As the culture war rages on, the number of heroes that have fallen by the wayside continues to grow. Superman is the latest casualty of wokeism. He is now a climate change-fighting bisexual. Gone are the days of his manly destruction of bad guys and noble fight for “truth, justice, and the American way.” Instead, he attends climate rallies where he supports obnoxious blue-haired social outcasts in their quest for a better world.
Scientific American took a similar stance on classic heroes by cancelling Jedi Knights. The publication ran a piece titled “Why the Term ‘JEDI’ Is Problematic for Describing Programs That Promote Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.” The authors go on to state that “the name JEDI can inadvertently associate our justice work with stories and stereotypes that are a galaxy far, far away from the values of justice, equity, diversity and inclusion.” This begs the question; why would you not want to be associated with the stereotype of a Jedi? If a person of any age watched Star Wars and said that they didn’t like the Jedi, we would rightly think that they were crazy.
The destruction of Superman and other heroes demonstrates something much more devastating than the idiotic alteration of classic characters. It represents the systematic destruction of our value systems.
Superman’s fight against climate change illustrates a shift away from the traditional fight against good and evil. After all, climate change is not evil, it is merely an ecological phenomenon. By shifting our depictions of evil away from classic villains like the Joker or Doomsday we are signalling that everyday humans are the only evil that remains.
Family life is now something to be ashamed of. In fact, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle recently won an award for their decision to limit their family to two children. I wonder what this makes a loving mother who decides to have four or more children? Immoral and destructive, perhaps. Also, if two is better than four, then why don’t we sterilize the planet and cease to exist? This doesn’t make for a very just or inspiring ideology.
And as we cast a disparaging gaze on those who are undeserving of it, we ignore the real evil that exists. Who cares if Anakin Skywalker walks into the Jedi Temple and kills the younglings who are destined to become great Jedi? We already have Planned Parenthood temples built for this purpose. We allow the killing of babies for the benefit of the mother, why not allow it for those who will be affected by the spectre of climate change? According to the cynics we are all damned because we contribute to global warming and participate in a society that is nothing more than a sexist, racist, homophobic hellhole.
A community cannot sustain itself if it does not attempt to uphold a moral code and celebrate the people who work hard to uphold that code (whether they be real or fictionalized). When upholding a moral code goes by the wayside, a society slowly crumbles as people refuse to maintain it. What is worse, perhaps, is the fact that the Jokers and Doomsdays of the world still exist as we wallow in our self pity and turn a blind eye to their victims.
The stories that are told by books and movies are more than just entertaining time fillers. The Christian apologist C.S. Lewis wrote that “One day, you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.” Fairy tales and superheroes inform our sense of right and wrong. When these are destroyed they leave us bereft of a moral compass. Falling prey to cynicism and despair is something that should be reserved for teenagers. However, because society has been so stripped of moral values, adults are falling prey to this tendency. Many are too bereft of a moral code to transmit values to their children and opt for the replacement of religion with tolerance.
The culture warriors came for the spiritual heroes by removing religion from public life. They came for the political heroes by tearing down statues. And now they are coming for the remnant of moral teaching that still exists: fiction stories. Superman must be castrated, the Jedi must be cast aside, and we must all bow to the woke.
Your humble servant,
Silence Dogood
