Superman and Societal Reflections

UnHerd’s Florence Read sits down with Todd McGowan – philosopher, film theorist, and author of Pure Excess, Capitalism and the Commodity – to dissect the new Superman film and its deeper political, philosophical, and psychoanalytic currents.

As Hollywood leans heavily on superhero franchises, and remakes and adaptations of all sorts, they question whether Superman embodies a "stuck culture," where studios’ risk-averse, profit-driven strategies stifle cinematic innovation. Todd probes whether this trend signals a decline in bold, original art, contrasting it with the provocative visions of directors like David Lynch, Stanley Kubrick, Spike Lee, and Martin Scorsese, the latter of which criticised superhero films as “not cinema”, they explore if genres, like horror, have taken up the mantle, delivering the confrontational, cathartic experiences superhero films often lack.

Todd finds merit in the new Superman, praising its execution and thematic depth, and reveals why superhero films reflect broader cultural tensions, what’s at stake for cinema’s future, and whether bold auteurs can still break through the noise.

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