Man of Steel answers insight commentary episode 24 Jor-El's hologram so many questions I will ask the obvious question start asking questions and answers welcome to Man of Steel answers insight commentary on your Man of Steel apologist Dr. awkward I cover a mosaic of topics for fans who love discussing the Man of Steel and the DC cinematic universe together will endeavor to answer the questions criticisms and controversies raised by Man of Steel and those eagerly anticipating the DCC you this episode we got polar bears Clark meets Jor-El we look into some of the themes of the film and more this podcast dives deep into Man of Steel to answer the critics and the confused the show is not meant to convert anybody but the celebrate a film that will lead us into the DC cinematic universe reasonable minds will differ but this is a show for fans who love Man of Steel and who love to chew their food in our last episode we talked about Perry's reluctance to publish Lois's story without more and after uploading the episode I came across an interesting story about a Canadian government official who publicly declared his belief in aliens on the record it's a fascinating little documentary by motherboard of vice media show in upper link in the show notes the point is that one's conviction or belief in something along with your reputation isn't necessarily enough to be taken seriously now speaking of being taken seriously the first shot in this segment of the movie is of a polar bear then panning out to the scout ship in the distance the site of the polar bear in a Superman movie in the context of a surrogate fortress of solitude will summon a chuckle from some Superman fans writer-director Kevin Smith did a tour of talks at American colleges in 2001 in 2002 collected into a two disc DVD set entitled an evening with Kevin Smith and one of the most infamous segments from that video was in 19 minutes story at Kent State University about Smith's work on what would become Superman lives of sure you know that Smith has a penchant for blue language and humor but he's great at telling stories and is worth a listen if you've never heard the story before put a link in the show notes is as directives for to remove part of the process some things I want you to do and don't script on three things ONE I don't want to seem in the suit to I don't assume fly and free his got a five a giant spider in the third act of one as of the giant spider injury to why why that any Zide you know anything about spiders is me know any civil to the fiercest killers in the insect kingdom so like, Galicia is like I think we had a movie years on the problem I am is be some actually seen him actually every 10 pages someday has been so anything about his was the example like when you go have a scene where brainiac goes to the fortress of solitude Superman Superman is done at this point out but in spoil the movie so you can from the four solitude and something to the medicine in the confined to Superman is that this point is a guy knowing Brainiac fight something else of that is able like what is I what about like Superman's largest soldiers and why why Superman in regards as is Superman and bustle the fortress of solitude as prices not have what about words is an antidepressant as a polar bears as a as you have a fight some polar bears brainiac shows up Dragon for just polar bears the Madurese shoals one and one runs why is the head of people you want me to write a scene where brainiac is rattling polar bears as you know anything about: as I don't is a polar bears the fiercest killers the is like this to way too much access to the discovery job so the polar bears are a funny in joke for fans who remember the insistence on their inclusion in Smith's story but as long as were bringing up Superman lives be sure to watch the death of Superman lives what happened available for preorder soon as available everywhere July 9 which chronicles the behind the scenes story of that production anyways even without knowing about the John peters joke the polar bear still serves to show the audience of the ship is in the Arctic and hasn't traveled to say the Antarctic the filmmakers went to considerable trouble to ensure that a polar bear might make its way and the film here Zack Snyder on that segment with Empire you have it made it into a safe jump eat his got his wish about who the battle but why was funny because I drawn that it was drawn start or that is laughing to myself and I drew a whole draw line I did we get a dolly shot originally we should admit I drawn it as a slight valuable like with a polar bear these lumbering across the ice flows any finally like he jumps a couple and then he leaps one and then add it proved to be a lot more difficult to photograph and I had imagined and and I didn't deadly did not legacy people I said no life in the reporter and so that's late in IMAX footage that we got from this IMAX documentary about the polar regions and then we just we talk Limited let us use it in a basement like six months on a Russian icebreaker looking for polar bears and we just going to be arriving it would make week we have worked out there we were to bring the polygraph the only I suppose on stage and shoot them on stage with the green screen behind him and we were training in physically delete you were training opponent yet to jump from iPhone ice flow and that it but also super dangerous the film like one guys blubbering Canada and I seen a video that good guy and he was like you know you can't as we talked about it got more more dodgy ID like okay entirely different exactly how is is the companies I okay know to be in the room and yesterday's electric things around everybody could you also will murder everyone and I think I'll give it literally trained as an like a dangerous he's a dangerous any less cause he sees you or you see something shiny or flash of light or Sonoma that he doesn't I'm's all-time is so there is a chance he could mall it's all been and I think you many weeks is not which began a myself the me, footage that was okay so the ship says operational I have three notes here first about the ship speaking English as opposed to kryptonian honestly I think this is purely a convenience but I think the apologetics we go something like this we know that the kryptonian's can acquire human language by way of's odds ultimatum we also know that the scout ships technology is largely compatible with contemporary kryptonian's we also know that the scout ship suffered no disabilities as the AI says itself all systems operational and it lacked only a command key to take off so it's possible that the scout ship was using the same technology that Zonta to absorb human language while otherwise relatively dormant in the ice there's a certain logic to that since language does tend to evolve and the scout ship which lacked Phantom drives would want to account for that if the kryptonian language had changed in the gap of time before the scout ships were ever visited again by kryptonian's from home planet we could probably make up more justifications but it isn't really an issue or necessary more like a common conceit in dealing with extraterrestrials but given their mind machine interfaces it isn't necessarily a stretch the second note I have here is who is the guiding presence and say the main candidates would be Clark and Jor-El based on the last episodes discussion on who piloted the ship I'd suggest that the guiding presence here is Jor-El basically because Clark already had a key to establish his authentication to be the pilot and if the guiding presence is something distinct from a pilot that allows Clark to fly the vessel whether or not he's authenticated by the ship or rather he's authenticated by virtue of the command key then at a later point the Jor-El AI in parts itself onto the ship and the ship eventually agrees to be guided by this presence upon authentication and once it allows it that's when Jor-El can do things like lift the pilot chairs or revealed the suit to Clark to guide the ship if not necessarily piloted again that discussion was last episode so the third note I have is all systems operational is interesting in the