#krypton as a spartan society

[superbat-love]

When Superman gave him the kryptonite, Bruce felt touched that Kal-El would trust him, a human, that much. He knew that Superman was wary of humans when he first crash-landed on Earth a year ago, receiving a less than warm welcome from the military. If it hadn't been for the Justice League's intervention, Superman would have been locked up under Amanda Waller's watch.

It took months of fighting side by side on the battlefield before Superman accepted Batman's invitation to join the Justice League. As a show of mutual trust, Bruce provided Superman with plans to neutralize him in case he went rogue, and Superman entrusted any kryptonite he found to Batman for safekeeping.

They worked well together, and Superman had Batman's back in every fight against supervillains. While they had their ups and downs like any relationship, their conflicts never lasted long. That's why Bruce was puzzled when Superman started acting coldly towards him all of a sudden.

Bruce may not be the most emotionally aware being, but he could tell when someone was deliberately avoiding him. The rest of the Justice League noticed the tension and tried to mediate the situation. It was then that Superman suddenly accused him of cheating.

“You slept with that redheaded woman!” he yelled. Bruce tried hard to recall which woman Superman was talking about. Had he accidentally slept with Superman's lover? Then Superman continued, “I was patient, waiting for you to be ready to consummate our marriage, but you broke our sacred marriage contract! Clearly, you don't love me anymore!”

Bruce felt like he had entered the twilight zone. His mind spiraled as he frantically tried to remember when he had gotten married to the Kryptonian. It turns out that Superman fighting off the supervillains trying to get to him was part of a courtship ritual on Krypton. When Batman had invited Superman into the Justice League, Superman had taken it as a marriage proposal to join his inner circle, and they had exchanged weapons to seal the deal. It seems that Kryptonians had long, and pretty bloody, courtship rituals revolving around proving their strength to their partner and exchanging rare objects. Verbal declarations were unnecessary.

Bruce had been married to Superman for months, and he didn't even know it.

[catie-does-things]

A Foundation Has To Be Built On Something: Zod and Leonidas

Since I watched 300 for the first time I’ve been thinking a lot about the similarities between Leonidas in that movie and Zod in Man of Steel, which is of course a later Zack Snyder movie. This post is me attempting to put some of those ideas into words.

The thought that struck me immediately from the opening scene of 300 was, “Wow, this is like the opening of Man of Steel.” Starting with a baby in his father’s hands is a visual connection, and then I thought the description of the Spartan eugenic practices also has echoes in how Kryptonian society is portrayed in MoS. Krypton might not leave children to die of exposure at birth but they have also rigorously controlled the breeding of their population to make people into what they believe are the ideal for their society.

Except the baby we see in the opening scene of Man of Steel is Kal-El, whose very existence defies Krypton’s eugenic order, whereas the baby we see at the start of 300 is Leonidas, who is narratively Sparta’s most perfect exemplar. And the character who narratively is the exemplar of Krypton in Man of Steel is Zod, who, also like Leonidas, is born and bred to be a warrior, to defend his people against any threat no matter how high the cost. A proud, uncompromising man, willing to spill as much blood as it takes to achieve his goals - but also with a strong sense of honor. There’s a line from one of the other Spartans about no adversary yet being able to grant him a noble death that felt very reminiscent of Faora’s “A good death is its own reward” line in Man of Steel, further highlighting the similarities of the warrior cultures that the two characters come from.

Like Kal-El’s existence as a naturally conceived child defies Krypton’s eugenic practices, there is also a character in 300 whose existence defies the ways of Sparta - the hunchback Ephialtes, who is twice rejected by his own people. Because of his physical deformity, he is rejected the first time at birth, forcing his parents to flee the city to save him from death. Yet Ephialtes still desires to prove himself a true Spartan, only to be denied this chance by Leonidas in a second rejection. Since it is Ephialtes who will then betray them to the Persians, there is a very real link between Sparta’s lack of compassion for those who do not fit their society’s ideal and their defeat.

In Man of Steel we see a sort of mirroring of this. Krypton’s destruction at the start of the film is linked to its stagnation and overconfidence in their supposed ideal society, but there is a chance to recreate Krypton thanks to the genetic codex hidden in Kal-El’s own body. Kal-El, like Ephialtes, is an outcast - both rejected by Zod initially as a blasphemous creation, and a loner on Earth as well. But where Ephialtes seeks inclusion in the warrior society of Sparta and is rejected again by Leonidas, Kal-El is actually offered a place in Zod’s new Krypton, and it is Kal-El who refuses to be a part of a society built on a foundation of bones - the same foundation we saw that Sparta is built on in the opening scene of 300.

