Ethical Considerations for Zack Snyder’s “man of Steel”

Ethical Considerations for Zack Snyder’s “Man of Steel”

Shayne J. Miller

Embry Riddle Aeronautical University

Ethical Considerations for Zack Snyder’s “Man of Steel”

Introduction

        Man of Steel is a 2013 reboot of the famous DC comic book character Superman.  The movie starts on the planet Krypton which is about to be destroyed due to an unstable core.  When the ruling council of the planet is overthrown by General Zod, Krypton’s military leader, scientist Jor-El and his wife Lara send their son Kal-El (Superman) to Earth after implanting the genetic codex of the entire race in his cells.

        Kal-El’s spacecraft lands in Smallville Kansas where he is adopted and raised by Jonathan and Martha Kent, who rename him Clark.  To his substantial confusion, his Kryptonian physiology has imbued him with superhuman abilities on Earth.  Jonathan Kent warns him of the effect of his powers and the social rejection associated with them, even to the point where he refuses to let Clark save him when a tornado hits the town.  After the death of his adopted father, Clark becomes a nomad and eventually finds a Kryptonian scout ship that was sent by his real father to earth.  Jor El used his preserved consciousness to communicate with Clark and inform him of his origins, the extinction event his planet endured, and that he sent him to Earth to bring hope to mankind for a better future.  Unfortunately, General Zod eventually tracks him down and demands that the humans turn Kal El over to him because he wants to use a terraforming “World Engine” to convert Earth into a new Krypton and use the codex implanted in Superman to populate it with new Kryptonians.  Superman eventually destroys the World Engine but not before he engages General Zod in a massively destructive battle through Metropolis, General Zod eventually forces Superman to kill him because he attempts to murder numerous civilians as revenge against Superman for dashing his plans.

Moral Implications from the Movie

        This movie is a non-stop study in virtue ethics, ethical relativism, and utilitarianism.  But instead of focusing on the actions of Superman, I have chosen an out of the box example of morale values demonstrated during this movie.

        Believe it or not, the character with the cold hard principles of a utilitarian is not the evil General Zod, but the caring nurturing Jonathan Kent.  From almost the very start, Jonathan stresses the importance of hiding his powers from others.  He fears that the government will find out and that normal citizens will fear young Clark.  This isn’t shocking in itself, but Clarks adopted dad sets aside his personal fears and shows genuine concern that the world would be losing a hero who could save the lives of millions.  Maybe you think that he is just scared for his son, but on two occasions in the movie he puts his utilitarian ways to the test.  The first example is when the bus a young Clark is on crashes into a lake.  Clark uses his super strength and flying ability to lift the bus to safety.  He could have allowed the children to die in order to save many more people in the future because his identity remains secret.  You would think this would be an easy argument to his father, but Jonathan Kent suggests otherwise in this exchange: “Jonathan Kent: You have to keep this side of yourself a secret. Clark Kent: What was I supposed to do? Let them die?  Jonathan Kent: Maybe…” (Ozimek, 2013).  Further on in the film, Jonathan’s focus on utilitarianism is put to the ultimate test.  Clark and his adopted parents are hiding under a bridge to avoid a giant tornado but Jonathan runs out into the storm to save the family’s dog.  As the tornado bears down on him, Clark is about to run out to save him, but Jonathan motions for him to stop and is killed by the tornado.  Basically, he gave his life to protect Clark’s secret.  Not just for his own good, but for the millions he will save in the future.  These examples show that Jonathan Kent thinks both probabilistically and consequentially manners and also weighs the present value of his welfare.  

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