light of the prequel comic because it shows and suggests that kryptonian technology is self-healing and self repairing since the last time we saw the scout ship it was crash landing the importance and significance of that is to provide the fictional world with access to kryptonian technology without Cal Al being necessarily burst and that reinforces that modern and Golden age notion of Clark growing up with a human perspective and human experiences but still being able to experience developed kryptonian technology or culture later in life without having to be a naturally gifted at reassembling kryptonian tech the idea of self assembling or self propagating kryptonian technology is quite traditional beginning with the introduction or idea of crystal-based technology simply throwing grow in the burn reboot Clark had the benefits of robots like he likes who would build and maintain kryptonian technology and here the self repairing ship takes that role that idea is almost always tied to an archive or arc of kryptonian knowledge as well we don't have time to go through all the iterations of how the knowledge of krypton lives on but in Man of Steel Jor-El specifically intends to limit cows exposure to krypton which is an interesting take for example of though Jor-El stored the codecs in callow he never tells Cal about it will eventually get to the line but I believe Jor-El assumed that one day how I would be curious about and explore his own genetic makeup and at that time he would uncover the codecs and then Superman and humanity would come to a mutual decision about what to do about it I think Jor-El specifically avoided mentioning the codecs for fear of influencing the outcome of that decision but were getting ahead of ourselves before we get into the diet genic analysis of the scene let's take a step back and look at some of those creative criticisms raised against it and generally there are three criticisms that sort of overlap some first the idea that the scene is redundant second that the scene is to expositional or boring and third that the scene is very stoic and unemotional creatively the film is following a modified three act structure whose first act ends somewhere perhaps after's odds ultimatum note that the three act structure is a guideline or an observation is not an immutable law fiction and while each act essentially has its own set up confrontation and resolution they also serve that same general function for the overall story the first act generally provides exposition is the character and setting and ends with an inciting incident it's the set up in the second act provides rising action where the things developed by the setup are complicated or its the confrontation it brings the world or the character to its lowest point and then the third and final act contains the climax and the finale or the resolution so set up conflict resolution again not hard fast rules are absolutes but subject to modification with krypton acting as a prelude and a less bright line act delineation but this is where we are broadly speaking and the setup within the first act is mostly the mystery of Clark's origins from his perspective the confrontation in the film is between Clark's newfound heritage and the remnants of his people and then the resolution in the third act is Clark siding with his adopted planet against's odd in other words it's natural that the first act should be exposition heavy but especially when you consider that the first 20 minutes of the film was a prelude on an alien planet and we've already had several action set pieces between then and now the scene is only about four minutes long and in terms of redundancy is actually very nominal overlap everything that we saw on krypton was experiential and closely tied to Jor-El's viewpoint along with all be assumptions that that entailed in other words there was very little exposition simply action in media read as however here Jor-El's presentation provides context and explanation in which you can insert those experiences we get the history and the motivations and the societal structure of krypton which help us reinterpret what we saw on the prelude I don't think we have time to go over all the information that we learn from Jor-El's presentation but it is a lot and everything about this first act is resolving the mystery of Clark's alien origins and this scene is the payoff before the inciting incident of's odds ultimatum route regarding the lack of emotion some of that is informed by our expectations as to how reunions between somebody adopted as a child with their biological parents should be but pandering to that expectation would necessarily ring true in the situation however examining the situation is much more of a die genic analysis so will get into that later for now let's get back to some of the lines the scene standing I haven't grown on adult so Jor-El's line provides a lot of insights which we can pose as questions to be answered first a question of self identity why does the hologram act like Jor-El if it's aware that it's just a shadow and second the question of verification how does Jor-El know that this adult before him is Cal Al and third why couldn't a hologram of Laura have witnessed this two so the idea of a hologram saying to see you standing there raises an eyebrow for some because it means that this hologram thinks of itself as Jor-El however I think that's exactly how was meant to be taken when the hologram says to see standing there it implies emotion and when he says if only Lara could've witness this that is regret and later the hologram expresses anger frustration and pleading with Zide which should answers odds question as to whether's odds hologram can feel pain regret and frustration would imply that it can experience mental anguish on some level ultimately I don't see a problem with this as a shadow of his consciousness it almost seems like it would take a lot more effort to not act like Jor-El then to be like Jor-El the idea of the more robotic AI with Jor-El's likeness merely as an interface rather than an actual consciousness may stem from Superman returns where Jor-El's hologram apparently has no hesitation at telling Lex Luther everything about kryptonian crystal technology suggesting a lack of awareness in general much less self-awareness so if this hologram is self-aware how much awareness does it have otherwise specifically how does the hologram know that this person standing there is callow and more generally how does Jor-El know anything how does Jor-El know how to speak English or that he can trust Lois Lane understanding this will give us insight into why the how it should've ended conclusions don't necessarily ring true we've already discussed extensively wife throwing Cal's vessel at the black zero is folly from a practical standpoint of actually trying to succeed back in episode 10 of this podcast where we dissected the logistics of Jor-El's plan however at that time we didn't really look at it from a character perspective why Clark would be unlikely to consult with Jor-El or why Jor-El is unlikely to propose that plan and will definitely discuss these when we come to's odds ultimatum but figuring out how and what Jor-El's hologram can and does no gives us insight into the logistics of the film and why the things unfold as they did Jor-El's consciousness and hologram reside within the command key and later we get this exchange, thanks to you, promoting you I'm Cal's father note that as soon as Jor-El in merges he's aware of who Lois is an addresses her by name more on that in a bit but where does the holograms knowledge and on krypton well presumably when the command key is constructed which happens after Zide attacks and as Jor-El is bonding the codecs to Cal Al maybe there's some leeway for the command key to continue to gather information after its assembled but that wouldn't be a part of Jor-El's consciousness in other words the holographic Jor-El doesn't know that Zonta attacked the Citadel killed the real Jor-El always captured by the sapphire guards and then sentenced the Phantom zone holographic Jor-El reasonably assumes that all of krypton is dead based on Jor-El's