Or so claims Rabbi Simcha Weinstein.

This is of course nonsense. Everyone knows that Superman is really a repressed homosexual who can only express his rainbow tendences through his colourful choice of wardrobe accessories (an alternative and recent minority claim for Superman’s tights, and my personal favourite). Nonetheless, the Rabbi is adamant, as he comments in his latest book, Up Up and Oy Vey.

I really don’t make these things up you know.

Superman, zipping off to the local
Kosher supermarket yesterday

Where the more pink of us might see something of a small town boyo in the Man of Steel (and let’s not forget, indeed, Man In Pants too - a look which so far only Homer Simpson has been able to publicly pull off outside of a gay pride march) Rabbi Weinstein sums up his undeniable Jewishness by the fact that he “can’t get the job. Can’t get the girl [and] - at the same time, he has this tremendous heritage he can’t express.”

Goodness. I must be Jewish too. And you and you and ba bah baaaaah…

The groovy thing about sci fi and fantasy, as I’m constantly saying, is that it retells so many old stories and allegorises so much about society that anyone can find any agenda they want if they look hard enough for it (even The Forbidden Planet retold The Tempest - a point I often tiresomely raise). That’s the whole point of sci fi and fantasy.

Unless of course we’re talking about Enterprise, which even after all this time still looks only like a big pile of shit.