DC Comics writer Grant Morrison says Superman has a “swagger,” the same word often used to describe Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry.
According to various news sources, Rick Perry has a “swagger.”
“The first time you see Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry, it hits you immediately: The Texas governor has the swagger of a movie star,” read a CBS News report last Auguest. “It’s there in his alpha-male confidence, his Marlboro Man drawl, his propensity for cowboy boots.”
And when Perry said it would be “almost treasonous” for Fed chairman Ben Bernanke to print more money, Fox News defended his controversial remarks as just part of his “Texas swagger.” The Associated Press also used the “s-word” in its headline, “Rick Perry exudes confidence, swagger on campaign trail.”
Traced back to Shakespeare’s 1590 play Midsummer Night’s Dream, “swagger,” derived from a word meaning “to swing,” once meant “to move heavily or unsteadily.” Now the term’s more closely aligned with a masculine cockiness, an arrogance almost distinctly American, which is precisely why comic book writer Grant Morrison used “swagger” to describe DC Comics’ latest incarnation of Perry’s favorite hero, Superman.
“That swagger is part of what the rest of the world believes about America,” says Morrison in an interview in the latest issue of the recently relaunched ‘Action Comics.’ “I wanted to put that back into Superman, that attitude of ‘I know what I’m doing, I’m the biggest guy on the block…” That’s precisely the same approach Perry embraces.
The real question, though, is whether Perry will use that swagger to fight for truth, justice and the American way, like Superman, or whether he’ll use it to exert undue American force around the world.
We’ll soon find out, because the Republican presidential candidates are now unrolling their foreign policy stances, and Perry will have an opportunity to expand on his worldview, which thus far seems bafflingly muddled, and potentially dangerous. The Texas governor, for example, suggested we send U.S. troops into Mexico to crack down on drug cartels. That is not the type of swagger of which Superman would approve.
