Hiding in Plain Sight

 

With the release of the new Superman movie, I'm seeing a fair amount of discussion online about how Superman is able to protect his secret identity with just a pair of glasses, with a widespread opinion being that it's a ridiculous trope that wouldn't work in the real world.

Obviously, actors take steps to differentiate their performances of both Superman and Clark; beyond the glasses, they make Clark slouch, speak in a slightly higher register, make him clumsy, keep him timid in dangerous situations, and more or less do whatever they can to portray them as two entirely different characters.  From what I've seen in advance footage (I've not yet seen the film itself), David Corenswet seems to do a particularly good job of making Clark as un-Superman-like as possible, including having him wear his hair differently.

If you happen to think that wouldn't be successful in our world, let me just share this...

 

 

But I've got a better theory how to make certain that no one recognizes that Clark is really Superman.  You ready for it?

Superman has never told anyone he has a secret identity.

Think about it...why in the world would Superman even hint vaguely that at least some of the time, he's someone other than Superman?  He's the most powerful person in the world by far, so it's no stretch of the imagination to suggest that everyone else would just assume he'd want to be himself 24/7, instead of cosplaying as an ordinary mortal.  You don't see him in Metropolis?  That must just mean he's dealing with something elsewhere in the world, or else relaxing at his hidden Fortress of Solitude.

That's the narrative Superman ought to be pushing.  He does that, and nobody looks twice at Clark and thinks, "Hmmm, can he be Superman in disguise?"

Of course, this can beg the question, 'Why does Clark Kent even exist?'  I have thoughts.

There's a theory that Superman is who he truly is, and that Clark Kent is merely a made-up role he plays.  Oh, in his own inner monologue he may refer to himself by his Kryptonian name of Kal-El, but honestly if you had him under oath and asked him what his real name is, he would simply say "Superman".  Clark has no existence other than as a disguise.

This was perhaps best stated in "Kill Bill, Vol. 2".  That's David Carradine's Bill speaking the lines, but doubtless it's writer/director Quentin Tarantino's own belief:

 

 

Personally, I disagree with this school of thought, and I'll tell you why.  Kal-El arrived on Earth as an infant, and was taken in by the Kents, who raised them as their son, as Clark.  He was taught their values, he lived the life of an ordinary boy and young man (albeit hiding his fantastic powers from the world at large, until he was ready to employ them for good).  He's the American Dream, the immigrant who becomes an equal in the mighty mosaic that makes up the United States, and not some demi-god who soars through the skies above us.  At least, not in his own mind.  No, in his inner thoughts, he's Clark, not Superman...even when he's wearing the cape and plugging an erupting volcano or battling an alien invasion.  And if as Clark he's kind of bumbling and meek, he also has a big heart with tremendous empathy, and an unshakable faith in truth and justice.  And it's as Clark, wearing those glasses, that he gets to shed the weight of the world from his shoulders, and just be himself...an ordinary man.

So spare me the Aryan Übermensch theories of how Superman is a god, and we're ants beneath his heel.  He's a farm kid who loves dogs and can't wait to go back home to see his parents and get a good home cooked meal.  Clark Kent is the superhero, because while Superman provides us with an ideal to emulate, it's Clark who we could be if we would be our very best selves.

(Oh, and while I'm at it, I also reject the theory currently in vogue that Batman is only Batman, and Bruce Wayne is only a mask he wears when he needs to.  I know this is wrong, because I know that it wasn't a ten year old Batman who watched his parents die in an alley, it was Bruce, who pledged his life to battling crime and spare as many other children from similar tragedies as possible.  Batman is just the role he plays to carry out his mission, and as dawn rises each morning, he hangs up the cape and cowl and lives an ordinary life as Bruce Wayne.) 

So yeah, so long as he never slips up and says something like, "Well Lois, when I was in my secret identity..." then everything is cool for Clark, and he can keep on fooling the world with a pair of glasses.