Is James Gunn’s *Superman* a political film—and what happens when audiences find political meanings that a filmmaker may not have consciously intended?

In this extended conversation, Nicolas Michaud of Philosophy All Along is joined by Colton Ogburn, producer, writer, editor, and on-screen host for @ScreenCrush, to discuss the politics of *Superman* (2025).

We examine the film’s depiction of Boravia and Jarhanpur, the parallels some viewers have drawn to Israel and Gaza, and whether those connections are genuinely present regardless of James Gunn’s stated intentions. We also explore the larger questions raised by the film: Does authorial intent determine what a work means? Should superhero movies address contemporary political conflicts? Can Superman remain a symbol of universal morality while entering politically contested territory?

The conversation expands beyond one particular allegory to consider the changing relationship between Hollywood, superhero cinema, political storytelling, and audiences increasingly divided over what popular art should say and whether it should say anything at all.

Featuring Colton Ogburn:

YouTube: @ColtonOgburnChannel

ScreenCrush: @ScreenCrush

Subscribe to Philosophy All Along for philosophical discussions of movies, television, politics, culture, and the ideas hidden inside popular entertainment.

What did you see in James Gunn’s *Superman*? Was the Boravia–Jarhanpur conflict simply a fictional superhero narrative, or did it inevitably evoke contemporary political realities?

#Superman #JamesGunn #FilmAnalysis #Superman2025 #PoliticalCinema

DESCRIPTION:

Backrooms is not just a horror movie about liminal spaces, endless rooms, and impossible architecture. It is a movie about therapy, trauma, and what it would mean to see a person from the inside out.

In this video, I use basic 4D theory, mirrors, MRIs, blueprints, cross-sections, and the film’s strange reversed spaces to argue that Backrooms turns psychotherapy into cosmic horror. The film keeps asking whether we can ever really see inside another person and whether seeing inside them would actually help them change.

Mary tries to understand Clark, rescue him, and help him confront what is happening. But the deeper she goes into the Backrooms, the more the film questions the entire fantasy of therapy: that if we map the self clearly enough, explain the trauma carefully enough, and see the hidden structure underneath the person, then healing will follow.

This video explores Backrooms, Kane Pixels, 4D horror, the still-life people, Clark and Mary, the meaning of mirrors and MRIs, and why the film’s real nightmare may not be the Backrooms themselves, but the possibility that we cannot change.

Spoilers for Backrooms.

#Backrooms #BackroomsExplained #Philosophy

Critics may be looking for the next Andor, but The Mandalorian and Grogu succeeds by remembering another essential side of Star Wars: adventure, wonder, fun, and the joy of being swept into a galaxy far, far away. In this video, I argue that the film works because it welcomes younger viewers into Star Wars while reminding older fans that sometimes we need to let ourselves be children at heart again.

But beneath the excitement and spectacle, the film still carries classic Star Wars themes, especially the relationship between fathers and sons. Through Din Djarin and Grogu, the story asks a simple but powerful question: what does a good father do?

#TheMandalorianAndGrogu

#MandalorianAndGrogu

#StarWars

#TheMandalorian

#Grogu

#DinDjarin

#BabyYoda

#StarWarsMovie

#StarWarsTheory

#StarWarsExplained

#StarWarsReview

#PhilosophyAllAlong

#StarWarsPhilosophy

#Andor

#DisneyStarWars