Five thoughts about the MAN of Steel

I saw the movie "Man of Steel," and I thought 5 things about it:

(If you haven't seen it yet, read this after you see it.)

1.  He was manly!  Definitely, undeniable manly.  Yes, still and outcast.  Bullied.  Misunderstood.  Rejected.  But without a doubt a man.  Not just the facial hair and hairy chest.  Not just him sipping on a beer and watching football (which are NOT what I define as manly...but you feel me,)  but his attitude.  He refused to be controlled.  He seemed immovable.  Manly.

2.  He was perhaps purposely a "Christ figure."  A Savior.  This movie, and the one before it don't try to deny it.  There is  a scene where Kal-El (Superman's birth name) is in church, seeking wisdom.  A picture of Christ is strategically placed behind him.  The only thing more obvious about this, other than his outstretched arms in one scene, is the scene in the previous movie, "Superman Returns," with Superman and Lois:

Yet not only is Superman seen as a Savior in terms of saving lives, but also in transforming people into his image, as expressed in the words of Kal-El's father, Jor-El:

Jor-El:  You will give the people an ideal to strive towards. They will race behind you, they will stumble, they will fall. But in time, they will join you in the sun. In time, you will help them accomplish wonders.

3. I noticed the very obvious connection between evolutionary assumptions and amorality, or immorality, as expressed in this quote from one of Superman's villains:

Faora:  [Beating up Kal-El] You have a sense of morality and we do not. And that gives us an Evolutionary Advantage. And if there's one thing that History teaches us it's that Evolution always wins. 

Of course, she was wrong.  But the assumption of evolution could not be denied.

4.  Again, in his manliness, there was an emphasis on manliness, or what it means to be a man.  Before he became a hero, he had to decide what kind of man he would be:
  
Jonathan Kent: You're not just anyone. One day, you're going to have to make a choice. You have to decide what kind of man you want to grow up to be. Whoever that man is, good character or bad, it's going to change the world. 

Jor-El: Every person can be a force of good.

5.  Perhaps the words that impacted me most, next to the words above from Jonathan Kent and Jor-El, are these words from the priest who spoke to Kal-El when he sought guidance:
 
 "Sometimes you have to take a leap of faith first. The trust part comes later."
 

This is where I am in my life, and what I'm doing.  

I've chosen the man I will be:  

An image and likeness of Christ, 

A force of good that will change this world.

I've taken my leap of faith.

I trust Christ to catch me.

To save me.

To make me like him:

 A man of steel--A Christ like man.