Superman isn't the only one getting smeared these days
Have you noticed how many loud and persuasive voices today are making *really good* things look really bad?
I love Superman — though not as much as my good neighbor Dennis, with Superman painted on the hood of his awesome car. Ever since I first saw a caped Christopher Reeve saving the boy who was falling into Niagara Falls, this secular Savior-like figure has fascinated me.
In last year’s block-buster Superman movie, the centerpiece of the movie’s tension wasn’t the Kryptonite that almost finished the hero off. It wasn’t the Ultraman or gigantic kaiju monster he had to fight. And it wasn’t even the squirrel or dog the Man of Steel saved from certain squashedness.
Instead, it was the brilliant PR campaign Lex Luthor instigated to take pieces of uncomfortable truth about Superman’s life and use them to paint a darkly distorted picture of America’s hero of heroes as someone who was (if you really understand the truth about him) actually morally suspect, power-hungry and a legitimate threat to the American public, despite all his apparent niceness and goodness.
This isn’t simply a movie plot, however. It’s happening in real life, all around us … to many genuinely good causes, organizations and people.
‘Scary Superman’
On the face of it, it’s pretty obvious Superman is always good. Just look at everyone he saves!
But alas, a new historical tidbit has emerged in the 2025 James Gunn production, hinting at a sordid sexual scandal. Lex Luthor pounces, leveraging that information with the PR genius of a blood-thirsty corporation when a leak of its competitor reveals something unflattering.
The Metropolis media are all too ready to go along with Luthor’s hijinks. “Can’t say I’m surprised, Cleavis,” says a lower-level, wannabe superhero on a news program. “It’s guys like this, they always got a whole bunch of dark, ugly secrets.”
Like a bull led by the nose, thought leaders follow the polished Lex Luthor wherever he wants to take them.
Hating Superman
Along with all the lofty language about higher causes, viewers witness the deeper motivations behind Luthor’s deceptive, mean-spirited portrayal of Superman —especially the moment he declares his spite for a being he calls “it.”
“A thing with a cocky grin and a stupid outfit — that’s somehow become the focal point of the entire world’s conversation,” he says, continuing to describe Superman. “Nothing’s felt right since he showed up.”
My boys groan when I try applying movies to real life. But if you’ll indulge me, I couldn’t stop thinking about other examples of people doing great work, but getting smeared-and-spun into something unrecognizably awful.
Do you see that happening anywhere around you right now?
Those ‘scary’ people of faith
I sure do. It’s just so easy to do: taking pieces of uncomfortable truth to fashion an unflattering and deceptive picture of something deeply, ultimately, fundamentally good.
That’s not just a Rita Skeeter-Harry Potter thing. In fact, almost everything I consider truly beautiful and deeply good in the world, has been portrayed — in one way or another — as dangerous, reckless and something to be kept at arm’s length.
That includes dialogue, mindfulness and complementary/alternative approaches to healing — all of which have been framed in darkly suspicious tones. And then, of course, there’s my faith.
This movie came to mind when spotting yet another media spectacle criticizing the Church of Jesus Christ — this time, a Bravo series led by a former Latter-day Saint who had previously starred in “Real Housewives of Salt Lake City,” Heather Gay.
Given all the petty drama and childish feuds that make a show like “Real Housewives” famous, one would think that Gay might show a little public contrition —especially for the way she speaks so spitefully about her former family of faith.
But instead, this woman has doubled down — going all-in in denigrating her former faith with a calumnious assemblage of different people grinding an axe against my faith — all of which is presented as definitive evidence of how appalling the church is, so much so that it’s something to be “survived.”
If a Bravo hit-piece is your barometer of truth, that probably settles it.
‘By their fruits’
But maybe you’re someone who wants something more before reaching a conclusion about truth. Maybe you’re not satisfied that reality TV stars really offer you the best glimpses of the full truth.
That would be a good call. It’s smart to be careful who we trust to tell the truth about reality.
In the end, I believe the truth of everything comes out — including for Superman.
At the close of the movie, a news broadcaster proclaims: “We all owe Superman an enormous apology. He is, of course, the hero we always thought he was.”1
But in that earlier darker moment, when he’d been smeared before the whole world, Clark Kent got some great advice from his simple, loving father.
“I’ll tell you something, son...Your choices, Clark. Your actions ... that’s what makes you who you are.”
That’s true for all good things.
It’s not what the loudest voices say about you online.
It’s not what overall public opinion says about you either.
It’s about how you live, what you say, and the good you bring into the world —aka, “your fruits.”
“Ye shall know them by their fruits,” Jesus famously said. “Every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.”
Watch the fruits. And the whole picture.
Along with people who are trustworthy in their interpretations of reality.
That way, you’ll see light and goodness for what it is — and be able to dismiss those trying to persuade you otherwise.
Caution, there’s one bad word on that linked clip — and one good word that shouldn’t be used as a bad word.