In defense of the boy scout

There’s a new Superman film out this week and most people are excited to see it, excited for The Man of Steel. It’s something that hasn’t happened a lot in the last two to three decades. Superman is the ultimate boy scout, the do-gooder, and the patron saint of “please” and “thank you” — qualities that aren’t too popular in today’s world. People want heroes in black leather. They want bald men from Gold’s Gym driving fast cars and giving each other head butts. They want dark, broody vigilantes and sarcastic superheroes. No one likes plain old vanilla ice cream goodness anymore.

Superman has not been popular in a long time. His comics are rarely in the top 10. His return to film in 2006 was a flop. Even on a show based on Superman (Smallville), he wasn’t referred to as Superman and they made him wear a black trench coat as if he was vying for a role in the next Matrix film. He’s still seen as that lame old superhero who wears his underwear on the outside. For all intents and purposes, Superman has been the vanilla ice cream of superheroes.

Zack Snyder and Christopher Nolan hope to fix that this week. They’re promising us an edgier, cooler, and darker Superman. They’re promising explosions, alien invasions, and Michael Shannon shouting at the top of his lungs. They’re hoping this is the start of a new era of superhero movies. They’re hoping this refurbished and remolded Superman will resurrect interest in The Man of Steel. They want him to be more relatable to people hence, not making him wear his underwear on the outside. We hope they succeed. We hope kids start dreaming of becoming Superman again. But we’re also afraid of losing Superman in the process. We fear that a “cool” Superman is not the real Superman. And that’s always been the problem. Forget Kryptonite. Superman’s real weakness is society.

Society doesn’t accept plain old good anymore. We live in a world that glorifies the Kim Kardashians, thrives on scandal, and lives on self-promotion. There’s always an angle to everything we’re doing. If there’s a chance to be cool, we’ll take it. No matter if it’s good or not. That’s not (or shouldn’t be) what Superman is about. He’s not Iron-Man, he’s not Batman, and that’s a good thing. Superman is innately good. There’s no hidden layer to his goodness. There’s no hidden motive to his actions. He’s not in it to be cool. He’s not in it out of some dark tragedy he wants to avenge. He does good simply because it is good. He is in many ways the perfect example of the goodness of humanity. Yet humanity rejects him.

Why?

When did being good become the problem? When did we start thinking that bad was the way to go? Why do people still listen to Chris Brown? Why is it so easy and popular to own a gun? Why do we continue to put “glamorous” Imelda Marcos on Broadway marquees while everyone forgets about actual corruption charges against Imelda Marcos? It used to be that someone would be cool for doing something amazing that was done with actual talent and not for things done inside a limo coming from the Grammy Awards. We used to admire musicians for going to a prison to perform for the inmates and not to serve a sentence. We used to admire artists who broke ground and not tabloid headlines.

It’s the same even in sports with the San Antonio Spurs. Despite what some from the bandwagon will tell you, not a lot of people are fans of the San Antonio Spurs and the system of basketball they’ve made for themselves. Most people think their type of basketball is old and boring. Their system is not flashy. It’s not exciting. It won’t make the headlines. It is however efficient and pretty damn effective. It’s a good system that’s been more successful than most. But who cares about good and effective? People want highlight reels and slam-dunks. They want something called Lob City. The people want the Showtime, Hollywood drama basketball of the Lakers. They don’t want good. Who cares if the Spurs swept the fancy Lakers at the start of the playoffs? They’re still old and boring.

Maybe we’re just jealous of all the attention dark and cool are getting. Maybe we were just told by our parents to be nice young men and now it doesn’t seem worth it. Maybe this is just some rant from nerds in between reading comic books. Call us jealous, call us tired because in a way that’s what we are. We’re jealous of all the attention “bad” is getting and we’re tired of people telling us to change so everyone will like us more. We love Superman. We don’t want him to change and that’s why we’re ranting on society. Why should the good change for society and not society change for the good? Is plain old good so hard to accept?

Cool is not relatable. Cool is not something you can hang your hat on. The fact that Superman isn’t cool makes him not only relatable, it makes him inspirational. He does good despite people mocking him. He does good even when people take him for granted. Isn’t that something to strive for? Shouldn’t we at one point do good without asking what’s in it for me? What’s so wrong with being a boy scout? Why hide behind the shadows or under a mask to do what’s right? What’s so bad about being good?

And no, we don’t want toppings on our vanilla ice cream.