Christopher Reeve a Bigger Superhero than Superman?

I included two articles that describe the life and eventual passing of Christopher Reeve, after a horseback riding accident left him paralyzed from the neck down. Perhaps some of you did not know that he had died; I wanted to share with you the important contribution he made to medicine and science. He could have given up and allowed himself to die, but instead he fought the limitations of his body for 9 years.

I first saw Superman when I was a teenager. I grew up with Christopher Reeve as my idea of who Superman was; when he was paralyzed it seemed that it could not be true! How could Superman be paralyzed? I must admit that watching this film is a little difficult for me, a little sad.

However, in my opinion, he is a bigger superhero than Superman ever could be.

Superman as the Essential American Hero

Plock writes about the history of the Superman character from its creation in 1938 by two immigrant teenagers to its popularity today with even President Obama as a fan. The author gives us a lot of information about the development of the character over the past 74 years, and how the character has been used to guide American opinion. Based on your blog posts, I have 2 questions for you:

1. How has Superman changed over the past 74 years?

2. Do writers have a responsibility to teach morals to children?

Let's discuss these questions in class today before watching the 2nd part of the movie.

Superman & American Mythology

Hello Class!

I'm pleased that so many of you have already read the first article on Superman and have posted comments and questions on your blogs. As we watch the film together, I will assign more articles for you to read and discuss.

I'm also pleased that most of you have not seen the movie. I hope that you enjoy watching it and we can have good discussions in class.

Here is a link to the original movie preview from 1978.

Superman: The Movie (1978)

Mr. Hepler

Welcome to ALI 290 Multimedia Society. This course offers a view of American society through multimedia--images, music, film, and speech. The course also provides instruction in a wide-range of tools for creating visual and verbal semiotic texts.

I look forward to our semester together learning about media and its effect on (and reflection of) American society.