Was Martha a good or a bad idea

I would have been sort of OK with the Martha if Superman had said a sentence that anyone would actually say in that situation...

Nobody would say "You're letting him kill Martha!" when the other person has no idea who Martha is.

It could have been:
"He's going to kill my mother!" - Batman, having lost his mother, will empathize and will also see Superman as someone who has real ties to this world. Then, later, Martha would introduce herself to him and he could say "That was my mother's name."

"You're letting him kill an innocent woman!" - Not as definite that Batman will stop, maybe Lois steps in and explains like she did in the original version.

Or a longer option when he sees Batman is winning:
Superman drops to his knees. "You are going to do this, and apparently I can't stop you. But after it's done, make me a promise. Lex Luthor is holding a woman hostage. She is a good and innocent woman and if you don't hurry up and kill me, he will murder her. Her name is Martha, tell her I love her and I tried."


ANYTHING but "YOU'RE LETTING HIM KILL MARTHA!"