Why Doesn’t Anyone Recognize SUPERMAN? (Because Science w/ Kyle Hill)
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 ก.ย. 2024
- SURPRISE BECAUSE SCIENCE CHANNEL! Subscribe now and click the shiny notifications bell so you don’t miss out on all things science and pop culture.
bit.ly/BecSciSub
Subscribe for more Because Science: nerdi.st/subscribe
Watch the last episode: nerdi.st/1JfNUfH
Clark Kent IS Superman, but why can no one see it?? Kyle explores the science behind the worst kept secret identity on this week's Because Science.
More Superman: nerdist.com/tag...
Watch more Because Science: nerdi.st/BecSci
Follow Kyle Hill: / sci_phile
Follow Us: / nerdistdotcom
Because Science every Thursday.
Artist: Andrew Bowser
Learn more:
• Why Can’t Anyone Recognize Superman?: nerdi.st/1Kk0Jjw
Nice theory but this can be explained a lot better with psychology:
1-People don't assume that Superman has a secret identity at all. In Metropolis people think Superman is Superman all the time. He doesn't need another job, so nobody is looking for another Superman walking and/or working among them.
2-Superman has very symmetrical features, no distinct markings, so you could say his face is handsome but generic. Jonathan Bennett looks exactly like Brandon Routh. If Superman were real and looked like Brandon Routh, do you think people would point the finger at Jonathan Bennett and assume he's Superman? Doubt it.
3-When you see someone working next to you who resembles a world famous superstar, your first reaction would NOT be to assume he's hiding his true identity, but rather just happens to be one of those celebrity look-alike people. And you won't mention it because you're sure he/she has heard it a million times and he/she is sick of it by now and you don't wanna be "that guy", SPECIALLY if they're your boss.
And I know #3 is true because it's happened to me more than once. You DON'T assume that Johnny Depp is bagging your groceries or Kevin Costner is the school janitor.
absolutely
You forgot also...
4-Clark Kent is so much of a nobody people a). Don't really pay attention to him, just look at Lois Lane; and b). People could never even imagine he would be Superman.
Scott Whatever so you’d assume that the bumbling, half blind failure of a man actually is the man of steel?
Wait. Johnny Depp bagged your groceries and Kevin Costner was your school janitor ?
@@charlietownsend2826 Yep. The guy bagging my groceries looked exactly like Deep, and "Kevin" was my boss, not the janitor (it was just an example). Don't tell me you've met anyone who reminds you of a famous person.
I think an entirely different science is involved, psychology. The best explanation for why no one recognizes Clark as Superman, is because Superman doesn't *bother* hiding his face, giving everyone the idea that *he doesn't have a secret identity.* The only reason why we question this in the first place, is because, we, as the audience *know* that Superman is Clark Kent, *we* know that he has a secret identity. Futhermore, Superman is very public about his Superman life, the world knows he's from Krypton, they know that he has a home in the arctic, and so on and so on, further burying any idea that he's anything else than the face he wears. Secondly, Clark Kent is a nobody, he's a faceless reporter, you don't tend to see the faces behind your newspaper reporters and editors and such. Plus, why would Superman bother hiding? He's *Superman*. Superman is not the worst disguised superhero, he's the *best* disguised one.
+Argus Skeletor I think that's backwards. He was raised and received his values as Clark. That's who he is. Superman is what he does.
Argus Skeletor
He acts the way Clark would act if he were just a normal man. Since he is more than human and his values dictate that he has a responsibility to help people as best he can, Clark creates Superman...an identity that can freely utilize his power for the public good while still maintaining the Clark identity separate so he can retreat to his true self before going out to do good with his powers again as Superman.
Argus Skeletor
I understand your point. I just disagree. Clark is still who he is. Superman was created to utilize his powers. I think this was best expressed with the strong Clark in Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.
To best understand the character, compare and contrast with Batman/Bruce Wayne. Between the two heroes, Clark Kent is the real identity and Superman is the mask. The other side of the coin has Bruce Wayne as the mask and Batman (ever since the death of the Waynes) is the true self.)
It all comes down to how the two have been portrayed as thinking about themselves.
Argus Skeletor
That's kind of the point. Clark has these powers and was raised human. He hides his powers when he is himself (mostly) and uses them as Superman.
Bruce Wayne has no powers but has spent most of his life turning himself into a weapon against criminals. He spends as little time as Bruce as necessary, often only speaking with Alfred. He becomes Batman and is Bruce just enough to maintain his cover (or if he needs to use Bruce's contacts to help in a case.
Clark enjoys his time as himself, often visiting his parents and (at least in the previous continuity) spending time with Lois.)
+GweiTheLeafChild Actually in most modern continuities Clark is actually pretty famous. Pulitzer Prize winner in fact. But, the psychology argument applies. It's also why most people don't recognize celebrities in public. You just don't expect to see them. Plus, most people in the DCU don't see Superman up close. He rarely does interviews anymore, and most of the time you're not really focused on his face when he's smashing a giant robot. Now, people like Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen, who see Supes and Clark on a regular basis, THEY had no excuse.
yeah "Kyle" we all know you are Thor
He dresses and sounds nothing like thor, how did you come up with that?
+Matthew Siano kinda looks like him
+Daniel Mendez i was mocking the face blindness
Ah yes! very clever i missed that one lol
avengers confirmed
Didn't Henry Cavill prove this by walking around in Time Square and not getting notice. Even when he was standing under his own movie's ads?
He was even wearing a Superman logo shirt. No one recognised him.
