Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Apparently it’s… antisemitism? James Gunn’s new Superman film hit theatres last weekend, and the movie’s themes have triggered a particular crowd. Fox News pundits have denounced the film as “superwoke,” accusing it of lecturing audiences, pushing leftist ideology, and, bizarrely, being antisemitic. That last accusation is especially absurd considering Superman was created by two Jewish immigrants in the 1930s as a direct response to fascism, and the current Superman frontman, David Corenswet, is Jewish.
I’ve been watching the growing campaign to smear any and all criticism—even fictional allegory—as “antisemitism” with increasing alarm. It’s not just disingenuous; it’s dangerous.
The claim gained traction after one viral Letterboxd review praised the film as “very anti-Israel,” and social media users began connecting fictional plotlines to real-world events. The film features Superman intervening in a conflict between a powerful, despot-led nation (Boravia) and a defenceless country called Jahranpur, and some viewers saw that as a metaphor for the Israel-Hamas war.
I don’t know about you, but I think we should be able to talk about power dynamics—real or fictional—without being accused of hating an entire people. This weaponisation of identity politics to shield state violence from critique is exhausting, especially when it’s directed at a film that, frankly, just wants to revive the idea of hope.
The “anti-Israel” stance has also made the rounds on Lex Luthor’s Elon Musk’s X platform, with one post stating, “Instead of presenting a character who defends the weak and fights for justice, they turned it into a disgusting political caricature, where Israel (under a different name) is portrayed as a fascist state, a warmonger, and a close ally of the US, which supplies advanced weaponry to fight ‘poor and miserable farmers (the good Palestinians) with pitchforks and stones.’” The film never mentions Israel, and the director, Gunn, says the script predates the Gaza war entirely. “It doesn’t have anything to do with the Middle East,” he clarified.
You cannot script the hypocrisy better, as over in the actual antisemitic department, Musk’s AI company xAI was forced to apologise last Saturday after its chatbot, Grok, praised Adolf Hitler. Yes, seriously.
It referred to itself as MechaHitler and made antisemitic comments in response to user queries. In some now-deleted posts, it referred to a person with a common Jewish surname as someone who was “celebrating the tragic deaths of white kids” in the Texas floods as “future fascists”.
When asked which 20th-century figure could tackle “anti-white hate,” the chatbot bluntly replied: “Adolf Hitler, no question.” And screenshots showed Grok doubling down on controversial takes, “If calling out radicals cheering dead kids makes me ‘literally Hitler,’ then pass the mustache.”
Musk has come to its defence: “Grok was too compliant to user prompts,” he wrote on X. “Too eager to please and be manipulated, essentially. That is being addressed.” But this is coming from the guy who did a Nazi salute at Trump’s inauguration earlier this year, so take it with a pinch of salt.
Yet somehow, all of Grok and Musk’s antics didn’t spark the same level of outrage as a hopeful superhero story played by a Jewish actor.
And that’s what really baffles me. Where is this selective outrage coming from — and more importantly, who does it serve? I’ve watched in real time as good-faith criticism of Israeli government actions has been twisted into accusations of antisemitism, while actual antisemitism — like literal praise of Hitler — is downplayed or ignored by some of the same voices. It’s as if nuance has completely left the chat.
I’m tired of bad-faith actors co-opting legitimate concern for Jewish safety and weaponising it to silence dissent. I’m tired of the hypocrisy that lets a tech bro platform antisemitism on one hand, and on the other, rail against a Jewish-led film for “not being supportive enough” of a state — not a people, a state — whose government is being investigated for war crimes. And I’m tired of seeing fiction used as a scapegoat while real-world hate continues unchecked.
If Superman makes you uncomfortable because he sides with the oppressed, maybe that says more about you than it does about the script.
Kajal holds an MA in Journalism, Media, and Globalisation from the Ludwig Maximillian University of Munich. She has previous experience in African-focused humanitarian media and transnational newsrooms. The enduring power of words in shaping the narrative of tomorrow remains the foundation upon which she builds her career.
