Why the World Doesn't Need Superman by Lois Lane

So several years ago I watched Bryan Singer's "Superman Returns".

The premise is that Superman leaves Earth, isn't seen for several years and no one knows when or if he'll ever return.

There was a scene where Lois Lane is discussing an article she wrote called "Why the World Doesn't Need Superman", and even wins a Pulitzer Prize for it.

I always wondered what an article like that would be, and eventually started to write one myself.

So after 6 years I finally finished it...

Why the World Doesn't Need Superman

By Lois Lane

If the beginning of this article sounds like an obituary, then that is by design.

We, at least as a city if not as a species, need to start getting used to the idea that Superman is never coming back.

He felt like a gift to mankind from Krypton, but in reality he was just on loan to us.

Actually, he was probably more of a management consultant; he came in when things were going wrong, he showed us what we need to do to put things right and then he left for another contract.

While I, as an individual who was lucky enough to spend time with Superman, will always be grateful for the things he did while on Earth, I am starting to believe that the world no longer needs Superman.

Those old enough to remember the time before Superman may think this a ridiculous notion, but let me put my case to you.

In the years Superman was active, crime in Metropolis reduced to almost zero levels, save for the occasional Super Villain plot.
Police spending dropped dramatically and the money saved was, with great wisdom, instead ploughed into new innovative education schemes.
These have helped keep crime levels low not just in the city but across the state as the governor followed the mayors lead and ploughed money into education.

So while most people can recognise a direct correlation between Superman's presence and the plummeting crime levels, we also need to attribute our impressive levels of literacy and education to Superman's influence.

But should it take the threat of a man with unimaginable powers to achieve these changes?

Superman didn't change our DNA. At our core we are still the same people we were before.
But what Superman did enable us to look beyond immediate concerns and look to the future.
He enabled us to examine the way we do things and to realise there may be better ways.

This may be the most important lesson Superman taught us.
That we shouldn't focus solely on solutions that might bring immediate results, that by taking a long term view, to be patient for results to emerge, we may finally go some way to dealing with the issues that seem too big to solve for our society.

Only then can we fulfil our potential.

Superman may be gone. He may not come back. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't feel his influence every day.

He has shown us the way and given us a taste of what we can achieve, and all that is required of us is the courage to embrace the new and to keep on this path even if results do not emerge immediately or at all.

Courage has never been being in short supply in Metropolis.

Superman wasn’t the only hero in Metropolis; he was just the only one who could leap tall buildings in a single bound.

How much courage does it take to face an assailant knowing that however strong they are or whatever weapons they carry, they are unlikely to be able to scratch you, let alone harm you? How much courage does it take to run into a burning building, knowing the flames cannot harm the costume you wear, let alone your skin? How much courage does it take to stand up for others, to put yourself in harm’s way to protect the innocent when you seem to be made of steel? Not much I would venture.

But how much courage does it take to face these challenges, when all you have to protect you is a vest made of Kevlar and a badge? A golden shield that represents all that our society stands for but wouldn't be much good at stopping a bullet?

All the courage in the world.

Metropolis may have lost a Superman, but it still has plenty of heroes willing to stand up for what is right and put their lives on the line for others.

The men and women of the Metropolis Police Department and Metropolis Fire Department may not get the headlines and front page pictures that Superman regularly received for his actions, but that doesn't mean they are any less deserving of our admiration.

In fact I would suggest that they are more deserving of it because they are not Superman.

And the same goes for their equivalents in every city, town and village in the world.

Why does the world not need Superman?

Because within each of us is a super man or woman already, but we can only realise this potential if we're willing to use it to help others and not ourselves.

We don't need to be able to stop a bullet if we make sure the bullet wasn't fired in the first place.

And we can only do that if we're willing to work together and embrace our differences, rather than let them separate us.

Superman once told me how his father described the human race:

"They can be a great people, they wish to be. They only lack the light to show the way. For this reason above all, their capacity for good, I have sent them you... my only son."

Superman has shown us the way, but that light has now passed to each and every one of us.

It is up to us how we use it.