Yea
+Carina Chao what?! woooow...
It's been said Chris Reeves did the same. While filming Superman, he went to the same deli every day for lunch. He usually wore his Superman costume and got mobbed. Nobody talked to him as Clark Kent. We see it happen all the time when someone changes their appearance slightly from their norm.
there was observation test where gorilla walked on group of basket ball players only half of test subjects noticed it
I prefer the theory that superman is just a really good actor. It's suggested in the comics that he changes the pitch of his voice, lowers his posture, changes his hair style, wears glasses and even wears a fat suit in some instances to throw people off him being superman. He also cultivates a reputation as clumsy and cowardly, so no-one would associate him with the Man of Steel.
Superman Returns was actually pretty good at this, but the new film, not so much. Not sure why they keep forgetting those details.
Peter Parker also does this.
Bruce Wayne does the same he insults the dark knight saying he is some lunatic dressed as a bat and acts like a stupid rich boy.
Yes but both peter and Bruce's costumes have a mask so they don't neccesarely have to do that. It's just safer.
+Albert Moisan. Well Batman is easier to catch using wayne tech.
Yeah the new film kind of fucks the baseline theories over, especially looking at the trailer for the new movie where Clark doesn't act like Clark Kent and just acts like superman as a dick.
Also doesn't help that they basically straight up say that every time he goes out and does literally anything he comes back to the daily planet and writes a masturbatory article about what he just did as superman.
Doesn't really take batman to start putting shit together.
Oh yeah well you're not good at hiding either Thor.
***** DAMN
if I took of mine glasees they don't regonize mew
Thor doesn't hide lol
thor's one and only alias and secret identity in comics was early in his banishment to earth when odin stripped him of mjolnir and power, a physician by the name of donald blake who needed a cane to walk cause of his limp. so yeah thor is actually pretty good at going unrecognizable or at least classic thor was, modern thor doesn't really have that anymore.
This whole video was a distraction!
My wife wears glasses everyday. On our wedding day she got contacts to wear and no one recognized her. For fun, she wore them to work one day, and once again, no one recognized her. They kept asking who the new girl was. She didn't change anything else in her appearance. I think people are just so used to seeing her face with glasses that she was not distinguishable without them. Even I didn't recognize her at first! Because of this I think it's perfectly reasonable that people wouldn't register that Clark Kent is Superman.
exactly. My mom dyed her hair once. She told me she was getting it dyed, I saw her getting it dyed, she showed me pictures of what it was going to look like.... still had a solid minute of "who the heck is that woman?" when she came out of the hairdressers with a new hair color.
At our church we had this thing called Extreme Fear, where we do a haunted house, scare people and give them the Gospel message.
One year I was the "crazed psychopath". So I gave myself the kind of haircut I assumed psychopaths do and dyed my hair black for the part.
I was in church the next day with my two sons, and the deacon came over to greet the guest who just happened to be standing there with my two sons.
"Welcome to our chu..."
"Yeah it's me."
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA? But HOW?"
It is a psychological thing, not face blindness. Clark Kent is a bumbling, half blind, failure. he is constantly late with his work, has difficulty with relationships, and screws up basically everything. No one is looking to see if that person is Superman. Additionally, no one knows that Superman has a secret identity. it is well known that he is an alien visitor with a secret home in the Arctic. People aren't looking for a secret identity in the same way they might look for a masked human. Combine these two and it is not surprising no one connects the two. Also, if you see two people who look somewhat similar but act completely different, would you think they were the same person? If someone recognized that they looked similar they would just chalk it up to coincidence.
Cogline Erro that and people probably just assume Clark and Superman look alike,due to coincidence. Like it's just a random person who happens to resemble the Man of Steel.
Cogline Erro just like no one would suspect billionaire, playboy, egotist (most likely selfish as well) Bruce Wayne to be fighting to stop people from robbing, killing, or kidnapping other people while dressed as a bat and acting like a ninja, who would actually assume the slouchy, beta male nerd who can’t even open a champagne bottle without messing up that task would secretly be a gravity defying, over powered paragon of justice. As it is, I doubt Taylor Swift was actually playing guitar on stage.
Also, Clark Kent works for a newspaper and few people see Clark outside of his Superman persona.
thats exactly what i said :) "subjective perception"
then if people had got that disease then wouldn't people not recognize each other too how has spoken about this or am I not deep enough in the comments
Actually Superman Returns had this solved much better. Superman moved with confidence, while Clark Kent had the dorkiest way of acting. The change of hair and body language did a lot to concealing his identity.
Robert Gronewold Well actually it was the 1978 Superman movie that did that about 30 years earlier with Christopher Reeve's performance which is what Brandon Routh's performance is based off of in Superman Returns.
endorbr I just thought that Brandon Routh did the dorkiness just a little bit better.
During the filming of one of the Superman movies, Christopher Reeve went to a restaurant in his Superman costume, and everyone noticed him, asking for his autograph and whatnot. He went the next day in his Clark Kent clothes, and nobody gave him a second glance. It probably isn't so scientific, it's probably just human nature.
+powahofthundah38 This... the Super-suit says "look at me and my muscles'... a 3 piece suit says "Nothing to see here, I'm boring"
looooool
I actually used prosopagnosia in one of my books. The main character got tools from a locksmith with the disorder in order to easier carry out his crime spree while at the same time making sure no one recognized him. The police were able to deduce that the main character lived in New York for at least ten years if he had that sort of knowledge (which is true).
Rami Ungar That is super clever!
