"Man of Steel"

I recommend “Man of Steel,” which offers a darker take on the Superman story than audiences have seen in the past.  Combining traditional elements of the mythology with the more serious tone of post-9/11 comic book films, director Zack Snyder and producer Christopher Nolan have banished the memory of Bryan Singer’s “Superman Returns” (2006), reinvigorating the franchise.

Like the original “Superman” (1978), the film begins with the depiction of Kal-El’s leaving Krypton as an infant.  With the planet crumbling, Jor-El, played well by Russell Crowe, puts his only son on a ship to Earth.  After Kal’s departure, the evil General Zod (“Boardwalk Empire’s” Michael Shannon) kills Jor-El and declares that he will find his son.

Jor-El’s act of sending his son away to save him echoes the story of Moses from the Old Testament and Kal-El means “vessel of G-D” in Hebrew (Tye, 65-66). As I noted in my previous post on Superman, two Jewish American teenagers from Cleveland created the character during the 1930s and the influence of their religion and immigrant experience pervades the tale.  The destruction of Krypton can be seen as a metaphor for the Russian pogroms that forced Jews to leave Eastern Europe in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries or for Europe on the eve of the Second World War. Once on Earth, the Middle American Kent family adopts and raises Kal-El as Clark Kent and he tries to assimilate into humanity, but is not truly one of them, an experience shared by many immigrants who came to the United States.  Indeed, Kal El’s biological mother fears humans will see him as an “outcast” and a “freak.”  For more about Superman’s history, see http://popculturemeetshistory.blogspot.com/2013/06/supermans-history.html

Like “Batman Begins” (2005) and “Amazing Spider Man” (2012), “Man of Steel" is a much more cynical examination of its protagonist than previous incarnations.  Gone is the whimsy and humor of the Christopher Reeve films of the 1970s and 1980s, replaced by humanity’s fear of the alien other.  In the beginning of the movie, Clark Kent is working a series of odd jobs, quietly helping people on the way and then quickly moving on, much like David Banner in the “Incredible Hulk” TV show.  In a series of flashbacks, we see his adolescent struggles with his powers, which are far more traumatic than those experienced by Tom Welling’s Clark on TV’s “Smallville” (2001-2011).

As I’ve noted before, most film franchises have become more serious since 9/11 and one of the problems with “Superman Returns” was that is so consciously echoed the sensibility of the original films.  Not so with “Man of Steel.”  Indeed, the climactic action scenes eerily echo 9/11 as we see people fleeing dust and falling buildings. The contrast between Henry Cavill’s Superman and Christopher Reeve’s from the late 70s/early 80s is almost as stark as the difference between Daniel Craig’s James Bond and Roger Moore’s from the late 70s/early 80s.  For more, see http://popculturemeetshistory.blogspot.com/2011/09/post-911-popular-culture.html>

Overall, I very much enjoyed the film, though Snyder could have cut one major action sequence to make the story tighter.  At the end, Clark begins his traditional job at the Daily Planet, providing a nice conclusion to the movie and giving us hope that newspapers will still exist when the sequel debuts.

Larry Tye, Superman: The High-Flying History of America’s Most Enduring Hero, (New York, 2012)

Superman's History

With the premiere of “Man of Steel,” the latest iteration of the Superman legend, it is an appropriate time to analyze the history of the character on his 75^th anniversary.  Joe Schuster and Jerry Siegel, two Jewish-American teenagers from Cleveland, created Superman during the Great Depression, with DC Comics publishing Action Comics 1, the first comic book to feature Superman, in 1938. Many have interpreted Kal-El’s (Superman’s given name) flight from war-torn Krypton as a metaphor for the American immigrant experience in general, or perhaps for Jews trying to escape Europe during the 1930s.  Clark Kent’s sense of otherness as an “alien” in Middle-American Kansas can also be seen as an expression of the challenge of assimilation for the immigrants who arrived through Ellis Island between 1882-1924 and their children. During the depression, Superman reflected the politics of the time, acting as a proto-New Dealer, taking on corrupt landlords and businessman.

During the 1950s, Superman again reflected the ethos of his era, emerging as a champion of “truth, justice, and the American way,” during the Cold War with the Soviet Union.  This phrase, now closely linked to the character, first became central during this time (though it had been used briefly during World War II.)  The first Superman television show, the Adventures of Superman, premiered during this decade, starring George Reeves, from 1952-1958.

