He’s faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound – but according to the ideas of some of the right-wing, now Superman might be too “woke.” And because the Man of Steel and his franchise are being bought out, he might feel the pressure that often happens when media mergers occur.
While critiquing James Gunn’s relating of the story of Superman to the story of an immigrant, Fox News Saturday Night hosts Lisa “Kennedy” Montgomery and Jimmy Fallia discussed their opinions on the film, questioning why the “politically-charged and divisive” word “immigrant” was used.
“But why wasn’t he like, ‘This is an abortion movie, Kal-El came from Krypton to perform abortions,’” Montgomery said.
“Well, you’re in luck because they’re definitely going to abort the sequel after this,” Jimmy Fallia said.
And that might just be the case now that Skydance Paramount CEO David Ellison, an associate of Donald Trump, is buying and merging with Warner Bros. Discovery.
When big media mergers like this occur, news diversity and expression decrease. But in this case, it seems like general creative media, like James Gunn’s 2025 film “Superman,” might be on the chopping block as well. Media consolidation serves economic interests for big business, but, for varying viewpoints, whether in the news and television, it is detrimental.
According to Sean Reyes of Bloomberg Law, “Media consolidation raises unique antitrust concerns because its harms extend beyond higher prices and reduced output … the company controlling the pipeline also controls which ideas reach the public – and that is often the problem.”
In this upcoming merger, Superman’s dedication to kindness and humanity is not the only thing at stake, but also one of the biggest news organizations in the nation. Katie Razzall of BBC News explained the implications of what this merger will mean.
“If the bid is accepted and makes it through regulatory hurdles, the new company will own the news channel CNN, as well as CBS News … on top of the likely job cuts as two newsrooms are aligned, there will be claims that the news services are becoming concentrated in the hands of allies of the president,” Razzall said.
The more companies a media tycoon gets under its wing, the more power that the big media owner naturally has – so the ideals that they want to spout out to the public have even more outlets to reach as many people as possible, especially when the local messaging is synergized with national news organizations.
Additionally, when what the public sees becomes more limited, the public has fewer tools to be educated. However, innovation rather than uniqueness and diversity seems to lead these business operations.
“The Trump administration’s interpretation of the consumer welfare doctrine is intuitive, fair and effective,” Reyes said. “Per Slater and Ferguson’s recent speeches, if a merger or acquisition helps consumers through lower prices, better products or faster innovation, it will pass. If it hurts consumers, it won’t.”
But is the product really “better” if mainstream ideas that sell start to become the only ideas that get put out?
There may be better prices for customers and groundbreaking ways of streaming or televising being invented, but if the heads of these companies want to push a certain ideal whether it’s far-right or far-left, the power is in their hands. Customers could benefit financially, but they may fail to realize just how consolidated their media is.
While we can’t control the moves that these media companies make, we can try to seek out independent news organizations and film studios, as well as support our local news, which are more specific to our personal situations than the big stories shown across the nation.
In the midst of everything that happens with the media, we have to remind ourselves that we have the power to search for the messages that might have gotten lost, even if it might be more difficult.
As Superman said in his hit-summer movie, “Maybe that’s the real punk rock.”