A Superman Complex is an unhealthy sense of responsibility, or the belief that everyone else lacks the capacity to successfully perform any task.

Origin Edit

The expression seems to have been first been used by Dr. Fredric Wertham in his book Seduction of the Innocent and before the Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency. He claimed that children reading Superman comic books were exposed to “phantasies [sic] of sadistic joy in seeing other people punished over and over again while you yourself remain immune.”

Later, this term was used in an episode of Lois and Clark:The New Adventures of Superman and given an alternate definition, perhaps as a direct response to Dr. Wertham's book. The show described the Superman complex as "(being) a chronic do-gooder who thinks he can handle anything."

References Edit

• Beaty, Bart (2005). Fredric Wertham and the Critique of Mass Culture. University Press of Mississippi, ISBN 1-57806-819-3.

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See alsoEdit

• Christ complex
• Messianic complex