Pencils

Why the World Needs Superman

By Angie Dixon | Posted 10/16/06 | Updated 8/4/23


This was going to be the column where I plug (The Leonardo Trait. It was the column where I was going to talk about how it feels to reach what I always thought would be the pinnacle of success — being a published author. It was the column where I was going to talk about being "least likely to succeed" in my high school class, and 20 years later, though not being invited to the reunion, still being the most successful member of said class.

Then yesterday I went to see Superman Returns. Without ruining anything for those of you who haven't seen it, I think I can safely reveal that Superman went away for five years after Krypton was discovered by astronomers. He, of course, went to see if there was anything left. When he came back, he discovered Lois had won a Pulitzer for her story, "Why the World Doesn't Need Superman."

And of course when he came back Lois realized how much she loved and needed him, and it was all very sweet.

I don't see movies in the theater very often. That is to say, about every six months when my husband drags me to one. The seats hurt my once-broken tailbone, I hate the smell of stale popcorn, and sitting in one chair for two hours is torture. But, on the other hand, I rarely see a bad movie in the theater, because he only drags me to ones he knows I'll enjoy.

And I enjoyed this one.

And so I want to talk about why the world needs Superman, what is really the pinnacle of success (hint: it's not being a published author), and why you should buy my book to find out the rest of the story (just kidding).

I have two small children at home. Samantha is eight and Jack is eleven. Sam is just small because she's 8; Jack is small for his age. (I DID say they were small, so I wanted to explain.)

They are fascinated by my book. Sam thinks it's really cool and wants to give her teacher a copy, because in her world teachers are like gods, and if her teacher thinks my book is wonderful, that will make it so.

But what's really neat is Jack. He's been reading my book every night. At first he just wanted to read the section on him. Now he's reading the rest, and repeating parts back to me that he likes. Some of those parts I don't even remember writing.

So where does Superman fit in? And what is the real pinnacle of success?

I'm getting there.

In Superman Returns, Lois felt the world didn't need a savior. Superman heard them crying out for one. But maybe what the world really needed was someone to believe in. Someone they knew they could trust. Someone they could point at and say, "He's our hero."

And maybe what my kids really want is to say, "My mom is a writer. She's got a book. It's on Amazon."

I thought having the book out would be the great thing. I thought my "big day" would be on October 15, publication day.

No. My big day was last night, when Jack said, "You wrote a great book, Mom."

Now, I know this column wasn't very funny, and I apologize for that. Sometimes I get a little mushy, and it wipes out my funny streak.

While I'm being mushy, I just want to thank you all for reading, especially those who read every month.

This is really the pinnacle of success. Not having the book published, but having my words read. I'm there.

Copyright ©2006 Angie Dixon. All rights reserved.