Superman isn't selfish, so why are you?

Hello whoever might be out there,

I watched the new Superman film yesterday. I don't really consider myself to be into superheroes. I think they're cool, but the typical "good guy fights bad guy" doesn't outweigh how I can't stop thinking about all the other lives ruined.

It's stupid of me to think about it that deeply, I know. Superhero films are made to entertain, not to be realistic, but I can't look past it. I'm sorry I don't find watching innocent civilians killed, even in a fictional context.

It's an uncanny sense of realism that I can't shake off.

But the new Superman film seemed ever so slightly different. Yes there were fight scenes and killing and a typical mandatory city evacuation, but there was also character depth, a lot of it.

I like character depth. I like characters. I like seeing what people come up with when they imagine a human (or other species, I don't judge.) Their motivations and their flaws. That's what is magical about stories - the narrative it is being told from. That's why I liked this Superman film.

He's good because that's what you should be. I like that.

There seems to be a selfishness that has come over people - an idea that you should only act in your own self interest. Survival of the fittest if you wish. But acting in that way only ever buries yourself into a deeper hole. 

The recent thing I have seen is American parents complaining about the possibility that the school supplies they buy will be used by another student, and it makes me worry. The question "Why should I spend my hard earned money on someone else's kid?" is particularly worrying, because why is that a question that should be asked? Why should you spend literal pennies on someone else's child?

Because it is the good thing to do.

I'm from England, and in secondary school you are expected to supply your own equipment (including a calculator, compass and protractor), which my parents always paid for because they were able to and they knew it was important. I had the cheap biros which came in packs of 10 for £1 and I would use them until I was practically tearing my paper apart.

And if someone didn't have a pen on them, I would give them my spare. I'd ask for it back at the end, but didn't mind if they asked to keep it. Because it is the good thing to do.

There's a big philosophical debate about what is considered "good" and "bad", but I don't think it takes a genius to figure out that giving and lending to the less fortunate is not a bad thing to do. Petty behaviour is not a good thing to do. Writing your child's name on every individual cheap pencil is not a good thing to do.

Superman sacrifices himself to help everyone and everything in any way he can.

And while nobody expects you to hold up buildings, you can hold open a door.

It's crazy to me that I am sat here, hidden behind a computer screen, explaining why you should be a good person, but any call out into the universe is better than nothing.

We are all stuck here on this planet together. Hate breeds more hate in a vicious circle, don't perpetrate it. Don't bring back bullying, don't watch or make "cringe compilations", don't be ignorant to well meaning education.

Ignorance, greed, and selfishness are the three pillars which continue this cycle. Don't allow these pillars to build you. Excuses are the weak man's word.

Everyone in their life will be the "less fortunate" because it doesn't always mean money. Different situations require different resources, and one of those resources may be compassion. So lend someone some of yours.

What made the Superman film so beautiful was compassion. He gave love and care but also received it.

He cared even if others didn't.

And he would want a free Palestine.

Yours faithfully, 

MD