Christopher Reeve : 1952-2004
I cannot begin to describe how devastated and saddened I am to hear of Christopher Reeve's sudden death on Sunday. To me, and thousands of others, he was-and always will be- Superman.
I'm old enough to remember seeing the "Superman" movie when it first came out in the theaters. I recall me, my brother and a family friend seeing it on the big screen for the first time. I was in total and complete awe. Back then, it was OK enough to let us see it several times on one ticket, so I got to see the movie at the theater several times that day. To this day, in fact, this movie is the one film that I've seen the most, like over a hundred times in one form or another. After that, I truly believed that Reeve was the Man of Steel and that he could really fly.
Of course, over time, I grew up and eventually learned that it was a special effect, but I still had a respect for Reeve, not only for the way he played Superman but as Clark Kent as well. I enjoyed seeing him in the other sequels (yes, even the crappy third film and the even worse fourth.) I even enjoyed some of his other works, like "Somewhere in Time" and "Street Smart".
I was stunned when he suffered that horrible accident in 1995 that paralyzed him and was proud to see him recover from that, become an activist for spinal cord research, and return to acting. And when he appeared on the WB series "Smallville" two years ago to essentially pass the torch in the Superman mythos, I again had that feeling of awe I felt years ago when I first saw him on the big screen.
Last month, when the show returned for it's new season, me and my friend Rob had talked about how cool it would be to see Reeve return again on the series, now that Margot Kidder, who played Lois Lane in the movies, had joined the show in a recurring role.
Sadly and tragically, that will never happen.
Lastly, I have an image of Christopher Reeve that I want to remember him by. It's from the final scene of Superman, where he's flying off into beyond with that trademark smile. That's what I hope he's doing now.
Goodbye, Superman. You'll always be a hero to me.