projections but has none of those specific fact that we just talked about so forgetting all the reasons why telling callow to blitz the black zero wouldn't work as we've already discussed back in episode 10 in all the reasons why Clark wouldn't go to Jor-El as we have yet to discuss but will one day let's assume that Clark does go to Jor-El and that blitzing the black zero could work well if you put yourself into the holograms shoes such as they are based on the information that he has or could no why in the world would he tell Cal Al to banish's odd without a moments hesitation in the how it should've ended video is propose the Jor-El would perceive Zide is a monster and then encourage Cal to blitz thought and to be fair there some justification for that Jor-El does say well on a man he once was, but consider that sentence for a moment it indicates that Zide was once a man to be honored and indeed when holographic Jor-El encounters odd he never stops trying to convince them to do the right thing but also consider the larger context from the holograms perspective all krypton is and should be dead's odds very presence on earth just buys that underlying assumption did in's odds extraordinary presence what else extraordinary might have occurred consider some of the possibilities which would render Cal banishing Zide without discussion utter madness imagine if Jor-El was wrong about krypton states so the real Jor-El is still alive and waiting on krypton for Zonta retrieve his son for him imagine it's's odds coup had succeeded and he had brought the real Jor-El and Laura with him Cal wells real parents could be on the black zero with any number of innocent refugees from krypton imagine is odd had a fleet of ships in waiting and how spends his one and only answer on the black zero or imagine if at the 11th hour the pfennig Aryans or the guardians of Allah appear and while krypton can be spared its inhabitants were taken to a another habitable planet to resettle all of these possibilities could have occurred with Zide still being alive and present above earth and sending Cal to do everyone on the black zero without learning more is madness think about it when this holographic Jor-El conceive of his plan to stop Zide only after Lois has uploaded Jor-El onto the black zero and then he's afforded all the information that ship could provide him like the disposition of krypton who the passengers were on the black zero what's odds plans were for earth and very likely insight into Lois his mind and person by way of whatever interrogation was conducted upon her basically we can reasonably propose that the ship's act as holographic Jor-El's sensory organs so how does holographic Jor-El know that this adult before him is Cal Al what the scout ship may have had an opportunity to scan Cal but even using just basic deduction Jor-El believes that Cal has powers on earth that this person destroyed a century with his bare hands and if Cal is the last living kryptonian ipso facto this powerful kryptonian is Cal Al without a scan another living kryptonian might also be up to act as a imposter we don't know ultimately but there's nothing story breaking about Jor-El reasonably believing that this is his son certainly holographic Jor-El had more bassist answer Clark's questions here then to answer Lex Luther in Superman returns so how does Jor-El know how to speak English well as we were discussed by whatever mechanism the kryptonian's are able to learn English on the black zero would reasonably also be available to the scout ship and we spoke in the past about the kryptonian's being aware that they're not alone in the universe the pfennig Aryans are explicitly name dropped in the prequel comic but even without it we have Jor-El and Laura evaluating earth's inhabitants clinically in other words humanity isn't be very first sentiment life form encountered by the kryptonian's and thus a lack of amazement by Jor-El and Laura in yes I'm sticking with the word sentiment over sapient based on a well reasoned ruling by Judge John Hodgman I'll put a link in the show notes if krypton knows that there are other alien societies out there minutes reasonable that they'd have the technology that accounts for having to deal with alien language and communication and this of course is a science fiction trope but it's a reasonable one within the confines of the story and the universe built by Man of Steel and of krypton had this universal translator technology then when the guardians the Green lanterns the pfennig Aryans etc. to send upon DCC you earth we can reasonably expect them to have universal translators as well what we already answered how the hologram Jor-El would know who Lois Lane is and that she could be trusted basically he accesses her interrogation to learn who she is and what her relationship to his son is an again Jor-El has none of this information until being uploaded onto the black zero which makes Lois's contribution that much more significant but it also shows the limited insight hologram Jor-El could've actually provided Clark had Clark onto Jor-El before boarding the black zero will get into it more when we come to it in the commentary but also consider this Jor-El has essentially premised everything that Cal went through on the basis that krypton was gone and that Cal is it's last survivor their entire relationship hinges on this being true yet Zions appearance mere days after Clark encounters Jor-El makes that central premise plainly false think about that for a second from Clark's perspective but that's a future episode but get back to our questions now the third objection that is often raised by this line is a reasonable one why couldn't Laura have witnessed this why did Jor-El copy only his consciousness and not Laura's and that's a legitimate question Jor-El seems self-satisfied with being able to see Cal grown and he regrets the Lara can't so clearly an interest exists in the fact that he was able to copy his own consciousness seems to imply a capability to do it but he didn't and ultimately we don't know why but it isn't difficult at all to propose theories and apologetics for why Lara's consciousness wasn't copied with Jor-El's I've seen it suggested that krypton is a patriarchal society so Jor-El Justin think to include Lara they raise the idea of failer as second design and Laura second Jor-El but I don't think that's accurate remember that Feodor is still respected above all amongst the insurgents which seems improbable if there was a general kryptonian bias against women also the councilmember that speaks out against's odd and who sits in the center most position before being killed by's odd was a woman and then finally in the prequel comic cars Jor-El are in the position of Capt. for her scout ship and we don't know whether the meritocracy continues to krypton today but certainly was an ideal at the time so I don't think Jor-El excluded Lara based on powerlessness or intentional sexism there is some merit to the idea the Jor-El was simply attempting to limit cows exposure to kryptonian ideas Jor-El explains this as his reason for not accompanying Cal to earth and while this was a conviction that they both held back on krypton we saw the Jor-El was the one more determined to send Callaway Laura Morrison says I can't do it I thought I could but now that he's here and we'll talk about this later but this may partially explain why Jor-El's hologram behaves so stoically towards Cal to limit or prevent emotional manipulation Jor-El might've considered it too painful for Lara and Cal to maintain emotional distance but again we ultimately don't know and I think the easiest rationale is to simply blame the technology we discussed in the past but Jor-El's hologram is a novel that is new and never seen before technology but it also isn't radical that is completely unexpected or inconceivable technology is someone were to propose a self driving electric wheelchair something that pilots patients throughout a facility without human intervention that would be new and novel but would contain little radically beyond anything that we could do today and the support for this lies primarily between's odd interaction