In the 1970s and early 1980s, Superman re-emerged with the Christopher Reeve films, which became the most famous and influential depiction of the superhero.  The success of the films can partly be attributable to the fact that director Richard Donner portrayed Superman as an incorruptible hero in the aftermath of the cynicism wrought by Vietnam and Watergate.  The film also served as a template for most of the comic book movies since then, clearly influencing Tim Burton’s and Christopher Nolan’s Batman films, as well as Sam Raimi’s Spider Man series.

The TV show “Smallville,” which premiered in 2001, can be seen as a 10-year prequel to the Christopher Reeve films and became the primary representation of the Superman myth for Generation Y.  Exploring Clark Kent’s coming-of-age in Kansas, which is only partially examined in the Donner film, “Smallville” shows the young Superman discovering his origins and learning to use his powers.  

After the failure of “Superman Returns” to revive the movie franchise in 2006, it appeared that the character might disappear from the big screen. With the strong opening box office for “Man of Steel,” however it seems likely that the character will continue to endure in films and other aspects of popular culture for the foreseeable future.

Sources: Bradford Wright, Comic Book Nation, (Baltimore, 2001)
Erik Lunegrad, "Truth, Justice and (Fill in the Blank), New York Times, June 30, 2006

"Mad Men," Season Six, Episode 10, 'Favors"

The Vietnam-era draft moved to center stage on “Mad Men” in  “Favors” as Mitchell Rosen, the son of Don’s ex-mistress, is in danger of being inducted into the military and sent to Southeast Asia in 1968.  Don tries to help, assisting Mitchell in a way that ends with mixed results.

Universal conscription prevailed during the World War II-era as the draft provided no exemptions for men attending college or graduate school.  In order to avoid a national debate over Vietnam, the Johnson Administration allowed for deferments for those in higher education during the 1960s.  As a result, most members of the American upper middle class did not serve and a smaller share of the population bore the burden of the conflict than in the Second World War.  According to the historian Christian Appy, 20 percent of the American soldiers who served in Vietnam were poor, 55 percent were working class, and 20 percent were middle class (though a larger share of the country participated in Vietnam than has served in the all-volunteer military of the post-9/11 wars).

Once out of school, young people with means often found ways to avoid the war.  Some used creative tactics to fail their physical, such as losing a tremendous amount of weight in advance.  Others found a friendly doctor to give them a medical exemption.  Finally, 30,000 people left the country altogether and journeyed to safe haven in Canada.

Mitchell Rosen is contemplating that path and Megan, herself a Canadian, considers helping him. “He can’t be on the run the rest of his life,” responds Don, no doubt thinking of his perpetual post-Korean War fear of being exposed as a fraud and deserter.  Instead, Don tries to find a way for Mitchell to gain another exemption.  Though a student, Mitchell sent back his draft card in protest and has been classified as 1A, or available for service.

Don tries to see if his new clients at General Motors will help, but like many Americans, they express disgust toward those who try to avoid the draft.  Even Arnold Rosen, a Korean War vet himself, seems conflicted, saying that he and Don were lucky to live in this country and that “Service is part of that bargain…sacrifice…We knew that.”  In an interesting twist, Ted Chaough comes to the rescue and contacts a pilot friend of his in the Air National Guard, which will likely become Mitchell’s salvation, just as it did for the young George W. Bush in 1968.  While members of the guard and reserves have served multiple deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan since 9/11, Lyndon Johnson refused to call them up throughout the Vietnam War, fearing it would provoke a wider debate over the conflict.  As a result, many young people with connections, like Bush and Dan Quayle, found their way into the National Guard.

History aside, this season of “Mad Men” has picked up momentum in the last few episodes and seems to be a late bloomer.  It will be interesting to see how Don survives his current escapades.

"Mad Men," Season Six, Episode 9, "A Tale of Two Cities"

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“It’s a revolt,” declares Pete Campbell regarding the internecine machinations at Sterling Cooper as antiwar protestors battle with police in Chicago during the infamous 1968 Democratic convention.  In a strong episode, the divisions between the old and new members of the firm mirror the schism in the country over the Vietnam War.

