look, up in the sky! it's a bird. no, it's a plane. it's...

Gateway Cinema's wall of posters displayed a powerhouse array of coming movie attractions a few months ago. The Da Vinci Code. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. X-Men III. Mission: Impossible III. The next three movies: Æon Flux, Munich, and Memoirs of a Geisha, I've already had the pleasure of watching recently, of which the latter two particularly moved me because of their patriotic/nationalistic content. But before I dwell deeper on that, I'd leave it for now and save it for another post that I foresee will come out this month.

Anyway, where was I? The movie poster that really caught my attention had an all too familiar insignia--and got me blurting out a crispy cuss--was this:

Teaser poster of Superman Returns.

The very first time I saw Superman in flight was back in the early 1980s in Rizal Theater (where Shangri-la Hotel Makati now stands). I remember myself staring in amazement with my mouth agape. My then 6-year old mind instantaneously accepted the concept of a flying person with supernatural uncanny strength. X-ray vision, turning back time, running faster than a speeding train, and all. In a split second I already yearned to fight for justice and good causes. I wanted to get rid of bad guys like Superman did. Everything was possible, I thought, and Superman soon became my childhood hero (along with Optimus Prime a few more years after, of which the demise of the Autobot leader in the hands of Megatron, his arch-enemy, left me a scar, I think because back then I refused to accept that a superhero can die and no child had to witness the death of their hero).

After the movie, Mama took a photo of Rom and me at the parking lot (where the Landmark now stands) with Rizal Theater in the background. I held both my hands, clenched in fists, behind me while I posed for the camera. Mama insisted I place my hands to my sides but still I kept them behind me -- inspired, looking determined, and thinking I wanted to be like Superman. Rom couldn't understand me either. Even years later, he jeered I was just being silly by considering I could fly like Superman by the pose I took. I admit now that I was really ridiculous, ha ha ha ha... but I've realized even then that my capacity for imagination knew no bounds. It's quite unfortunate that the photograph is nowhere to be found now although there is no way it can be erased from my memory. I would've posted my unapparent silly picture here for all the world to see. Pero pasensya...

I even followed previous reincarnations of Superman on television. With "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman," I was in it for the love story. "Smallville" got me hooked once again when it took on a twist by portraying Clark Kent and Lex Luthor as bestfriends during their teens before they ended up as enemies, as was originally depicted in the Superman movies. In one of the episodes, I particularly enjoyed a conversation between Clark and Lex, which went:

Clark: "Lex, do you think we'd end up ever like them?" (referring to a dissension that ensued between two previously close friends in that same episode)

Lex: "Don't worry, Clark. Our friendship will be the stuff of legend."

Little did they know that they were to become enemies, which to me, made Smallville's storyline all the more bittersweet. It also expounded on Clark Kent's journey of discovering of his true identity and mastery of his super powers. I mean, did you you ever wonder how Clark Kent discovered he can fly? Or had X-ray vision? How did he found out he was powerless near kryptonite? I have. And I think Smallville actually did a good job in portraying and elaborating their own version of these events in Superman's life. Of course, there was the love story again between Clark Kent and Lana Lang (Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm a sucker for cheesy chick-flicks and romance stories).

In Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill 2," Bill explained to The Bride/Beatrix Kiddo (played by Uma Thurman) how Superman was different from all the other super heroes. He said that Superman was the only prominent superhero who wore the costume of a human (referring to Clark Kent) to mask his true identity, who was Kal-el of the planet Krypton. All the other superheroes like Bruce Wayne (Batman) or Peter Parker (Spiderman) wore costumes to mask their human identities. For Superman, his costume was that of a bumbling reporter for the Daily Planet, Clark Kent.

I didn't go as far though of following the death of Superman in DC Comics. He died after a duel with Doomsday. But soon after, DC Comics resurrected Superman; only this time as four (or was that three?) peculiar individuals. "The Reign of the Supermen," it was branded. I mused that DC was probably losing their fanfare to Marvel Comics that time during the early 1990s, and they needed an irresistable storyline that could bail them out.

Anyway, the point of all these musings about Superman is my deeply-seated childhood inspiration (read: fixation), I believe, for up until now, this fictitious superhero never fails to solicit the same proud feeling I had more than two decades ago. I think even Rom shares this same fancy for Superman lately. Imagine, last January, we downloaded a musical score by John Williams, "The Planet Krypton," from the soundtrack of Superman II movie (the same background music playing in the movie trailer of Superman Returns). I must confess, we probably played it repeatedly more than a hundred times. I even played it in my head while Rom hummed it while riding a jeepney, or while waiting for an order at the Starbucks counter, or even while walking. It really sounds silly for two guys in their late 20s.

Superman returns to the big screen this coming June 2006 in the Philippines. I'll definitely get reserved tickets and watch at the earliest screening time. Cancel all fieldwork and travels! I wonder what my reaction would be like from watching Superman again this time.