MovieChat Forums > Superman (1941) Discussion > Jewish sub-text

Jewish sub-text

posted 16 years ago by lubin-freddy
6 replies | jump to latest

It's interesting to read a Jewish sub-text into the creation of "Superman", as comics in the 1930's, by two Jewish Americans, and this early animated version.

The idea sees the whole "Superman" as a fantasy of Jews who lived in an America which still wasn't willing to accept them, even if, as the Hollywood Jews, they were succeeding in certain (allowed) professions, and were making money.

Superman has to "pass", a term that may not be remembered today, but which was familiar to every Jew in the '30s. He can't show his real self, but has to pass as a duller version of everyone else. BUT, as his REAL self, he actually is able to SAVE everyone else, and be a superhero. Dave and Max certainly would have identified with this fantasy.

I'm not sure if this is "correct", but an interesting idea for discussion.

[–] wrfarley 14 years ago

I think there's a lot of value in your opinion. Even the Kryptonian names suggest First Testament influence. JorEL, Kal-EL are like DaniEL and SamuEL, which means a descendant of ELohim - the Hebrew name for the Lord. Other Hebrew names appear such as Eban and Sarah. As Shuster and Siegel were in their teens when they created the characters it's difficult to know if they intended to include this subtext or more possibly took aspects of their religious training and carried it into their fictional creation.

[–] 14 years ago

[deleted]

[–] exchronos 14 years ago

Something I've always wondered about, if it has anything significant to do with Judaism and Superman, are the recurring initials of "L.L.".

Now somebody mentioned the "El" part as being part of "Samu-el". Now originally the names were just "Jor-L" and "Kal-L" before the letter "E" was added onto it.

Yet if you look at characters in Superman there's a repetitive structure of LL names.

For instance:

Lex Luthor
Lois Lane
Lucy Lane
Linda Lake
Lana Lang
Lionel Luthor
Lori Lemaris
Lena Luthor

That's 8 set of LL's. Is there any significance to it at all? Are those initials special in any way in Hebrew or Judaic mythology?

Sincerely,
Exchronos

[–] 14 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Mithrandir-Olorin33 13 years ago

The the LL thing is just a coincidence that developed over time, many fictional character again common initials for their first and last names just to be easier to remember.

But 1 Silver Age Jimmy Olsen comic did suggest a connection between so many of Superman's love interests being L.L.s to DeLiLah.

Samson was definitely among the influences behind Superman, Superman was meant to be a Modern Samson just with a Moses like origin story.

"SLaughter is the best medicine"

[–] Blueghost 10 years ago

by lubin-freddy » Mon Apr 28 2008 00:27:11
IMDb member since December 2007
Post Edited: Mon Apr 28 2008 00:29:29
It's interesting to read a Jewish sub-text into the creation of "Superman", as comics in the 1930's, by two Jewish Americans, and this early animated version.

The idea sees the whole "Superman" as a fantasy of Jews who lived in an America which still wasn't willing to accept them, even if, as the Hollywood Jews, they were succeeding in certain (allowed) professions, and were making money.

Superman has to "pass", a term that may not be remembered today, but which was familiar to every Jew in the '30s. He can't show his real self, but has to pass as a duller version of everyone else. BUT, as his REAL self, he actually is able to SAVE everyone else, and be a superhero. Dave and Max certainly would have identified with this fantasy.

I'm not sure if this is "correct", but an interesting idea for discussion.

It's an interesting notion, and I think I've heard it brought up before in some books on Superman.

Though I'm not sure how to comment on it just now. I think there's in that thing in everyone "If people would just accept me, they'll know how good I can be for them" kind of thing going on.

I think the original Superman short story had Superman as a bad guy.