the same thing was shown in the comics in Superman: Red Son, only it was the Soviet Union instead of Nazi Germany. Kind of an interesting look at the character, but definitely not made for laughs as i'm sure the SNL skit was.

Didn't the nazis co-opt Superman in their propaganda films?

the "here" link is dead.

Given that Superman was the brainchild of two Jewish teenagers reacting to the anti-Semitism of the 1930s, this skit strikes me as insensitive at best. I know, I know, half the performers and writers on SNL were Jewish, but still - snarkiness is no substitute for cultural and historical sensitivity.

I think you mean "culturally insensitive." You probably hate the Chappelle Show, too.

I just wish SNL did skits like this today.

Lewis Beale:

People who complain about the insensitivity of satire bother me. Holier than thou. And they creep me out. They are usually the type of people who think Victorian-era literature is the pinnacle of the form. I bet the person named "Lewis Beale" gets his kicks staring at Thomas Kinkade paintings. Just because the subversive thoughts running through your head make your skin crawl doesn't mean there aren't other people who know how to process these thoughts and turn them into entertainment. Lewis: Being offended by the idea of satire joins you not to the people being persecuted but to the people who are doing the persecution.

I have no idea who Thomas Kinkade is. And I love the Chapelle Show. I guess what I was trying to point out was the irony of a reaction to anti-Semitism being twisted in a weird way that seems to go against everything the original creation stood for.

I have no idea who Thomas Kinkade is. And I love the Chapelle Show. I guess what I was trying to point out was the irony of a reaction to anti-Semitism being twisted in a weird way that seems to go against everything the original creation stood for.

I have no idea who Thomas Kinkade is. And I love the Chapelle Show. I guess what I was trying to point out was the irony of a reaction to anti-Semitism being twisted in a weird way that seems to go against everything the original creation stood for.

Culturally and historically insensitive? Sorry, I just don't see it. It's satire that manages to successfully skewer Hitler, Marlon Brando and even Charlie Rich (gotta love that "reborn" throaway line) in a matter of a few short minutes.

As I read the script for the sketch I was reminded of just how incredibly brilliant SNL used to be once upon a time. Think of the "one joke stretched out to seven minutes" sketches that appear today and compare them to Uberman.

Truth and justice are the American way. Superman is a smart guy and would have recognized it was not the way of Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union.

What if Superman had been an Englishman?
See the graphic novel "Superman: True Brit"
(cowritten by John Cleese) available from Amazon.
In the 1990's there was also a Soviet Union Superman series published.

"the irony of a reaction to anti-Semitism being twisted in a weird way that seems to go against everything the original creation stood for."

That is one thing satire does, and why viewers of the contemporary SNL are unacquainted with satire.