Red-white-and blue, flying across the sky with his underwear on the outside … it’s hard to think of anything more American than Superman, right? Manish alerts us to an interesting claim made in an article by the “IndiaFM News Bureau” that Superman is nothing more than a Kaavya’ed Hanuman:
Word is that, that the original creators Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel were inspired from none other than the Indian mythological hero Hanuman and that is how Superman got his flying powers. [Link]
Sure there are some similarities between the two fictional characters: neither is human, they’re both super-strong, they can both fly, and both have names than end in -man. But that’s it, really. Much as I would love to claim Superman as desi, this claim makes as much sense as the claims that Vedic civilization had both airplanes and atomic weapons.
People (scholars even) have written a lot on the origins of Superman.You can find entire articles on this topic in the highly obscure internet source Wikipedia:
Because Siegal and Shuster were both Jewish it is thought that their creation was partly influenced by the Jewish legends of the Golem, a mythical being created to protect and serve the persecuted Jews of 16th century Prague and later revived in popular culture in reference to their suffering at the hands of Nazis in Europe during the 1930s and 1940s. Another influence could be Hugo Danner, the main character of the novel Gladiator by Philip Wylie. Danner has the same powers of the early Superman (as do many other pulp characters of the twenties and thirties)… However, the sources sited by Jerry Siegel himself were Edgar Rice Burroughs’ John Carter of Mars and Tarzan, Johnston McCulley’s Zorro and E.C. Seegar’s Popeye. He also appears to have been influenced by Jack Williamson’s “The Girl From Mars.” [Link]
See – no reference to Hanuman made, ever. While it’s impossible to prove a negative (I cannot show definitively that they were not influenced by Hanuman), how would two Jewish kids in the 1930s know about Hanuman anyway? [And why would they need to know about Hanuman to come up with the idea of a flying hero? What, nobody in the west had ever thought of flying people before? This is after Peter Pan, for crying out loud.]
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So where does this “confusion” come from, besides the sloppiness of Indian journalists? Manish again provides a useful clue. Mukesh Khanna said:
“When I was doing Shaktiman, critics told me it was a bad copy of Superman … I used to tell them that the Superman idea was, in fact, lifted from our own Hanuman so no one can accuse me of plagiarism.” [Link]
Honestly, that’s the only place I’ve ever seen the connection made and that’s by an actor using a more original line than “unconscious internalization” to defend himself against claims of plaigiarism.
The claim that the two are related is bizarre. They look nothing alike, act nothing alike (Hanuman is Ram’s right hand monkey, while Superman plays second banana to nobody), and most importantly Kryptonians act Jewish, not Hindu.
To our friends at the “IndiaFM News Bureau” goes the Times of India award for high quality journalism and a t-shirt of Jason Alexander.
The Vedas do speak of missiles, one of the more famous ones was the Brahmastram, as for aeroplanes, they were called the Pushpak Viman…the same kind that Ravana used to kidnap an unsuspecting Sita…
Ramayan was all fiction? So Hinduism is all about make believe stuff. Now i know the truth about it.
Well, some of us take Hanuman a little more seriously–and as more real–even some of us who are die-hard Superman fans.
While it’s entirely possible that the Hanuman link is a throwaway line by Bollyactors bent on covering their asses on their multiple Superlifts, let me play Lex’s advocate:
“It didn’t show up on Google” doesn’t qualify as research. At the very least, you’d want to check books. (It doesn’t show up on Google Books either. I mean an actual research library.)
… how would two Jewish kids in the 1930s know about Hanuman anyway? is silly. Vivekananda had created a big stir in Chicago, and the Chinese have known of Hanuman for hundreds of years.
The scene in the latest film where Superman flies a mountain on his shoulders is, uh, highly evocative 😉
Whether or not Superman is Hanuman, Goodness Gracious Me assures you that Superman is Indian 😉
That’s funny, I thought the cartoonists stole the idea of a Superman from Nietzsche!
Many people read Superman (and superheroes as a whole) as crypto-religious — Superman as Christ (or in this case, Hanuman). But I tend to think they are substitutes for religious belief that pull people away from the idea of a transcendent God, and emphasize instead the kind of individualistic self-mastering that Nietzsche is talking about. Superman is, symbolically, an “everyman” who rises above, not a savior “sent from above” (I’m disregarding the whole silly story about Krypton and so on).
