Man of Steel is What We Want and What We Need

          

 

 
 

Man of Steel

We took my husband to see, The Man of Steel – AKA Superman. It was a unique expression of the Superman movies. It had some Biblical motifs, some gladiator scenes, elements from the Marvel movies, and many other familiar twists to other blockbuster movies.

Lois Lane was the more modern portrayal of a woman who is extremely aggressive, at least more than Lois in the Christopher Reeves’ Superman. Her language revealed the degenerated state of the modern woman’s need to keep up with men. Of course, there was plenty of offensive language as always in movies these days. Overall, this movie was well played out.

I loved the portrayal of the love of the earthly mother and father figures in Clark’s life. They portrayed a family that would sacrifice everything for one another. Subsequently, this sacrificial love alongside his alien parental martyrdom motivated a movie of sacrificial love of one’s selfish desires to motives of placing others before self.

This community metaphor is what we were created to experience. Community or interpersonal relationships is why we exist. This extraordinary social interaction is the aspect that humanity was made in the image of God. Therefore, when we go to see movies of this nature, unknowingly to most, we are looking at a reflection of the Trinity. A mirror image of the sacrifice and oneness of the God-Head. We too can have this oneness with God, and with each other. After all, this is what Jesus prayed at the Last Supper, He prayed for oneness.

The movie theater was packed and I wondered to myself, what draws people to see this genre over and over again? My thoughts are: for women, they desire to be rescued and want to be attractive to their counterpart male in the movie and in life. To support and uphold him, thus love him like no one else can. As for the male’s desires, I can only relate to what I see over and over again in life and in movies. The men desire to be attractive and to be the rescuer of their female counterpart, being the leader who can be the only one to meet the needs of the female. So it’s relational! Why did Facebook, Twitter, and every other historical community interaction explode in popularity throughout humanity’s history? Antiquity reveals that we need each other.

We need God and we need each other. However, our first inclination is to satisfy this need for relation with each other, instead of with God. This is our first mistake. Adam first had a relationship with God then to Eve. Yes, we do need each other and God created us for such interaction, but we need Him first. Looking for God in all the wrong places, leads to no satisfaction. Sound familiar? Clue: pop music of recent decades…

Why was Jesus’ greatest commandment to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength? And then the second one just as equally as important? Because this fulfills our purpose! In and of ourselves lie the deadly enemy of emptiness, the void of others, and as a result, misery.

We long for these kind of movies because it draws us to our true purpose in life, to look for our hero Jesus Christ, the real man of steel, and to follow in His footsteps and the sacrifice of self for the benefit of others. Why is the good news so good? Because we die without it.

Look at the research on newborn babies that are not shown love? Their desire to eat is diminished which results in malnutrition. Babies who are not physically touched can die. Studies reveal we need social interaction. The desire to fit in is so great that if one does not fit in they are susceptible to committing suicide, murdering others, and turn to evil acts if deprived of such things as love, touch, care, and compassion.

So, let’s fulfill our heroic purpose: to love God and love others! This is the only thing that will fulfill us. Is it wrong to see such movies? No way, that is ridiculous. Who doesn’t love a good story? After all, that is what we were created for: a story. There are several good books that relate this same message, but specifically look at John and Staci Eldredge’s books as well as Rick Warren’s The Purpose Driven Life. Here’s to our adventure!

Thank you for taking the time to read my contemplations.

 Blessings,
©Darla J. Smith
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