f-9b23-6068c813f671&lang=en_US

Vetted here: https://www.tumblr.com/90-ghost/784419084061245440?source=share

@gazaali-3: https://www.gofundme.com/f/2kknnp-help-us-to-leave-gaza?qid=e6ee6fee732632f50fd21642cb24f84b

Vetted here: https://www.tumblr.com/a-shade-of-blue/777226753332625408/vetted-by-association-they-are-a-neighbour-of?source=share

[reconstructwriter]

two million people starving to death because it's geopolitically convenient and we're all expected to go about our day normally like the casual cruelty on display for the past two years has been so insane to me like i'm not even trying to make a point it's just truly something i can't wrap my mind around