A self-admitted movie and comic freak, I got the chills when watching the trailer for the new film, “Man of Steel.”
The main reason: I love Superman. http://www.dccomics.com/characters/superman
This is no mere comic-book-fan kind of love but one of a friend for another friend.
As a kid I was nerdish to the 1200th degree. I had one good pal who lived next door. Luckily, she loved comics, too. We’d spend any change we had on comics, and I bought Superman and Spider-Man comics. I related to Peter Parker, who was geeky, always broke and took care of his aunt. His alter ego was a lot cooler. I had no such cool alter ego, but forever dreamed that I get one.
But my first love was Superman.
Back then, I didn’t consider myself a cute little girl. I was one of those tubby things with bad hair. I was also called “Einstein” by many of my classmates because I was smart and loved to read. I admit here and now to purposely not answering questions in school and not doing my best because I hated that title.
To make matters worse, I was horribly shy. I mean shy. The kind of kid who heard only her own footsteps while walking down the hall. Looking back, I often joked I was the one voted most likely to be hit by a school bus, and no one would have noticed. If I would have been a boy, my name could have been Clark Kent.
As a result, I delved into reading and movies, where I found new friends, who would not call me Einstein and would know my name if they walked off the pages or the screen.
Throughout, I held a special affinity for Superman. Not because of all those magnificent powers, which were really neat by the way. It was because no matter how good looking or normal he appeared, even with that cute curl of black hair, he was an alien from another planet. He longed to belong, but really never could. That gave him a great vulnerability despite his superman human strength.
I wasn’t from Krypton, but felt the same way, an alien. Sometimes at my most shy and ungraceful, I felt my real home was Planet Loser. Still, Sup didn’t mope about his alien differences; he used them to fight evil.
I used my alien differences to become a writer. Like Lois Lane, I became a reporter and ultimately, a writer of books and stories. Along the way, I realized that being an outsider was a whole lot more interesting. I also learned that differences are to be celebrated.
When “Man of Steel” opens in theaters, I will be there.
After all, I have to say ‘Hello’ to an old and dear friend.