Silflay Hraka

Ever since I saw “Superman” the other night, I’ve been pondering who the villain might be in the inevitable sequel. Unlike Batman, who has plenty of well-known villains to battle, Superman has a shorter list of really acceptable movie-villains. Almost everyone knows the Joker, the Riddler, the Penguin, Catwoman and the Scarecrow. I am guessing fewer people know Superman’s nemeses beyond Lex Luthor.

Luthor has already been the villain in two-and-a-half Superman movies, so I doubt we’ll see him back in the next one. Conceivably it could happen, but let’s assume the writers will come up with another villain for Superman to battle. Drawing from the list of Superman villains at Wikipedia, we’ll eliminate General Zod since he was in “Superman 2″ and Nuclear Man because he destroyed the Christopher Reeve franchise.

If I had to choose the likeliest contender for next Superman movie villain, I’d go with Doomsday. While Doomsday is a comparatively recent addition to the pantheon of Superman foes, he’s likely to prove popular with the filmmakers. He’s at least a match for Superman in terms of strength and he’s familiar to younger Superman comic fans. Filmmakers could play off the fact that Doomsday killed Superman in the comics for extra drama. So I think Doomsday is the likely movie-makers choice for villain. But he’s not my personal favorite.

Next likeliest villain is probably Braniac. After Luthor, Braniac is Superman’s oldest and best-known enemy. The original Braniac was fond of shrinking cities and had even shrunk the Kryptonian city of Kandor. Superman has an obvious affinity for his homeworld and has since become the protector of Kandor. This might be made into a half-decent plot for a Superman film. (Better, at least, than Lex Luthor’s plan to take over the world via real-estate sales.) Still, I can think of a better villain than Braniac for the next movie.

My personal vote for next Superman movie villain goes to…(drum roll)…Bizarro. Besides his popularity in the “Superfriends” cartoon on the Saturday mornings of my youth, he is the perfect foil for Superman. He has all Superman’s powers, but he is twisted both physically and mentally. It’s also never been really clear if he was a hero or a villain. Writer’s could play up the whole Frankenstein monster angle in which the monster rebels against his creator and we’d finally have the Miltonian Satan anti-hero that I think Lex Luthor could’ve been in the current film.

(Upon further review, I think the filmmakers did try to accomplish something along these lines when Lex compared himself to Prometheus. It fell flat, however, when Lex compared Prometheus’ gift of fire to technology. Rather than seizing the power of the god’s for himself in order to become a god or co-equivalent to Superman, he uses his god-like power to create land…which he will then sell to others for a huge profit. That *thud* you hear is the metaphor falling flat on its face in disbelief at the dumber-than-hell character motivation.)

I don’t know that Bizarro has a chance, unfortunately. Bizarro is a clone of Superman as was the aforementioned franchise-killing Nuclear Man. Bizarro speaks in stilted tones, as did film-murdering Nuclear Man. Producers might not be willing to take a chance with their newly resurrected film franchise. I do think that an intelligent writer could do an awful lot with the Bizarro character, however, and I’d surely go see the film.

After Bizarro, the list of Superman villains gets a little thin. Mister Mxyzptlk, even though he was also a Superfriends favorite, is a little too cartoonish. I could possibly see a Superman movie with Darkseid as the antagonist, but I don’t think he’s a likely candidate for the next film. He’s a little too complex and powerful.

So my vote goes to Bizarro even though I think Doomsday is a more likely candidate. And if the writers need any help with the script. I’ll be happy to help.

David Hoggard over at Hogg’s Blog didn’t have fun at the Fun Fourth either. Thanks, Sue, for the link. Here’s me returning the favor.

I got a speeding ticket after leaving class last night. I was going to the grocery store before heading home and was stopped for going 49 in a 35. Whether or not I was actually going that fast is open for debate. I personally do not think so, but I can’t honestly say I was paying a whole lot of attention to the speedometer. I am not a stickler for speed limits and have received several speeding tickets in the past, but I do drive at what I consider to be safe speeds for the environment.

I was pulled over after turning left onto Bryan Boulevard from Aycock and pulled over into the median. I don’t recall the officer’s name, but we’ll call him Officer Jimmy. I can’t say I was really pleased with him for stopping me, but I didn’t give him a hard time because he seemed like a nice enough kid. (This is how I know I’m getting old. Police officers and professional athletes always seemed older than me. Now they’re all younger.) He was polite and professional and I probably was speeding, but I certainly don’t think I was going as fast as he suggested.

I give Officer Jimmy my license and registration and he goes back to his patrol car to write up the ticket. While I’m waiting, I start to get a little irritated. I didn’t feel that I was traveling as fast as he suggested and I certainly didn’t feel that I was traveling at an unsafe speed, but I don’t have any evidence to support my claim.

I am also irritated becauseI feel there is a certain amount of hypocrisy involved in a cop issuing speeding tickets. I have one friend and one acquaintance in law enforcement. The acquaintance is a former state trooper now working in the governor’s office. The friend is in the Secret Service. Both have told me that they speed with near impunity when they drive because they have no fear of receiving speeding tickets.

Both have been stopped for speeding in the past and both have flashed their badges and gone on their merry ways. They claim that no law enforcement officer will ever give another law enforcement officer a speeding ticket. Because of this, they speed as they please and never have to worry about paying fines, court costs, lawyer’s fees or higher insurance premiums.

This rankles me. I feel it is the height of hypocrisy for someone who is in law enforcement to essentially operate above and beyond the law. It’s even worse that these same officers hand out tickets to others for the very same “crimes” they break with impunity. We regular citizens have to deal with the consequences in terms of expenses, but all a law enforcement officer has to do is flash a badge and drive away.

I know some will say “these guys put themselves on the line every day. They deserve a break.” I call bullshit on that. I respect and honor our law enforcement officers for putting themselves in harms way on a daily basis, but law enforcement officers should uphold and enforce the law equitably every day. Better yet, they should lead by example and live within the laws they are deputized to enforce.

All this runs through my mind while I sit in my car waiting for Officer Jimmy to return. Eventually he comes back and explains to me that he’s giving me a break and writing me a ticket for 44 in a 35 instead of 49 in a 35. He explains that they are enforcing the speed limits in that area a little more strictly because of a recent fatality on that stretch of road. He tells me I have the options of paying the fine and court costs or showing up in court to contest the ticket. Then he asks me if I have any questions.

Of course I have questions.

“Have you ever gotten a ticket?”, I ask.

“Yes, I’ve gotten a ticket. But not for speeding.” is Officer Jimmy’s response.

“Let me ask you another question. Would you give another law enforcement officer a ticket?”

“Hmmm. I don’t know. I’ve never pulled over another officer. But I don’t know. I guess it depends on the circumstances.”

Officer Jimmy didn’t expound on what those circumstances might be. I wish I’d thought to ask if he would’ve issued a ticket to an officer going 49 in a 35, but instead I offered up “86 in a 65″. He suggested that was a bit extreme. He might’ve even used the word “egregious”, but I can’t recall. He seemed to have genuine doubt as to whether he would issue a ticket to a fellow officer.

The fact that there is even a doubt as to whether he’d issue a ticket to a fellow officer or not was enough to confirm the hypocrisy of the situation to me. I still didn’t give him a hard time. I was and am irked that I’ll have to fork over $120 in fines and court costs, but I am probably guilty of at least 44 in a 35. I did the crime, I’ll pay the fine. I’ll probably even hire a lawyer to deal with it all, as that’s what I’ve done with past speeding tickets. But my respect for law enforcement will always be somewhat tainted by that little hypocrisy of the thin blue line.