with Jor-El's hologram's on asks whether the hologram can feel pain meaning he doesn't know whether it can meaning that the technologies parameters are new to him and likely all kryptonian's however at the same time Zide is hardly shocked at the idea that Jor-El might exist purely as a consciousness and that seems consistent with their interrogation technology their ability to learn languages to create presentations on the fly and somatic reconditioning all this technology implies that mind machine interfaces are not radical technologies to kryptonian's and not something that Zide would find shocking or surprising however it's technology is novel that provides all the justification you need to explain why Lara wasn't copied to for example for all we know Jor-El simply perfected the technology only days before or the technology takes months upon months to copy compress and create its first base consciousness and Laura simply didn't have time to undergo the process before Jor-El knew that it would work or perhaps it has some adverse effect on one's physiology that Jor-El wouldn't subject his pregnant wife to again we don't know the bottom line is for this criticism or plot hole to be sustainable we have to know that the technology was readily available safe quick to use unrepeatable and we simply don't have those facts and when a criticism hinges on assumed facts there's no reason you can't assume those facts go in a different direction unless or until something in the work contradicts that in other words when you have one set of assume facts that contradict the film and another set of assume facts that doesn't the first set of assumptions don't create a plot hole because proves that your assumptions campy right only if there's no possible reconciliation that remains consistent with the film is there a plot hole now incidentally it Jor-El's tech was trivial and easy to replicate that would arguably be one way to safe krypton or at least the essence of his populace that is everyone could save themselves virtually and that's at least one of the theories proposed is a reconciliation for the Fermi paradox concisely why spread through the physical space-time universe if you can just live virtually it sounds a little bit like the matrix and this is a completely unsubstantiated idea wouldn't it be interesting if Jor-El learned how to fight via all those mind machine interfaces that have available for a I think I have other more reasonable apologetics for that but this is insane we have only just finished addressing Jor-El's first line I need to stop traipsing down tangents despite my urge to launch into a comparison with the matrix but I'm been a press on and pick up the pace or Hong Kong parties – I will consciousness my name is Jor-El is down to stop it there just a comment on this being the one moment where Clark allows himself to show a little emotion Clark smiling because after decades of searching Jonathan was right you are you are you kidding hundred and for recent Clark extraterrestrial life you owe it to yourself to find out so here is the other father and here is his other name and the first settlement of Jonathan's promise and exactly why Clark immediately follows up by asking a Clark wants to know the reason his identity is purpose for being and before we continue we should briefly talk about why Clark seems so guarded in this encounter why isn't this an emotional reunion with hugs and tears like we've seen on TV well very few of those meetings are without prior communication although the parties are reuniting for the first time in person typically the meeting is preceded by telephonic or electronic or written correspondence to ensure that the meeting is mutually desirable the adopted child in the biological parent have had time to ruminate over what this meeting will mean and it's fairly common that there's an outpouring of emotions but additionally the baggage attached of those meetings is entirely different doubtless there is baggage but generally it remains within the realm of human experience and doesn't involve interstellar extraterrestrial beings when Clark stepped onto the ship he didn't think he was going to meet a living member of his people much less a copy of his father unlike those preparing for tearful reunions he wasn't anticipating or expecting this specific moment rather his thoughts were probably more preoccupied with the implications of letting Lois go of this ancient ship which us took off in front of a dozen credible government witnesses the paradigm by which he had lived his entire life up to this point had just completely changed and in that context he's suddenly hit with a new revelation that goes beyond mechanics and logistics right to the heart of his identity and the questions that he's been asking his entire life imagine the shock and the flood of questions but also consider how Clark may perceive Jor-El we never see a visual effect related to Clark's use of x-ray vision to diagnose Lois or in the interrogation scene and in the past we wondered whether Clark has ever acted as a living lie detector like he has in tradition listener Dennis raises the possibility that when Clark first looks at Jor-El's hologram he uses his super senses Clark looks at this strangely dressed humanoid but sees no organs hears no heartbeat and here's no shuffling of footsteps against the deck of the ship we don't know that Clark's done this but that's a reasonable explanation for why Clark into its that Jor-El is incorporeal without having to be expressly told in fact the visual effects director says that Snyder described Clark's vision powers as being able to see all spectrums so when it be interesting if Clark could see the quote unquote strings that allows for the projection of the hologram that would otherwise be invisible to the yacht so Clark always knows from the outset but this is merely a projection and not a person that's a possibility and here's Henry cavil talking about Crowe's performance as intentionally otherworldly with Russell it was quite interesting playing with him because obviously this is Jor-El's AI and so there's an aspect of this missing something magical tapping a finger on this something off and that's the beauty of of what Russell's performance was it's very much the workings of Jor-El's mind when interacting with his son the same time as is funny distance which of all Russell play perfectly and this is wonderful connection and senses destiny and fate and in the Jor-El character was Russell Gregory well it was again very easy to feel that when in a niceness key moments of understanding that everything's gone to the one thing I have is this Jor-El AI who one stage I forget is at Gmail and is not actually might might my father is in my flesh and blood and yet he still gives that sensitive powerful emotional buses that one however even without knowing the Jor-El is a hologram a certain degree of stoicism is a very human reaction in preparation for this episode I did research the accounts of many adoptees meeting their biological parents for the first time put special focus into international adoptions because of the cultural differences and because the adoptees were more likely to be aware of the differences early on the Huffington posted a 30 article series from biological parents adoptive parents and the adoptees the covered a whole spectrum of attitudes and reactions and reasons which I read through and enjoyed thoroughly I can't say that there were very many predictable patterns necessarily however one story that I came across was especially interesting and that's the documentary entitled a.k.a. Dan Dan Matthews was born in South Korea and adopted by loving Caucasian parents of the United States can always knew that he was adopted and grew up with a happy and healthy childhood however at the age of 28 Dan was informed that his biological parents wanted to meet him and they wanted to introduce him to his twin brother and his younger sister the overall story ends up being more about Dan's cultural shock inexperience in Korea however it's an interesting insight into at least one adoptees experience an is in this probably you is is you and you and