Early in “A Tale of Two Cities,” the Democrats are delaying the debate over Vietnam at their convention.  Megan tells Don there is no way Humphrey can win if the Democrats don’t come out against the war.  “Against Nixon,” responds Don quizzically.  Indeed, Nixon had been left for dead by many after his close loss to JFK in the 1960 presidential election, which was followed by a defeat at the hands of Pat Brown (father of Jerry) in the 1962 California gubernatorial race.  “You won’t have Nixon to kick around anymore,” snarled the former vice president to the press afterward.  Most pundits presumed his political career was over, but Nixon campaigned hard for the GOP in the 1966 midterms, receiving a great deal of credit for the Republicans’ success that year, which was much needed after the Goldwater debacle in 1964.  Still, Megan was partially correct, as the failure to adopt a stronger position against the war alienated the antiwar left from the Democrats, with many of them staying at home rather than voting for LBJ’s vice president.

The convention plays on television throughout the episode, reminding us of a time when there were only three networks and the quadrennial rituals revealed major national debates as opposed to the stage-managed infomercials the country watches today.  The antiwar movement descended on the proceedings and marched toward the convention hall, only to be met with harsh resistance from the Chicago police of Mayor Richard J. Daley.  Of course, public opinion was divided over the police beatings of antiwar protesters and that is reflected in the episode.  Megan and Joan are horrified while Don seems sympathetic to the police.  In the end, a majority of Americans seemed to side with the cops, despite their brutality, a sign of how the only thing more unpopular than the Vietnam War was the antiwar movement.  In the end, the disorder surrounding the convention doomed Humphrey, paving the way for Nixon’s victory in the fall.

The next day, Roger and Don meet with some executives from Carnation.  One official believes that the Democrats are not only done for 1968 because of Chicago, but could be finished for good.  While that was a slight exaggeration, the legacy of the divisions surrounding the battles of 1968 and 1972 weakened the party for years, leaving them with a reputation that liberals were outside the national mainstream.  Between 1968 and 1988, the Democrats only won one presidential election, Jimmy Carter’s narrow post-Watergate win in 1976.

The CEO of Carnation arrives at the meeting and express his anger at the “long haired fools,” but is also unhappy that the Republicans will likely nominate Nixon the next month, calling him an “opportunist.”  He prefers “Dutch Reagan,” a reference to then California Governor Ronald Reagan, who had been elected in 1966.  The “Gipper” would make his first attempt to win the presidential nomination at the GOP convention in Miami Beach, falling short in part because the party bosses believed he was too conservative for the country.  Nixon adroitly bridged the divide between the Rockefeller and Goldwater wings of the party in ‘68, but Reagan’s emergence reflected the rise of the New Right that grew out of the reaction to the 1960s.

By the conclusion of “A Tale of Two Cities,” Pete is frustrated that the business is changing and seems to give into the cultural changes of the time, borrowing a marijuana cigarette from Stan.  Meanwhile, the divide between those from Ted Chaough’s firm and the old guard from Sterling Cooper seems as profound as the divide in the country as a whole in 1968.

"Mad Men," Season Six, Episode Eight , "The Better Half"

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Soap operas both real and fictional continue on a strong episode of “Mad Men” as the differences between Peggy and Abe reflect an important divide over crime that emerged in the country during the late 1960s.  Police sirens blare in the background throughout “The Better Half” as “law and order” became a dominant issue in American politics.

Previously, Abe had resisted Peggy’s desire to live on the tony Upper East Side, saying he saw them “raising our kids in a place with more different kinds of people.”  The growing crime in their neighborhood, however, is straining Peggy’s patience, especially after Abe is attacked while getting off of the subway.  The police officer dealing with the case is frustrated by Abe’s unwillingness to give more details about the incident, asking, “Were they colored or Puerto Rican?”  “Or white!” shoots back Abe, yelling  “fascist pigs” after the cop leaves.

Peggy is furious that Abe won’t provide more information to the authorities, but he says, “I’m not going to give them an excuse to shake down every kid that walks through this neighborhood,” adding, “This is a fucking police state and we’re going to have to fight, OK.  They did it in Paris and they did it in Prague and believe it or not we’re going to have to do it here, too,” referring to the student revolts in those countries in 1968. “That doesn’t mean protecting criminals!” Peggy responds. “Those kids have no other recourse in this system,” declares Abe, seemingly sympathizing with his assailants.

