Superman (2025), directed and written by James Gunn, produced by Gunn himself together with Peter Safran for DC Studios, has arrived on the services of streaming where you can rent it. The film has sparked a strong debate, on social media and also on the big one American press, on a particular scene that was not at all liked by those who feel affinity with the vision of the MAGA movement.
David Corenswet plays Clark Kent/Superman, Rachel Brosnahan is Lois Lane, and Nicholas Hoult plays Lex Luthor. The cast also includes Nathan Fillion (Green Lantern), Edi Gathegi (Mr. Terrific), Isabela Merced (Hawkgirl), and Anthony Carrigan (Metamorpho).
Superman return to Earth after years of absence to reconcile with his dual heritage, Kryptonian and human. He will have to face the entrepreneur Lex Luthor to save the world and rebuild his relationship with Lois Lane
The squirrel scene
During the bloody battle with a kaiju in Metropolis, Superman suddenly diverts his flight path to save a squirrel, who was about to be crushed by the monstrous creature unleashed by Lex Luthor. The scene, though very brief, takes the viewer by surprise: why would the hero risk himself and the mission of protecting the city for such a small, innocent gesture, almost out of scale with the devastation unfolding?
One might have expected him to intervene to save a child, an old man, a symbol of the city. Instead, he chooses to protect an adorable creature, seemingly marginal in the midst of so much destruction. In test screenings, some members of the production questioned the coherence of the scene. James Gunn himself initially considered cutting it, fearing it would interrupt the visual and narrative rhythm of the action. Ultimately, however, the director decided to keep it: the gesture perfectly captures the empathetic and kind nature of the hero as well as his deep conviction that every life, even the smallest, has a universal value.
Out of sync, but cool
It's likely that this scene, the very nature of this Superman, and the film as a whole didn't excite Hulk Hogan fans—with all due respect to Terry Gene Bollea, who passed away a few days ago. Gunn was keen to show how much his hero was “out of sync”, out of fashion, in a world of cynicism and bullying. Be kind, do not abuse your powers: here is the subversive act. And, paradoxically, also “cool”.
Today kindness and empathy They seem to be values that are on the verge of extinction. Some even consider them harmful, not in themselves, but because they have been elevated to sanctuaries, beyond all reasonable measure. Perhaps the squirrel sequence in "Superman" manifests precisely that excess of attention to diversity which annoys those who believe that the world of "political correctness" needs to be amended. Once and for all.
And so it happens that, while uplifting, Superman's spontaneous and life-saving gesture—in that context of a struggle for survival—is perceived by some as the wrong message, even counter-educational: an act of "Superwoke." For these people, then, the metaphor of the Alligator Alcatraz seems more honest and appropriate to the situation.
Against empathy
I read that the word “empathy” entered English only in 1908 from the German Einfühlung, but the idea of emotional identification was already present in the eighteenth century as “sympathy” in Adam Smith and David Hume. For the two thinkers, “sympathy” meant feeling the other's emotions almost on one's own skin: not simple pity, but a deep participation, capable of creating an ethical bond between the individual and the community.
Evangelical authors Allie Beth Stuckey (Toxic Empathy) and Pastor Joe Rigney (The Sin of Empathy) attack empathy in their bestselling books as a subtle device to undermine the Christian moral rigor that comes from the Bible. They counter this model with the ideal of "compassion anchored in truth": a sentiment that works but is always guided by divine commandments, where empathy and help are valid only when morally justified by Scripture.
In his essay Against Empathy (2016), Canadian psychologist Paul Bloom proposes replacing empathy with "diffuse compassion," which would be more useful for public ethics and for guiding rational choices on a large scale. During the Jerusalem trial, even Adolf Eichmann presented himself as "empathetic" and a follower of Kantian morality, having acted according to a universal principle, but without subjecting it to the light of critical thinking. In a March appearance on Joe Rogan's podcast, which has millions of listeners, Elon Musk mocked progressives for surrendering to a "suicidal empathy" so out of control that it became self-destructive.
What remains of the day
I do not know if Musk had in mind - but I doubt it - the archetypal story of Euripides' Medea, from which Pier Paolo Pasolini he made a very personal film, with Maria Callas in the leading role.
An act of empathy Creon, king of Corinth, unleashes a hurricane of disasters against Medea, striking himself, his daughter, Medea's offspring, Jason, and the entire city. The king confronts Medea—whose evil powers he fears—to exile her; but on the verge of doing so immediately, he yields out of pity to her heartfelt plea, which appears sincere. The woman, a foreigner who has never truly integrated among the Greeks, begs him: "Let me stay for this one more day, so I can think about how to leave for exile and how to provide my children with what they need for the journey." And Creon: "I have never behaved like a tyrant, and more than once pity for others has been my downfall. And even now I am making a mistake, woman, I clearly see: but you will have what you want." In what remains of that day, Medea carries out her revenge. "He has allowed me to stay one more day, in which I will make corpses of my enemies," she recites. And since then, “nothing is possible anymore.”
The red line
“An authentic leader is measured by his ability to say no,” he used to say. Steve Jobs. It's not a particularly empathetic statement, but good old Creon could have really used a good "no".
After this digression, let us return to our main theme.
The squirrel scene struck the same chords in me that, years ago, were touched by a moment of “The thin red line” by Terrence Malick. It is nevertheless a polar scene, albeit a specular one in its intention. After the carnage of the American infantry assault on the Japanese position on Guadalcanal Hill, Malick inserts a series of interludes of devastated nature: broken trees, fleeing animals, an eerie silence. The abrupt break from the images of war prepares us for an even more atrocious vision: a wounded bird struggles in the mud, covered in dust, unable to fly, its wings shattered by an explosion. A small, innocent being, mutilated in its natural habitat, symbolizes the innocence of creation, devastated by man's conscious and culpable violence. It is perhaps precisely here that the film's true red line runs.
Ortone and the world of Chi
To make sense of Superman's gesture - the Kryptonian with extraordinary powers - just turn to one of the most formative children's books ever written: Horton and the Little Whos by Dr. Seuss, American writer and illustrator. At the climax of the story, theHorton the Elephant He decides to protect the tiny inhabitants of Whoville, who live on a speck of dust. Only the pachyderm can hear their faint voices.
Because of this inexplicable decision, Horton is captured by the Wickersham gang – monkeys, kangaroos, eagles – large jungle animals who believe he has lost his mind.
They yank him, beat him, drag him toward a cage. Yet Horton, though overwhelmed, still manages to make himself heard by Mayor Sindachi, the mayor of Whoville, to whom he shouts: “Don't give up! I believe in you all!”
A person's a person, no matter how small! And you very small persons will not have to die
If you make yourselves heard! I know come on, now, and TRY!”
What better words to wish you all a happy September? In 2008, an animated film based on the book, "Horton Hears a Who," directed by Jimmy Hayward and Steve Martino, was also released. In the original version, Horton is voiced by Jim Carrey; in the Italian version, by Christian De Sica.