Sorry to get a little academic on you…
Amardeep:
Jewish kids in the 1930s were unlikely to be sympathetic to Nietzche 🙂 have you read Kavalier and Clay? [This is a Pulitzer Prize winning novel featuring a thinly fictionalized account of the origins of Superman]
Manish:
The onus is on the writer who is asserting something new to present his or her sources. I know a reasonable amount about the subject, and I’ve never heard that claim before. The “journalist” should have followed that assertion with some reference to a book or article. However, if he/she just wanted to check the plausibility of the claim, Wikipedia is a pretty good place to start, as good as any other encyclopedia. They could easily have discovered that Jerry Siegel has discussed his inspirations, and that he never mentioned Hanuman, thus raising the standard for making such an assertion.
Not at all, and your response is a bit of a non-sequitur. Perhaps the Chinese have known about Hanuman for hundreds of years, but that’s really not very useful, is it? Siegel doesn’t mention familiarity with any chinese sources either. Nor would a New York kid in the 1930s be likely to be very familiar with Chinese culture. Back then, not even Jews were eating at Chinese restaurants.
Yes, Vivekananda had spoken in Chicago in 1893. But that was not a highly popular speech. The World Parliament on religion was nothing like the Chicago world’s fair. And have you read his remarks? No reference to Hanuman, it’s all deep philosophical stuff. I’d be surprised if he talked about Hanuman at all, that wasn’t his style.
Hey, if Mohammed wont come to the mountain … hey, maybe this is all inspired by the Koran!
Finally, an uninpeachable source. I can’t argue with GGM, would never think of doing so 😉
What is this? A Kavvyaed explaination to everything? Everything is plagiarized now. It’s almost become fashionable to speak of everything being copied from something now. I suppose with all the pop culture and entertainment Bollywood lifts from Hollywood they need something to believe in their originality.
Correct, burden of proof is on the person making the claim/accusation. You’ve just granted my point on the Mittal post.
One line in Wiki hardly qualifies as a discussion of Superman’s inspirations. Way too shallow. Wiki also doesn’t include many Indian sources. You’d want to check print sources in India where the film guys made the claim.
Hanuman vastly predates Mohammed AFAIK.
All hail GGM!
Btw, the Superman ‘baby sent down the intergalactic river’ story is clearly based on Moses, while the Christ-posing in the new flick is quite blatant.
Yup. His creators were Jewish, and there’s a lot Jewish about Superman 😉
A paragraph in Wikipedia is enough to establish the conventional wisdom on the subject and demonstrate that the connection to Hanuman is not one that is established anywhere else in the literature.
As for Mittal, you keep reading things that I didn’t say. I was very careful about what claims I made, and about documenting those claims. The subtext is far louder there than in the Rushdie bat incident.
Many more Americans know the line about Mohammed and the mountain than have heard of Hanuman.
I’ll toast that, AND Amardeep’s charming academia-nerdiness 🙂
although, this brings to mind a certain movie about comic books, their formulaic character invention, and good v. evil– directed by “M. Night”, though you can call him Manoj, yaar.
Man A lives in country B. Country C issues a press release. You now claim that A is ‘complicit,’ your exact wording. That’s not a careful claim, that’s hogwash.
Read it again. The bit about Superman’s inspirations cited by the authors themselves is a single line.
Many more comic book artist are familiar with great myths of the world than with Bartlett’s Familiars.
Really? Why would they know this quote less? And again, we’re talking New York in the 1930s. Your perspective is very anachronistic.
I swear that while I’m reading this, in my head I keep hearing the phrase, “ROOOUND TWO…FIGHT!” from the Streetfighter game.
Once again I\’m posting through an anonymizer (please lemme back in, guys!):
How \’bout a handy table comparing/contrasting Superman and Hanuman? Hanuman is celibate, Superman is assuredly not. Hanuman is furry, Superman is clean-shaven. Hanuman carries a club, Superman doesn\’t. Hanuman is the son of the Wind, Superman is the son of Jor-El. Hanuman sometimes provides comic relief by doing cute monkey things, Superman is always serious. Hanuman has Rama and Sita in his heart, who knows what Superman has in there. Etc.
The latest Superman movie is so full of Xtianity, I couldn\’t stop rolling my eyes.
Since all humanity has a long history of stories of gods with various amazing powers, as well as \”tall tales,\” why single out Hanuman? Was Paul Bunyan copied from Shiva?
Doesn’t undermine– it’s unrelated. C didn’t say A’s company wasn’t B. He said ‘stop being racist against C’s.’
