How Zack Snyder’s Superman Saved My Life.
I’ve been struggling with depression my whole life, I tried to commit suicide twice (in August of 2014 and December of 2015), and a beloved-by-the-public bullet-proof god who got his celebrated attributes by being born with them would be the last thing I would want to see if I were about to jump off a building, his words would have no meaning, for he neither could or would know how I felt or how my life was. Superman, a hero for millions, I hated.
That was before I watched Batman v Superman, there I found a man wearing the Superman suit instead of a god, a man who struggles with choices and their costs, has to deal blind hatred while his presence made the people he loved targets and the media shaped his image to whatever suited them at the time.
In the movie I didn’t see a god, I saw a man trying his best in a world that is not going to be kind to him, and that clicked something in my mind, a character that I hated through the whole of my childhood was finally human, something the Superman from the comics never could be for me.
After seeing this shift and this realism with the character I could care less about two famous heroes fist fighting, what I wanted to know was what happened before that movie, Man of Steel, which became my favorite movie ever made after the first watch.
There we had Jonathan, a loving father scared of the idea of his son being taken, used, persecuted or killed by powerful men if his kid got exposed for what makes him different, scared that any unconventional good that he does to others would eventually lead to bad things happening to him. The man died not wanting to lose his son.
Martha, a kind and accepting mother who guided her son through tough times, helped him deal with what made him different and supported his decisions.
Clark, a man that hid himself and his gifts for 33 years out of fear of how he would be treated finally learning how to trust somebody.
Lois, an individual that prioritized the well-being of somebody else over massive professional gain.
Zod, the main antagonist, an individual who takes actions believing he is bound by the role his society chose for him. (Zod actually is the only superhero antagonist with depth that I ever saw, he is basically a sad story about a man blinded by duty and tradition).
This kind of depth I never expected in a Superman story, Zack Snyder made a world that doesn’t bend itself to serve the main character (which is opposite of how Superman comics work, where the world is always happy and everything is always fine). The world isn’t happy, things are not fine, real days are not as bright, real faces don’t smile as much and real people are much colder than the ones in his comics, you can see that when you are part of a minority or when you don’t live standard lives for other reasons.
In Man of Steel, the “alien” would be assassinated with bullets and bombs if they worked on him, just as his presence becomes unwanted. I love this level of seriousness taken with the character, it is basically how our world would react.
It is also fantastic to see how he overcomes everything in that movie, and the best thing about it is how everything actually had a cost, either on his emotions, his surroundings, the people he loved, or his own life (in BvS).
After I watched Man of Steel I felt a positive emotion that I can’t explain, I felt inspiration after years without it, my depression didn’t hinder my actions as much, I was able to socialize more, I even suggested the movie to friends, a lot of them didn’t care or cursed at it for not being “the Superman they wanted”, the rest just didn’t get my feelings regarding it.
Some people didn’t get the Superman they wanted in Batman v Superman and Man of Steel. I didn’t want anything, I watched them out of curiosity and got my life back, and that is my story in a nutshell.
I’m writing this because I feel like I should tell my story, at least when it comes to these movies, since the movies and the people involved in them are treated unfairly. These men helped me through years and I’m a nobody who never expected it to happen in the first place, they deserve better.
Zack Snyder made a world that stands on it’s own, made a god into a man, and with that man inspired me to do better teaching me that even when things don’t go as well as you want, there is still hope.
Henry Cavill gave Superman a face, made him believable, made him relatable, made me emotional, made him real, I don’t think any of this would work without his spirit on it, the fact that he is a lovely man makes the character more humane, because it’s in his essence to be kind, which makes me doubt he is going to work as a villain, I just wanna hug the guy every time I see a video of him.
Hans Zimmer is probably as responsible for me being alive as Zack Snyder and Henry Cavill are, his music for Man of Steel still has a positive effect on my mind, it clears me from my negative emotions during the day, and I don’t know why that is, it is the only therapy I ever had that worked.
I know it doesn’t mean much but I will always have these people in my heart.
Without even knowing that I exist these men prevented my suicide for 20 months and counting.
— — Thank you.
This text is probably a mess, I wish I knew how to explain all of this better but english isn’t my main language.
PS: I won’t tell here much of the reasons why I considered suicide, because it would automatically derail this post, I want to keep it the most positive possible, focusing on the effects of the movies instead of rambling about my life.
