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Third, when Superman was helping the Allies drop bombs on the Nazis, he was not, yet, a champion of "the American way." That came later, with the preamble of the Superman live action show starring George Reeves.
Fourth, in the current film, Superman returns to his hometown of Smallville, Kansas, and then moves back to his old stomping grounds of Metropolis—a stand-in for New York City. He does some global do-gooding but it's clear the U.S. is this demigod's adopted home.
Fifth, at the climax of the film, Superman puts his life on the line by uprooting a growing landmass off the Eastern seaboard that would have displaced most of the North American Continent, killing millions (Lex Luthor: "No, billions!") and completely wiping out the U.S.
Let me restate that so the movie's critics can't miss the point. In Superman Returns, Superman saves America from certain destruction, thus ensuring that "the American way" can keep on trucking.
Jeremy Lott is author of In Defense of Hypocrisy: Picking Sides in the War on Virtue, just released by Nelson Current.
© Jeremy Lott, subject to licensing agreement with Christianity Today International. All rights reserved. Click for reprint information.
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