There isn’t a lot on at…

There isn't a lot on at six a.m. on a Saturday morning. So I watched the first Superman movie. Aside from being struck by the general politness of almost everyone in the film ("Thanks, mister!"), I was most impressed not by Superman's super strength or heat resistance or x-ray vision or super hearing, but by his organizational abilities. The entire final sequence of the film is a triumph of order and planning -- Superman has to do his super tasks in a specific order, prioritizing and acting with calm deliberateness (and when he makes a mistake, he goes back and fixes the order). He's my hero. :-)

I'm also interested to see the careful choice of order -- first he saves the villainness's mother, because he promised -- so honor comes first. Then he fixes the fault, stopping the earthquake and saving as many people as possible. Then a busload of children. Then some hardy damworkers. Then his friend, Jimmy Olsen. And finally, he gets to save the girl he loves. I'd argue that no other sequence would be as satisfying to the general heroic mode. Good job, screenwriters. :-)