The astrophysicist and cosmologist, Neil deGrasse Tyson, recently appeared on Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show, and spoke briefly on topics such as Mars’ current uninhabitable state of existence, geek culture, and of course, the upcoming film, Batman v Superman.
During the discussion, Tyson made a handful of both interesting and frank statements and implications, such as a) life on Mars is currently impossible, due to the fact that humans cannot breathe the air, and because resources are either limited or nonexistent, b) geeks are typically bullied in school, but they essentially pave the way for future technological and existential advancements, and c) the conflict between Batman and Superman may root itself in the discrepancy between the concepts of public perception and behavior/conduct, such that Batman may be publicly perceived as a good figure, since his actions correspond to Gotham City’s wishes, whereas Superman may be publicly perceived as a bad figure, because he is an alien, doesn’t answer to an Earth authority, and seems to do whatever the hell he wants to do.
Tyson said:
He [Superman] just behaves in any way he wants. And so at the end of the day, what might matter is the public reception of the superhero’s conduct. And if Batman executes our wishes in the city, and Superman does whatever the hell he wants: that’s a conflict.
“Science manifests — even in our cherished pop culture institutions,” says Tyson.
Indeed.
Source: Comicbook