Skip to main content

dc - Floating glove scene in Man of Steel. What does it mean?


In the movie Man of Steel, General Zod and Superman fought in an unfinished building. In that scene, General Zod mentioned that "trained all his life to master his senses" and then removed his armor by flexing his body.


I can't help but to notice that when he has removed his armor, one his glove was floating while other parts of his armor fell onto the ground as he levitates. What does this mean and what is the significance of it?







Answer



The Power of Imagery


Warning: This answer is about the artistic reason(s) for the levitating glove, not scientific reasons.


If you're into such things, Man of Steel is rich with imagery and symbolism. Sometimes it's conspicuous, such as when Clark is at a church and the camera pauses ever so briefly with an anguished Clark in front of a crucified Christ. Sometimes it's a lot more subtle, such as when Jor-El's image is directing Clark and Lois on the ship, and it's all done with classical poses similar to those in Greco-Roman statues: This totally jibes with Kryptonian society in the movie being based heavily on Plato's "Republic." Another subtle one is the "baptism" of Clark when he goes through a trial by fire and ends up immersed in the ocean.


Anyways, as far as imagery goes, a gauntlet is a symbol of power. (side note: the difference between a glove and, more specifically, a gauntlet is, generally speaking, that a gauntlet is used in battle/war). Notice that it's not just the case that the viewer can see a gauntlet floating---it's actually the case that the glove is foregrounded in a shot, taking up almost the entire frame, and the camera ever so subtly pauses there for just a brief moment.


So I would suggest that scene may have been less about a scientific reason and more about an artistic and symbolic message. Zod has just expressed his view that, essentially, might-makes-right when it comes to protecting Krypton (says something about even his "cruelty" was to serve Krypton's greater good). The glove symbolizes his power philosophy.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.

harry potter - How could Expelliarmus beat Avada Kedavra?

I want to be very careful about how I ask this question – I am not asking How did Voldemort die? [CLOSED] Below the text is the relevant passages from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows if anyone wants to review them (I'm sorry for the amount of text). How did Expelliarmus beat Avada Kedavra and kill Voldemort? I feel the reason Harry's Expelliarmus overpowered Voldemort's Avada Kedavra curse has to do with who was master of the Elder Wand and how the Elder Wand works. I've always had trouble understanding fully how the Elder Wand works, though. How much did the fact that Voldemort never truly won or mastered the Elder Wand factor into how Expelliarmus reacted to Avada Kedavra and caused Avada Kedavra to rebound and kill Voldemort? An answer based in book canon would be especially welcome, but any canon source really is fine. Harry heard the high voice shriek as he, too, yelled his best hope to the heavens, pointing Draco’s wand: ‘ Avada Kedavra !’ ‘ Expelliarmus !...

tolkiens legendarium - Difference between elves and dwarves blacksmithing in the Lord of the Rings

Both the elves and the dwarves were famous for their metal work in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but what is the difference between what they made, and which one had the better skill of making amours and swords? Answer James Christopher's answer sums up the second part of your question well, but as to the difference in what they made, a little more detail is needed. Once the Elves learned to forge with steel, the shape of the sword changed, now being able to take on the form of a great broadsword or a light and agile curved sword. Additionally, they took great pride in decorating their swords. As we see in the Lord of the Rings , some swords like Sting had magical properties such as glowing blue when orcs are near. As far as the use of Mithril, lotr.wikia has two contradictory passages: Thus, Elven blades became renowned as great weapons, capable of performing deeds beyond the skill of their handlers and were even more glorious when the use of Mithril was allowed to the Elves. ...

game of thrones - Is Syrio Forel dead?

In the episode 'The Pointy End' (Season 1 Episode 8) when Arya runs from the Lannister guards you hear the sound of a sword being dropped (around 4:56): [embedded content] After that neither Syrio or Ser Meryn Trant is never mentioned or seen in the show again, except when Arya mentions to the Hound that Ser Meryn Trant killed Syrio. Is there any mention in the books that Syrio actually dies?