From "Super Moon" to Superman

To start, a completely off-topic observation: the "super moon" on Sunday night was one of the most awesome astronomical spectacles I have ever seen.  Don't know what you saw where you were, but here in Michigan, the moon was hanging really low in the sky, huge, and a beautiful orange-ish color that later became misty green.  Tom and I did our gazing from the stands in the soccer field (and got eaten alive by mosquitoes in the process), and then we retired to our porch with our dog to just watch and appreciate it some more.

I really am a romantic at heart.  A cynical, obsessive, "underwear whore" romantic, I grant you, but still a romantic, just the same.

After all, it's the simple things, right?

Simple things.  Like ... when Superman debuted, he was a simple super hero ... with lots of baggage, sure, but one that was an ideal - able to leap tall buildings, faster than a speeding bullet, etc.  And he wore his underwear on the outside of his suit.  Have you ever noticed that nobody really called him out about that?  You walk outside today wearing your undershorts over your pants (or in just your fracking undershorts), and people will definitely ask you if you're all right, if you're confused, if you're having "one of those days," call 911, avoid eye contact, etc.

It's a simple thing, all right, but it bugs me.  Always has.  Don't know why.  And until now, every incarnation of Superman to date has had the same "wearing-the-red-undies-on-the-outside" fashion gaffe.  Now, if I had to choose a leader from this group as to who pulls it off the best, it would be Gerard Christopher (who, technically, was Superboy) and Dean Cain, from the television incarnation titled Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.  There's not much more to be said, except both were muscular, both were extremely handsome, and, in the words of Cain's television mother on the series, "There's a reason they call them tights, dear."  (And an extra tip of the scales in Dean's favor - he's a Michigan native.)

Now we fast forward to 2013.  Someone has finally listened, paid attention, and had the epiphany: "Hey ... wait a minute ... what if he wears his underwear where he's supposed to?!?  I ... smell ... OSCAR."  If you've been totally out of the loop on the media buzz surrounding Man of Steel, I won't give away any spoilers but I will say this: if you are a die-hard, follow-Superman's-mythology-to-the-letter type of fan, I don't know if you will like it.  (I am ... and I did.)  Henry Cavill is believable in the role of this American icon, if you can look past his using a Midwest accent and forget he was the Greek hero Theseus in Immortals, where everyone dresses scantily and speaks so formally.

And ... blare of trumpets ... I really liked the new costuming, so kudos to James Acheson and Michael Wilkinson for their designs.  (Interesting and quite telling that they're men, don't you think?)  We still have a skin-tight body suit that leaves little to the imagination, although I was a bit disappointed at the lack of ... um, "below the waist" body shots.  I mean, if you go to the trouble to re-boot a mythology, I say "in for a penny, in for a pound."  I also found it interesting that Superman has chest hair - that we can see.  (Not a lot, just enough.)  And although I'm sure the classic I'm-the-better-man fight scene between Cavill's Man of Steel and Michael Shannon's General Zod is a lot of computer-generated special effects - I say, two buff guys wrestling around in tight blue bodysuits?  Front row seat, please.

Since I am now stymied as to what our newest Kal-El looks like in his briefs now that the red undies are gone, I have to use research and the Internet to guess at what label Cavill might be using to support his junk: what do guys wear in England?  Gigo?  Obviously Male?  Camel?  Pipe?  Sloggi?  Big Boys?  Or do they automatically Bend It Like (David) Beckham and support their home-grown soccer star's brand?  Why am I left to my imagination?  Did they address this in his audition?

Or ... is Cavill just one of those guys who does it old style (commando)?  If you think about it, kinda gives new meaning to the term "Super Moon", doesn't it?