Monday, April 18, 2011

From castoff to savior

Let me tell you a short story.

A baby boy is placed in a vessel and sent away so he will spared from certain doom. He is found by another family and raised without knowing his true heritage. As an adult, he learns who he really is—and becomes a hero to the masses.

Who am I talking about?

If you ask this in a Jewish setting, as I have numerous times, the answer will immediately be “Moses.”


If you ask this in various other settings, you may well get another answer: “Superman.”

We don't know if Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster consciously embedded Superman with a Moses allegory. They don't mention it in any known interview. But it sure is fun to delineate the similarities.

Happy Passover.

And, as it happens, happy 73rd anniversary of the first appearance of Superman. Today in 1938, Action Comics #1 debuted.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Yo Marc! It's P.T. I just watched your appearance on NBC promoting Boys of Steel. I know it's old news already, but Man, you did a great job in that piece, so polished and quick. You managed to present the essence of your book effectively with a couple of staccato stories. I personally loved the possible origin of "bullet-proof," with an almost-conspiratorial tone there. And you fit in that you corrected a historical fallacy about his death. Nice. You represent so well, honestly, Brandeis doesn't deserve you. If anyone asks, say you attended NYU or something. LOL.