you and you and in still I email you he's you you you and you you you you you you love it's needing to anxious a lot exotic prospect of the Sam Lane being in Korea what can go wrong and how I I think the cinematic happen that they can be financially off they might want my resume the night front of the sister could hatefully it is a quick message lightning of the result from answer going to me today are your blood related birth associative aware livelihood that very important and I feel like I specially like using out that it's it's a casual is however your blood parents a woman's committee than it once again Eva was appointed of scanning there's a lot of information I don't know and that they just did blood test really really quickly seems to convenient his knowledge right that it's frozen intimating timing is looking at people as I was looking at her is hiding your but was it was difficult like I because of the method before there's a distance of Everly have between myself and the family and Dan I doubt was a really is a shot I shot entire time When you know you're supposed to feel something is parameters of survivor you really disconnected my eyes get another method before killing him and here and logical can your siblings whom you didn't just recently for him when it really it was a really surreal moment it was something that I Played my mind over and over again before actually got a new at and then you walk in there as you don't expect anything but it was shocking I think the best were described as a very shocking I'm not saying that Clark is that skeptical however in episode 15 we talked about understanding Jonathan and the environment in the era in which he grew up what we have to remember is many of those things overlap with Clark who would be just as determined to learn about aliens in the same kinds of things that would reasonably cause Jonathan to view the government was skepticism or to have concern about humanity's reaction to Clark may have been the same things that Clark would've uncovered in his own search ultimately extraterrestrial proposals tend to be heavily speculative and can only be so academically serious but there is a general tendency towards pessimism which gets reflected in our culture as we saw in that episode Clark doesn't know what Jor-El's expectations are for him in relation to humanity Clark doesn't know if he's the Herald of an incoming invasion if he's expected to conquer and subjugate earth he doesn't know if his arrival is merely a happy accident or cruel experiment one of the common narratives about extraterrestrial contact is that they may purely want our resources without regard for our existence and despite not be expressly stated that way that's exactly what Zide wants from her imagine the smartest squirrel you can limit to how hard you try will be able to explain society to as a rule from the squirrels perspective free will is a sophisticated intelligence like himself needs to survive so humans cutting down whole forests is this week to destroy forests because we hate swirls disorder resources swirls wishes swirls of life is to us 803 civilization need a result is may treat us in a similar way they might just evaporate origins to make collecting whatever they need easier one of the aliens my paper second honestly I don't really huge concrete structures of well now that dead for activating mostly so even from a purely human perspective without having to x-ray the hologram Clark has reasonable cause for stoicism in this first encounter he's stunned by this surprise encounter any regarding his heart against an unknown entity claiming to be his father but asking nothing in return ultimately Clark has no real way to judge whether Jor-El is telling the truth except to take it on faith and Clark isn't so hard of heart that he can't listen but he also isn't so gullible or naïve that he simply abandons himself to Jor-El without first listening to what he has to say and so what does Jor-El have to say well he answers Clark's questions where did he come from and why did Jor-El send him a world with a much harsher environment enough long ago. Already spread altruist seeking you will the scout ship thousands of outposts in great machines to reshape 100,000 years are civilization artificial population control system you sent space exploration of exhausted unnatural result is a result is eventually military generals on the them of an Eiffel solo coming took several steps to enjoy also okay well while allowing so much to unpack a has to pick a few let's see him just pick a few notes and maybe will circle back on to this in the context of the later commentary or mailbag or topical episode or something but I have to be selective I can't talk about everything that I have in my notes basically we only have the slightest glimpse into kryptonian culture history technology and societal structure so it would be presumptuous to construct too much based on the scant few data points that we have it's one of the reasons I've largely skipped krypton in this commentary because we could build entire speculative structures that ultimately go nowhere so I him editing I'm editing this note this in the first time that krypton is uttered on earth and it's interesting because the word is already something pre-existing in the English language so I wonder how that hit Clark traditionally we know that Superman is an alien in action comics number one but it isn't until a year later in Superman issue number one that we learn the name of the planet is krypton why krypton is something I feel like I've learned before but since forgotten feel free to write in if you know why krypton was picked as the name that speaking of writing in the next know and picking is based on an email by listener Ethan who wanted to know why Jor-El's first description of krypton is of a harsh environment he comments that Jor-El could've described it as destroyed advanced tragic or anything else but lead with the fact that it's a harsher environment and I think that's a good point I tell her that Jor-El second line though is a vital piece of exposition that's easy to take for granted Jor-El is ostensibly explaining that humans couldn't survive on krypton and that fact is so important it's essentially restated five different times throughout the thoughts of that even the most inattentive audience member would get the point it stated here later during the voiceover when Clark learns to fly then by Feodor a explaining why Lois must wear the helmet again it's stated by Hamilton in explaining the effects that terraforming will have on earth and then finally by Jor-El to sod in describing it as genocide so it's vital that we understand that humans can't survive in a kryptonian environment that helps us understand the stakes however the aspect of that that's missed by many is that it also provides the corresponding explanation for why kryptonian's can survive within earth's atmosphere without issue even if you don't subscribe to my theories on the interaction of the powers and the atmosphere in the armor it's incontrovertible that Feodor and Zide both breathe earth atmosphere without respiratory distress yes they have sensory issues but not respiratory distress and in the chemistry of life that's a radical idea because things that are suited for a certain environment do not generally survive in a different one and we get a hint of that with baby Clark's respiratory troubles as described by Martha so the filmmakers are clearly trying to reiterate that krypton is not just different but that it is harsher that is empirically worse than earths more nurturing atmosphere like how a desert is harsher than the tropics this qualification accounts for kryptonian survival on earth and why gets brought up again and again it isn't in my opinion an explanation of how Clark's powers work but that topic is already well trod by me okay let's see a been a skip over all the age of exploration notes based on the reasons that we were he talked about we don't really know how their society was structured and how exactly everything happened I will say that is a parable it does address that sort of environmental theme while talking about the