As crime grew in the late 1960s, it moved beyond its traditional status as a state and local issue and became the subject of intense national debate.  While New Leftists like Abe and many liberals talked about the need to address the “root causes” of crime and the importance of addressing poverty and the underlying issues of American cities, Republicans forcefully called for tougher penalties on offenders and “law and order,” which was key to the party’s resurgence after LBJ’s landslide victory over Barry Goldwater in 1964.  Richard Nixon made the cry central to his 1968 presidential campaign as he attacked Democrats and liberals as “soft on crime.”  In particular, Nixon focused his ire on the “activist” Supreme Court, which had made decisions enhancing protections for criminal defendants, such as the famous Miranda vs. Arizona case of 1966, which brought about the warnings we have heard police read to accused criminals in every police drama since.

As Abe suggests, many liberals saw the  “tough on crime” rhetoric as little more than code words for bigotry. With explicit appeals to racism no longer acceptable in the aftermath of the civil rights victories of the mid-1960s, they saw it as a new and more sophisticated way to appeal to racial prejudice.  While no doubt racism played a role in the success of such language, many Americans were simply worried about their personal safety in the late 1960s and uninterested in broader discussions of the rise in crime and its “root causes.”  Indeed, Peggy responds to Abe’ understanding of his attackers’ plight by saying, “They’re animals.”

Calls for “law and order” were essential to Nixon’s narrow win over Hubert Humphrey in the fall of 1968, as well as George Wallace’s strong third-party showing in the election.  “Tough on crime” rhetoric would become a central part of the GOP strategy from the late 1960s to the early 1990s, when crime finally began to fall.  Even in liberal New York City, a Democrat like Ed Koch touted his support for the death penalty during his mayoral campaigns in the 1970s as support for capital punishment rose in Gotham’s outer boroughs as well as across the nation as a whole.

Fearing for her safety, Peggy accidentally stabs Abe when she hears noises toward the end of the episode.  While en route to the hospital, Abe ends the relationship because he believes her work in advertising is antithetical to his values, adding, “you will always be the enemy.”  Quite a unique break-up.  This episode was much better than most of this season’s fare, perhaps because the history was in the background as opposed to the foreground.

"Mad Men," Season Six, Episode 6, "The Man With a Plan,"

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The shark is rapidly approaching as the summer of 1968 comes closer on “Mad Men.”  With Don Draper’s Sterling Cooper merging with Ted Chaough’s firm in “Man With a Plan,” the longtime rivals compete while a few historical notes are heard in the background.

Early in the episode, one of the new employees asks Stan if he worked on the “daisy,” a reference to one of the most famous television spots in American political history.  In 1964, Lyndon Johnson’s campaign ran an ad showing a little girl counting down while picking a daisy.  Eventually, the child’s countdown stops and a more frightening voice replaces hers, intoning  “10…9…8…,” until reaching zero, followed by a nuclear explosion.  Then Johnson himself comments, “These are the stakes.  To make a world in which all of G-D’s children can live...Or to go into the dark.  We must either love each other or we must die.”  The narrator concludes, “Vote for President Johnson on November 3. The stakes are too high for you to stay home.”  Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona, LBJ’s Republican opponent, had made some frivolous comments about the use of nuclear weapons and the Johnson campaign repeatedly tried to make Goldwater look like a warmonger.  Though the “daisy” ad aired only once, it went down as a classic example of negative advertising.  Ironic that it would be Johnson who would Americanize the war in Vietnam after his landslide victory.

Meanwhile, Sylvia is upset that she hasn’t heard from her son, who is apparently in France.  “All of France is on fire,” Sylvia tells Don.  Indeed, a student/worker uprising basically shut down France in May 1968 as they protested the policies of President Charles De Gaulle.  Her comment reminds us that 1968 was a turbulent year across the world, not just in the United States.  In addition to France, Mexico was racked by protests that the government violently quelled months before Mexico City hosted the 1968 Summer Olympics.  Inspired by the reformist government of Alexander Dubcek, the “Prague Spring” thrived in Czechoslovakia as openness came to part of the Iron Curtain, at least until the Soviet Union sent in tanks to crush the movement in August.

