Disney (and others) at the Box Office - Current State of Affairs

[doctornick]

No. The character was uniquely drawn from a variety aspects of Jewish culture.

Is Superman Jewish? Here’s why it matters

Editor's Note: In an exciting development since this article was originally published, Jewish actor David Corenswet will play the role of Clark Kent in

unpacked.media

You can go ahead and diminish his Jewish roots; that’s your call. Not sure why you want to minimize that. Again, I get why people want to expand this more broadly to to more contemporary issues, but what European Jews faced in the 1930’s is markedly different than how the term “immigrant” is being deployed here.

I'm not trying to diminish it; I'm sure the creators drew upon their heritage to inform the character. I have known some of the stuff (like the use of "El" in his name) coming from Jewish roots but never thought about him strongly in that manner unlike (say) Ben Grimm whose Jewishness is a defining quality.

I guess my point would only be that his story has always struck me as a very clear "immigrant coming to America and doing good for himself" - which could be applicable to tons of different ethnic groups from the era of his creation. And saying that his tale is an "immigrant story" is so obvious that its laughable that pointing it out would be remotely controversial. I mean, the character was born somewhere else, came to America, was adopted by American parents and raised in that "culture" and is literally said to represent "Truth, Justice and the American Way". He's like the archetype of what people say when waxing poetic about the Great American Melting Pot.

 

[BrianLo]

Superman is funny because he is an immigrant, but it’s more of an adoption story.

He’s a space alien, but he’s also not a US national alien.

He also illegally immigrated to the US; but is legalized.

So all and none of the above. But an exercise in too much word parsing of an interview, definitely.

 

[TP2000]

Not surprising you don’t get the subtexts in the original comics.. … you were the person that said Barbie didn’t have feminist messaging

Slight correction.

I was the one who said 2023's Barbie didn't have feminist messaging that had already been mainstream since 1975.

 

[coffeefan]

 

[doctornick]

Geez, that's kinda heavy for a summer popcorn flick.

"Heavy"? How? It's actually quite straightforward and superficial. I wouldn't consider it any more "heavy" than something like this:

 

[Nevermore525]

And now we get a re-imagining of Night at the Museum from 20th Century Studios:

21 Laps Enlists Tripper Clancy To Pen ‘Night At The Museum’ Reimagining For 20th Century Studios

A new 'Night at the Museum' movie from writer Tripper Clancy, 21 Laps, and 20th Century Studios is in the works, Deadline has learned exclusively.

deadline.com

 

[Disney Irish]

Thank you. Maybe I'm just not using enough substances to open my mind to extremely wide interpretations of the English word "immigrant". I only had one glass of wine with dinner tonight.

I've seen the movie. Superman got put into a space cradle as a baby by his parents on the dying planet Krypton and got blasted into space just before his planet met its tragic end. He crash landed in Kansas, and was adopted by a lovely couple who wanted children but couldn't conceive. So they took him in and loved him and raised him beautifully. Then he also had superpowers, cause of the Krypton thing and all. Then he went on super adventures and flirted with Lois Lane and wore a cool suit with a cape and saved people and fixed stuff. The end.

I'm not getting "he's an immigrant" out of that, so much as I'm getting "he's an alien who coincidentally looks like a hunky human who also has superpowers and then exciting, cool stuff happens".

But if the kids today think that story of Superman is analogous to my great uncle Lars arriving at Ellis Island 115 years ago without any superpowers to speak of, then go with that if it will sell more movie tickets. Box Office!

When almost everyone here is universally telling you that Superman is and has been since the beginning an immigrant story and isn't a new take of the "kids today", maybe just maybe your view of the character through lens of only the 1978 Christopher Reeve's movie isn't as informed as you think it is.

Its as much as an adoption story as it is an immigrant story. Also just to educate you a bit more on the character, he gets his powers from our sun due to the type of star it is, a yellow dwarf to be exact. If he was still on Krypton, which has a different type of star for a sun a red dwarf to be exact, he wouldn't have powers, he'd be a normal man.

 

[TP2000]

Not to make this heavy, but there are cases of immigrant children losing their biological parents along the way. Also, accounts of American families fostering or adopting undocumented immigrant children.

Yes, I'm aware of the tragic elements surrounding illegal immigration and the children involved.

But those contemporary news reports still don't trigger a thought process with me of "Oh, that's just like Superman."

 

[TP2000]

When almost everyone here is universally telling you that Superman is and has been since the beginning an immigrant story and isn't a new take of the "kids today", maybe just maybe your view of the character through lens of only the 1978 Christopher Reeve's movie isn't as informed as you think it is.

