Introduction

As someone who is investing a considerable amount of energy and time following politics and critically assesses the received information, I was positively shocked after watching the very sophisticated video post by Samantha Youssef, an artist in the US film industry, analysing how the “Superman” (2025) movie “manufactures consent” regarding US imperialism and the genocide in Gaza. Therefore, I have decided to make a blog about this and also present the given references in a text-based format, which is easier to use for further study and will be more easily found by search engines outside social networks [Specific, 1-7; see also Other, 1].

Video

Original Video “Is Superman 2025 Pro-Watermelon? Hollywood Artist Weighs In!” by Samantha Youssef published on 2025-07-20 (Updated on 2015-07-22) [2]:

Transcript

Note: The info was auto-transcribed from the video using https://www.clipto.com. Errors may occur. (Some) human proof-reading was done.

[Introduction]

Hi everyone, Samantha, artist in the film industry here.

As everyone is speculating about the recent “Superman” and if it actually is an anti-Israel, pro-Palestine film, I felt that I should weigh in as someone who has worked on these kinds of projects, from being on the floor as an animation artist, to working with actors in motion capture and choreography, to art direction and character design, to working with the directors and executive producers and sitting in rooms making decisions on these films. Because of my background, a lot of friends and colleagues have been reaching out, asking for my thoughts on this particular film, especially given my personal connection to the conflicts going on.

I just want to present a few things that people on the left are overlooking in their enthusiasm that this is a pro-resistance film. This video isn’t to contradict what others are saying, but to expand on the conversation by offering an inside perspective. I also just had a great conversation over at “Revolutionary Change” where they also presented great points from an audience perspective. I’d recommend checking them out.

As someone that works on these kinds of projects, I think we need to consider looking at the behind-the-scenes and not just what is experienced in the movie theater. Audiences should consider that this is neoliberal Kool-Aid at a way more sophisticated level than other forms of media. Keep in mind that these blockbuster projects are highly funded, and more importantly, highly vetted, and artistic teams that work on them often come from very white, hetero-normative, financially insured backgrounds who inherit a lot of liberal ideologies that shape their decisions, whether consciously or unconsciously.

These films also go through so many stages of revisions on many levels, including by CEOs that have vested interest in imperial and capital projects. They also go through revisions by the Pentagon and CIA. This is especially the case with films that use military equipment and represent the US Army. This is not an area of speculation. It’s part of the contractual arrangement. If the military is on screen, the scripts are under Pentagon and CIA control. Screenwriters are mainly there to ensure the writing is entertaining. I’ll link sources that provide the evidence of this in the description. Let’s also not forget that this director just happens to also have a long history with Marvel Studios, which has a well-documented history with the Pentagon.

Unlike Trump, as artists and filmmakers, we arguably are playing a type of 5D chess because we are actually engaging you as the audience, not just as a passive voyeur, but bringing you into a sensory and temporal experience to elicit your emotional responses. We use techniques to manipulate your feelings, engage your senses, direct how to manipulate your biases in favor of or against characters in scenarios. We determine how you experience the film through tools like incredibly emotional musical scores, color palettes that elicit specific emotional responses, camera angles, as well as the timing and editing of how you experience the shots and the choreographies. These decisions are determined by the underlying story core, which I’ll elaborate on, not the superficial narrative of events. These contribute to your subconscious experience that stimulates you and literally pumps you up in favor of the bias that we decided, so that you come out of the film feeling really bought into the narrative. That is literally our job, and on films produced at this level of production quality, we are very good at it.

Keep in mind that this is not just the superficial narrative, but it’s an underneath narrative that provides the through-line that informs all our artistic decisions. The superficial narrative of the events of the film are designed to support the underneath messaging and story core.

Okay, let’s walk through some crucial things we need to keep perspective on.

One

The first and most obvious thing to keep aware of, these films normalize visuals of genocide. Even if the superficial narrative is opposing genocide, these films help make the reality of genocide less shocking if you’re accustomed to it in a fictional space.

Two

They normalize individual heroism to continue to make us feel that someone, like a superhero, will fix a problem, and contributes to shaping the public’s thoughts to rely on an individual or an authority instead of collectively unifying to take action as a people. Collective unity in these films is not represented outside of individualized characters. Superheroes are always designed to be the metaphor for the ideals of a nation-state or an ideology in human form. Captain America is a great example of that.

Three

The film objectifies and romanticizes the victims who are shown to be incapable of collectively resisting themselves and need to pray for their savior, who is the hero we identify with. And this hero represents a state. These victims are also two-dimensional and don’t have the complexities or interpersonal relationships that the hero characters have. This also normalizes orientalizing and othering of certain groups. Because we are following the hero’s emotional journey through the film and are emotionally invested in them, we feel like we are represented ourselves in saving these lesser people with them.

Four

It focuses on shaping perception to believe that systemic change happens through personal, individual journeys of the hero characters and not through the collective movements of the masses.