Thank you! And if you thought that was clever, you should check out the actual book! Very good reviews since it came out.
what's the books name
"Snake", by Rami Ungar. I'll post the link:
www.amazon.com/Snake-Rami-Ungar/dp/1495434931/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1440177005&sr=8-2
Rami Ungar thanks
Kyle: "You know why"
Me: ' BECAUSE I'M BATMAN
Reverse Flash You can't be batman. Cuz You're Reverse flash.
btw, nice disguise bats
no your reverse flash
Woah is that Superman over there wearing glasses?
Lol nah, that's absurd.
Puddle Zerg Yeah why would he need glasses he has like 50 kinds of vision, X-ray heat and whatever!
you ever have a friend that wears glasses? you only ever see them in glasses for years and years. then one day they show up in contacts and you spend that entire day trying to get over how weird they look to you.
now imagine that wasn't a friend. it's just some guy at the office. he always wears glasses, slouches a little. he's a little clumsy, shy, kinda meek. then one day you see superman. no glasses, looks confident, tall, strong, and speaks with authority. the last thing you are thinking about is that shy four eyes from the 18th floor.
that's why nobody recognizes him.
hell people don't even recognize close family members at first if they aren't expecting them, or if they have a new haircut.
I identify people by face and number
+Quin Skew how is numbers involved in you id ing people?
I assign people a number
Quin Skew and how does this help? you didnt really explain anything with that comment, how does the umber help, how do you remember the number
bjam89 Because I simply go by classroom. People I do not interract with are considered unimportant.
Emm wasn't it explained in a story how people can't recodnize him
because he changes his stance, hair face, and the glasses change his eye collor (a lot of people did make a joke that he looked like Superman but he also always made sure that sometimes he would appear in the news next to him using a robot or help from someone like Batman or Martian manhunter)
Filip Petrovic I remember back in the 1970's when someone wrote in a Superman letters to the editor column asking why nobody could recognize that he and Clark Kent were one and the same and they went through several explanations such as him combing out the Superman cowlick when he was disguised as Clark to him slouching as Clark to make him look shorter than Superman and wearing a baggy suit to hide his muscles, even as a kid I thought all those explanations were bullshit, but it's been working for over 75 years now so I suppose a good old suspension of belief is necessary.
Filip Petrovic Hes also said that he changes the octave of his voice.
Malicious Hero
yeah forgot that one, and I remmembered the comic where he explained it its from the all stars Superman run
Filip Petrovic Superman has stated in one of his comics that he moves at super speed when being photographed or filmed to blur his image so there isn't any clear pictures of him.
Filip Petrovic I think, on screen, no one portrayed this better than Christopher Reeve. Hair, posture, tone, mannerisms... all help to sell the illusion.
So wait, Bratt Pitt is married to Angelina Jolie, who is considered one of the most beautiful women in the world and an all-around flaming sex icon, and he can't even make out her face? Wow.
Shes discusting so he's lucky he doesn't have to see her nasty boney demonic body
+Comical he can see that she's beautiful, but he won't recognize her as his wife.
+PlanetAMV thank god you said that so I didn't have to... THANK YOU! Lol
+PlanetAMV well not very well but he'll probably recognise her if she is around people who look very different
+Comical That is one perspective. Another is that Mila Kunis is way way hotter. Jolie is alright, but not one of the most beautiful women in the world.... at least to me.
Brad Pitt has face blindness, and his two wives have been iconic beauties. Not bad.
Maybe he pays someone to rank all the people he meets :P
RatFacedJasper he doesn't have face blindness.
Aye, he said he reckons he does. Not quite the same thing as a diagnosis from a qualified psychiatrist.
"Because I'm Batman" ="Because science".
Yourinquirer Basically.
Yep, pretty much. That's Batman's whole shebang.
it could also be that people just don't expect him to be superman so there brains just ignore the similarities between them. ex Dolly Parton once lost a Dolly Parton look alike contest to a drag queen or when Chris Reeves while filming superman went to a restaurant as superman and was mobbed by fans then went as Clark Kent and nobody recognized him.
Hey to everyone saying that Clark Kent just acts/talks/moves different so that we don't recognize him! Let me ask you one question: How often do you not identify a world-famous actor playing a person who does not act/sound/dress like they do (without prosthetic or special makeup)? Never? That's my point. We are so good at recognizing faces that our brains see them even where they aren't there. The most recognizable face in the world wouldn't be disguised by glasses and a "meek" demeanor. That's why I came up with this weird theory. Also because science.
No one suspects Superman to have an alter ego. They think he's Superman all the time, so they know because they aren't looking.
Lex Luthor had the identity confirmed by computer analysis, but refuses to believe it because he doesn't believe anyone with that much power would hide it.
No one suspects Superman to have an alter ego. They think he's Superman all the time, so they know because they aren't looking.
Lex Luthor had the identity confirmed by computer analysis, but refuses to believe it because he doesn't believe anyone with that much power would hide it.
Kyle Hill Frequently. While I recognized Felicia Day in her role on Supernatural, I didn't recognize Amanda Tapping in hers until she used a phrase that made the connection for me after several episodes.
The Brony of Kingdoms Sorry i'm not buying that because they are the same height, same eye color, and they both work closely with Lois lane.
LarryBonson You don't buy it because you know who he is. If you didn't it wouldn't be so easy to deduce. Again, if you aren't looking you won't find anything.
