The new Superman is a critical hit and box-office smash—despite conspicuous Republican efforts to discourage people from seeing it. It’s the GOP vs. truth, justice, and the American way!
In this episode, Matt and Brian explore all the reasons the modern right might have been put off by this movie, and Superman’s longer-running themes:
To what extent are right-wing critics really just evincing old, philosophical conservative misgivings about liberal empathy and compassion?
Are today’s Republicans really upset to learn that Superman is pro-immigrant (as he has been for almost 90 years, or is that just a red herring?
Or is it really just that this particular adaptation is an unsubtle send up of several recent, high-profile, right-wing corruption scandals (though not, unfortunately, the Jeffrey Epstein scandal)?
Then, behind the paywall, in a recent interview, Hunter Biden of all people challenged Democrats to appeal to people’s better natures, rather than appeasing their prejudices—just like a certain superhero…
The younger Biden’s broader judgment aside, his comments raise pretty profound questions for the party as it wrestles with how to broaden its appeal in the Trump era. Should Democrats be Superman to Trump’s Lex Luthor? How far will uncut virtue get them? And who’s the best avatar for Democrats to broadcast empathy across the board: Another old white guy with cultural roots in white working class America? Or a next-generation Obama-like figure who leans on respectability politics to appeal to cultural conservatives?
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Further reading:
Brian on why Republicans are right to dislike the new Superman (because it rightly depicts their political values in an unflattering light).
Matt argues Democrats should just throw Joe Biden under the bus.
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