• dragontamer@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    180
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    edit-2
    3 days ago

    Lex Luthor literally becomes president in many versions of the Superman cartoons.

    The idea of a rich billionaire with a narcissist Messiah complex with a bone to pick with heroes and actual helpful people that becomes popular and eventually the US President is practically a trope. Apparently this generation has forgotten the message.

    • jmcs@discuss.tchncs.de
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      57
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      3 days ago

      Like the way some people see cyberpunk, it’s not so much that they forgot is that they missed the point completely. They see an author warning about a dystopia and they just want the shining neon lights. Or as Confucius put it “when a wise man points at the moon the fool examines the finger.”

    • unalivejoy@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      38
      ·
      edit-2
      3 days ago

      At least Lex Luthor never called Superman a pedophile after saving children.

    • Dagwood222@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      37
      ·
      3 days ago

      I mean, by any objective measure Luthor is a much better President than Trump.

      • dragontamer@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        7
        ·
        3 days ago

        Lex Luthor is as a concept, a corrupt self serving villain who readily sacrifices his underlings to get ahead. But gains popularity and power anyway.

        The difference is that in the cartoon universe, they had to make up a believable reason why the US citizens would vote for Lex. Ex: invented a Kryptonite power plant or something.

        In the real world, it turns out you can just demonize immigrants.

        • Dagwood222@lemm.ee
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          3
          ·
          3 days ago

          The analogy I’ve used is that Nixon’s Southern Strategy was like beer; Reagan’s rhetoric was like grain alcohol punch; Bush Jr. fed them straight whisky; Trump gave them meth.

    • DreamButt@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      6
      ·
      3 days ago

      You assume the people who learned the message forgot it rather than the people who failed to learn it continuing to vote without understand the repercussions of their actions