If I know someone who is always wearing a uniform, i.e. a Mc Donald's employee, I wouldn't recognize him/her if i saw without it.
nobody thinks Superman has a secret identity exactly because he doesn't wear a mask. People just think Clark is a lookalike, a doppelganger of Superman but must geeker and weaker because of posture. In a comic Lex even hides out that Clark and Superman are the same person but doesn't believe him. It's just the simple hiding in plain sight idea. How do you find something you aren't even looking for
believe it*
He finds out twice and doesnt believe it. o-o
Plus, he's a NEWSPAPER reporter. Most people don't know what he looks like-- at most, they might have seen his name at the head of the articles, assuming they even pay attention to that.
Years ago he was a television reporter.
I prefered the explanation that he did things to change his physical appearance while dressed as Clark, for example slumping shoulders, wearing oversized clothes to hide the physique, changing the tone of his voice, all so that when he changed into Supes he looked and sounded different enough. People might think they look similar but never enough to put two and two together. Its kinda a dumb theory but its better than "everyone around him are idiots" or "hypnovision"
2.5 percent isn't that rare. How many people have been falsely accused because a witness or a cop had prosopagnosia?
Jan Cerny 2.5 is a ton of people,considering 6'3" guys are like 1% of the population.
See, I read the title of the video and thought it was going to be about how people could mistake Supes for a bird or plane (Which is pretty easy: an object of his size that is flying above the skyscrapers would be little more than a speck. At that distance it'd be easy to mistake him for a bird, although the plane would only work if he was moving at speed. Which he usually is when they say that, so...)
My question (and im sure it's been asked before) is why were the first two people so excited about seeing the bird and the plane?
Tiddly Winks lol. Well, I can only guess that, when superman first started doing his thing, planes were kind of a rare sight. As for the birds...idunno
Maybe there was some extinction level event for birds.
Tiddly Winks
It might be that it was a responce.
"what's that in the sky?"
It's a bird (you're stupid)
No it's a plane (no you're stupid)
No it's superman (pay attention idiots)
Who looks up anymore
i like the idea that he gives everyone brain surgery instead.
then if people had got that disease then wouldn't people not recognize each other too how has spoken about this or am I not deep enough in the comments
When Marilyn Monroe was at the height of her popularity, she and a reporter were walking around in public, and the reporter commented upon how no one seemed to notice her. She then changed her body language and the way she walked, and suddenly everyone reacted to her as you'd expect. This is because faces are the least important thing when it comes to recognizing someone. More subtle clues like body language and the sound of someone's voice have a much greater impact on recognition than faces. Clark Kent and Superman have different posture, mannerisms, body language, vocal intonations and so on, cues that matter far more in recognition than his face. The result is that people just think that Clark Kent has a bit of a mild resemblance to Superman, recognizing that they are the same person.
in certain continuities, Superman can press his spine to be under 6 feet tall as opposed to his normal 6'4.
i wanna be able to do the opposite, go from under 6 feet to 6'4 lol
Niether being over 6 feet tall or compressing your spine is fun.
I actually like being small, man. Certainly there are times where being taller is helpful. Yet, because I'm short, I can sleep easily on a chair or just about anything and still lay down or curl up into a cat ball.
Chris Plus, I bet you don't hack your head on door frames.
Was just about to comment this lol.
The reason people don't recognize Clark as Superman is simple-Clark portrays himself as either a shy, unassuming and clumsy dude (the Chris Reeve Clark) or as a straight laced yet charming reporter who seems more like a dad than a super hero (the Steve Reeves superman) or as a corn-fed country boy next door type more suited for the farm than for a super suit (Smallville Supes).
In each of these cases he feeds into peoples natural tendency to categorize people by stereotype. We all do it-it's how our brains evolved. Back in our hunter-gatherer days you needed to lump people into groups in order to determine whether they were a threat or not. People can't imagine Clark being Superman. He's not that kind of guy, Not our Clark. He's too uptight/laid back/simple.
Zidders Roofurry don’t forget the slouching, parting his hair the opposite way, and talking in a higher tone of voice when being Clark
You meant down-to-earth - so to speak - rather than "uptight" 👓8-)
Cristopher Reeves was in his CC outfit and walked through New York after a movie premiere. No one recognized him.
Henry Cavill was in a Superman S T-shirt in New York right next to a billboard with his face on it and no one recognized HIM.
+joshua kusuma Absolutely. 90% of humans really don't care, do not pay attention to such cues. Among his co-workers, there's also things like tone of voice, body carriage, and the thought that "Why would Superman want to pretend to be a schlub?" For decades, Lex Luthor thought that Superman would be hiding as a billionaire playboy (Morgan Edge, Bruce Wayne). And even businessman Luthor, when presented with direct evidence, laughed at it. "Yeah, they look a bit alike, but why would God not be spending time in Bora Bora getting tongue baths from Island Girls?"
If you fuckers ever pay attention to Aquaman (Vol 3 Throne of Atlantis) you would get an explanation from the man (S dog) himself)
He and Wonder Woman are sitting in a restaurant, this is supposed to be the first time Wonder Woman tries the whole glasses thing. She asks him why they don't recognize them and he says
"Well, I'd guess most of the time when they DO get a look at us, they see us from far away or they're looking up at us from the ground. More important, I don't think people ever consider that we--" Wonder Woman interrupts "Hide among them?"
American Alien #6:
-So, you never take off your glasses?
-I take them off all the time. You know what people tell me? "You look just like Superman"
This is my favourite explanation.
Psychologically, it makes sense.
Wait people actually read Aquaman? I... you can... but he... my head hurts trying to figure out who willingly reads an Aquaman book, I mean no offense but have you thought about finding a head doctor? I'm sorry but I think your brain is broken.
