Matthew Burnette, Staff Writer

One of my favorite sounds in the world is the rustling of popcorn bags.

Specifically, I enjoy hearing the rustling of the popcorn bags in a movie theater during that few-second audio lull between the previews and the start of the movie.

There’s something about that short moment.

Letting out that final exhale as the burdens of the outside world float off into the atmosphere for a two-hour stretch. Everyone uniform in anticipation with no real expectations, only joined together in the experience of something new. Small screens that are often the source of such negativity are tucked away in pockets as the focus shifts to the big screen that envelopes infinite possibilities.

You can hear the audience nestling in, and it fosters a feeling of calm like nothing else really does.

Going to the movies has also been a source of joy for the majority of my life. I can remember as a kid going to Disney classics like Hercules and Mulan before eventually growing into the big blockbusters and smaller independent films of adulthood.

Recently I went and watched the new Superman movie, and while I’ve never been the biggest fan of the Man of Steel, my favor going towards his darker, caped colleague over in Gotham City, I thoroughly enjoyed the film.

It had plenty of action as you hope for in a superhero movie, and the plot was interesting and engaging with more humorous moments sprinkled in to cut through some of the tension. I found myself leaving hoping that they make several more that are just as enjoyable.

Oftentimes, it seems like to be able to get a full grasp on any big blockbuster superhero film, you had to have gone in watching a handful of other movies, three different series, and a six-episode miniseries, but the Superman movie is just a classic tale of good vs. evil, something I think we’ve been missing as of late.

Over the last twenty years or so, we’ve fallen into a groove of this “antihero” storytelling. The good guy has his flaws and maybe doesn’t always act how a good guy should, and the bad guy does bad things, but he also has another layer that tells you that he’s not all bad.

That form of story makes for incredibly compelling films with interesting plots and dynamics, but it’s also created this gray area where we seem to not be able to tell who the bad guys and the good guys are anymore.

While I think those films do more accurately depict life and its many complexities as films should, I think Superman’s avoidance of that now common trope offered a bit of a palate cleanser. It was good to see a clear definition of who was in the right and who was in the wrong.

You didn’t have to go in with your analyst’s glasses on. It’s just a good enjoyable movie that you don’t have to think too hard about.

There’s been a lot of commentary on whether Superman is a “woke” film. Superman is a guy from another planet who comes to Earth and does what he thinks is right to help people only for people to turn on him due to some negative campaigning by Lex Luthor.

If you wanted to take that and make comparisons to things going on in the real world, I guess you could do that, but it’s the same back story that the character of Superman has always had, but when you show up to a movie theater with a tight grip on the metaphorical shovel, you’re almost certain to dig up something to complain about.

Moviegoing is meant to be an enjoyable activity where the weight of the world is lifted for a short stretch. While some films have clear messages and speak to the ineptitudes and shortcomings of the world, as film should, sometimes it’s okay to enjoy a movie without wondering what it could be saying.

The only requirement to enjoy the new Superman film is a desire to have a good time, which is how going to the movies should be, and what I hope this movie starts to get us back to.

Let’s get back to a place where going to the movies is a leisurely pastime you do to escape from the world instead of a homework assignment to try to find out what’s wrong with it.

Let’s just take in the joy of getting to share a film with a dark room full of equally eager strangers hoping for the best.

Let’s take a deep breath and enjoy the peaceful sound of the rustling popcorn bags.