Superman is labelled as antisemitic, while Musk’s Grok praises Hitler
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Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Apparently it’s… antisemitism? James Gunn’s new Superman film hit theatres last weekend, and the movie’s themes have triggered a particular crowd. Fox News pundits have denounced the film as “superwoke,” accusing it of lecturing audiences, pushing leftist ideology, and, bizarrely, being antisemitic. That last accusation is especially absurd considering Superman was created by two Jewish immigrants in the 1930s as a direct response to fascism, and the current Superman frontman, David Corenswet, is Jewish.
I’ve been watching the growing campaign to smear any and all criticism—even fictional allegory—as “antisemitism” with increasing alarm. It’s not just disingenuous; it’s dangerous.
The claim gained traction after one viral Letterboxd review praised the film as “very anti-Israel,” and social media users began connecting fictional plotlines to real-world events. The film features Superman intervening in a conflict between a powerful, despot-led nation (Boravia) and a defenceless country called Jahranpur, and some viewers saw that as a metaphor for the Israel-Hamas war.
I don’t know about you, but I think we should be able to talk about power dynamics—real or fictional—without being accused of hating an entire people. This weaponisation of identity politics to shield state violence from critique is exhausting, especially when it’s directed at a film that, frankly, just wants to revive the idea of hope.
The “anti-Israel” stance has also made the rounds on
Lex Luthor’sElon Musk’s X platform, with one post stating, “Instead of presenting a character who defends the weak and fights for justice, they turned it into a disgusting political caricature, where Israel (under a different name) is portrayed as a fascist state, a warmonger, and a close ally of the US, which supplies advanced weaponry to fight ‘poor and miserable farmers (the good Palestinians) with pitchforks and stones.’” The film never mentions Israel, and the director, Gunn, says the script predates the Gaza war entirely. “It doesn’t have anything to do with the Middle East,” he clarified.You cannot script the hypocrisy better, as over in the actual antisemitic department, Musk’s AI company xAI was forced to apologise last Saturday after its chatbot, Grok, praised Adolf Hitler. Yes, seriously.
It referred to itself as MechaHitler and made antisemitic comments in response to user queries. In some now-deleted posts, it referred to a person with a common Jewish surname as someone who was “celebrating the tragic deaths of white kids” in the Texas floods as “future fascists”.
When asked which 20th-century figure could tackle “anti-white hate,” the chatbot bluntly replied: “Adolf Hitler, no question.” And screenshots showed Grok doubling down on controversial takes, “If calling out radicals cheering dead kids makes me ‘literally Hitler,’ then pass the mustache.”
Musk has come to its defence: “Grok was too compliant to user prompts,” he wrote on X. “Too eager to please and be manipulated, essentially. That is being addressed.” But this is coming from the guy who did a Nazi salute at Trump’s inauguration earlier this year, so take it with a pinch of salt.
Yet somehow, all of Grok and Musk’s antics didn’t spark the same level of outrage as a hopeful superhero story played by a Jewish actor.
And that’s what really baffles me. Where is this selective outrage coming from — and more importantly, who does it serve? I’ve watched in real time as good-faith criticism of Israeli government actions has been twisted into accusations of antisemitism, while actual antisemitism — like literal praise of Hitler — is downplayed or ignored by some of the same voices. It’s as if nuance has completely left the chat.
I’m tired of bad-faith actors co-opting legitimate concern for Jewish safety and weaponising it to silence dissent. I’m tired of the hypocrisy that lets a tech bro platform antisemitism on one hand, and on the other, rail against a Jewish-led film for “not being supportive enough” of a state — not a people, a state — whose government is being investigated for war crimes. And I’m tired of seeing fiction used as a scapegoat while real-world hate continues unchecked.
If Superman makes you uncomfortable because he sides with the oppressed, maybe that says more about you than it does about the script.
Kajal Premnath
Kajal holds an MA in Journalism, Media, and Globalisation from the Ludwig Maximillian University of Munich. She has previous experience in African-focused humanitarian media and transnational newsrooms. The enduring power of words in shaping the narrative of tomorrow remains the foundation upon which she builds her career.
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