I know right!!?!?!?! He is so ridiculous after all he TALKS with the FISH!?!one!?> There is no way someone can tell an interesting story about a guy in an orange-green leotard!!!!!!!
another person who has face blindness, Prince Charming from Cinderella.
my physics teacher once pointed out that nobody knows for sure that superman actually has an alter ego, for all they know he lives in the north pole or space, the reason nobody would make that link is, well, why would you. say you start at a new job and a guy there looks almost identical to brad pitt, you may even comment on this but you wouldnt immediately assume that brad pitt secretly works as a middle manager in your local town in his alternate life... and even if some people notice the similarity and comment on it as they likely would, clark kent just says "haha, yeah i guess we do look kinda the same" and maybe even do a lame superman impression to make a joke of it. the point being the difference in character between superman and clark kent is the majority of the disguise, one has no reason to be the other. So as long as he is careful to keep the two lives as seperate as possible, nobody who knew clark would expect him to fly, and nobody who fought with or against superman would expect him to go home and write a newspaper article... we only think this because we know the truth already.
+James Lovatt Yeah but Clark always goes missing when ever Superman shows up, I mean IDK about you but if I was MIA at work all the time people would notice.
yea true he is always missing but when people like Louis have suspected he is superman. he goes to extreme lengths to prove he isn't such as creating robots that look exactly like him or creating special kryptonian balloons that look like him. creating speed duplicates of himself etc etc. in one issue Louis jumps out of a window to prove it he almost lets her die to prove he isn't superman
Your Brad Pitt analogy doesn't quite work because Brad Pitt's face is part of his product. But for Superman his face is usually a blue streak in the sky.
Also no one really looks at Clark Kent either. It's not like Clark is a high profile play boy like Bruce Wayne.
@@jrpone He's a journalist though, being MIA a lot is sort of expected.
2:53 what kind of 5 is that kyle...
zad Worth simple, its not a 5.
ur pfp tricked me i thought a flie was on my screen i flicked my screen for no resson
In the comics its explained to hide that Superman is Clark Kent, Kal-El uses glasses, changes his hair style, wears clothes 2 sizes bigger, acts clumsy, and uses his control of his muscles to change his voice.
Kyle is Thor talking about science and magic. Because they are one in the same! :)
not sure if this was posted in the notes, but in one issue of Superman it was mentioned that Supes always vibrates his body slightly at superhuman speeds so that he is slightly blurry to the people around him.
Yeah, didn't make sense to me either, but.... comic logic!
+Katherine StIves *imagines Superman doing The Flash Face* ...yeah, I'd be surprised. He could do it, but that's not really his thing...also, I doubt he could get away with that while kissing Lois, and she even KNOWS Clark.
He vibrates his face when he is superman, they say so in one of the very early comics after the 86 reboot when Lex has a probe following him
I think Superman the Movie had the best explanation though. Clark Kent is this bumbling, nerdy, unassuming guy that no notices. Perfect example is when he gets to the Daily Planet for the first time. He's just in the way an no one really looks him in the eyes. Even if they're reporters no one suspects him of being Superman and why should they, Clark is nearly invisible to them and they don't give him much thought. Shoot in Superman Returns almost no one notices that he's back after five years. Only Jimmy cares in either movie. So if you said Jimmy knew then I'd be like, sure.
+Frederick McCain That's still bullshit.
PRICHARDxLUST GAMERxGIRLZ True, for to mention also that when the character was created TV was in it's infancy, cameras weren't as high tech and so the disguise could work fairly well. Now, in the modern world it would work but they can't put a mask on Superman and if they got rid Clark all together people might riot, so they just need to go with it.
Frederick McCain You're right. It's one of those suspension of logic people have to do.
The actual answer could be that there are millions of people on earth that have same physique as that of superman. What makes Clark that special? He is one of the millions of people who look somewhat like superman. The reason we find it obvious is because we know that he is the superman and he is the only person from that universe we have seen with same physique hence our brain immediately sees the similarity between the two and concludes it. Whereas people in that universe know many such people who could be potentially superman and hence they cant tell that Clark is indeed superman
I realize this is an old video and I'm commenting on said old video but I hope you guys catch this. I think you missed the ball on this one, I think the reason that people don't recognize that Superman is Clark Kent is because they truly might as well be different people. Superman is the ever-confident won't back down from a challenge kind of guy. And he is always remembered from his red cape and blue suit. Other than this he is a relatively average looking person. Clark Kent is a weaselly journalist. He always cowers when confronted, flees when the going gets tough. And he looks bland. A white guy with short hair and glasses. The disguise works because all he has to do is hide his main character traits, his suit and his confidence, after this he is free to walk around town as a regular person.
+Garrett Plue Yeah Marylin Monroe proved you are right.
She once talked about walking down the street with a friend. She stayed humble and quiet and walked in that same manner. Her clothes were plain.
She wasn't noticed.
She said to her friend "Want to see me turn her on?"
All she had to do was change the way she walked and held herself and people recognized her. Within minutes she had to be taken away by police escort as she got swarmed.
Yup. You called it.
Not only that, but the comic's actually came up with a realistic explanation over a decade ago: Acting and costumes.
Superman is confident, no-nonsense, and more like a living personification of an utopian ideal, whilst wearing a brightly colored "uniform" so skin tight that every muscle is visible.
Clark Kent, on the other hand, is meek, cowardly and a pushover, who not only wears bland and loose fitted clothing, but actually slumps his back and move around in a clumsy manner. And just the slumping and clothes alone changes his appearance a lot, since it makes him look as if he's both few inches shorter, and slightly overweight.