Short of someone threatening A’s child with a gun in front of him, A’s inaction doesn’t make in complicit in anything. It’s noxious to assert that I have to do something just because you did.
You’re hefting insinuations, assertions and burden shifts, straining to make this accusation. Published source? None. And here with Superman you’re arguing that’s insufficient.
You’re damn right it’s insufficient. The Superman bit is just for fun. Dude, if I wanted to argue whose invisible friend was older and more powerful, I’d show up at the World Congress of Religions.
I’ve deleted my earlier comment so that we don’t drag this entire thread off topic. Let’s stick to Superman, shall we?
Dude – I’m not arguing with your post. I’m taking a tangent off of the source you cited for crappy journalism. Read my post, carefully. I thank you for showing me this source, and showing me an answer to my question, and take “IndiaFM News Bureau” to task.
MINE! w00t team Jesus!!! 😉
I don’t know what all the fuss is about – everyone knows that Judaism is derived from Hinduism.
Whoa!! First, SM soccer hooliganism, now an Ennis-Manish smackdown — what’s going on this month??
p.s. — Manish, I don’t think that Ennis is really “shifting the burden,” …. but I’m going to take this comment elsewhere.
It’s summertime, which means it’s hot, it’s sweaty, and the thoughts of earnest young men in the full flower of youth turn to sepia-tinted dreamlike romantic thoughts involving gorgeous babes in string bikinis lying on the beach and next to sun-dappled swimming pools.
Hence testosterone-fuelled arguments, face-offs, etc etc. Or so people tell me anyway. I never think of the type of images I mentioned in my previous paragraph and I have no idea what it all involves. Western-born Indian girls never wear bikinis as we all know, and spend their time in such situations gently perspiring while wearing a nice respectable sari or a salwaar-kameez (dupatta mandatory, of course) just like their mothers taught them.
Anyway, of course Superman is Indian. He had an extremely sheltered upbringing. He’s still unusually close to his parents even as an adult. He didn’t get any action for a very long time (unless you’re a fan of the Smallville version of events) and spent much of his spare time in his loft while fiddling with his telescope. And, despite his “sidha-sadha” leanings, he’s extremely attracted to a stronger semi-bad-girl type in the saucy shape of Lois Lane.
And he has jet-black hair with far too much product/hair gel in it. There’s your proof.
OMG Jai #25 I’m dying here…hahahahahaha
OK spoiler alert seedha sadha no more. Superman it seems got some procreative action this time around.
JOAT writes:
Seems pretty complicated…
M. Nam
I’ve always wondered how Superman managed to shave or get a haircut, considering his body’s supposed invulnerability to sharp objects. There was even an episode of Smallville where the “reincarnated witch” version of Lana tries to secretly cut some of Clark’s hair and the blades snap.
But I digress. And by digression, I’m not referring to my previous comments about sundrenched, bikini-clad lovely ladies covered in glistening suntan lotion while the humidity causes droplets of sweat to gently trickle down the small of their backs, as they relax under the brilliant azure sky without a care in the world.
On that note, let’s get back to the more serious topic of Superman. And stop crossing your legs under your desk. Apparently, thinking of Salman Rushdie (definitely not Padma Lakshmi) acts as Kryptonite to any “launching rockets”. If you know what I mean.
Mirrors and his laser vision. He burns his hair off for a nice shave and haircut. I believe this is what the comic books depicted.
Evocative, Schmecovative. I’ve had posters on my walls of Hanuman and the mountain, acted it out multiple times and watch it thousands of times. That was not remotely on my mind watching this movie. Does everyone really just watch movies and sit there only thinking, “oh this reminds of that. this must come from that. i bet that’s where he got that idea from”? Damn. That so smothers any desire I have to make entertainment and art–not to mention watch movies with y’all. What’s wrong with relaxing and seeing if a piece of entertainment can make you think of somethingnew? I think this one had a lot ot say about the messy bonds we make with people, even when we’re being evil, and how they pull on us in moments of stress. (There’s even a desi angle there! As far as I can tell the comment line onthe Kal Penn thread totally dropped talking about the kind of stuff I noticed.) It’s not fun always looking at sources and themes. I actually really enjoyed this movie, despite expecting to hate it. At some point deconstructionism is like going on a date and pointing to everything the person does and asking what childhood trauma that tic comes from. It may be deeper, but it’s really only one kind of analytical/conversational tool. I mean, it’s great to have such a store of knowledge that everything reminds you of something else, but it’s also inspiring to hang out with people where they react to you with creativity, not analysis.