Five

It makes the people who would resist feel like our voices are being heard and that the oppressed, like Palestine, are being seen. We see the film and are pacified because it gives a false sense that the tides must be turning. This is a common strategy that is used with diversity casting. It’s superficial representation without material structural change. Instead of pacifying underrepresented racial or gender groups, they are now co-opting under-represented geopolitical movements. This is literally next level co-optation. The corporate elite know when they have lost the narrative.  Be aware that they are very cognizant of that and need to co-opt the narrative through soft power strategies that are in their favor.Whatever the intent of these productions are, it’s not because they are genuinely responding to our grievances.

Six

Don’t forget the military entertainment complex. BDS is effective and these forever wars and apartheid systems are burning through money. NATO and the Pentagon need more money coming in fast. NATO is now demanding 5% GDP. They need to keep up with the forever wars they are supplying. This film will draw in audiences that have been boycotting. They will now pay money to see it because they think it’s revolutionary, which helps further transfer money on an immediate and vast scale from the public sector into the private sector.

Seven

Speaking of the military entertainment complex, any film that shows the U.S. Military in it also means the scripting strategies are required to be under CIA influence and vetting.

Eight

The classic colonial absolution narrative. Gunn himself said that Superman represents immigrants and America. People know that the US occupied and colonized Turtle Island. It’s worth considering that maybe the core of the story isn’t about the current policies happening around immigration and ICE, but justifying instead the OG American immigration, aka settler colonialism. Maybe it’s a form of washing the original colonial occupation by white immigrants. It’s worth considering that this is trying to suggest a narrative that parallels a pro-American mythology. Like when the British first colonized Turtle Island, the intention was dominance, just like what Kal-El’s parents wanted. But the American mythology claims Americans were the good guys after all, just like Clark Kent denying his colonial legacy of domination and justifying his claim, aka the American claim, as righteous. Just some food for thought. Curating public opinion is often done through the narrative tools that are more subtle and not actually the overt ones like the surface narrative. When trying to understand what’s being done in these films, think below the surface narratives. They are trying to shape your worldview.

Nine

It also provides a distraction so that the woke people that would have eyes on Gaza are now busy focusing on how excited they are about the film. You’re probably watching the media tours, the interviews with cast, the red carpets, getting into distracting conversations like this one about whether or not this was an anti-Israel, pro-Palestine message, which probably means they are about to do an increased level of violence on Gaza or the West Bank or an act of violence on any other societies targeted by Western imperial hegemony.

Be conscious that this is next-level propaganda, meant to neutralize, co-opt, commodify, and pacify resistance. Powerful visuals, entertaining humor that humanizes selected characters, which Gunn is excellent at. Powerful musical scores, codified color associations, visual editing can immediately put audiences in a state of heightened emotions and then relief through humor from intense emotional moments, which positions audiences to be more likely to accept everything they are watching uncritically because their critical defenses are bypassed through emotional manipulation. When it comes to Hollywood artists, we are way better propagandists than the news media and Hasbara.

[Summary]

So please consider that this is moving into next level high budget opinion shaping and co-opting resistance and also commodifying it into a product that they are profiting from to claim gains off the people that had started rejecting the Kool-Aid.

Consider that there is a reason they are signaling stories like this at this time, just like season two of Andor addressing genocide and resistance. These stories are put through from the highest level production studios, the biggest budgets and overseen by the military entertainment complex. They are run through multiple internal test audience screenings. They are vetted by the CIA. These films do not get the millions of dollars required to make them or the ability to portray the military without conditions. 

The surface-level narratives that appear to put out an anti-imperial message wouldn’t be allowed if there wasn’t a better payoff that these industries benefit from. The corporate media publishing articles that see parallels is another indicator that there is collusion between corporate parties. They won’t invest in these productions and their massive promotional campaigns otherwise.

Always engage with films in the category of first cinema critically. Superman is not third cinema, nor is it third cinema. They are first cinema.

I know they are emotionally powerful for us to experience right now, and we want our escapism that feels validated, especially with the accelerated violence happening in the world. I know we want to win and we want affirmation that the tides are turning, but please consider the possibility that these industries are one step ahead of that. History repeats itself and empire learns.

[Conclusion]

I’m dropping names in the description that are great sources to learn from. I hope this was some helpful extra information to throw into the conversation mix. Let me know your thoughts in the comments. Feel free to share if this is helpful. Thank you for listening. And most importantly: “Free Palestine.”

Appendix

 Authors of Interest

• Stuart Hall
• Roger Stahl
• Tim Lenoir
• Luke Caldwell
• Tanner Mirrlees
• James DerDerian
• Aaron Franz
• Edward Said
• Bel Hooks
• Kimberle Crenshaw
• Noam Chomsky & Edward Herman
• Robert McChesney

References

Specific (to the video)

1. https://www.studio-technique.com/blog/2025/7/20/weighing-in-on-the-superman-conversation
2. https://youtu.be/WuesAPZLC1U
3. https://www.instagram.com/samanthasketches/?hl=en
4. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/reemayouby_dont-get-fooled-by-superman-activity-7352554826737557504-Ly-F
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samantha_Youssef
6. https://www.studio-technique.com
7. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military%E2%80%93entertainment_complex

General (from the video)

Note: The info was auto-transcribed from screenshots using https://www.imagetotext.info. Errors may occur. (Some) human proof-reading was done.

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Other

1. https://www.surplusmagazin.de/film-kino-superhelden-fantasticfour-superman-ideologie-reiche/