Everyone would want to know what Superman's true identity is. Strangers might not recognize him, but friends and coworkers absolutely would. If you suddenly saw your brother or best friend on TV in spandex and acting a little different, you'd still instantly recognize him.
Originally, Clark Kent's glasses changes the color of his eyes, distorts his face a little bit, and changes the tone of his voice. This information came out a long time ago, but has been long forgotten. TMYK
Robert Cortez
Oh I didn't even know that.
Thanks for mentioning that.
Well... Charlie Chaplin once took part in a Charlie Chaplin look alike contest - and lost.
So... It's pretty damn well possible, even the actor who plays Superman, Henry Cavill,
walked around Timesquare, even standing DIRECTLY under a billboard showing him, and wasn't recognized.
If that's not proof then I don't know what is.
He changes his posture, tone of voice, speech patterns, hair, behavior, and wears loose fitting clothes to hide his physique. There's also the question in-universe of why someone as powerful as Superman would want or need a secret identity(which isn't secret anymore.)
When I was growing up, a good number of people refused to believe the guy who played Steve Urkel also played his alter ego, Stefan. Coming on the internet, I find even more people who feel this way.--and now we have IMDb.
I find it pretty believable that things like a change in attire and demeanor could make all the difference between Clark Kent and his veritable god of an alter-ego. Hell, I find it believable when Peter Parker is unmasked and his foes are convinced they've been tricked because no way could that loser be the incredible guy who always beats me.
If you worked at blockbuster and one day at girl walks in, English accent, black skin, beautiful voice and skilled movement, you probably wouldn't think "why is Scary Spice working at a blockbuster in Vermont"...even if she looked EXACTLY like Scary Spice.
You'd just think "that girls looks a hell of a lot like a Spice Girl"
Add that he probably slouches, uses a slightly different voice, uses different vernacular (less like a superhero more like a reporter) (less like The Mechanist from 3 and more like Piper from 4) and generally moves/acts like a completely different person.
He has perfect muscle control. He told robin so. He could do it.
So I think you're over-sciencing here.
I was going to say basically this same thing. There are even some celebrities that say they've been told they look a lot like themselves, because people just assume it's more likely that you happen to look like the celebrity than actually being the celebrity. I remember a story Kit Harrington told, where someone said he looked like Jon Snow and he said that he is Jon Snow and the person responded saying "no, he's much taller". I think he's able to get away with the disguise because anyone who notices how much they look alike chalks it up to it just being coincidence, because it just seems more likely that this random person looks like a superhero rather than the superhero being in disguise and using a secret identity just to work at a newspaper company.
It's been rumored that Charlie Chaplin once came in third place in a Charlie Chaplin Look-alike Contest.
So did Scary Spice slouch and wear glasses?
what kind of 5 is that?
I was thinking the exact same thing 😂
Nah... Superman saves the brain surgery for disintegrating Saiyan brains.
+Zarion Liger SHOTS FIRED SHOTS FIRED!
SAVAGE!
lmao
I've actually had a similar thing to Clark kent and superman happen to me. My buddy was standing next to me and while i looked away talking to someone else in the group he took his glasses off to clean them. I have never seen him without his glasses at that point and literally asked him where he went, thinking while i looked away my buddy went elsewhere. He gave me the "are you fing serious" look as he slowly put his glasses back on. Ever since then both of us found it much easier to believe the superman mythos.
Wouldn't a problem with this theory be that if Superman actually did give all his coworkers Prosopagnosia, people would notice a change in the entire staff when they suddenly couldn't recognize people right away. I think your family and friends would react quite alarmed when you suddenly didn't recognize any of them after getting home from your first day at work on the Daily Planet...
I think they explained it best in the "Identity Crisis" run. All Justice Leaguers use constant multiple identity safeguard to conceal their secrets. You have beings that can basically do anything with alien/advanced tech, magic, and strange biology. So they all pitch in and help each other, as well as using basically any trick they can. Green Arrow even says that it's a constant job, but they manage.
Nerdist makes science awesome.
Steve Corona Thank you so so much!
Steve Corona Science was already awesome, Nerdist just recognized it looked the same as Superman :D
Kyle Hill :3 kyle i like ur explanations so much wish u were my science teacher ;-;
The best explanation, that I have seen, is Superman can make his face look different, because he has exceptional control over his facial muscles.
Sasha Whitefur In the early 80's there were stories of superman's grandson living in 2020 who had the ability to manipulate his facial muscles to assume multiple secret identities...obviously a talent he inherited.
It came as a surprise to Superman, he wondered why nobody recognized him, when he was Clark Kent.
Cheers Mr. Hill. idea: Deadpool's healing factor explained! or wolverine or hulk.
pat fiasco Ooooh, great idea!
pat fiasco I think the Hulk's was explained in the comics. The idea is that his body destroys cells at a super fast rate but to compensate, it produces cells even faster and stronger. this not only causes the new cells to be stronger but, when they die, produce even stronger cells. Sort of like a super fast evolution. This puts Banner in such a level of pain that the Hulk can't concentrate and is getting angrier.
i was thinking deadpool would have more relevance being the next comicbook movie
One thing ive noticed between clark and superman is that they part their hair in opposite ways. That along with the different clothes, glasses and different personalities could convince people that they are different people
Or maybe people just ignore the crazy people who say someone looks like superman. I mean cmon there are still sightings of Tupac and the people reporting those are mostly ignored. Maybe everyone has one guy they think is superman but aren't dumb enough to look like a crazy person trying to prove someone is superman.
