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Man of Steel
Movie

Man of Steel

2013 • Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

Woke Score
2
out of 10

Plot

A young boy learns that he has extraordinary powers and is not of this Earth. As a young man, he journeys to discover where he came from and what he was sent here to do. But the hero in him must now emerge if he is to save the world from annihilation and become the symbol of hope for all mankind.

Overall Series Review

Man of Steel tells a story focused on a hero's personal struggle with destiny, the power of choice, and the vital role of family and faith. The narrative heavily draws on traditional archetypes, presenting Superman as a messianic figure raised with classic small-town American values of morality and free will. The film’s main conflict is explicitly a fight against an alien civilization founded on eugenics, genetic determinism, and authoritarianism. Female characters, while professionally accomplished, still serve complementary and at times protective roles, but the narrative does not contain any anti-natalist or anti-traditional family messaging. The film avoids any themes of contemporary identity politics or sexual ideology.

Categorical Breakdown

Identity Politics2/10

The central hero is a white male whose worth is determined by his free will and moral choices, affirming the ideal of Universal Meritocracy. The plot directly opposes General Zod’s Kryptonian culture, which is based on rigid, eugenically bred caste systems. The main cast is overwhelmingly white, but the non-white characters, like General Swanwick and Perry White, are depicted as highly competent and crucial authority figures.

Oikophobia1/10

The film champions the traditional Earth culture and the Kent family's rural values as the superior moral foundation for the hero. Krypton, the ancestral civilization, is explicitly depicted as a dying, unsustainable, and authoritarian dystopia that serves as the tyrannical antagonist. The narrative validates American ideals of freedom and individualism over Krypton's destructive civilizational self-worship.

Feminism3/10

Lois Lane is a highly capable, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist who actively pursues the story and is the first to learn Superman's secret. She is still regularly placed in peril and requires rescue or protective intervention from the male hero. The plot heavily features the importance of natural birth and the traditional family unit (Martha and Jonathan Kent) as the source of the hero’s humanity and strength.

LGBTQ+1/10

The story contains no overt LGBTQ+ themes, characters, or ideological messaging. The film’s romantic and familial focus is entirely on the budding heterosexual relationship between Lois Lane and Clark Kent and the protective nuclear family dynamic of the Kents.

Anti-Theism1/10

The film is saturated with explicit Judeo-Christian allegory, framing the hero as a Moses and Christ-like figure sent to Earth to be a beacon of hope and a savior. A key scene shows the hero seeking counsel from a Christian priest in a church, suggesting faith is a source of guidance. The narrative acknowledges a transcendent moral law as the guide for the hero’s actions.