hope that we might escape careful stewardship of our planet simply by spreading to the stars instead showing that for reasons unknown it wasn't so simple in other words we can't simply abandon our planet for the stars we do have to be careful stewards of our planet and again I'll refer you to the many entertaining videos on YouTube about the Fermi paradox because that's one of the reconciliations for the paradox into one highlight that Zide is mentioned in a neutral context and it could almost be interpreted positively that is Jor-El says but by then it was too late which suggests that had Zide attempted his coup earlier it would not have been too late note that Jor-El does not talk about the ultimate fate of's odds attempted coup reinforcing the idea that holographic Jor-El's knowledge and at the creation of the command key also note that this Jor-El takes krypton's destruction for granted I'd also like to briefly mention the implications of Clark being familiar with Christian narratives and hearing this story put it another way Clark being familiar with and raised to know the stories of Moses and Jesus might predispose him to be more likely to accept the story of being sent away from calamity like a baby in a basket escaping Faro or heating the predictions of a wise man to avoid the wrath of Herod if Clark had grown up reading I don't know Dragon Ball Z invincible or squadron supreme exactitude might be a little different this definitely isn't in the film one way or the other it just an interesting idea to think about I'm not can a talk too much about the incredible visuals provided by the liquid Geo presentation because the FX guide podcast spoke directly with what a digital on that even find those links in the show notes and here are some clips just to give you a taste of their machines and computers and robots that have a different way of interfacing with human beings and that's through this technology to recall liquid Geo and basically it is a bunch of like silver beads that are suspended through a magnetic field and the machine is a troll that magnetic field to the collection of beings behave honestly three-dimensional pixels and they can create a service that floats in the air stem from an idea that Zack Snyder had he wanted to do something that you know was was interesting and different in the way that you saw information presented he wanted to just a typical screen and down so one of the ideas that Zack had was to make it a little bit more tactile the sequence in the film where Jor-El who is Superman's father teaches him about where you can from what life was like krypton and this liquid Geo surrounds them and create an immersive, display that walks Superman through the whole history of krypton and the beast change in forming the initiator send almost a Greco-Roman, bodily show the whole history of Superman's past we did a lot of experimentation to figure out what this history of krypton look like we started with just the liquid feed Geo technologies so we did quite a lot of concept art based on various sculptures we looked at some of barley from the Rockefeller Center that Greco-Roman references and if you like if you would thing in our sci-fi world through the medium of stone sculpture what that might look like the main thing I'd like to highlight a reviews that idea that we discussed back in episode 14 that this presentation and later the setting of's odds interrogation are unlikely to be manually created artistic renderings by Jor-El or Zide but instead there examples of the kryptonian mind machine interfaces allowing these busy man of action to express their thoughts visually and stylistically when you listen to those what additional clips you'll hear all the work and all the effort they went into to make those presentations and I think it's clear that you how and Zide didn't have that kind of time to do this how the other thing that often gets pointed out during this presentation just visually is how Cal wells ship appears to be in oh mosh to his crystalline ship in the Donner films if you have the time and inclination I really recommend checking out those FX guide interviews which do get a little technical just show you how much love and effort and technology when into the development of these liquid Geo scenes this is a Genesis chamber all kryptonian's wings he chose to have a child is designed to fill a predetermined role in our society is a work of Gloria later so the Lord I believe krypton something precious choice shot of the child-rearing something out of it was hidden him on top spot you with you want to. But so much to say so a quick etymological detour the word Genesis does come from the title of the first book of the Bible the first book in Hebrew is there sheath literally in the beginning and then the Greek translators the net a size that into something like Genesee switchmen took on its broader meeting in late Latin all of which is to say the word comes from the book title and not the other way around in this case which suggests an intentional layering of myths and themes on the part of the filmmakers in other words selecting Genesis chamber as opposed to Burns say birthing matrix for example now be on themes perhaps the word matrix was avoided just to prevent a direct comparison to the matrix film and the short answer to that is that the film's share of visual effects supervisor who was clearly hired for his talents and his style and asking him not to use them would be like hiring HR digger and telling him not to do his style but like I said before that's another episode in terms of somatic references the predetermined roles listed by Jor-El map onto the roles found in Plato's Republic which later we see Clark reading and the comparisons between Man of Steel and Plato's Republic is a deep rabbit hole that we don't have time to get into but it's incredibly persuasive lens with which to view the themes of Man of Steel and I'm tending to skip it only because I feel like at have to teach Plato's Republic first before we can then use it as a lens and I'm not really interested in doing that but if you're ready burst and that there are a lot of great articles out there that explore what Man of Steel has to say about Plato there's an article by Peter Lawler a professor of political philosophy at Berry College also Jeffrey writer an assistant professor of English at Baptist College of Florida and just a taste of those kinds of analyses here's father Robert Barron a Master of philosophy outlining his view of the parallels theme in any of is worthy of some reflection namely the tension between autonomy and state control becomes clear is that Jor-El was resisting this totalitarian the impulse of general sod to control orderly the genetics of kryptonite newborns comforting to rewrite now but what was laid out of the Platonic vision it all in Plato's Republic of their three we control classes of people know the low-level workers and there's this older learners that the guardians to me very similar non-on krypton where they control the genetics of the newborn society is strictly divided into the movie will unfold as the story of the battle between these two figures general sod and Superman representative of state-controlled it all manipulation and personal now anything that Plato of references little bit so to ratio share every Georgia the movie at one point the teenage Superman was reading about Plato's Republic to littermates explicit of Plato reference we'll comes to mind here is a working Col. Popper Culpepper was a young 20 century philosopher who grew up under Hitler so he knew all about totalitarian and he rails against it for the rest of his life a race fans will call the open Society and its enemies in which he identifies Plato the great Plato as the father of all totalitarian leaving his visit Plato Michael totalitarian begins with some Idealistic notion some Plato's case your here's the perfect public through the way things are reorganized that what he does is he strictly requires of that society, to being through a legal a prescription so you know him in Plato there's a strict comment some of the guardians after all property and wives and children, among