#champion of the oppressed

[superstory62]

I’ve been reading Morrison’s Action Comics and I’m really hoping that we can see more of this “Champion of the Oppressed” stuff return.

Superman is interesting because while he does go on cosmic level adventures, he can always do street level work. He can halt robberies, fight corrupt politicians, take down abusers, and all that. And another modern take on that side of the character could do great things like having Superman protect college protestors from cops beating on them.

Clark Kent can publish stories about the evils landlords and expose the corrupt workings of business practices. Clark Kent can report news as it happens, not vague interpretations of it. And he should demonstrate the power that the pen, combined with the truth, has.

Superman can protect immigrants from aggressive xenophobes. He can tell the world that trans rights are human rights, and he should help and protect trans kids. He can fight neo-Nazis. He can save people from horrible floodings that are in no doubt caused by climate change. He should give people trips to the hospital for free so they don’t have to take their bank account with an ambulance ride.

But let me be clear. He should NOT be superpowered cop. No superhero should be, lest you are using the character to critique cops and policing practices. But Superman? If Superman encounters an individual hooked on illegal drugs, he takes them to a clinic and tries to help; he does NOT drop them off at the police station. If he sees homeless people, he provides them with a hot meal, and helps them find shelter. Maybe he even breaks hostile architecture he sees. He does not turn “loiterers” in to the police.

Superman can be a power fantasy sometimes. Sometimes Superman stories are about facing down great evils and flying through space and having so much power that no one can touch you.

But he is more than that, I think. He is a helper. A firefighter. He saves the day, he makes the world a better place. He is more than a power fantasy. He is the fantasy of us, of the dreamers, the fantasy of our dream to make the world a better place. To do the things we wish we could. He is the fantasy of helping.

Superman should show us all the ways we can help people. And then we can be Superman, too.

[syppys-den]

Earth 1605 playlist, whaddya think?

[poppetsisters]

LEGO Fleischer Superman

[russilton]

Incase anyone needed a casual reminder that Norris is an utter asshole.

If you hear that drivers were sick and your first response is to be mad about them admitting it, you are an ass

[yuri-for-businesswomen]

barely lukewarm take of the century

[syppys-den]

and also a nice mythology gag ^^

"Subject switches from a shy, soft-spoken demeanor to a more confident, commanding presence, depending on the circumstance. This feels like a man who cannot help but be earnest"

Not a very professional way to write a military report (particularly that part in which she says he smells so good), but still very nice to read Lois thoughts on Kal on this issue, they had some good moments in it

From Absolute Superman #2 (2024)

[bobbinalong]

✈️ : What is one thing about canon that you'd change?

I have thought about this long and hard and I think I'd leave all of the big characters alone and make Pa Kent canonically trans. It'd change everything and nothing and it would piss off all the right people.

Ask Game :)

[themyscirah]

Reading shit comics kind of sucks but at least I get the satisfaction of proving my own point w this

[nando161mando]

Green Brigades continue to set an example for all antifa in the world. Despite sanctions, the aggression of the German fascist police, and attacks from fake “antifa” (there are especially many of these clowns in Germany). True to their anti-colonial line, Celtic's ultras are one of those tribunes who regularly emphasize their support for all the oppressed, particularly the Palestinian people. This week in the Champions League, in Dortmund.

https://t.me/anticolonialantifa/60

https://t.me/anticolonialantifa/57

[daydreamerdrew]

All-Star Comics (1940) #8, published in October 1941

[website-com]

very autistic media day

[madametamma]

"At what point will you stop endangering our city? You may have the masses fooled but those of us who MATTER are keeping their eye on you."

Hank Henshaw basically leaning into what I'm saying. All those elite members of society who turned on Superman at the symposium don't actually care about people. "Protecting the city" is really just "Protecting their own interests."

They claim they need to stop Superman to protect America, while in the same breath strait up saying that most people don't matter.

I've been seeing a lot of "Metropolis hates Superman" posts out there but here's the thing, they don't.

The average citizen LOVES Superman. They all chipped in to save him near the end of last season. They wave at him as he flies past. Dr. Irons tries to find someway to contact Superman for help because his of reputation.

Normal people can have their hearts changed and open up. The ones who DO hate Superman are the ones who have a Investment in him being gone.

