Episode 511 - Superman at 85 - Voices In My Head (The Rick Lee James Podcast)

Welcome back to Voices in My Head. As always, I'm your host Rick Lee James, and this is going to be kind of a, I guess we'll call it a speeding bulletin kind of episode today because once again it's going to be a short episode. But you know, we talk about Superman and faster than a speeding bullet. Well, this is sort of your speeding bulletin today of an episode. Because once again, I don't have a guest. I have like 3 scheduled and things happened this past week where I, you know, I had to do another 24-hour shift at the hospital. I had staff meetings at church. I had Sunday morning as soon as I finished my 24-hour shift. So this ended up being another episode that I needed to do by myself, but that's okay. Because it was a topic that snuck up on me, and I want this intentionally to be a quick episode. If you're not a Superman nerd like I am, you might just want to skip this episode. But this last week, on September 18th, it was the 85th birthday of Superman. 85 years ago on last Wednesday, that was when the very first issue of Action Comics was put on newsstands. And so that was kind of a, you You know, it's kind of a fun day to celebrate. My hope is that on the 100th birthday of Superman, I'm hoping to actually be in Metropolis for the Superman celebration that year, because I think that would be so great. Because how many characters really last that long? I don't think that there's that many that still, you know, 85 years later, hopefully 100 years later, still is kind of in the public consciousness. And he's a fictional character. So it may be weird to some of you that I'm even talking about Superman today, but I just wanted to take a minute to say why I find Superman so meaningful in my life, I guess. I know I'm an adult. I'm a 45-year-old man. I know a lot of people think it's silly that I like comic books. I know a lot of people think it's maybe even a little strange. I have a hat that has the Superman symbol I wear. Sometimes my socks. And for whatever reason, as a character, he just stuck with me. And there's a couple reasons that I think that's the case. And I'm just going to try to very quickly, as I'm sitting here in my car today once again because I don't have time to do a normal episode, sum up what I like so much about Superman. For me, it is not— it's not even so much the powers. The powers are neat and everything, but what makes Superman who he is, I think, is his empathy, his kindness, and his character. And there's just a sheer optimism to the character. Sorry if it gets a little noisy, it seems there's a lawnmower outside my window of my car today where I'm parked at the moment. So I just can't seem to get a break right now, literally, to even do a podcast. But that's okay. So One thing I really wanted to stress though is just the kindness. And kindness is not niceness. There are a number of Superman stories, and I know he's a fictional character and it's always in the hands of the writer and whoever is choosing to write him, but it seems to have been established through the years. For one thing, he doesn't kill. He is kind even to villains. He is always seeing the best. When it comes to the point where he has to fight someone, if he knows he's stronger than them, he will never use the full extent of his strength because he doesn't want to harm them beyond what is needed to be done just to stop them. Never a person who uses lethal force. And I think about that, and I think of that really is a trait that not only empathizes with people because he, he always wants the redemption of of his villains even. He's always longing for Lex Luthor, his worst enemy. He remembers when, you know, at least in the original iteration, when they were friends, and he longs for that relationship to be back. He wants to redeem that person. He's always wanting to redeem the villains, and I just think that's a beautiful thing. But that also, because he has such strength and because he won't use it to the full extent, that shows to me his character of meekness. Which as I think about these things, that's a very Christ-like characteristic. I don't think there's a lot of parallels to Superman and Christ, but that is one that I think of meekness. Because meekness is not weakness. It is controlled strength. It is controlled power. It is a humility of not using that strength that you have. So today at, you know, maybe like when we think of the best things that that we would like to pass on about ourselves, or things about us that we would like to be true. Those are just a couple of things that I'm thankful for when I think about the character of Superman. Again, obviously it's not a documentary, you know, it's always a character that's in the hands of whoever is writing him at the moment. But for me, those are just some things that are true about the character. So this very short episode was to say happy birthday, Superman. You're my favorite superhero, and I'm very glad to have a very brief episode today just to say happy birthday. And I appreciate so many authors over the years, writers, iterations of the character. I think one of the best is what's happening on TV right now where Superman is a dad and Superman and Lois and all kinds of struggles that they're having there. And the character Tyler Hoechlin, who is playing Superman, if you haven't seen him He really does a fantastic job of showing that empathy, that kindness, that character that comes through, and it makes me love the character even more. So that's it for today. Superman is one of the voices in my head. As always, thank you so much for listening. I'm so glad that you're here, and thank you for listening every week. I'm not gonna say I promise, but I'm about 99% sure next week is gonna be starting up with conversations again with interesting people, and I am so glad to be able to do that again. Sorry the schedule's been a little nuts, but thank you for hanging in there with me. Thanks for talking about the show with friends and sharing it with other people, and I appreciate your support over the years. Have a great one. God bless.