This time, in Man of Steel, it is not the eugenic society that once again rejects the outcast, but the outcast who gets to reject the eugenic society. Krypton once again falls. Zod falls as Leonidas did - trying to take as many of the enemy with him as he can. And as with the defeat of the Spartans there is a direct link between the destruction of Zod’s new Krypton and the individual that Kryptonian eugenics rejected. But unlike Ephialtes, who betrays Sparta out of spite in exchange for selfish pleasures, Kal-El only turns against Krypton in defense of Earth and the possibility that the people of Earth can build a society that is better than Krypton was, a society whose foundation will not be death and destruction.

300 has its Spartan protagonists talk a big game about their society being one of freedom - but I don’t think we can forget that its opening scene shows it is built on the bones of the innocent. Frank Miller said of the graphic novel the movie is adapted from that he was fascinated by the paradoxes of the Spartan people, and this undoubtedly is one. Personally, I find it fascinating that later in Zack Snyder’s opus we see him use a fictional society with so many similarities to Sparta, but this time show it in a more directly critical light, and use Zod and Kal-El as a pair of character foils with so many similarities to Leonidas and Ephialtes - but with the hero and villain roles flipped. And I doubt this is pure coincidence.

After all, when Zod stages his coup at the beginning of Man of Steel, what does Jor-El say to him? “What are you doing, Zod? This is madness!” Overthrowing the ruling council while the planet is facing destruction might seem like madness. Trying to recreate the same failed eugenic society that already led to its own destruction might seem like madness. But by his actions, Zod might as well have replied, “This! Is! Krypton!”

[mylifeisfruk4ever]

After realizing the miscommunication, Superman asked him, "So what should I do to woo you according to Earth's customs? Should I go to bed with you first?"

Bruce almost chokes on his own saliva and really has no idea how to answer the question.

"I'm not exactly the marriage type."

"Oh...then partner?"

"Partners as..."

"Partners for life," Superman replied.

Oh. Okay, so an alien demigod wanted him.

Bruce had somehow seduced Superman and had no idea how he did it. Seriously, Superman had a low bar. Extremely low.

Superman could have anyone. He could have had Diana, dammit. Bruce was sure she wouldn't even need to think about it. Those two were perfect, in every way. A match made in heaven.

Bruce, on the other hand, was just a messed up kid.

"I'm a rotten work," Bruce found himself saying.

Superman's expression pained, "Not to me. Please...let me show you how worthy you are in my eyes...in the right way..."

When Superman gave him the kryptonite, Bruce felt touched that Kal-El would trust him, a human, that much. He knew that Superman was wary of humans when he first crash-landed on Earth a year ago, receiving a less than warm welcome from the military. If it hadn't been for the Justice League's intervention, Superman would have been locked up under Amanda Waller's watch.

It took months of fighting side by side on the battlefield before Superman accepted Batman's invitation to join the Justice League. As a show of mutual trust, Bruce provided Superman with plans to neutralize him in case he went rogue, and Superman entrusted any kryptonite he found to Batman for safekeeping.

They worked well together, and Superman had Batman's back in every fight against supervillains. While they had their ups and downs like any relationship, their conflicts never lasted long. That's why Bruce was puzzled when Superman started acting coldly towards him all of a sudden.

Bruce may not be the most emotionally aware being, but he could tell when someone was deliberately avoiding him. The rest of the Justice League noticed the tension and tried to mediate the situation. It was then that Superman suddenly accused him of cheating.

“You slept with that redheaded woman!” he yelled. Bruce tried hard to recall which woman Superman was talking about. Had he accidentally slept with Superman's lover? Then Superman continued, “I was patient, waiting for you to be ready to consummate our marriage, but you broke our sacred marriage contract! Clearly, you don't love me anymore!”

Bruce felt like he had entered the twilight zone. His mind spiraled as he frantically tried to remember when he had gotten married to the Kryptonian. It turns out that Superman fighting off the supervillains trying to get to him was part of a courtship ritual on Krypton. When Batman had invited Superman into the Justice League, Superman had taken it as a marriage proposal to join his inner circle, and they had exchanged weapons to seal the deal. It seems that Kryptonians had long, and pretty bloody, courtship rituals revolving around proving their strength to their partner and exchanging rare objects. Verbal declarations were unnecessary.

Bruce had been married to Superman for months, and he didn't even know it.