The Metropolis elite, The wealthy, those with power in the government. The people whom (Baring a massive earth threatening event) would be fine without him. The cops would listen to them. the best lawyers would would work on their behalf and they can hire any trained muscle to do the rest.

And why wouldn't they hate him? They were the most powerful people out there until comes Superman in redefining what power even looks like. Ivo was the type of guy who'd normally never face consequences for his actions but once Superman got involved, he was deservedly ruined.

And what freaks them out even more is that Superman is not acting like how a powerful person normally acts. He's not using his power to gain more power and influence like they do. He's just giving his time energy and services away for free to anyone who asks or needs them. They can't compete with that. How are they supposed to stay as the top dog whom all the little people will pay to get all the solutions from with him around?

Forget all those grim dark takes on Superheros that claim "This is what superheros would be like in the real world.

THIS is what being a superhero in the real world would look like.

[musashi]

i want more nuance to be entered into the discussion of the green girl sorority and how differently cynthia plays elphaba in comparison to those who came before her because while a lot of people are rightfully like "why was elphaba not black from the beginning" and celebrating that she is now being played by a black woman, i think we need to be careful in just writing off all the elphabas of the past as Random White Girls when the role was championed (and often followed/succeeded) by a jewish woman

the pop culture archetype of the Wicked Witch has deep roots in antisemitism stretching faaaar far back. there is a level of reclamation happening in casting idina menzel, a jewish woman, to play the Misunderstood and Maligned young girl who is branded as exactly that. and stage!Elphaba is also written and acted with jewish stereotypes in mind--she is loud, aggressive, no-nonsense, blunt. she is quick to advocate for herself and shut down the discrimination she faces. all of this is very intentional! her personality is abrasive from years of abuse, and that makes propagandizing her easy. this is literally the thesis statement of the musical--it's not about aptitude, it's the way you're viewed.

cynthia's performance of elphaba is fucking INSPIRED despite going in a completely different direction. she's much more reserved, analytical, one of her key character traits is how well she can read people (see her calling out Galinda as insecure/putting on airs in their first scene together, clocking that Fiyero is using his party guy persona as a shield for his own depression) elphaba's attempts to blend in and make herself smaller all fail simply because of her existence, if not that then because she feels empathy so strongly she often struggles to hold back from acting, protecting.

personality wise, though, cynthia's elphaba is very quiet and closed-off, not at all the bullet-to-the-face that she is in the stage show, and... she still gets propagandized and maligned. though this seems to contradict the other interpretation, it tells of the other end of the spectrum of propaganda, one that black women watching (and many, MANY other marginalized folks) are sure to identify with--it does not matter how "nice," how reserved, how small a black woman makes herself. a racist society will still scrutinize her every action for a way to parse ill intent from it, brand her as an angry black woman who is dangerous and wicked, and write off any humanity she has in the process.

these two very different interpretations tell of the lie of assimilation. the fact of the matter is, when you are marginalized, there is no way to sand down your edges enough to make the people oppressing you "accept" you. that is why wicked is a tragedy at its core. whether loud and aggressive or quiet and unimposing, there is nothing elphaba could have done to make the people of Oz see her as anything other than a scapegoat to blame all their problems on.

so while i definitely appreciate that people are excited for black girl era elphaba, i would encourage us all to still show appreciation for what came before--that was not white girl era elphaba. that was jewish girl era elphaba. two houses, both alike in dignity, two stories both worth being told.

[brunnhildeps]

You're strong. You're a warrior. I know you are because you're still standing, even after all the adversity you had to face to get this far. Our enemies will do everything they can to try and break us. They'll take from us till we think we have nothing left. Not all of us are going to survive. But we'll still be standing when they aren't, understand? Ours is a legacy of survivors, who endured oppression since the beginning of time. Long after every tyrant has fallen, we'll still be standing strong. Stronger than ever. Because we aren't just us, we're everyone who has ever suffered. Took a belt, took a punch, got their rights taken, their benefits taken, anything. People are out there who don't even know they're one of us, but they are. They'll see one day. Our numbers will double. Triple.

We didn't need to win today. The people like us have never won. Not really. Not for a long or significant time. Not anywhere I've ever been, or anywhere I've ever known someone from. But we will. I promise you.

We'll win.

