b o x

Superman illustrates a portrait of hope and community, love in the face of a world so willing to sacrifice you for something more profitable. He represents the goodness that comes from all of us, the power that we hold together and the unconditional love we can bring to the table even as people with regular lives. I must admit that I never took to superheroes very much when I was younger but this film captivated me in a way I haven't felt in a long time. For a week, I went and saw Superman nearly every day in the theaters. I ended up seeing it five times and I intend on watching it again when I get a chance.

Now, I also had the chance in early October last year to see Bears in Trees live when they toured the United States! The experience was outstanding and left me feeling like I had connected with something truly good, a community that deeply valued friendship and kindness, and I raved about that night for quite some time afterwards. I even wrote an essay about it for a school assignment!

The point I learned from both of these events is when you take time to really look, there is hope and love out there for you to find. No, it's not always easy, no, it won't always hit you in the face like a lyric from a song or a line in a movie. Though sometimes it will. Sometimes, you stand near the barricade with your cane from Walgreens that you decorated with flames to look like your favorite character's, you see one of your favorite bands, and you are gobsmacked on the train ride home by the fact that after months of barely leaving your house for anything besides medical treatment, you did it.

Sometimes things like that are Super enough to perpetuate the gentleness and love which Superman approaches the world with.

When I look back on last October and when I reflect on the movie that I saw in theaters it truly gives me hope. Listening to the 45 hours of music in a playlist that I regularly have on shuffle, feeling sad and defeated, and hearing that even after turmoil and hardship "the light in my eyes [could reignite] with a vengeance when I [see] the sun rise around the campfire with my best friends" (Bears in Trees, Cut Corners on Short Walks) helps me immensely.

I understand that hope is often challenged, bent and broken by the pain of simply being a person, but it always comes back. It always ends up supported more and more by the steel of being authentically enamored with the goodness of everything around you.

In Superman, there is a scene where Lois Lane is explaining how she was just some punk rock kid who is so different from the gleaming kind and perfect farm boy that is Clark Kent. Her explanation of their differences ends with how she trusts almost nobody and tries to fend for herself, while he "think[s] everything and everyone is beautiful" in a way she can't. Clark replies, telling her how "maybe that's the real punk rock." The line effectively became one of the most memorable of the movie, punctuated by the song "Punkrocker" sung by Iggy Pop at the credits.

The takeaway from all of this is that there is a punk rocker inside of you, a Superman that exists. That within your soul you have a sincere pillar of authentic love that somehow and some way at some point will make it's way to the surface of your life. Music is a crazy thing, and you can learn a lot about the world with it. Bears in Trees is a band that I think is full of punk rockers, because they inspire perseverance, whimsy, and kindness in the lives of others. Superman, community, the punk rock movement, dirtbag boybands, love, and the corners I cut on short walks will always stay with me now and push me to be the best version of myself.

And maybe being the best version of yourself with what you're given is the real punk rock.