I have decided that Hanna-Barbera’s “Super Friends” cartoon series is really a portrayal of the United Nations for kids and people who need a dumb-it-down approach to politics.
When Franklin D. Roosevelt coined the term “United Nations” he was referring to a group of allied countries. The first UN Conference of International Organizations meeting was held in San Francisco. This was really just a meeting of the minds to draft the Charter of the United Nations. Then the group of 51 countries moved to Westminster Central Hall in London — I think because they were afraid of the hippies trying to crash the party, but that’s another column.
The main countries (you know, the ones that people will actually listen to) were France, the Republic of China, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States. There were about 50 other countries represented, but who is going to listen to them anyway?
They don’t have any real money, power or military presence anywhere. So the United Nations gets together to defend the world, have coffee and try to fix problems. And it generally creates a bunch of treaties about promises that are rarely kept and often changed based on the survival of the countries that are making the promises.
Here is where I see the comparison between the “Super Friends” and the United Nations. The only “Super Friends” characters that got to say anything or make important decisions were Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Robin and Aquaman. I think of Superman like the United States. He is the super power, has all the good tricks, and just when you think he’s not quite going to make it he ends up saving the day. No one can beat him because he flies around so much, and they just don’t know where he is, or don’t really want to try.
Like many countries that build arsenals, incite terrorist violence or refuse to trade with us, many villains and others interact with Superman similarly.
And then there’s Wonder Woman.
She knows what she wants, has all the latest technology, and, let’s face it: If she could just get Superman out of the picture, she would probably be the League of Justice’s most dominant force. She has an invisible jet, really cool arm bands that can stop bullets and deathly laser rays, and she is smoking hot.
Hmmm, technology, resourcefulness — does this remind you of any particular country? Well, if you didn’t guess China then you aren’t seeing the parallels that are glaringly obvious between these two incredible forces.
Superman may have the natural ability, the size and the ripping biceps, but Wonder Woman has managed to use her high intelligence, resourcefulness and, yeah, her smoking hotness to break down all the bad guys.
In fact, I think Hanna-Barbera had Superman save her so many times in the series to try to insinuate that she isn’t so tough. It’s a fear tactic, some kind of brain-washing used against Americans and the Chinese so that when we would watch those episodes, Americans would think they were super awesome and the Chinese would think that Americans had their backs. Wrong. The subliminal message was that the Chinese were inferior to the Americans. And now, China may become the next Superman.
Another key parallel point to make about similarities between the “Super Friends” cartoon and the United Nations: Did you ever notice that the other countries, I mean, “Super Friends,” just went along with whatever the “main” “Super Friends” were doing? Take the Wonder Twins, for example.
They almost always had some clever way of assisting Batman, Superman or Wonder Woman when they were trying to save the world, but they never got credit for it.
I mean, they had pretty weak powers — like many of the countries in the United Nations — but they were sure good in a pinch.
I think Aquaman reminds me most of the United Kingdom.
He is powerful, but he’s really just a nice, quiet guy that just wants everyone to get along. Batman reminds me of Russia because he’s selfish, a whole lot smarter and really sneaky. Robin just reminds me of France because he is annoying, but nice to look at. If Robin were France, I would want to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there.
Robin isn’t all that powerful on his own, but he knows who to partner with if there is a problem, and he can generally bring enough to the table to rescue those in peril from the Lex Luther’s evil devices.
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Is it a coincidence that they have a really nice place to have their meetings? Or that they all sit around a huge table when they decide how to attack their next villain?
I think the real reason that they went off the air is because Hanna and Barbera were Russian spies sending secret messages to their country about the weaknesses they had found in the American defensive structure. Of course, this is all just a theory I have, but I guarantee that you will read comic books a lot differently after reading this. Or are they really just comic books?
