The Life and Legacy of Superman

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Picture created by Alejandro Versace

By: Andreas Lattas and Jaliyah Young

A hero is commonly defined as someone who is admired, has noble qualities, and acts selflessly without expecting anything in return. While characters in superhero movies are often referred to as heroes, Christopher Reeve the actor of Superman, became a real-life hero, known for his involvement in medical research into spinal cord injuries. “Super/man: The Christopher Reeve Story” documentary dives deep into his life as an actor and the tragic consequences of his devastating accident in 1995 that deeply affected his life, family, and legacy.

Reeve had an extraordinary life. Not only did he achieve remarkable success in his acting career, but he also had success in his personal life. He had a long marriage, three children, and in-depth friendships with actors like Robin Williams. When he experienced a horrible injury, resulting in permanent paralysis from the neck down, he committed his life to medical research. He became an activist for those with similar injuries while serving as an inspiration to others.

This documentary weaves back and forth in time between showcasing Reeves’ life prior to his tragic accident and afterwards. This method of storytelling parallels Reeves’ comment in the documentary that his life often felt divided into “before and after.” Eventually, he stopped viewing his life in that way.

The documentary uses film and images to accompany the interviews with his loved ones and famous clips of his roles and public appearances. It also uses Superman imagery, such as the green glowing Kryptonite known to be Superman’s weakness, embedded into the spine of a realistic Reeve statue, to illustrate his injuries. In this way, the documentary draws the viewer in. Images of Reeve flying and demonstrating super strength as Superman are contrasted with images of Reeve being carried from a bed to a chair, gasping on a ventilator, and being hand fed.

Prior to being cast as Superman, Reeve played many roles in soap operas, Broadway plays, and school plays. When he got the role of Superman, he knew that this would be his big break. He played Superman from 1978-1987. He was in a long-term relationship with Gae Exton, and they had two children together, Matthew Reeve and Alexandra Reeve Givens. After that relationship ended, Reeve met his future wife (Dana) and they had a child (Will).

Reeve lived an active lifestyle, with many risk-taking activities and hobbies. One of these was his deep passion for horseback riding. He competed in a cross-country jumping competition, but on May 27, 1995, his life unexpectedly changed. While he was routinely horse riding, the horse suddenly abruptly stopped, causing Reeve to fall and land on his head. The upper two vertebrae in his neck were fractured, which caused permanent spinal cord damage. He was unable to breathe on his own and needed to use a ventilator for the rest of his life. Reeve, after the accident, was broken, and he could not accept that he might never walk again.

The documentary showcases the physical challenges he now faced. He developed empathy for those with disabilities that he, like many others, had not previously seen. He had virtually no privacy because he could not be left alone in a room unattended. The financial pressures of around-the-clock care were extensive. He could not physically play with his young son. However, in time, he came to realize how he could connect with his children in a more profound way through talking; he found an emotional pathway instead of a physical pathway to form a stronger bond with them.

With these limitations and struggles, he preserved. This newfound empathy sparked a desire to help those with disabilities, so he created a non-profit organization to find a cure for spinal cord injuries and improve lives. The Foundation name was changed to include Dana’s name after her death to include the focus she brought to improving the quality of lives of those with disabilities.

The movie summarizes his story and explains how this tragedy has helped millions of people. The movie effortlessly speaks about Reeve’s life and the hardships that he goes through in a way that brings forth the emotions of the viewer. It’s a sensitive story that positively depicts what Reeve has gone through and what he did for the world that makes him a real-life Superman. The inspirational documentary ends with a quote by Reeve after the accident about being a hero.

“When the first Superman movie came out, the most frequently asked question was, ‘what is a hero?’ My answer was that a hero was someone who commits a courageous action without considering the consequences. Now my definition is completely different. I think a hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles,” Reeve said