Missing the middle...

Message:

Supes dies on the show in the end because the first time they kill him off he's revived with a human donor heart, which isn't fully compatible with his Kryptonian physiognomy, is slowly sapping his powers, and (as noted earlier in the season) will eventually kill him. He doesn't "give up and die."

Of heart failure. The initial attack right where Pa Kent died. Dramatic symmetry.

Nothing wrong with a find love and it'll make you happy story. That's not "Hollystupid," that's a story humanity has told across every culture for thousands of years. It's not always romantic man/woman love - often it's man/man love. Of course, not in a gay way, but that MANLY brother-bond from overcoming adversity together (hint - if the story is more than 2000 years old, it's probably also in a gay way, especially if it's Greek). Besides, once again, EVERY version of Superman ultimately finds their meaning and comfort in the arms of Lois. Other iterations of Superman all have varied reactions to her death ranging from taking over the entire world (supervillain kills Lois) to sulking in the heart of a yellow sun for a million years (Lois dies of old age).

I think the monolog is a little heavy handed, but I'm trying to figure out the problem with the message.

Supes saving people... Awesome, good for him, but it's also REACTIVE work. There's a problem which needs to be solved. Solve it. There's satisfaction from that. On a small scale, I've been there - just this week walking home at 2am Laura and I came across a woman whose bus (last of the night) hadn't stopped at her stop. Her phone was dead, she had no cash. We tried calling taxis, but, in rural Ireland taxis are the three dudes in town who mostly handle weekends. They weren't answering at 2am Tues morning. I ended up driving her to the next town, 20 minutes up the road. Yay, me! I helped the 19 year old lady get home! I'm heroic and stuff! When I dropped her off and she said she wished she could give me some money or something, I told her, "No worries - next time you come across someone in need and you can help them, do it. Just pass on the kindness."

Feels good to help someone. People in Loughrea know I'll always help out if I can.

But what's going to feel better is the grin on Laura's face Xmas morning when she sees what I got her.

The MAN part of Superman is important. It's the core of the character. It's his empathy, and kindness, but those are forged through healthy relationships. There's the 1986 comic where Luthor has Lexcorp scientists feed all available data on Supes into a computer and it spits out "Superman is Clark Kent." Luthor rejects this because he can't comprehend how someone with the power of Superman would spend time as Clark. "Power is to be used, exploited, and built up."

Luthor's selfishness is what makes him a villain.

So, yeah, a final Clark monolog about how the most important things in his life, what gave him personal meaning, were friends, family, forgiveness, and love... Is very much a core Superman message (It's not like Chris Reeve's Superman threw away his powers just to be with Lois - oh, right, he did).

Why would one reject this? Is it better to be angry, hateful, and alone? I lived a couple of decades like that. I'm a lot happier in my life after letting go of (most of) what hurt me in the past (my childhood bully, serving life in prison for axe murdering his entire family and burning their corpses - action he took after he failed to murder me a few times, and I got to where he couldn't come after me amymore. Screw him. Wish Cali had bumped him off when they were still doing executions, because he'd been scheduled....), and finding Laura. It's much nicer to not be angry all the time. And I was.

We all strive for some kind of human connection. C'mon, Red talks about how a new game design sells five copies. The SG site isn't REALLY about a viable business. It's here to have your own virtual safe space to hang out with your buddies and have dumb geek arguments about the best Star Trek dialog, whether or not the ending of a TV show was good, and recap a Sunday game session.

This site represents your own desires for friendship and affection.

Anyways, too long story short, monolog cheesy, basic message, good, basic ending concept, fine with. Supes lost his powers after being given a human heart, but his sons stepped up to the superhero plate. He still had friends and a social life, and his dog. Then his failing heart gave out. Again, it's the man part of Superman. Nothing wrong with that part of the story. If I wanted punchy-punchy with no emotional core, I'd go watch the Zach Snyder movies again.

Anyways, on to Xmas, and the Doctor Who Xmas Special. Hopefully Ncuti will get a good script this time. I enjoy his performance, but he only got three decent scripts last season. It's a Moffat script. Force Moffat to write you a one-off and he usually puts together something tight. It's when you give him entire seasons he spins out of control and writes himself into a corner before pulling out a bag ending.

Yours,