MGN Weekender: July 25, 2025
I saw Superman and it was good
I have always been a Batman guy. I am an elder millennial, and I’ve been tainted with the Dark and Gritty disease that lends my taste toward the edgier comic stuff, and away from the boy scout Superman I envision. I am also square in the middle of the Keaton-Kilmer-Skip That One-Bale series of movies that appeared at the right time of my life to be hugely influential. Also add in the superb Batman: The Animated Series and you have a very bat-heavy kind of fandom over here. That said, I enjoy a good Superman tale. My issue has always been that he was too invulnerable. He is too good. The stories aren’t interesting. He began as a guy who could leap a tall building in a single bound to a guy who could reverse time by spinning the earth backwards. Wut.
I prepared my children for the new film by showing them the Richard Fleshier version (available with ads on Amazon at the time of this writing). My son, a 4-year old very much a boy’s boy, loved it and began “flying” around the house.
I was not super excited, but excited to see my children be excited. I had a work trip in San Antonio so we went last Monday. There were thrills. There were chills. One child cried (at bad guy activities), one child shrieked (at Superman facing seemingly insurmountable challenges) they all were excited by Superman overcoming the bad guys.
I didn’t watch a lot of the Snyder stuff, mostly because I am not a fan of Batfleck. So I cannot compare this version to the last, but I will say that this was fun to see a wider inclusion of other DC Universe characters, which serve to put Superman into more context. The character has been parodied and critiqued endlessly, and unmercifully (Frank Miller’s work, The Boys, etc) and here we get a glimpse of the necessity of a hero like this, but also the narrative possibilities. In short, it was good. 4/5 stars. Go see it.
MGN took two road trips this summer. One from St. Louis to DC, with a stop in NYC, and the second down to San Antonio. I still remain a fan of road trips, but we have had our fill. Our youngest kid (1+) was fantastic. No crying, no complaining, just wet diapers etc. I don’t know how YOU roadtrip, but given my childhood of video-free entertainment in the car, I do not let the children use the iPad (nor do we have rear seat video stuff in our family van). Conclusion: good times were had all around. We were complimented on our children’s behavior and attitude and I credit a good portion of that behavior to simply not letting them watch too much stuff.
I read something recently (can’t find the link or I would share) that suggested the group-video activities like movies, shows, etc that are taken in as a family are superior to the individual stuff — swiping, clicking around. Humans being story lovers, the idea of taking in a story together is better than the one person browsing solo. I was thinking about this as one of my children is a big reader and one of the younger ones was complaining that when said child is busy reading, it seems selfish. Normally, the parenting thinking goes “reading is good, and nothing bad can happen because of it” but it isn’t too different than watching a movie by yourself on your phone is it?
I’ve done more reading to the children to address that. Right now we are reading Around The World In 80 Days. Once we are done, we’ll watch the 50s version. From my hour-long browse, that seems to be the most faithful, and best adaptation. I mean, it was nominated for some awards.
We aren’t quite at the end of summer. We have a pool party with some friends scheduled for this weekend. I found myself thinking of the fall and getting a little excited for the cool air and brisk feeling. It is almost here. Enjoy your weekend, y’all.
Have a good weekend too!
🦅🟢⚪️🏈 TEAM110 GMG!