the auxiliaries who are the soldiers is a very strict censorship in place because their emotions and bodies have to be shaped in particular way they can't listen any old song or read any old the myth so there's strict censorship absolutely enforce cognizant etc. so SEES THIS AS THE PROTOTYPE OF ALL FORMS OF STATE CONTROL TOTALITARIAN HE SEES IN FACT YOU KNOW HITLER'S GERMANY STALIN'S RUSSIA OF MAO'S CHINA HE PROBABLY WOULD'VE SEEN OF THE AYATOLLAHS IRAN AS DIRECT DESCENDENTS OF PLATO'S REPUBLIC OKAY THERE IS IF YOU WANT TO TOTALITARIAN SOCIETY THE ENEMY OF WHAT POPPER CALLS THE OPEN SOCIETY SO HE BECOMES KNOWN ADVOCATE OF THE GREAT SORT OF LIBERAL DEMOCRACIES OF MODERNITY DISTRESS NOT ON YOUR STATE CONTROL EVERYTHING BUT ON INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM HE CERTAINLY WOULD APPROVE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON WOULD SAY ONLY OF THESE BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS THE GOVERNMENT OUGHT NOT TO GET AWAY OF THOSE AND THAT WE SHOULD PURSUE FREEDOM AS WE SEE FIT OF THE AUTONOMOUS SELF IN THE MIDST OF AN OPEN AND FREE SOCIETY THAT'S THE POLITICAL IDEAL NOW HERE'S THE THING IF PLATO IS THE PROTOTYPE HE'S A PHILOSOPHER OF THE TOTALITARIAN SOCIETY AT THE LIMITED NATURE IS THE PHILOSOPHER OF THE OPEN SOCIETY HERE'S MY ME IF YOU SINGLE INDIVIDUAL LIBERTY IS THE GREAT INDIVIDUAL LIMITATIONS THAT WOULD BE ME CHOSE THE MATCH GERMAN SUPERMAN BY THE WAY I THE JUST SUPERMAN WHO LIES BEYOND GOOD AND EVIL WHOSE FREEDOM IS SO ABSOLUTE THAT HE DETERMINES UTTERLY THE MEANING AND PURPOSE IN LIFE NOW AS I'VE OFTEN ARGUED PEOPLE LIKE TO JUMP START OUR NIETZSCHE AND IN SPIRIT IN THE MEASURE THAT THEY SOLAR APATHY A SIZE FREEDOM THAT THEY SAY WILL MY INDIVIDUAL WILL DETERMINES MEANING AND TO BE FAIR KC VERSUS (1992 DECISION OF THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT THAT SAID IT LOGS THE VERY NATURE OF LIBERTY TO DETERMINE THE MEANING OF ONE'S OWN WIFE OF NATURE AND OF THE UNIVERSE TO WHAT THAT IS IS THE APATHY IS SIZING OF THE AUTONOMOUS SELF IN SUCH A WAY THAT IT BECOMES A MAN SHOULD BECOME SUPERMAN SO I'M SEEING IN THIS MOVIE IS YOU GOT GENERAL SOD HOW LIKE GOD REPRESENTING THE DEIFICATION OF THE TOTALITARIAN STATE VERSUS THE MATCH VERSUS THE NIETZSCHE AND SUPERMAN REPRESENTS THE APATHY IS SIZING OF THE INDIVIDUAL AUTONOMOUS EGO BUT YOU READ THE POLITICAL HISTORY OF ALASKA FACED 300 YEARS AS LARGELY A BATTLE BETWEEN THESE TWO VISIONS OF SOCIETY THERE IS A POLITICAL STRUGGLE BETWEEN GENERAL SOD AND WHO WERE MANCHESTER GOING ON FOR THE PAST THREE OR HERE'S SOME CUTTING IT OFF THERE BUT I DON'T WANT TO MISREPRESENT HIS POSITION FATHER BARRON OF COURSE CONTINUES TOWARDS A CONCLUSION OF THE AUTONOMY OVER HOW TO RUN A ME OR AUTONOMY BUT YOU CAN LISTEN TO HIS COMPLETE ANALYSIS ONLINE UP PUT A LINK IN THE SHOW NOTES AND OF COURSE LIKE WITH ANYTHING INVOLVED WITH INTERPRETATION OF PHILOSOPHY HIS VIEW IS NOT THE ONE AND ONLY INTERPRETATION NOW BE ON THE THEMES RAISE THEIR CONSIDER HOW JOR-EL'S EXULTATION TO FREEDOM FREE WILL CHOICE AND CHANCE OVER DESTINY HIGH TO THE CLASSIC AMERICAN DREAM OR THE IMMIGRATION NARRATIVE THE IDEA OF FREEDOM AND UPWARDS MOBILITY IN CONTRAVENTION TO THE RIGID SOCIETAL STRUCTURE FOUND IN PLATO'S REPUBLIC THERE A LOT OF SOMATIC PARALLELS THAT ONE CAN DRAW WITH MAN OF STEEL I'M STILL EXPLORING A WAY TO MEANINGFULLY CONVEY THEM WITHOUT MUDDYING THE ANALYSIS TOO MUCH I DEFINITELY FIND THE THEMES OF BIRTH THAT SACRIFICE ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES AND FREE WILL TO BE INSIGHTFUL WAYS TO VIEW THE FILM BUT I'M A LITTLE STUCK ON THAT THEME OF CODIFIED OLD VERSUS PRINCIPLED NEW AS WELL WHICH I'M SURE YOU'RE TIRED OF ME RAISING AGAIN AND AGAIN BY NOW LET'S TABLE ALL OF THAT FOR NOW THE HYGIENICALLY I WANT TO POINT OUT THAT JOR-EL IS AN OPTIMIST THE FACT IS WITHOUT THE GUIDANCE OF A PREDETERMINED ROLE IT THINGS ARE LEFT TO CHOICE OR CHANCE A CHILD COULD BECOME SOMETHING LESSER THAN WHAT SOCIETY HAD INTENDED RIGHT IT'S POSSIBLE THAT CAL AL MIGHT HAVE SPENT HIS LIFE BEATING CRAB TRAPS OR BUSSING TABLES HOWEVER JOR-EL GAMBLED ON GREATNESS AND HE DIDN'T DESPAIR THAT CAL HAD YET TO EXHIBITED TO THIS POINT JOR-EL IS PURELY PLEASED THAT CAL IS SIMPLY BEING HIS SON AND STANDING BEFORE HIM IT ANOTHER WAY JOR-EL HAS ANSWERS FOR CALLOW BUT AT NO POINT DOES HE ASK CAL AL WHAT IS HE DO HOW MANY A CLAIMS HAS HE ACHIEVED WHAT IS PROGRESS ETC. I MENTION THIS BECAUSE I'VE HEARD IT RAISED AS AN OBJECTION THE JOR-EL WENT TO ALL THE EFFORT TO SECURE CAL THE FREEDOM OF CHOICE AND FREE WILL BUT THEN SADDLES HIM WITH A GREAT TASK THAT CAL IS BEING PROGRAMMED AND COMPELLED JUST AS MUCH AS ANYONE ELSE ON KRYPTON AND THAT'S RIDICULOUS AT NO POINT DOES JOR-EL SAY THAT HE'S DISSATISFIED WITH CAL OR DEMAND ANY SPECIFIC ACTION FROM HIM INSTEAD WHILE HE PREDICTS AND PROMISES GREATNESS IT'S STILL UP TO CALLOW WHETHER TO ASPIRE FOR AND TO ACHIEVE THAT IT ISN'T A BIOLOGICAL OR SOCIETAL IMPERATIVE THAT CAL RESPONDING TO THE CHOICE AND THE FACT THAT IT IS A CHOICE IS WHY IT CARRIES SUCH GREAT MEANING AND SIGNIFICANCE YES JONATHAN AND JOR-EL PRESCRIBED GREATNESS FOR CLARK BUT THAT'S THE PRINCIPLE BEHIND FREEDOM FREEDOM FOR A GREATER PURPOSE NOT SIMPLY FREEDOM FOR ITS OWN UNFETTERED SAKE WHEN PEOPLE FIGHT AND THE BLEED FOR YOUR FREEDOM IT ISN'T SO YOU CAN TURN AROUND AND USE THAT AUTONOMY TO OPPRESS OR INJURE OTHERS IT'S THE REVERSE IS THE HOPE THAT YOU'LL IN TURN USE THAT FREEDOM FOR EVERYONE'S BENEFIT WITHOUT THE DEMAND OR THE REQUIREMENT THAT YOU DO SO AND BOTH OF CLARK'S FATHERS SET THOSE KIND OF GOALS BEFORE HIM AND HE CHOOSES TO PICK THEM UP TWO MORE QUICK POINTS FIRST OF JOR-EL MENTIONED THAT THEY RISKED SO MUCH SO DESPITE JOR-EL'S STATION AND STATURE IT'S APPARENT THAT HAVING CALVIN ACTUALLY WAS A GREAT RISK WITH POTENTIALLY GRAVE CONSEQUENCES NONETHELESS JOR-EL WAITED AND CONSIDERED IT WORTH THE RISK AND SECOND NOTE THAT JOR-EL'S NARRATIVE ABOUT THE GENESIS CHAMBER IS PREDOMINANTLY NEGATIVE JOR-EL POINTED OUT AS AN ILLUSTRATION OF KRYPTON'S FAILINGS NOT AS A MEANS OF CAL RESTARTING THE KRYPTONIAN RACE AT NO POINT DOES JOR-EL DIRECT CAL TO REACTIVATE THE GENESIS CHAMBER OR COMMAND HIM TO USE THE CODECS THAT MOVING ON FOR THE NEXT CLIP WE GET A BRIEF CUT AND I THINK IT'S FAIR TO SAY THAT JOR-EL AND CAL SHARE CONVERSATIONS AND CONTENT THAT WERE NOT PRIVY TO BUT NOT NECESSARILY RELEVANT TO THE STORY BEING TOLD BY THE FILMMAKERS YOU'LL NOTE IN THE NEXT CLIP THAT ZIDE IS MENTIONED IN A NEGATIVE CONNOTATION FOR THE FIRST TIME BUT HE LOOMS SO LARGE IS A FIGURE IN KRYPTONIAN HISTORY THAT HE'S ALREADY BEEN MENTIONED TWICE WITHOUT FURTHER CONVERSATION OR CONTEXT JOR-EL'S REFERENCE DESIGN WOULDN'T MAKE MUCH SENSE SO IT'S ARGUABLE THAT JOR-EL HAS BRIEFED CAL ABOUT ZIDE AT SOME POINT UNSEEN TO US WHICH FURTHER EXPLAINS CLARK'S LATER HESITANCY WITH RESPECT'S ODD IN THE CHURCH SAY WHEN YOU COME WITH WHAT TO A PRODUCT OF THE FAILURES OF HOW WELL THIS IS TIED TO NOW THIS IS A REALLY INTERESTING AND DIFFERENT TAKE ON THE TRADITIONAL MYTHOS IN PREVIOUS ITERATIONS JOR-EL AND LAURA FAILING TO A COMPANY CAL AL WAS ALMOST ALWAYS EITHER BASED ON IMPOSSIBILITY OR THE STORIES WERE SIMPLY SILENT ON THE MATTER IN FACT YOU COULD EASILY IMAGINE THE SCREENPLAY GOING IN THAT DIRECTION'S ODD ATTACKS THE CITADEL JUST AS THE PREPARING TO LAUNCH AND LAURA AND JOR-EL MUST STAY BEHIND TO PREVENT ZION FROM STOPPING THE LAUNCH WITH JOR-EL DYING IN THE PROCESS BUT INSTEAD THE FILMMAKERS MAKE IT A POINT TO IMPLY THE JOR-EL AND LAURA COULD HAVE JOINED CAL BUT DELIBERATELY CHOSE NOT TO GO FOR THE SAKE OF CAL'S DEVELOPMENT AS AN ADMISSION AN ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF THEIR OWN FLAWS IN THE FLOWS OF THEIR SOCIETY AND THIS IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE THERE IS A GENERAL CONSENSUS THAT JOR-EL WAS THE BETTER OR THE PERFECT FATHER WHEN COMPARED TO JONATHAN BUT JOR-EL'S POSITION HERE ESTABLISHES THAT EVEN JOR-EL HIMSELF WOULDN'T HOLD THAT TO BE TRUE THAT WE DON'T KNOW EXACTLY WHAT THOSE FAILURES WERE THAT MIGHT HAVE INFECTED THE YOUNG CAL AL I'VE HEARD SOME ARGUE THE JOR-EL ACTUALLY WANTED CAL TO MORE OR LESS RULE OVER EARTH IS A GOD BUT UNDERSTOOD THAT IMPULSE WITHIN HIMSELF TO BE WRONG NOT SURE ABOUT THAT