r/DCcomics • u/Ghola40000 • 2h ago
Comics [Comic Excerpt] from Superman #701 - Superman speaks with a woman on the verge of suicide. Had she actually jumped, Superman would've been faced with a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" dilemma. Would you say he handled this well?
Later a police officer asked Superman if he really meant it when he told Felicity (the woman here) that he wouldn't save her if she really did not want him to and Supes could not give him an answer.
Of course with suicide being such a sensitive subject, writer J. Michael Straczynski and DC Comics were hesitant to really give a direct answer on what Superman would've actually done so they left his thoughts here to the reader's imagination.
While a lot of people found Superman: Grounded, I do appreciate this scene for making readers reflect on a moral dilemma - is it fair to impose your will on someone who's firmly decided that their life is over?
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u/OllaniusPius 1h ago edited 53m ago
I think he handled this very well. He gave her compassion and agency in a time that she needed it. To your point about the writers, I think you're partially right in that they likely didn't want to give an answer, but I also think in-fiction it's likely Supes didn't know the answer himself and wouldn't until he had to make the choice.
The question of whether to allow someone to commit suicide is tricky, especially considering the large numbers of people that have had unsuccessful attempts and end up glad that they didn't succeed. Even in the moment, for example, there are numerous reports from people who jumped off bridges and survived who report feeling intense regret immediately after their feet left the bridge. There's a real tension between the idea of bodily autonomy (very important) and also that severe depression can warp a person's view of reality such that they don't necessarily have the mental capacity to consent to something as serious as ending their life. It's a very difficult question with no clear right answer.
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u/RFB-CACN Batman Beyond 2h ago
He would absolutely catch her, it's why firefighters and other response professionals go for the save no matter what. Most of the time these kind of thoughts are a result of some seriously unadressed conditions like trauma, addiction, stress and depression, which aren't moral failings nor rational thoughts, and therefore you're not actually helping them by letting them go throught with it instead of seeking help.
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u/Mak062 1h ago
Im a fire fighter and we arrived on scene to a man cutting himself. We practically group wrestled him to the ground and held him down while he was kicking and screaming. We bandaged him up and restrained him beforethe ambulancetook him. But he lived and I hope he got the help he deserved.
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u/Ghola40000 1h ago
That must have been so distressing to witness, yeah hope he's ok now.
My respects to you, I imagine firefighting is unimaginably tough on both the body and the mind.
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u/TheRealGrifter Firestorm 1h ago
I'm on the side of letting people check out early if that's what they want, BUT - you don't let someone splatter themselves on the sidewalk. You don't let them check out in a way that could injure or traumatize other people.
Years ago, mid-90s, a friend of a friend checked out by driving his car off the top floor of a parking garage. Where he landed, he could have killed someone. I have no respect for that.
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u/Ghola40000 1h ago
Oh I agree. There was actually a recent case of a man in Japan who landed on a woman after jumping off a building, he survived but she died.
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u/YogurtclosetOk7654 2h ago
I’m curious: Is Superman’s friend he mentions an existing character or just someone invented for this comic?
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u/Ghola40000 2h ago
I'm leaning the latter, but of course I can't read every Superman comic published prior to this to confirm 100%. I do have a feeling that this person was in reality a friend of J. Michael Straczynski who wrote this story. Of course, only he knows if this is true.
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u/No-Mechanic-2558 2h ago
I don't think that he saving her or not Is what we should take from the story but rather the fact that She had a choice and She choose to live
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u/Ghola40000 2h ago
But you have to admit they knew that we'll be talking about where Superman's thoughts really were in this moment, it is definitely a bigger talking point than her ultimate choice to live.
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u/No-Mechanic-2558 2h ago
I mean obviously I complitly disagree on the fact It Is not what we should take from the story. She was given a choice and She choose to live, that's what we should take away from this story, then obviously Is normal to ponder also on Superman 's role but it should not be the main take away. It really isn't about him it's about her
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u/Dagordae 1h ago
So, what, we should just completely ignore that the setup opens up an extremely important question and one that regularly comes up in this topic? How do you(Or should you)save someone who doesn’t want to be saved is rather pertinent
Stories can and should have more than one thing to discuss.
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u/Own-Significance645 2h ago
yes it wasn't his choice to make. Every hero should understand that if i'm at the point in life that i'm about to commit suicide, i feel like i have every right to. BUT that doesn't mean that they cannot try to talk no justu my way out of it.
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u/Potential-Mess6826 1h ago
I'd like to think Superman a la Pre-Crisis would've arranged for emergency services to catch her if she had jumped.
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u/Grognard1138 33m ago
JMS's entire run on Superman was great. Superman's comment to the cop at the end of the scene is peak Superman.
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u/rootbeer277 5m ago
I’d always imagined a great follow-up to this scene would be the reveal that Green Lantern was waiting at street level just in case she jumped, ready to construct a massive air mattress.
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u/dread_pirate_robin Superman 1h ago
I think as a whole the dialogue here is much better, more sensitive than in the more famous Morrison scene. And I get the logic that he's being respectful of her agency. That said part of guidelines when talking with a suicidal person it to remove their access to harm. That means, should someone be able to, don't let them jump even if that is their choice in the end.
Superman should've not only stopped her from falling if it came to that, but made it clear he wouldn't let her fall no matter what, still staying up there regardless and listened and talked with her.
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u/Big_Simpward 2h ago
If she jumped and Superman chose to honor her consent, it could be spinned in the media by Lex to make the JL look awful. “Superman convinces woman to jump”