Yeah apparently he went against the ‘grain of a good man’ by being a unwed father in the new movie. Wonder how many purists he pissed off. But I don’t feel bad for Superman. He’s wholesome and cute but if Batman can land a girl or six and is suave in his human form and Spidey despite being a goofball when not all tangled up can land a hot girl I don’t feel bad for Superman. After all he’s got Lois Lane all hot and sweaty for him.
Hence the following 55 : “Superman on Vacation”.
Superman gazed at Lois Lane sashaying towards him on her vertiginous heels. Noticing her designer bikini, he mused that flossing is always a good habit to cultivate.
It was at that moment that Superman wished he’d chosen Batman’s Kevlar-reinforced codpiece instead of his famous red speedos, which were rapidly beginning to feel far too snug.
HAHAHAHAHA!!!!! Lovely one, Jai.
Technophobicgeek,
Thanks, bro 😉
Yet more evidence for the desiness of Superman, as proclaimed in the original television show:
“Strange visitor from another subcontinent ! Faster than a speeding pindoo ! Able to leap tall Jatts in a single bound !”
Etc etc.
Well all u guys dont knw tht this was not a myth Hanuman Actually Existed…old Sayin u dont know what u dont know so…i can understand.
Hanuman, like most of Hindu religious charachters is a creation of fiction and imagination. No archeological, biological or evolutionary evidence supports the existence of any such being. It is possible that Rama and his brother ran into some wild monkeys while looking for their princess and got fascinated by them. Maybe they were a different species of monkeys than what these folks had seen before. Of course this is assuming that Rama and the whole story was real. The story in its stripped down version seems plausible, but all the extra mythical stuff added to it like the flying monkey gods etc. are pure fiction. Conservative hindoos to me seem very similar to the Bible thumping christians who think God literally made this whole cosmos in 7 days and refuse to listen to any logic. There is a need to not take the religious books literally and think in a scientific manner.
I just finished reading Philip Wylie’s 1930 novel “Gladiator” and, knowing of Superman’s early powers, I believe Kal-El is nothing but Hugo Danner with a red cape! The powers are exactly the same. I’ve read essays that compare the two and one of the most striking arguments is that even if Superman was based on “John Carter of Mars”, who was super strong and could leap long distances because of Mar’s lesser gravity, where did the concept of Superman’s invincibility come from. Not even Arn Munro from the “Mightiest Machine” was invincible. Not only was Danner strong and fast, he was also invincible with a reported “greater density” than normal humans. So, no, Superman is not Hanuman (who is still a kick ass Hindu figure).
Here is one that might throw you guys for a loop. The original Superman did not fly! He didn’t fly until 1941, 7 years after he was initially created and 3 years after his first appearance in print. An interview with the original animators of the 1940’s Superman Cartoon revealed they requested DC Comics give him the power of flight because it was difficult to animate him constantly leaping from place to place.
// Om Shri Hanumate Namah: // You can download Hanuman Chalisa, Bajrang Baan, Hanuman Mantra Jaap Mala and other Mp3-Bhajans at:
http://hanumanji.wordpress.com
YouRs SinCereLy M!sTer CrippLeD SaM
There are some similarities of adoption that can be related:
1) Hanuman is the son of Vayu( Wind God),that’s how he inherits the flying ability and he has been under the protege of Lord Surya( Lord Surya is his Guru and blessed Hanuman for immortality). Superman gets his power from the Solar (Sun) directly charging his body cells( quoted in many DC comics version of Superman issues).
2) Hanuman is known as powerful being with celestial qualities,muscular,strong and gigantic ability. Superman is know as Man of Steel reflecting the same qualities as Hanuman.
Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel might clicked from the Epic to potray their superhero in Action Comics !
hey check dis out…….
This Telugu Superman seems to think Hanuman is a good inspiration. Heh.
glad we got THAT cleared out! how stupid is that, “superman can fly, so he MUST be indian!” lmao! and superman carrying a mountain in the LATEST film? even if that WAS meant on purpose, that was totally cannon, mathlab (oh my god math-lab is an indian word!) the director of the LATEST movie was NOT the creator of superman. Samja? now say the powerpuff girls were actually Durga, Sarasvati and Laxmi
oh and,… it’s not like indians ever stole a plot from americans right? lmao,
Can any one comment on emptiness or void? I want to know where the nature of thoughts come from? How localized you bloggers are.
Dear Manish please go & do some research on our rich Indian ancient history especially Vimanika Shastra before writing such blatant & incorrect information.