[net.tv] Superman II, some answers

bbanerje@sjuvax.UUCP (02/27/84)

>>     Why does he have to lose his powers if he falls in love with a human?
>> 
>> If he wants to MARRY a human, such a relationship could only be equal if both
>> parties were on equal terms.  Of course, from a practical standpoint, imagine
>> what would happen if he and Lois made passionate love when he still had
>> super powers!  He would easily have killed her if he lost control!

Not merely losing control.  Ejaculation would have been fatal for her.
For a more detailed description of the relationship between Superman
and Lois, see "Man of Steel, Woman of Tissue Paper" by Larry Niven.
It's a short story in his book "Tales of Known Space" (I think!).
>> 
>>     Why is he hurt when the Kryptonian bad guys throw various objects?
>> 
>> Ordinary objects don't usually hurt super-people because they are thrown
>> with insufficient velocity to do any harm.  However, super-people are capable
>> of imparting that velocity.

I don't buy this.  Ordinary objects don't harm super-people because they
are not 'hard' enough to do significant damage (Sort of like tossing
cotton wool around).  A bus tossed by a Super person still wouldn't have
done too much damage.  Inconsistency in the movie here.

>> 
>>     Why didnt Superman or some earthling think of defeating the bad guys
>>     by exposing them to Kryptonite?
>> 
>> Superman would have had trouble handling Kryptonite, for obvious reasons.
>> Other earthlings would have been quickly squashed had they tried it.

Other Earthlings would not have been squashed if they tried this.  Baddies
have been getting to Superman with various forms of Kryptonite over the
years (According to the Comics).  A more reasonable explanation is that
Superman has been disposing of the Kryptonite as he comes across it
(Doesn't want the stuff lying around).  Also it is rare enough in its
natural form... (How many people do you know who have pieces of meteorites
lying around the house - And meteors are far more common than exploding 
planets).  The Kryptonite just wasn't available.
-- 


				Binayak Banerjee
		{allegra | astrovax | bpa | burdvax}!sjuvax!bbanerje

jpg@sdchema.UUCP (03/01/84)

         Ah,the weighty matters under discussion! Ph.D. Thesis be damned!

         First, I would like to thank those who have responded to my
     questions. I'm not sure about the explanation  about how he regains
     his powers. I was under the impression that the green crystal
     was an educational tool and not the source of any additional
     powers. After all, the bad guys had all of Supermans powers
     without the benefit of a crystal. Its true that the only
     powers he displayed until he found the crystal were strength
     and speed but I thought this was because he didnt know he had other
     powers.(Incidently I think that in the original Superman comic
     book these powers and invulnerability were all the powers he had;at
     first he could only "leap great distances in a single bound" and 
     not actually fly)

jeh@ritcv.UUCP (James E Heliotis) (03/02/84)

Super people can't hurt Superman with ordinary objects, huh? If I threw a
beebee at you, it would not hurt you. But if I climbed to the top of a very tall
building and dropped one on you, it could go right through you.

decot@cwruecmp.UUCP (Dave Decot) (03/04/84)

    Why does he have to lose his powers if he falls in love with a human?

If he wants to MARRY a human, such a relationship could only be equal if both
parties were on equal terms.  Of course, from a practical standpoint, imagine
what would happen if he and Lois made passionate love when he still had
super powers!  He would easily have killed her if he lost control!

    How did he get his powers back?

This is unclear.  My impression was that he used the green crystal to
recreate his fortress, then used the chamber thus created in reverse.
Or, whatever it was that gave him his suped-up powers in Superman I,
happened again when he threw the crystal.  It definately has something to do
with that green crystal.

    Why is he hurt when the Kryptonian bad guys throw various objects?

Ordinary objects don't usually hurt super-people because they are thrown
with insufficient velocity to do any harm.  However, super-people are capable
of imparting that velocity.

    Why didnt Superman or some earthling think of defeating the bad guys
    by exposing them to Kryptonite?

Superman would have had trouble handling Kryptonite, for obvious reasons.
Other earthlings would have been quickly squashed had they tried it.

    I heard a line uttered in the background that I didnt catch
    in the theatre.  When Superman rescues a boy that has fallen into
    Niagra Falls.  A [woman] in the crowd says "What a nice man! Of course
    he's Jewish!"

I saw the theatre version, but came in after that point when it was on TV.
In the theatre version, she says, "What a nice man!", but leaves off the
part about being Jewish.  I think the editors were needlessly chicken in that
respect.

Dave Decot		 "Non-Americans are people, too."
decvax!cwruecmp!decot    (Decot.Case@rand-relay)

jim@randvax.ARPA (Jim Gillogly) (03/06/84)

-------
> Super people can't hurt Superman with ordinary objects, huh?  If I threw a
> beebee at you, it would not hurt you.  But if I climbed to the top of a
> very tall building and dropped one on you, it could go right through you.

Not so - the beebee would be slowed down to its terminal velocity.  That's
why a caterpillar dropped off the same building would be likely to
survive, but a horse would be spread across several blocks.  Depends
on the ratio of surface area to mass, or some such.

Now, if you were to drop that beebee on me from the tall building on
an AIRLESS planet, I might be in serious trouble...

	Jim

lmc@denelcor.UUCP (Lyle McElhaney) (03/07/84)

Concerning why Superman might have to be plain human in order to love
another human, reference Larry Niven's "Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex"
(All the Myriad Ways), whence:

	"The kryptonian-humanoid must not be allowed to go the
	way of the pterodactyl and the passenger pigeon."

The rest is left up to the imagination, unless you've read the article;
then nothing is left there.
-- 
		Lyle McElhaney
		(hao,brl-bmd,nbires,csu-cs,scgvaxd)!denelcor!lmc