Truth, Justice and oops, Superman's a Nazi-antichrist-liar!

Thanksgiving parade: Thankful for Superman?

Flat out - Bill Stern made up at least of half of what he said on his great show, Bill Stern's Sport Newsreels.  There may have been some truth to what he said but there was always the extreme mustard on top.

Fibber McGee could take any story (real or made up) and stretch it farther than a dozen eggs of Silly Putty; after all, his name was Fibber.   But that was all in fun.

The mantra of Biggest Liar in radio history belongs neither to Stern or McGee; it easily belongs to the man who's motto was, Truth, Justice and the American Way.

Superman.  The most-powerful being ever.  (Well, to be fair it really wasn't Superman doing the lying.  It was Clark Kent.  Is there a difference?)

In order to hide behind his secret identity, Clark has to lie.  You can't really blame him.  If the criminals knew who he was, they could take Jimmy Olson, Lois Lane and Editor Perry White hostage and demand... oh wait, they do that anyway.

The whole concept of  Clark's beginnings are a lie.  He's not the son of a farmer and his wife.  He's an alien from another planet.

There are well over 1,500 Superman radio shows made.  In the ones I have heard, I would say Clark averages at least a lie and half on every show.  When Bill Stern lies, it's an entertaining stretch.  When McGee does it, it's done all in the spirit of fun.  But when Superman did it, kids were listening at the height of Hitler's evil conquests.

Think about this...if Clark were Superman all the time, he would never have to lie, unless someone asked him, "Are you also known as 'Clark Kent'?   Being Superman all of the time would have it's advantages.  For one thing, he could fight crime without the shackles of puny earthlings tagging along (especially Jimmy and Editor White who tend to tag along a lot in the radio series.)  Another thing, he could have more room for himself if were just Superman, as he could sleep on the moon.  There would be no one to invade his privacy up there.

Check the right side of this ring closely for Nazi Symbolism

So the whole Truth, Justice and American Way thing is all a big lie.  It's a wonder kids and parents didn't make a big deal out this when Superman first hit the comic book shelves.  After all, Superman hit the shelves about the same time Adolph Hitler (another notorious liar) started World War II.

Come to think of it, the whole concept of a 'Superman' is a German idea, straight from the mind of Friedrich Nietzsche - who not only wrote about the Ubermensch but of the antichrist.  There is actually a lot more to this that I have hit on at the surface.  There are many people who have discussed at length the fact that Superman is in fact, a devil (or an anti-Christ figure) - but I won't get into all of that here - that's for a different blog.

Just the fact that Superman is known for truth - when in fact he is a notorious liar - actually says volumes about him.


©Jimbo 2010/2011