[LNH] Deja Dude / Master Blaster Special #11

martinphipps2 at yahoo.com martinphipps2 at yahoo.com
Tue Jul 11 10:36:18 PDT 2006


Tom Russell wrote:
> Martin Phipps wrote:
>
> >   "Superman heaves this big rock into space and then
> > has it float away."
> >   "So?"
> >   "So if _you_ pick up a rock and let it go, what
> > happens?"
> >   "It falls down."
> >   "Right.  So if Superman raises a big rock into space
> > and lets go then it should have fallen down and landed
> > in Metropolis and killed millions of people."
> >   "But, Dude, he's Superman!"
> >   "So?  Does the rock have the ability to fly too?  It
> > has to obey the laws of physics even if Superman
> > doesn't!"
>
> If I recall correctly, Superman actually _pushes_ it into space.  But I
> could be wrong.

Well, I suppose it depends how far he went with it.  I got the
impression that he only carried it as far as the edge of the
atmosphere.  After all, HE fell back to Earth.  HE didn't end up in
Earth orbit.  So I was waiting for the rock to fall back down and kill
everybody in Metropolis and was confused when it didn't happen.

Now, I suppose, in retrospect, that because the rock was made of
you-know-what that Superman was too weakened to convicingly hurl the
rock into the sun a la the super-cheesy Superman 4's nuclear weapons.
But it isn't just going to float there.  Lift a rock and let go and
it's going to fall down.  He should have hurled it away, not just
pushed it.  Keep in mind that he had to be pushing it all the way up so
whether or not he gave it one final push or simply let go is debatable.
 I got the impression that he was too weak by that point to push it any
further, seeing as how he then passed out.

Really though, stupid risk for Superman to take: what if he had passed
out earlier and the rock HAD fallen back to Earth and killed millions
in Metropolis.  He should have got it up to escape velocity and left it
to escape Earth's gravity on its own: less risk to him; less risk to
Earth.  Or, alternatively, he could have simply placed the rock on dry
land, as it was implied that it was the water that was activating the
crystal.  But the plot demanded that Superman end up falling from space
so logic goes out the window.

I admit that my physics background makes it hard for me to suspend
belief during a Superman movie. :)

Martin




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