The Real Punk Rock

So I saw the Superman on opening night last Thursday and I loved it. In fact it got me to read some comic books and they’re entertaining man. I mean as a bored 26 year old why not.  But anyway, a week later and there’s a moment in the movie that’s quiet, almost forgettable on paper, but it landed with real weight. Without spoiling anything right, Lois and Clark are sitting in her apartment, talking. The world outside is assumed to be loud, chaotic, crumbling as the Justice Gang takes care of business. But inside, here, in the stillness, she says to him, “You think everything and everyone is beautiful.” And Clark, not joking, not even defensive, he honestly just replies with, “Maybe that’s the real punk rock.”

It’s just one line, but it carries something huge. Accompanied throughout the film by the song Punkrocker by The Teddybears,(banger btw) it seems as if Gunn subtly or maybe not so subtly but idk I feel he wants this to be a takeaway the audience has from his film. (Whether an intentional message which it probably is but who cares this is my writing.) Because when did seeing the good in people start to feel so radical? Start to not be the thing we as humans are expected to do.

I’ve always had this habit/mentality of seeing the best in people. Sometimes I think I value people more than they value me. And man that sucks when I think about it, I give the benefit of the doubt, I assume good intentions, I speak from the heart even when I know it might leave me exposed and later on a little hurt, a little heartbroken? And yeah, that’s gotten me hurt more times than I can count. It’s easy to feel like through it all that sincerity is a weakness, like I’m supposed to be more guarded or less invested as a result. But the truth is, I wouldn’t change it. I like being honest about what I feel. I like believing that people are trying. Even if it backfires sometimes, I’d rather be soft and get bruised than live behind some sarcastic armor. That, to me, feels more real. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger!

We live in a world that rewards detachment. Sarcasm is the native tongue of the internet. Pessimism is dressed up as realism. And if you’re too hopeful, too sincere, too trusting, well then you’re naive. You’re soft. You’re not serious. It’s easy to get into fetal position, to roll your eyes, simply crack a joke, and move on. That’s what we’re almost taught strength looks like.

But maybe real strength is something else entirely. Maybe it looks like choosing softness when the world encourages you to put on your shield and harden up. Maybe it’s deciding to believe people are still good, even when they’ve let you down, almost stepped on you. Maybe it’s holding onto wonder and hope and empathy, and not because it’s easy, but because the world needs more of it and we’re just stupid enough, hell we’re stubborn enough to care.

That’s what hit me about Clark’s line. Not that it’s ironic. Because in the context of the scene it sorta is. But at the same time it isn’t. He means it. I mean shoot theres also that other line where when he’s talking to Lex Luthor he says “I’m As Human As Anybody. They’ve Always Been Wrong About Me. I Love. I Get Scared. But That Is Being Human. And That’s My Greatest Strength.” He sees the mess and still finds beauty in it all. And not in some detached, chud-esque “nothing ever happens” or  “everything happens for a reason” way, but in a way that’s active, deliberate. A conscious refusal to give in to numbness.

If early punk was about rejecting the glossy perfection of the mainstream, sticking it to the system, then maybe this version of punk is rejecting cynicism dressed up as wisdom. Maybe it’s refusing to be embarrassed by care. In a time where cruelty is easy and cool, kindness might be the most rebellious thing you can choose.