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Just have fun
At the risk of sounding like a promoter for St. Cloud's most popular new form of entertainment, I'm going to say it. The St. Cloud Superman has a Web site, apparently authored by some admiring kids.
The site has a bunch of photos (one of Superman posing with an oversized portrait of Ronald Reagan is priceless), a short history of the Superman, and, of course, a bulletin board where the residents of our fine city can discuss the phenomenon that is Superman. Don't try to get on this afternoon, though. The site is so popular that Tripod shut it off for - you guessed it - exceeding its bandwidth limit.
I'm starting to think we've been had. I'm starting to think the whole thing is a big joke - a joke on everyone who takes the time to do a serious analysis of the situation. I think Superman goes home and laughs until he cries that people are calling for him to be locked up for his little act.
I'm not saying that we should ignore the guy, just that we shouldn't waste our time figuring out why he wants to run around in a cape and tights. Instead, we should exploit this joke to its full potential. Dressing up as his greatest enemy Usama bin Laden might be in bad taste, but I personally will give $10 to the first guy who dresses as Lex Luthor and drives him away from his DQ spot.
As for all the theories about Superman the sexual predator, it seems unlikely that he poses any kind of real danger to anyone. Think about it - the public eye is constantly on him. He doesn't have to be waving at traffic for everyone near him to be watching his every move.
It's just as tough to buy the American hero bit. His post on the Superman Web site says that "anyone who has something nasty, hateful or disrespectful to say about an American that impersonates Superman or any other superhero is either anti-American, a terrorist, or just a complete loser." This isn't patriotic rhetoric, at least as I understand the term. It's about attention, not about truth and justice. If there's anything American about what he's doing, it's making a grab for publicity by being more ridiculous than the next guy.
So, let's quit thinking so much about this guy and play along with him. He's not going to go away, and chances are good to excellent we're not going to figure him out. So, we may as well have some fun with the whole thing. Call it the entertainment value of free speech.
Mike Lauterbach can be reached at: [email protected]
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