Philosophical look at Superman

Another of Carl Jung’s theories revolves around the concept of an archetype. According to Jung, an archetype is a tendency in the way the mind thinks that is found in all people. Though the details may vary, the essence is the same. The concept of a universal hero is epitomized in Superman. In this archetype, a man gets involved in a huge, nail-biting, on the edge of your seat battle in order to do away with a particular evil to save himself, his people, and/or the world. Each time, he must come close to losing, though you always know that everything will be okay in the end.

At one point during the conclusion of my presentation, someone in the class made a comment referencing Superman’s self-proclaimed duty: I’m here to fight for truth, justice, and the American way. Though the question asked was vague, the emphasis was on the American way and how Superman would be reflected differently in other areas of the world. In response, I referred to Jung’s description of an archetype. He emphasizes that though the details may vary, the essence remains the same. This would appear to mean that in the case of Superman, the concept of Superman is an archetype found worldwide of a man fighting against evil. It is not significant if he wears his underwear under his spandex tights or over; the essence of the archetype remains the same.

One of the less prominent theories of Jung is the concept of inexorable opposites. He briefly describes how humans have a tendency to divide things into categories of opposites, such as day or night and happy or sad. This concept is evident in Superman’s world. He is engaged in a constant battle of good verse evil and must be able to categorize everything as one or the other. In many cases, Superman represents the good and an enemy such as Lex Luther represents the evil.

Overall, the presentation went mostly as planned, though slightly on the short side Only the one question was asked as mentioned above. There was much discussion that followed on comparing comics, television series, and different medias as they pertained to Superman. A brief discussion also followed that focused on how Jung could be nearly identically applied to Spiderman, as featured in the latest movie.