"New Hopes and New Dreams"

The TIME magazine article titled, “New Hopes, New Dreams,” talks about the past, present and future of Christopher Reeve. It emphasizes how he became Superman, and later on, the article discusses the challenge Reeve faces as a paraplegic and as a tangible image of Superman. Christopher Reeve mentioned in the article that he was very hard on himself in preserving his Superman image. Christopher Reeve’s star image as Superman helped the audience believe that a man can fly and have unbelievable superpowers. After his horrible accident, Reeve faced a dilemma: How can he continue his life, and how can he possibly maintain his image? Kryptonite is Superman’s ultimate weakness, but being paralyzed from the neck down proves to be one of the most difficult struggles anyone can endure. A severely depressed Christopher Reeve had no idea what was going to happen to his life right after the accident. However, instead of focusing on the body parts that could not work anymore, Reeve used his voice and star image as the way to fight for New Hopes and New Dreams.

           

Even when Superman was poisoned and surrounded by kryptonite, he always fought through to save everyone. In this sense, Christopher Reeve battled through his disability to make his voice heard. He has raised millions of dollars in his foundation, and the symbol of hope lies inside of him and is as strong as ever. Christopher Reeve saw his disability as a test to see how strong he really was. Instead of distancing himself from his iconic character, Reeve used Superman as his vehicle towards a universal need: finding a cure to spinal injuries and paralysis. Even though Superman is tied down to a wheel chair, he still lives on and always will through the legacy of his fans, supporters and image. Christopher Reeve role as Superman made him invincible as a star, and the image of Superman became more human and real because of Christopher Reeve’s life and challenges. By morphing together these images of Reeve and Superman, we are given a man and superhero, characters of reality and fiction, and mortality and immortality. These once contradictory images form together to emphasize the connection between Reeve and Superman. Audiences everywhere were able to see Christopher Reeve as more than just an actor playing Superman, but as an ordinary man who became immortal.