Wow... that weirdly makes alot of sense
+Captain Clark *a lot
it would make sense if he wasn't surrounded by *journalists*...you know, the people who dig in other people's personal lives for a living.
+Raynayk maybe they don't want to damage their credibility, or they just happen to like/fear Clark or Superman enough to let his super persona stay separate from his journalist persona
+The Moa Goddess They would need a reason to look deeper into Clark. Even then, they'll just find out he's an adopted kid from Smallville. Lois is the one that actually gets the interviews with Superman. Can't even say he keeps saving Clark when he's researching stories. Clark may not have been seen nearby, Lois gets saved more often, and everyone in danger has a chance of being saved by Superman.
I never watched any of the more recent Superman movies, but I did watch the Christopher Reeve version of Superman back in the 80's. When he was Superman, he always was very confident in his abilities and bold. When he was mild mannered Clark Kent he was a bit shy, nervous, nerdy and very unsure of himself. So, I think the complete 180º in his personality change also helped out his meager disguise. Just a thought.
No, I think Tony Stark is the worst disguised hero. He doesn't even bother hiding his identity.
+[Unoriginal name] He doesn't want to? He loves the recognition.
+IfYouMeetAWolf Exactly.
[Unoriginal name] Well.. That means he's not a disguised hero,,, Just a hero.
+IfYouMeetAWolf He's the worst disguised hero.
He isn't the "worst disguised". He's simply not disguised. That's like saying someone has the "worst" or "smallest" hat when he's not wearing one. The statement makes no sense.
Tony Stark doesn't have a disguise. Therefore, "best" or "worst" simply does not apply to him.
In some versions, it's the glass in his glasses. They are special Kryptonian lenses.That and Clark also hunches to make himself seem smaller, or even changing his hair style.
Is this just a reupload? I'm 99% sure I've seen this before
It's also featured on Nerdist.com!
+Nerdist Why Dosn't Superman tan?
+Yehuda Brick good question.
'Cause he's white-ish? I mean, he's an alien, but he looks an awful lot like Caucasians haha. This is coming from a white boy that goes from white to red, no in between XD
What I want to know is why the first two people got so excited about a bird or a plane? "Look! Up in the sky!..."
I think it's because it's a fictional story.
+InfiniteCyclus No shit?
+Charles Lindeman Yeah, because in real life people would definitely recognize him. Lois would recognize him immediately, since she's dealing with them both on occasion. You would expect a star journalist to be a little sharper.
InfiniteCyclus
Thank you captain obvious, you are dismissed.
+Charles Lindeman Well most of the time science can be pretty obvious. But not always.
InfiniteCyclus
What the fuck are you talking about?
As i recall back in the stone age of my childhood, DC explained it once by saying Superman used his superspeed to move his face muscles to blur his image a little when he was Clark and so he looked similar to Superman but not the same. Plus he would use super voice control to change the way he sounded just a little.
another awesome video guys :D
Mateus Daniel Thank you!
Mateus Daniel Thanks for watching! :)
Much of the success of Clark Kent's disguise is that nobody would think that superman would act as a person like Kent. Add to that he wears clothing that is at least 2 sizes bigger than he needs, is extremely adept and altering his body language and voice modulation, and you have an excellent disguise. Espionage Agents have been pulling Clark Kents on people for ages, and most have done so with incredible success.
"You look just like Superman?" "Yeah, I get that a lot."
Imagine people saying "It's a bird, it's a plane, Uhhh I have no f-ing idea what's that."
There are many real reasons in the comics, such as Clark wearing clothes that are too big to hide his muscles, slouching his shoulders to make himself look shorter and scrawnier, speaking with softer, higher pitched voice, and having completely different mannerisms to Superman, combined with the following:
a) nobody has any reason to suspect Superman has a secret identity and lives amongst humans.
b) nobody really ever gets a close look at Superman's face
c) the people that do get to see both Superman's face and Clark's on a regular basis (Lois and Jimmy) have seen them both in the same room due to various plot shennagians involving clones, androids, or illusions.
this reminds me of on time as a child when i was with my mother in a clothing shop and saw my selv in a large mirror for the first time.
i was convinced that it was some person blocking my path.
i also tried to talk to a mannequin.
I have a friend with prosopasgnosia, he loves cartoon characters because he can actually see their faces if they are stylized in such a way, he thought he was completely normal until he realized that people could recognize people in a different way than him. Faces are blurs, he likes to see hair, bodies, and voices to recognize people.
Actually, any time someone suspects Clark of being superman he kisses them and makes them forget
I would love it if you did a Because Science on how Aquaman is able to be essentially bulletproof both on land and sea because his body is uniquely adapted to the changes in atmospheric pressure on land and in the sea.
No this is something that has been noted in multiple issues of the comics over the years. It is not just the glass's, Clark actually took two years of college level class's in theater to create the "Clark" persona as a weakling. Also because Superman is a hero to the world and not just Metropolis like some other heroes I could (cough batman cough) He is seen earth strongman and defender. Therefore because he could be saving Nuremberg from form alien spiders or Constantinople form a techno virus while we're all sleeping, it is assumed that he doesn't take a day off like the rest of us. So while people may think he looks like Superman, nine times out ten this thought is dismissed as impossible because."This guy is too whimpie to be Superman anyway ".
its not just the glasses. its his personality, his talking style and various other factors that you can explain with psychology and how people perceive someone.
christopher reeves played the part of clark kent very well in the older movies, even brandon roth to some extent.
