Glasses as a disguise

I still can't get over how they 100% played the glasses thing straight 😂
– Comment on this clip from 'Death of Superman'

How else could you do it though? I'll explain what I mean.

There's no better option, just roll with it

I don't think the absurdity of the "nobody recognises Superman when he puts on a pair of glasses" thing fully hit me until recently, when I watched the pilot episode of Superman & Lois, where not even his own sons realised he's Superman until he takes his glasses off and lifts a car in front of them.

But then it also hit me right after – there's just no way around this issue that works for the character, and you're just gonna have to roll with it and move on. Nobody's managed to come up with an alternative explanation that doesn't feel even dumber. 

I've seen some fans try to explain this as "people see what they expect to see", or "nobody believes that Superman has a secret identity". I guess that's mildly plausible (example: Henry Cavill, and example: Zooey Deschanel), but this doesn't hold up under scrutiny at all. What about facial recognition? People he's close to? His loved ones?

The only alternatives I could think of would be something like:

• He puts on a mask: Doesn't work. He needs people to trust him. Superman not wearing a mask is such a huge part of the character.
• Some kind of "perception filter" in the glasses: More acceptable, but it's so far-fetched that it seems almost goofy.

So the conclusion that I've gotten to is that you as a viewer just have to suspend your disbelief and accept that this is a thing that works, and move on. It's an illogical aspect of the Superman storytelling that you just have to swallow. Because there's no proper way around it. This kinda sucks, because it is really silly when you put this kind of plot device into an otherwise "serious" movie or TV show. I would absolutely love to get a better explanation. But until someone comes up with one, I guess I'm fine just rolling with it.

'Clark as the disguise' helped, but not enough

Maybe back when he put on a fake personality as Clark, the disguise was a tad more believable. There's lots of praise for this clip of Christopher Reeve subtly transforming from Clark to Superman. It's really impressive. But even then – It's just a pair of glasses. 

And I personally, really do not like that take on the character. I'm so glad this awkward, bumbling Clark isn't done much anymore. It makes absolutely zero sense that if Clark/Superman wants a secret identity, that he'd want to always go through the hassle of acting like a guy who's so lame that he's being ignored by the woman he's interested in. Why even bother trying to get Lois to be interested in him as Clark if that's not the real him? 

The reveal in 'Death of Superman'

"There's a reason I'm so secretive. And I think you deserve to know why."

If you just accept that the glasses work, and take this scene from 'The death of Superman' seriously, as it's intended, it's such a great moment. So much to like. If you accept that it's just not possible to tell until he takes the glasses off, that it's like a mask, imagine what an intense revelation that must be for Lois. I can just picture the million other ideas running through her head before he tells her ("Is he on drugs? Selling drugs? Clark would have to be on drugs to be on drugs"). He tells her, and she doesn't believe it. Then he takes the glasses off, and it still takes a moment for it to click. She probably hadn't considered it in a million years. And then her life is just completely changed after that. It's a bit dumb that they chose to have him give her that kind of important information out in public, but oh well. 

This same scene also contains one of my favourite Superman quotes:

Listen, Lois, I'm just a guy from a small town, who wants to do the right thing.

 

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Last edited: 9. july 2022