As you have likely heard by now, DC Comics has announced a change in the time-honored phrase that defines Superman's "never-ending battle". It is no longer "truth, justice and the American way"; it now closes with "a better tomorrow".
The original version dates from the radio serial that began in the 1940s and, perhaps more significantly, the TV series starring George Reeves, that originally aired during the height of the Cold War in the 1950s. But even by the time I was watching that show in the early '60s, the phrase seemed out of place.
The Superman I knew, though raised as an American and instilled with the traditional values we associate with our nation, was a champion for more than one country. He defended the whole Earth and, while "American way" can be defined as democracy and equality under the law, too often it could be seen--even back then--as might makes right, racial prejudice, and a narrow conservatism. It's worth noting that DC regards other parts of that famed opening sequence--"Faster than a speeding bullet...." "Look up in the sky...."--as trademarks, it has never indicated the same for "truth, justice, etc." Perhaps by the late 1970s, when the company began putting little "TM" marks on those phrases, it realized "American way" was simply something that had lost a generally accepted meaning.
Of course, the usual suspects--including Fox News--have derided this change. Perhaps they think "the American way" does not include a hope for "a better tomorrow".
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