No. The "Superman Is An Immigrant" new take has become a news item simply because it's such an odd issue forced onto a widely known story and persona that has never been seen as an "immigrant tale" before. Some folks may be ready to nod along and pretend, but a great many people are thinking "What the...? " which is exactly why it's a news story.

So ALF was an immigrant? E.T. was an immigrant? K-PAX was an immigrant? The tripods in War of the Worlds were immigrants?

Using this Newspeak, what TV or movie alien being from another planet that arrives on earth is not an immigrant?

Its as much as an adoption story as it is an immigrant story. Also just to educate you a bit more on the character, he gets his powers from our sun due to the type of star it is, a yellow dwarf to be exact. If he was still on Krypton, which has a different type of star for a sun a red dwarf to be exact, he wouldn't have powers, he'd be a normal man.

You left out his piercing blue eyes.

 

[Disney Irish]

No. The "Superman Is An Immigrant" new take has become a news item simply because it's such an odd issue forced onto a widely known story and persona that has never been seen as an "immigrant tale" before. Some folks may be ready to nod along and pretend, but a great many people are thinking "What the...? " which is exactly why it's a news story.

So ALF was an immigrant? E.T. was an immigrant? K-PAX was an immigrant? The tripods in War of the Worlds were immigrants?

Using this Newspeak, what TV or movie alien being from another planet that arrives on earth is not an immigrant?

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You left out his piercing blue eyes.

Its actually not a new take, its only said to be a "new take" because people assume its a new take. But in reality its not, and its because people who assume its a "new take" weren't aware of the origins of the characters story and like you assume they know the origins but in reality they don't.

Again if pretty much everyone here is telling you one thing, in this case that the Superman story at its core has always been an immigrant story, you may want to consider you're the outlier here and you're not as informed about the characters origins as you think you are.

And yes, if we ever get real aliens that are taking up residence here on Earth they would be considered immigrants. That is the WHOLE point.

Also blue eyes piercing or otherwise is irrelevant.

 

[TP2000]

Again if pretty much everyone here is telling you one thing, in this case that the Superman story at its core has always been an immigrant story, you may want to consider you're the outlier here and you're not as informed about the characters origins as you think you are.

There's less than a dozen of us here chatting. It's not exactly a Gallup Poll.

But if at least five or six folks here can willingly nod along with the current red carpet pablum that Superman is a classic immigrant tale like West Side Story and Moscow On The Hudson, then I think that says more about them and their critical thinking skills than it does about me.

Did you know that ALF was the first time an immigrant was portrayed in an American sitcom? It's true! The wild success of ALF on NBC as the first immigrant sitcom led to ABC fast-tracking Perfect Strangers into production to ride the immigrant comedy fad that ALF started.

Also blue eyes piercing or otherwise is irrelevant.

You and I clearly have very different reasons for going to see a movie.

 

[John park hopper]

At this point, I don't understand why these studios even make the actors/directors available to the press leading up to a film's release. It's just too easy for them to say something that will aggravate 25% of the public and tank a film's opening.

It should be in their contract to keep their mouths shut. Do your job and go home

 

[Phroobar]

Andrea Elson from Alf is even better looking today.

 

[Disney Irish]

There's less than a dozen of us here chatting. It's not exactly a Gallup Poll.

But if at least five or six folks here can willingly nod along with the current red carpet pablum that Superman is a classic immigrant tale like West Side Story and Moscow On The Hudson, then I think that says more about them and their critical thinking skills than it does about me.

Well its more than 5 or 6 all stating it, so yeah I think we can come to a consensus here.

Did you know that ALF was the first time an immigrant was portrayed in an American sitcom? It's true! The wild success of ALF on NBC as the first immigrant sitcom led to ABC fast-tracking Perfect Strangers into production to ride the immigrant comedy fad that ALF started.

View attachment 869849

Yes I watched ALF back in the 80s, and no he wasn't the first.

There have been plenty of TV shows that had the same premise on American TV going back all the way to the 60s. From Mork and Mindy to My Favorite Martian that have all portrayed this same immigrant type story. Again its not a new take.

You and I clearly have very different reasons for going to see a movie.

Yes we do watch movies for different reasons, I clearly don't go for a guys eyes no matter the color. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but its not the reason I go.

 

[coffeefan]

There's less than a dozen of us here chatting. It's not exactly a Gallup Poll.

But if at least five or six folks here can willingly nod along with the current red carpet pablum that Superman is a classic immigrant tale like West Side Story and Moscow On The Hudson, then I think that says more about them and their critical thinking skills than it does about me.

 

[Disney Irish]

Smallville, classic, guess that's a new take too. Oh wait that episode came out almost two decades ago in 2006. Guess people weren't watching one of DCs highest rated show alongside Arrow and Flash at the time, so guess they didn't know....