[hussyknee]

Yeah the people in the notes going "obviously the government isn't the people" are missing the point, which is that being white and western and therefore a beneficiary of the colonial order consistently breeds racism and apathy towards the suffering of Black and brown and Global South people. Ireland maybe a little better than the rest of Europe but at the end of the day there's still no incentive to interrogate their privilege. Praising it inordinately for showing the bare minimum of decency allows them to cover up all the ways they're also complicit and uninvested. Give the privileged an inch and they take a mile.

anyway in the past week the irish government has voted down two motions which would have condemned the genocide in gaza.

i need everyone to stop lionising ireland as if its not also a european government with strong ties to the us. american weapons pass through shannon airport and will continue to, because yesterday the motion to stop that was voted down 83 to 50.

other governments have done much more but somehow people still act as though ireland is the ultimate palestinian ally and exempt from criticism on its handling of palestine bc it was once colonised, even though that past experience clearly isnt being taken into account by the irish government when creating policy.

i live here i know there’s a lot of public support and sympathy for palestine, which is great, but that isnt reflected in government, and i think ireland should be treated like other countries whose governments have done nothing.

[saintkevorkian]

NB:

trans theory presupposes male and female personalities. Some might consider this most basic premise rather dubious

trans women say trans women are women

many cis women say trans women are not women

per trans theory, this difference of opinion amounts to a zero sum game: that is to say, choosing to align with one group silences the other.

if one entertains the possibility that trans women might be men, then one has according to neoliberal orthodoxy done the expected thing and silenced the oppressed group, on the order of the oppressor, for speaking out against their oppression. (of course it is also possible the reverse phenomenon has taken place; if one is unwilling or unable to entertain possibilities however unpalatable they might at first seem--no, sorry; these are weasel words. if going against the grain is too difficult, then what are you doing philosophising honestly)

(in parentheses because it isn't a fact, but a likelihood relevant to the coherence of the argument -- the purpose of philosophy is not to while away the hours but to use all available mental strategies to answer difficult questions.)

there isn't any sort of net material advantage to be gained from becoming a woman

worldwide, the female body is seen as an object into which men implant pregnancies. There is a strong culture of disadvantage and disrespect that comes with this perception, and forms an ineluctable part of womanhood for all but the luckiest women. This is tied to simply having a uterus and being seen through the lens of farming and husbandry (next bullet point). It isn't clear how someone's personal feelings about their preferred social or sexual roles opts them into this reality

women have been oppressed since the stone age, in which the oldest known written document describes gifting a male ruler with a child bride. the possibly sudden and apparently worldwide oppression of women correlated with civilisation and settlement and may not have much applicability to nomadic groups as recently as a few hundred years ago (nomadic groups require a more maverick mindset than agrarian societies, particularly established ones -- as such nomads possibly cannot afford to oppress half the population).

women were the last group to be allowed to own property in most countries, and (this isn't a fact but most people would agree--) in a non-collective society, if you cannot own, you are liable yourself to be owned.

the different treatment of women (which as far as science can tell might be the only thing to account for any large-scale personality variations between women and men) most likely arose from the time it takes a woman vs a man to produce children, the strong, almost causal connection between wellbeing of mother and child in early life, and some amount of physical disability in the last months before childbirth

just like 'wiggers' aren't black despite feeling theyve had 'the black experience', it's not clear that any marked group contains an opt-in. an indicator of being marked is to find oneself without options, and to opt into not having options contains not only an element of absurdity but also, in fact, an apodictic prerogative. (if one chooses to burn all bridges and complain of the isolation... one still had a choice*)

(trans men are men, at least in english. it's mankind; we are all men. the extent to which those who do not fit neatly into one category or could pass as another but may have traits of both suffer discrimination and possibly violence is determined both by how each individual is perceived and by the authoritarian inclinations of the surrounding population. NB, strictly policed language and attempts at policing thought indicate increased authoritarian sentiment)

*Obviously, some choices are so cursed and miserable that there's not really anything to choose between the available options. But in cases where a certain path appears preferable, one assumes upon calculating the odds of certain outcomes it has been assessed as the optimal course for the group or ~representative subgroup. Alternatively, if the subgroup are acting against their own interests, one begins to suspect they might have been subjected to organised persuasion.