Why The World Doesn’t Need Superman; By Kurt Hummel.

Superman. The name pretty much speaks for itself. Super strength, super hearing, super everything … that man has it all. And this, my friends, is why Metropolis loves him so much. He’s our shining grace, he’s our light in the dark … we know we can depend on him.

Let’s face it; we incorporated him into our life. We made him a need. Like the air we breathe and the food we consume, Superman was part of our day to day. He wasn’t just a man or a hero, he was one of us. He was someone you admired, someone you aspired to be, even someone you loved.

And this is the essential reason why we are left here stumbling in the dark at his disappearance. We look to the stars hoping to see the familiar red and blue blur dart through the night sky. We scream his name during an emergency hoping to get his attention. We pray that whatever we did to offend him can be undone, that we may repent and have our savior come back to save us. We offer everything to get our cloaked crusader back.

But it is not that easy.

I am a victim of Superman, much like my fellow peers. I depended on him to always be there. I called his name in the night expecting him to show up. I felt heartbroken at his departure. And like the rest of Metropolis, I fell in love with this mysterious hero.

A few years ago I wrote an article called “Why the World Needs Superman” and I am here to publically renounce it. I was naïve, I was young, and I was foolishly in love. I developed a repertoire with him. I was his PR spokesperson, I was a middleman, but in my mind, I like to believe I was something more as well. However, he told me he’d always be there. To him, Metropolis was his life. His dedication, passion and capacity for love overwhelmed me. I’ve never met another man like him before and I doubt I ever will.

But then he deserted us. There it is. Black and white. Superman left us. Who are we to hope that he will return? We are the same people that drove him away. Who could blame him for leaving us alone and on our own?

You see the human race is entirely different than who he is. We’re filled with emotion and human error. We act on impulse rather than logically. And we fall in love harder than we can account for.

But I will not apologize for this. You see we are imperfect, but that’s what makes us who we are. If he can’t handle that, then it is better he leaves. I rather have no hero than one who does not believe in the people he saves.

Maybe his leaving had nothing to do with us. Maybe it’s a personal reason. But I truly don’t believe that is the case. However, how are we to know that when he did not offer a single explanation? How are we to know his reasons for leaving when he did not tell us why?

How are we to know anything, when he didn’t have the decency to say one last goodbye?

And that, my friends, is why the world doesn't need Superman. We don’t need Superman because he doesn’t need us. He’s gone, most likely forever, and there is nothing we can do.

So we do what we have been taught to do our entire lives. We pick ourselves up, clean our cuts, and march forward. We protected ourselves before Superman, we had heroes before Superman … we had loved before Superman.

It’s time to do it again. Even when it seems impossible, we must do it. We ask ourselves "How will we ever move on?", but move on we must. The movements at first will be awkward, but they will become more routine and in a few years, they will seem natural, just like they once were.

Together we are a city, and together we are strong. We will be there for one another through thick and thin, through highs and lows, and from love to heart break. Together we will pick up the pieces of our hearts and put them back together. And although at first it may feel empty, one day we may love again.

But until that day, all that I can do is write these feelings down and share them with you. Until that day, all I can do is tell the world the reasons why we do not need Superman. And until that day, all I can do is pray to god that I start to believe the words I am saying because in my heart I know that what I am saying is wrong. 

No matter what he does to us, the world will always need Superman.

And no matter what he does, I will always need Superman.