 

[BrianLo]

So ALF was an immigrant? E.T. was an immigrant? K-PAX was an immigrant? The tripods in War of the Worlds were immigrants?

Using this Newspeak, what TV or movie alien being from another planet that arrives on earth is not an immigrant?

View attachment 869829

I'd challenge you that you just provided the definition that gives your answer. Alf is an immigrant, it tells an even better immigrant story than Superman. Some of those examples are not as they are visitors (ET) or invaders (tripods) and do not come to live permanently. Though ET is very much the story of an illegal Alien (in both the space and legal sense).

The challenge here is that the word immigrant has been reframed to be seemingly only one that is negative. The only reason this is even getting a rise at all, is over current mostly US and Western EU policy. Which is perhaps the big North American problem. Most of us are only several generations from being immigrants apart from our UK posters, who go a ways back to being Anglo-Saxons.

Clark Kent came to live permanently in a foreign country, the classic Superman narrative opens with this plot point. That meets your captioned definition. That also used to be seen positively. If the media wants to froth themselves up over it, that's their pejorative.

 

[Tha Realest]

Smallville, classic, guess that's a new take too. Oh wait that episode came out almost two decades ago in 2006. Guess people weren't watching one of DCs highest rated show alongside Arrow and Flash at the time, so guess they didn't know....

The Arrowverse did not premiere until 2012, after Smallville was cancelled. And yes, Smallville was the most popular DC live action series at the time, as it cleared the low bar of beating Birds of Prey

 

[TP2000]

Yes I watched ALF back in the 80s, and no he wasn't the first.

There have been plenty of TV shows that had the same premise on American TV going back all the way to the 60s. From Mork and Mindy to My Favorite Martian that have all portrayed this same immigrant type story. Again its not a new take.

Geez, how did I forget Mork & Mindy?!? I used to watch that one religiously! Loved it!

But thank you for answering my question. As of 2025, any wacky/loveable alien in a TV or movie is now considered an "immigrant". And Tripods are mean and bad, so they aren't immigrants even though they were here long before we arrived on this planet and long predate our immigration laws on who can legally live in South Boston. I got it now!

Someone needs to get to Google and the various dictionaries though, they haven't got the Newspeak memo yet.

I'd challenge you that you just provided the definition that gives your answer. Alf is an immigrant, it tells an even better immigrant story than Superman. Some of those examples are not as they are visitors (ET) or invaders (tripods) and do not come to live permanently. Though ET is very much the story of an illegal Alien (in both the space and legal sense).

I'd challenge you that ALF was the sitcom story of a wacky/loveable space alien living with an American family. But Perfect Strangers was the sitcom story of an wacky/loveable immigrant living with an American family. See the difference?

Of course, I'm using the word "immigrant" to mean a human from another country. Not an alien from a different planet (cue studio laugh track!).

The challenge here is that the word immigrant has been reframed to be seemingly only one that is negative. The only reason this is even getting a rise at all, is over current mostly US and Western EU policy. Which is perhaps the big North American problem. Most of us are only several generations from being immigrants apart from our UK posters, who go a ways back to being Anglo-Saxons.

The challenge is that some folks keep forgetting to use the words "legal immigrant" versus "illegal immigrant". I can make that distinction easily, and easily label them as such, just as easily as I can make the distinction between a shoplifter and a shopper.

In my famously pea-sized brain... an immigrant, legal or illegal, refers to a human moving from their country to live in a new country. It does not refer to alien life forms from different solar systems travelling throughout the galaxy and landing on Earth.

Clark Kent came to live permanently in a foreign country, the classic Superman narrative opens with this plot point. That meets your captioned definition. That also used to be seen positively. If the media wants to froth themselves up over it, that's their pejorative.

So we're just glossing over the dying planet Krypton and being shot across the galaxy in a space cradle then? Seems rather relevant to the story of Superman.

We'll be losing out on a lot of fun backstory though if we're going to pretend Superman just arrived here at JFK on United and had to fly economy with the other immigrants. And the line at Customs was brutal!

 

[BrianLo]

So we're just glossing over the dying planet Krypton and being shot across the galaxy in a space cradle then?

Not at all, that's precisely my point. I could use the verb immigrate for this event.
-To come to a country of which one is not a native, usually for permanent residence.
-To pass or come into a new habitat or place, as an organism.

Though... refugee might be preferable as a noun?

Honestly though, it's clearly becoming a co-opted charged word in a 2025 context. I am not actually disagreeing with you, it's kind of an amusing conversation. So the simplest question would be do you have a better synonym? He is an alien, but what does Clark Kent do?

An extraplanetary humanoid refugee? Maybe an orphaned alien settler would be the least politically charged thing.