Post by Prime etc. on Jul 6, 2021 17:02:21 GMT
The classic hero would never do that. Odysseus always uses brute force endowed by Nature, and never "cheats" to use more. Even against Cyclops he wants a "fair fight" from natural resources. Kal El is more of an anti hero in using the weapon of super power.
Yet Kal El remains a hero and someone whose motivations we can understand and find credible. We can't do that with Odysseus or the classic hero who has a superiority complex.
Odysseus did cheat somewhat to beat the Cyclops. He tricked him--using verbal trickery. He said his name was "Nobody" and he persuaded the Cyclops to drink so much that he got drunk and sleepy so they could blind him.
Odysseus had Athena on his side. He had to show natural merits but he was helped by Athena to appear both unusually handsome and in disguise.
One could say that it's a figure of speech-- "the gods helped him to appear taller and more handsome," when they mean by natural causes.
Odysseus was a king. Just as Zorro was an aristocrat. I don't think they have superiority complexes--they have merits. That is what makes them heroic. They have abilities that are admired.
Also Bruce Wayne was the son of a rich man, and Kal-El came from a family with clout as well.
The diner bully scene is like him reversing time to save Lois. It's personal. He was badly beaten by this bully and it bothered him-as it should bother anyone--but it also was doing a public service because Rocky was abusing people regularly.
And, the audience likes seeing him using super powers in a crafty way like that. As a humorous scene.