INTERPRETATION BUT IT'S INTERESTING I THINK WE CAN RELY ON MORE RELATABLE MOTIVATIONS AS I'VE MENTIONED BEFORE I DID A GOOD AMOUNT OF RESEARCH INTO ADOPTION AND THE FEAR OF IMPARTING THE MISTAKES OF THE BIOLOGICAL PARENT TO THE ADOPTED CHILD IS A COMMON REFRAIN FOR GIVING UP THEIR CHILDREN FOR ADOPTION ESPECIALLY IN THE INTERNATIONAL ADOPTIONS THAT I STUDIED THERE WERE REMARKABLE CULTURAL DIFFERENCES WHICH ALSO TEND TO PARALLEL THE IMMIGRATION NARRATIVE IS FOR EXAMPLE EAST ASIAN CULTURES TEND TO BE COLLECTIVIST WHEREAS NORTH AMERICA TENDS TOWARDS INDIVIDUALISM THERE ARE PROS AND CONS TO EITHER APPROACH BUT IN MY RESEARCH I FOUND THAT SOME GAVE UP THEIR CHILDREN FOR ADOPTION IN THE HOPES THAT THEY MIGHT ESCAPE THE ILLS OF ONE CULTURE FOR ANOTHER FOR EXAMPLE THE STRONG PREFERENCE FOR SONS OVER DAUGHTERS IN CHINA HAS LED MANY DAUGHTERS BEING GIVEN UP FOR ADOPTION TO CULTURES WHERE THERE WOULD BE LESS DISCRIMINATION HOWEVER I DO WANT TO TEMPER ALL OF THIS WITH THE FACT THAT JOR-EL SAYS THAT THEY WANTED TO GO WITH CAL AL AND THAT THEY LOVE TO AND THAT TENSION OR PARADOX BETWEEN WANTING THE BEST FOR YOUR CHILD BUT THAT MEANING NOT BEING THERE FOR YOUR CHILD IS SOMETHING THAT MANY BIOLOGICAL PARENTS HAD TO STRUGGLE WITH IN OTHER WORDS MAN OF STEEL AND SOME OF THE TENDENCIES OF REAL-WORLD ADOPTIONS AS OPPOSED TO BEING STRICTLY DICTATED BY IMPOSSIBILITY OR SILENCE AND I SUSPECT THAT ADDED DIMENSION WAS PERHAPS OF THE DAVID COYER INCLUDED MAYBE BECAUSE HE KNOWS BOTH WHAT IT IS TO BE A BIOLOGICAL FATHER AND AN ADOPTIVE STEPFATHER SOMETIMES IT ISN'T PURELY A MATTER OF MY PARENTS WOULD BE WITH ME IF THEY CAUGHT BUT THERE'S OTHER FACTORS INVOLVED AS WELL AS MUCH A CHILD THE BEST OF BOTH WILL MENTORING A LOT OF I DEDICATE OUR LAST EPISODE OF US THAT ULTIMATELY LED TO NECESSARILY MAKE THE SAME MISTAKES OF YOU GOT A SUPERMAN SOME OF THE HOUSE OF L TO OUT OF THE FUNDAMENTAL BELIEF YOU CLARK'S ANSWER SHOWS A DESPERATE YEARNING TO MEET HIS PEOPLE DOESN'T MEAN THAT CLARK DOESN'T SEE HUMANITY AS PEOPLE THAT HE CAN CONNECT WITH WE KNOW THAT FROM HIS RELATIONSHIP TO MARTHA AND JONATHAN AND LOIS BUT HE WANTED TO KNOW THAT HIS STRUGGLE WASN'T UNIQUE HE WANTS WHAT WE ALL WANT TO BE ABLE TO RELATE TO SOMEBODY ELSE ON THE SAME TERMS SO CLARK BELIEVES HIMSELF TO BE THE LAST SON OF KRYPTON WHICH AMPLIFIES HIS CURIOSITY ABOUT ZIDE AND IT AMPLIFIES THE TRAGEDY OF HAVING TO STOP SOD PERMANENTLY JOR-EL AGAIN REFERS TO THE DEFECTS OF KRYPTON BUT HE PUTS CAL IN THE POSITION OF REDEEMER ABLE TO BRING OUT THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS WHEN I WAS YOUNGER ONE OF THE BIG NARRATIVE SHIFTS IN MULTICULTURALISM WAS AWAY FROM VIEWING AMERICAN CULTURE AS A MELTING POT WHICH IMPLIED A DEGREE OF HOMOGENIZATION AND A LOSS OF DISTINCTION TO THE IDEA OF THE GREAT AMERICAN SALAD WHERE THE DISPARATE ELEMENTS STILL RETAINED THEIR DISTINCTIVE CHARACTERISTICS AND WERE STILL IDENTIFIABLE INSEPARABLE YET WHICH CAME TOGETHER WITH OTHER DISTINCTIVE CULTURES FOR ONE HARMONIOUS WHOLE WORKING TOGETHER AND IN A WAY THAT MIRRORS JOR-EL'S AMBITIONS FOR CAL AL HE WILL BE SEPARATE DIFFERENT DISTINCT AND APART BUT HE COMES TOGETHER WITH HUMANITY AS A WHOLE TO ELEVATE EVERYONE AT LEAST ONE THING JOR-EL IMPARTS TO CAL ABOUT KRYPTON IS THAT IDEA OF HOPE AND I SHOULD BRIEFLY MENTIONED THAT THE IDEA OF THE CREST IS A SYMBOL FOR HOPE IS ATTRIBUTABLE TO MARK WAID'S BIRTH RIGHT JOR-EL ALSO GIVES HIM THE ULTIMATE PRINCIPLE OF HIS HOUSE THAT EVERY PERSON HAS THE POTENTIAL TO BE A FORCE FOR GOOD NOW WITHOUT GOING INTO IT TOO MUCH NOW OR HEAR SOME HOLD THAT THIS PRINCIPLE IS ANTITHETICAL TO THE USE OF LETHAL FORCE IN THE DEFENSE OF SELF OR OTHERS AND WHILE I AGREE THAT THERE'S ATTENTION I DON'T THINK IT'S ANTITHETICAL OR CONTRADICTORY SO LONG AS YOU REMEMBER THAT SEEM THAT WE KEEP REVISITING OF PRINCIPLES VERSUS CODES IT JOR-EL MEANT THIS AS A MINDLESS ABSOLUTE THAT COULD NEVER BE CROSSED THEN HE WOULDN'T HAVE FOUGHT BACK AGAINST'S ODDS MINIONS WHEN CAPTURED ON KRYPTON HE WOULDN'T HAVE DEVISED A PLAN WHERE ONLY CAL AL ESCAPES FROM KRYPTON IF HE BELIEVED THAT EVERYONE'S POTENTIAL FOR GOOD WAS AN ABSOLUTE TO BE PRESERVED JOR-EL WOULDN'T HAVE TOLD LOIS TO PICK UP THE SIDEARM AND REMAIN CALM WHEN SHE SHOOTS A KRYPTONIAN IN THE HEAD AND SURELY HE WOULDN'T HAVE DEVISED A PLAN FOR SENDING THE PHANTOM ZONE CRIMINALS BACK TO THE PHANTOM ZONE WHICH IS TO SAY CRITICISM BASED AROUND THE IDEA THAT JOR-EL OR SUPERMAN SHOULD HAVE HELD THIS AS AN ABSOLUTE RULE ABOVE ALL ELSE IS ABSURD AND INCONSISTENT WITH JOR-EL'S ACTIONS INSTEAD IT'S CLEARLY A PRINCIPAL IT'S AN IMPORTANT AND A CENTRAL PRINCIPLE OF JOR-EL'S BELIEFS BUT IT ALSO HAS TO BE MEASURED AND WEIGHED WITH A REASON AND GRACE AND NOT APPLIED BLINDLY WITHOUT REGARD FOR THE CONSEQUENCES THAT I THINK OF THE WRAP IT UP HERE LITTLE LEAVE YOU WITH THE STORY OF CAVIL AND CROWE FIRST MEETING OUR NEXT COMMENTARY EPISODE WILL PICK UP WITH THE SUIT AND THE FLIGHT BUT I THINK OUR NEXT EPISODE PROBABLY COVER ALL THE DCC YOU NEWS THAT'S TRANSPIRED LIKE JAMES ONE FOR AQUAMAN AND SILVERMAN'S THR INTERVIEW WANTED LEGAL PROOF OF LIFE WAS TO THOUSAND WERE SHOOTING THE VOICE OF PLAYING RUGBY UNION IMAGINE IS ONE TO DO ACUTE ON THE FIELD WAS A DOMINANT CLASS I JUST BECOME A FAN OF THE SPORT BECAUSE I HAVE MY AUTONOMOUS WAS PREPRODUCTION AND THEN WHEN WE FINISH YOUNIS AND THE KID THAT DOLLAR CLARK TOOK BE THE MOMENT MUST AND ABOUT MYSELF TO COME OVER TALK ABOUT ACT AS BRIEF CONVERSATION AND ONLY ABSORBED BY OF PRODUCTION PHOTOS MIGHT SAY SORT OF A COUPLE DAYS LATER WAS PUTTING ABOUT PACKAGE TOGETHER FOR THE EYE ACTIVE MY SON US WILL DO WANT TO THAT OF THE CUBITAL TO HIS WILL WILL BE AS LATER OFFICER MANY HIM IN MY BOARDING SCHOOL AND HAVE A VERY BRIEF CHAT WITH THEM ITS CD GAVE ME A PHOTO OF HIM A ROUGH BLOODY THE ROAD ON HENRY JENNINGS 1000 MILES BEGINS WITH A SINGLE STEP RUSSELL THIS IS OFFERED AS WELL.HIM AND SAID EXCUSE ME I WOULD LIKE AN ACTOR AND HE DIDN'T USE THEM YOU CAN ALSO THAT HE WENT OUT OF HIS WAY AND EVERY SOMEONE TO LA THREE MONTHS OF TIME AND DIDN'T GET A JOB AND HAD TO GO BACK WHETHER THE BARN ON THE KNOWLEDGE AS HE AND JUST YOU GRINDING GO BACK THREE MONTHS IT DIDN'T WORK AGAIN AND GO BACK AND KEEP ON FLIP-FLOPPING IS JUST TRYING TO MOTIVATE MYSELF THAT WAS THE THAT YOU SITTING THERE AND THOUGHT YOU KNOW WHAT IT IS A LONG JOURNEY USES THIS IS 1000 MILE JOURNEY JUST GET STARTED AND I NEED TO KEEP ON TAKING THE STEPS ONE OF THE OTHER AND RUSSELL DID JUST THAT ONE LITTLE THING THAT YOU NEED TO DO MENTAL FOR 12 YEARS LATER LIKE OF THE ILLINOIS WORKING This KID AND HOW MUCH DEAL WITH THE PRESSURES OF DOING WHAT IS DOING VERY GRACIOUSLY THIS THING THE COLLECTIVE NOSES CAUGHT FROM SOMEWHERE DOING A HUMAN WE GOING TO START SCHOOL AND IT WAS REMEMBER KITTED CANNOT TOLD TO DO YOU US ABOUT WHAT I SAID HE SAID HE SAID WELL YOU GET YOU LIKE THE TYPE PRETTY WELL AS IT IS TO ELICIT DON'T REALLY IT WAS THIS WAS BEAUTIFUL, LOIS WAS JOE BEFORE JUST OKAY I THINK I'VE RAMBLED ON LONG ENOUGH HERE SOME SHOWS I SUGGEST YOU CHECK OUT IF YOU WANT TO EXTEND YOUR ENJOYMENT OF THE SUPERMAN MYTHOS GOT IT TOGETHER FROM THE FAR REACHES OF BEINGS THAT ARE ASSEMBLED AND THAT'S WHAT GOT DEDICATED TO THE BUST GREATEST SUPERHERO IS SAFE A HEAVY SUPERMAN LIKE FEATURING SUPERMAN: THE DC COMICS CRISIS SUPERMAN PODCAST IS SUPERMAN THIS YOU WILL PODCAST IS SUPERMAN FOREVER AND ABOUT THE YOU YOU YOU YOU ARE YOU WILL PODCAST KL FROM SUPERMAN HOMEPAGE.COM IS JOHN WILSON REALLY HELP YOU ARE LEAVING MY PRESENT BRIDE YOUR RETAILER MICHAEL THEY START TO SAM RESULT IS THE ORIGINAL MARIO IS GIVEN BY AN HIGHLIGHTED I GAVE YOUNIS AND HOW HAS GOTTI THEY BECAUSE THAT WHAT THANKS SO MUCH SOLICITING I JUST LOVE DISCUSSING THE STUFF AND IF YOU BEEN STICKING WITH ME HOPEFULLY YOU DO TO I'M GENUINELY GRATEFUL FOR EACH AND EVERY LISTENER AND HOPE YOU'LL JOIN US MAN OF STEEL ANSWERS.COM THAT WAY IF YOU GOT QUESTIONS YOU WANT ANSWERED OR INSIGHTS THAT YOU WANT TO SHARE COMMENTARY TO MAKE COMPOSING THE COMMENTS FOR ALL YOUR LIKE-MINDED APOLOGIST TO SEE OR YOU CAN EMAIL ME AT MOSAIC@MANOFSTEELOFSTEELANSWERS.COM IF YOU LIKE WHAT YOU HEARD PLEASE REVIEW THE SHOW ON ITUNES OR STITCHER AND SUBSCRIBED THIS IS DR. 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