On superheroes and meaning -- inspiration or distraction -- with YouTubers Hayley and Kayli

Wokeness intrinsic to genre?

If you can’t see “Superman” (2025), hold this image in your mind while playing John Williams’ theme from the Christopher Reeve movies. Photo by K E on Unsplash

By Chilltown Blues

It’s been said stories about superheroes are the newest form of mythology. Superhero stories also happen to be a great template for populist storytelling like big (not necessarily) dumb action films. When these stories have any depth at all, they can be the go-to for the way some people think about the ideas therein and how they should be integrated in their lives and the world at large.

“A lot of these superheroes are seen as outsiders in some fashion. They’re either judged by their appearance or their abilities, some innate quality that they can’t change.” - Kayli

Arkham Asylum is probably the most recurring representation of any kind of mental health institution in pop culture, and who would say it does people with mental health challenges any favors? A film like “Joker” (2019) was supposed to be deep precisely because it tried to take a character who initially had no depth beyond chaotic good time and forming a story about how “the clown prince of crime” perpetually defeated and then relegated to an asylum (until he breaks out) would be birthed in the real world. Shot partially in Jersey City, the film’s reception was probably warmer for the main actor’s performance, its atmosphere and Joker-as-“rebel”-fandom rather than it having something keenly insightful to say; mental health challenges are, after all, a huge part of society’s underbelly — or what it prefers to be its underbelly.

But Superman is the character who’s in the light. He’s often literally in the sky, is empowered by sunlight. Along with Captain America — another figure with an idealized American appearance … post-serum that lets him overcome polio (pre-cinematic universe) — he’s synonymous with one popular definition of “All-American.”

YouTubers Hayley and Kayli review movies (usually horror) and TV shows, and have been doing it long enough for a viewer to notice their lack of hype-surfing when they talk about something superhero-related they’ve watched. Because of this, Chilltown Blues thought they would be great to ask what they make of Superman and the dialogue around James Gunn's “Superman” as an immigrant story.

“There are some people taking issue with Gunn calling Superman an ‘immigrant story,’” Kayli said. "But the basis of Superman is that he comes from an outside world, crashlands in the Middle-of-Nowhere, USA, and becomes this ‘All-American’ superhero. There’s even a scene in ‘Smallville’ where Clark compares his story to that of an immigrant, stating, ‘Was it legal when you forged my adoption papers? I’m an illegal immigrant, Mom.’ Smallville came out in 2001! My boy has been saying this!”