SSuperman III MAIN CHARACTERS
Directed by Richard Lester, Superman III begins with a dictorial clerk quizzing Gus Gorman at the unemployment office. Gus has been on welfare for 36 weeks and was fired from two jobs, so his benefits are terminated. Noticing an advertisement seeking novices to become computer programmers with the chance to earn big money, Gus enrolls in the Archibold School of Data Processing. To his own, and his teacher's amazement, Gus demonstrates computer genius. As a new employee of Webscoe, he gets his first paycheck but is bitterly disappointed. After various tax deductions $225 a week becomes $143,80 and Gus can't live on that. While talking with a fellow employee, the subject of the company's lost half cents is raised. Accounts ignore them, so where are they? Gus gets a bright idea--he overrides security and reprograms the computer to channel all the "lost" half cents into his personal account. In the meantime, Jimmy Olsen and Clark Kent are on their way to Smallville when their bus trip is interrupted by a raging chemical plant fire, Jimmy tries to get photographs while Clark changes into Superman, saves some endangered lives, and puts out the fire using water from a nearby lake. Jimmy breaks his leg and is sent home while Clark continues on to his high school reunion where he meets Lana Lang and, later, her young son Ricky. Back at Webscoe, the payroll department issues its next series of checks, and Gus gets an extra one for expenses-- $85,789.90 worth! His scam worked. Ross Webster is notified of the embezzlement and is impressed, but he still needs to know who did it. Suddenly, with radio blaring, Gus arrives at work in a brand new red Ferrari, screeching its tires in the parking lot. Ross Webster immediately realizes the thief is Gus. Gus is summoned to Webster's office and immediately confesses, but Webster isn't interested in the admission. Gus was just a little bit naughty, that's all. Admiring Gus's computer prowess, Webster asks him to destroy the Columbian coffee crop using the weather satellite Vulcan because Columbia has frustrated his plans for a coffee monopoly. Gus agrees, but, he needs a remote terminal, so they select Webscoe's office in Smallville. In the meantime, Clark, Lana, and Ricky are having a picnic in the fields when Ricky wanders off, falls unconscious, and is about to be chopped up by a wheat harvester when Superman saves him in the nick of time. Gus arrives at Smallville and approaches the terminal station at night. He tricks the security guard, Brad, with a combination of bluff, technospeak, and a suitcase full of alcohol. Once Brad is dead drunk, the half-drunk Gus goes to the terminal room but is foiled by the computer's security design; two men are needed to turn on two separated switches at the same time. Gus can't do it when he tries to use his hands and feet together. But, he eventually succeeds by dragging the drunk Brad, tying a string around his wrist, and pulling Brad's hand holding the key while he inserts his own key. Gus now has access to the computer. However, his attempts to reprogram it go awry; an automatic teller machine pumps out more money than it should, a husband gets his wife's shopping bill for $176,784.57, and fluctuating traffic control lights cause pedestrian chaos. Eventually, Gus sobers up a bit and taps into the Vulcan weather satellite, causing a terrible storm in Columbia. Ross and Vera Webster are happy at the news; their coffee monopoly is now assured. But, their dreams of avarice are soon dispelled when they find that Superman has saved the coffee crop by drying up the rains. Consequently, Superman has to be killed. Kryptonite is the answer. Gus, then uses Vulcan to scan the heavens for a piece of Kryptonite for Webscoe's computer to analyze. It does so, but there is a 0.5% unknown factor in its composition, so Gus substitutes tar for it. Eventually the lab comes up with a bright green piece of synthetic Kryptonite. While Superman is honored in Smallville, Gus, disguised as a three-star General, arrives and gives Superman the synthetic Kryptonite as a gift. However, nothing happens; Superman doesn't die. Gus nervously calls Webster to tell him the bad news and to confess about the tar substitution. But, Gus is wrong; the concocted Krptonite does have an effect. While at Lana Lang's house, Superman experiences a personality change. An evil, more lecherous Superman tentatively emerges. As a consequence, Superman fails to save a truck from falling off a bridge; he straightens the leaning Tower of Pisa; he blows out an Olympic torchbearer's flame, and he generally causes so much trouble that 178 members of the United Nations General Assembly vote to censure him (Columbia abstains). Superman has degenerated even further, and Ross Webster is now free to try his second corporate scam--an oil monopoly. Gus is ordered to instruct all oil tankers to head for a 50 square mile location in the mid-Atlantic, then stop all the oil pumps from pumping. However, Gus wants more, so he forces Ross Webster into a compromise: Gus will do Webster's bidding if he will build him a new supercomputer, designed by Gus. When Ross Webster hears of its near limitless capabilities, he quickly agrees. So, Gus stops all the oil pumps and diverts all the oil tankers, except one--the British Reliance because the golf- playaing captain chooses to ignore the advice of a mere machine and continues on to Metropolis--the "Big Apricot." Next, we see an alluring Lorelei Ambrosia atop the Statue of Liberty, trying to attract the deranged Superman who is cruising Metropolis's night skies. She persuades him to deal with the tanker, and he does so by punching a hole in it, causing an oil spill. Superman, then flies back to Lorelei for his reward--and he gets it. Chaos, subsequently, reigns as street fights break out over the dwindling petrol supplies. In the meantime, workers build Gus's supercomputer in an underground cavern. Superman is still deranged and even more troubled. When he lands inside a junk yard, the ever good Clark Kent splits off from him, and a battle ensues. Clark eventually wins, and the evil Superman evaporates away. As all is back to normal, Superman cleans up the oil spill, repairs the damaged tanker, and goes after Lorelei, only to be redirected to the supercomputer's location. Ross, Vera, and Lorelei take a balloon ride down the canyon face to the supercomputer while Gus prefers to take the long way, riding a jackass. Inside the cavern, Vera doesn't wait for Gus and starts the supercomputer. She immediately detects Superman's presence; the computer's external defenses are armed. A monitor screen descends from above, hidden ground-based rockets are revealed, and with a glassy-eyed enthusiasm, Ross