Discussion of the 1968 election is heard once again, as the new co-workers express their allegiances to McCarthy, Kennedy, and Nixon.  Don observes that “Humphrey has all the delegates,” a reference to Vice-President Hubert Humphrey’s hold on the Democratic political bosses who still controlled the nomination process in 1968.  After RFK’s victory over McCarthy in the California primary on June 4, he told the audience at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, “Now it’s on to Chicago and let’s win there,” a reference to the site of the Democratic convention.  In all likelihood, Kennedy would have lost to Humphrey, but RFK never got the chance as he was shot and killed by Sirhan Sirhan as he left through the hotel kitchen, only two months after the murder of Martin Luther King, Jr. in Memphis.

“I don’t understand what’s going on. It seems like they’re shooting everyone,” declares Pete Campbell’s mother after hearing of RFK’s assassination.  Megan is also visibly upset while watching television coverage but Don seems nonplussed and distant, more focused on the end of his affair with Sylvia than in the events of the day.

"Mad Men," Season Six, Episode 5, "For Immediate Release"

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After a “Mad Men” episode with enough twists to fill a season of a daytime soap opera, major changes are afoot.  By the end of “For Immediate Release,” Sterling Cooper goes through yet another major renovation as the agency merges with a rival.  Some interesting historical themes lie beneath the major plots of the episode.

As the company readies to go public, Pete celebrates by going to a house of ill repute in Manhattan.  In an unbelievably awkward moment, he sees his father-in-law with a prostitute as well.  Concerned about the personal and professional implications, Pete asks Ken for advice and he tells him that his father-in-law, who is also an important client, will have to keep quiet because to do otherwise would expose his own culpability.   Talking about the bizarre encounter, Ken says, would be the equivalent of “mutually assured destruction” (MAD).

Of course, MAD represented the military doctrine governing the use of nuclear weapons during the Cold War.  As long as both the US and USSR maintained huge stockpiles of missiles aimed at each other, neither side could use them because it would precipitate the end of the world.  “It’s why I don’t worry about the bomb,” concludes Ken (though as the season 2 finale of “Mad Men” showed, the world came perilously close during the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962)

With less apocalyptic issues at stake, Pete’s father-in-law pulls his business from the agency.  Furiously, Pete storms over to his office and tells him “you just pressed the button, Tom” a reference to the nuclear analogy.  Though his father-in-law believes Pete won’t respond to his first strike and tell Trudy, he proves to be wrong.  Only time will tell what the fallout will be from this radioactive exchange.

Meanwhile, Peggy is frustrated by the decline of her neighborhood, a concern shared by many New Yorkers during the late 1960s and early 1970s.  Abe reassures her, “Look the neighborhood’s changing….Everything’s getting better.  Johnson’s gone.  The war is going to end. We’re going to have a new president no matter what.  Maybe McCarthy.  At worst case Kennedy.”   Peggy, who was raised Catholic and has a picture of JFK on her wall, responds, “I love Bobby Kennedy.”

Abe and Peggy will both experience disappointment.  Though Johnson pulled out of the race, the war in Vietnam would drag on until 1973.  As the episode occurs in May 1968, Eugene McCarthy and Robert Kennedy will duel for the Democratic nomination for the next few weeks, until Sirhan Sirhan assassinates RFK following his victory in the California primary in June.  Relying on the strength of the party bosses who still determined presidential nominee at this time, Vice President Hubert Humphrey garners the Democratic nomination at the party’s convention in the summer and would likely have done so even if RFK had lived.  One guesses we will hear Abe yell “Dump the Hump” at some point this season, due to Humphrey’s rhetorical support for the war from 1965-68 (despite his private misgivings)

Historical references notwithstanding, the firm’s major concern is how to recover from Don’s sabotage of the all-important Jaguar account.  He gets an opportunity to redeem himself when a revitalized Roger gives him a chance to compete for a new Chevrolet product.  Remember when Don declared, “I want Chevy” last season? The importance of the account reminds us that Detroit and the American auto industry remained dominant in the 1960s, before the high oil prices of the 1970s opened the door for more fuel-efficient Hondas and Toyotas.  General Motors reigned supreme and Chevrolet was the car designed for the burgeoning middle-class in 1968.

In the end, Don concocts a scheme to merge with longtime rival Ted Chaough’s agency in order to win the Chevy account.  With this accomplished, Peggy and Don can be together professionally again while she flirts with Ted while living with Abe.  How will this all turn out?  We’ll find out next week on “As the World Turns”… I mean “Mad Men.”