Webster declares, "Let the games begin!" Using a video game format, showing initial scores of 0 for Superman and 50 for the rockets, the battle starts. Each explosion registers an evaluative score (accompanied by arcade-like sound effects.) In the meantime, Gus continues to descend into the canyon. When the 50 rockets are used up, a "Game Over" message appears, and Vera Webster launches the next weapon--an MX missile. It explodes, knocking Superman temporarily unconscious. As Gus finally enters the cavern, Ross and Vera discuss the idea of controlling all the world's weapon systems with their new toy. Gus affectionately greets the supercomputer, then joins them at the controls while Superman regains consciousness. The supercomputer's internal defenses are now activated, when Superman enters the cavern, it analyzes his entire physical make- up. After some repartee between Superman and the four renegades, Gus tries to disassociate himself from the other three when a ray from the supercomputer puts Superman inside a plastic bubble. The intention is to suffocate him, but he escapes only to be immediately paralyzed by a green kryptonite ray. When Ross Webster praises Gus as the man who will go down in history for killing Superman, Gus has second thoughts, and tries to save Superman by deactivating the supercomputer; he succeeds by removing a small screw. Ross Webster fights Gus for the screw, but Gus manages to swallow it. Suddenly, the supercomputer turns itself back on--it apparently wants to live. The Kryptonite ray batters Superman once again, but this time it rejects Vera's attempts at control. Seeking more power, electrical fingers reach through the roof of the cavern to high voltage transmission lines above. In the process, all the lights in America start to go out one by one. Gus then grabs a fire axe and smashes the head of the Kryptonite ray thereby reviving Superman. The supercommputer retaliates by pinning Gus high against the cavern wall using a ray to draw Vera into its interior. Vera is then turned into a silver-colored, component-covered cyborg. Now an agent of the supercomputer, Vera uses a ray from her finger to pin Lorelei to the cavern wall, then uses a similar ray from her eyes to attack her brother. In the meantime, the supercomputer drains all the power from America. Superman returns holding a container of fluid, and the computer analyzes him once again. When Vera attacks Superman, he reflects the beams back, knocking her out. Consequently, isolator topped boxes close in on Superman and force him inside the supercomputer. The computer tries to strangle Superman with its internal electrical wiring. During the struggle, Superman opens the container which turns out to be acid from the chemical factory fire. The acid heats up and bubbles onto the supercomputer causing it to blow itself to bits. Everyone survives the explosion, and Vera turns back into a normal human being again. The world economy is likewise normalized. Superman flies Gus home when Gus asks him how he managed to beat the supercomputer. Simple. It died of "acid indigestion." Landing in a coal yard to make a diamond out of some coal, Superman recommends Gus for a computer job there, then leaves. But Gus waits, declines the job opportunity, and heads for a bus station ten miles away. Clark eventually gives the diamond to Lana Lang as an engagement ring. Lana gets a job as Perry White's new secretary, and Superman re-tilts the tower of Pisa. All is right with the world again. PEDAGOGICAL UTILITY Superman III is a highly entertaining way of exploring the social and technological effects of the computer revolution within computer and society courses, of examining the techniques of white-collar computer crime in criminology courses, and of illustrating derogatory stereotypes of women within media and women's studies courses. The current euphoria about computers, the ever increasing incidents of white-collar crime, the rise of contemporary feminism, and the film's youthful orientation makes Superman III a popular means of exploring these intertwining issues. Not only does it have intrinsic audience appeal, but its range of sociological, philosophical, political, and technological issues makes it an extremely useful pedagogical tool for consciousness and myth-debunking activities. PROBLEMS Superman III treats Gus, and his illegal hacking activities, in a positive and essentially innocent light, so great care has to be taken that this undesirable message is not reinforced for the audience. Appropriate warnings about the illegal unethical nature of Gus' actions need to be highlighted and discussed. The plot takes a number of illogical turns which may spoil an appreciation of the film. For example, How is it that Superman can fly straight into the oil tanker up to his head, yet he needs to peel back the outer skin so that the oil can flow out? And, when he eventually repairs the tanker, how is it that no oil flows out while he is repairing it? If Superman can fly around in outerspace, how is it that the supercomputer tried to kill him by suffocating him inside a bubble? Why does the supercomputer need to analyze Superman's make-up for a second time? How do weather satellites make weather? They only monitor it. Why is it that no one knows that it was the weather satellite Vulcan that caused the Columbian rain, especially since CAL TECH was involved? Why did Gus need to trick his way into the remote terminal in Smallville when Ross Webster could have given him the key, and he could have easily gotten rid of the security guard in a similar manner? How is it that Gus didn't know about the two-day security system considering his inside knowledge? Why was Gus's expenses check for over $85,000 signed when its size alone would have drawn attention? Gus was sent to Smallville to disassociate himself from Ross and Vera Webster, so why (sic) was Vera Gus's jeep driver when he masqueraded as a General? Why is it that Mr. Simpson couldn't figure out where the embezzled $85,000 came from when he had all account records, including Gus's expense check and could have asked the computer? How was the embezzled money detected in the first place when the company didn't bother with the "lost" half cents themselves? Of course, some of these criticisms can be mitigated by acknowledging that Superman III is not serious science fiction, but rather, comic book fantasy. Nevertheless, overlooking these imperfections for the moment, Superman III is an important computer film and, therefore, a worthy addition to any computers, crime or women's studies curriculums, if for no other reason than because of all of the gross misinformation portrayed. STUDY QUESTIONS
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