I like the idea that Clark Kent did acting classes that makes him and Superman different personas
there's an SNL skit from when The Rock hosted for the 1st or 2nd time and they tackled this subject. The Rock played Clark Kent/Superman and all his colleagues were taking the piss out of him cause they knew and he was still clueless to that
I've always just seen it as being the power of suggestion. People see Superman as tall, strong, brave, larger than life in a way, so when they see Clark Kent, slouched, clumsy, insecure, with bad vision, and so on, the differences are too far out for them to believe it's the same person. They might think "Wow, that Clark guy looks a bit like Superman. Pffft, yeah right. Why would Superman be here of all places?" As a real world example, I know for a fact that people have gone up to Emma Watson and said "Wow, you look just like the girl who plays Hermione Granger in Harry Potter!" only to be struck speechless when she then tells them that she IS in fact that person.
I read somewhere that when he’s around people as Clark Kent, all he does is just vibrate his face enough to obscure what he looks like then just doesn’t do it while being Superman
also if you watch the old movies his hair part always changes. As Clark Kent his hair is parted to the right and as superman his hair is parted to the left. This was one of the examples listed in an NPR segment discussing this phenomena where people actually prefer it when hair is parted to the left.
A few explinations have been given in different comics over the years, some are. , tinted glasses to change his eye color, acting lessons to alter mannerisms, stoops to make him self shorter, even the ability to alter his appearance on a cellular level.
I have a simpler explanation:
His glasses were made by the glass from the space ship carrying him to Earth it is suppose to reflect his heat vision in rare cases. It also changes his eye color thats the core. Clark also took acting classes and he has also incrediblemuscle controlthat can change his voice at will.
Superior facial muscle control + Glasses and postural shift as well as shifting of social demeanor and presence can do wonders.
More recent comics have explained that Superman completely changes personas for Clark Kent. For example; Superman is a very large and imposing figure, but as Clark Kent he would change his posture and movement patterns to the exact opposite.
The Christopher Reeve Superman film answered this pretty well--Superman acted and sounded completely different from Clark Kent (confident, smooth vs bumbling, nervous). A really superb acting job by Reeve.
Actually it's because the glasses have kyptonian technology makes him look different but cool theory : P
think about it, how many people have been in Superman's presence more than a few seconds? They think that he's always flying around stopping disaster, no one expects him to have an alter ego. clark's buddies don't expect him to suddenly grow a spine and take off his glasses , and stop the disaster. the addition of glasses really does change your appearance. i know from personal experience, i would fool my friends every morning, and they never figured it out.
I remember in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, there was some evil dude that went off at Lois, for not knowing that Clark was Superman, he did a demo (glasses on/off). That made her think, I think she also wrote a memo, and Clark found it and threw it away.
Well, how often in _your_ workplace do you think "Hey, that clumsy, awkward, socially-inept nerd who works next to me might actually be a superpowered, coordinated, semi-charismatic alien wearing glasses?"
The older movies of Superman show Clark as an inconvenient fumbling, clumsy,nerdy man. But when he's Superman he's the complete opposite. So when they see Clark he is the last person they would expect to be Superman. Its really genius when you think about it. Its alot like how Peter Parker was before he got bitten. I think these are the reason people like Superheroes so much cuz we see ourselves in them and see them go through the same struggles we go through but overcover it all and become something more. And it inspires us to do the same.
My dad once went to work on or near Halloween dressed as Clark Kent. He had a normal button up shirt with a superman t-shirt under it, and he wore glasses and combed his hair in a different way. No one recognized him, and he had worked there for about 9 years! so yeah, it works
Actually the reason people don't instantly call Clark out is because there are a lot of people that look like other people. Clark would say "Yeah, I know I look like him, but I don't run around in underwear jumping on the bed... no really." And they just laugh it off.
"Superman probaly isn't some evil brain surgeon" honestly the thought had never crossed my mind
I work in a bar, and for a while I used to have a fake pair of glasses that didn't alter my vision at all that I used to put on some time at the beginning of my shift. The owner of the club, with whom I am on good terms with, used to ask where I was fairly frequently. As would regular customers.
The idea for Superman disguising himself with eyeglasses came from Harold Lloyd and his Glasses Character. Lloyd found that if he went out in pubic without the character's trademark eyeglasses and boater hat, people didn't recognize him. Though the different hair style probably helped. Glasses Character never slicked down his hair, which Lloyd did when not in character.
My favorite counter argument to the now famous "Duh, why can't people recognize superman is clark kent?" is as follows:
-"Chaplin entered a chaplin imitator contest and lost"
not convinced? his another:
-"Robert Downey Jr. Entered an Iron Man-look alike Contest. He got 2nd place"
and who else could ever forget superman himself did this in real life???
-The actor for the old Superman movies would go to dine on a restaurant near the place they where filming. He was immediately crowded as they recognized him on his superman suit. A few days later he would do the same and was expecting to be recognized, but nobody batted an eye. He realized he was wearing the clark kent costume
I always thought that it was because people refused to believe that someone so plain could be their hero. He was disguised by expectations.
Actually I have worn glasses since I started going to school so one time in grade school I took off my glasses and tried to go to school without glasses and my hair looked weird without glasses so I changed it a bit so it would fit my face better without the glasses. So once I was at school and I went to class my friends and teachers knew it was me because I had the same clothes on, I had the same voice etc. but they all told me that if they didn't "know" me they would think that it would be just a relative of mine like a cousin or something, they thought I looked like a completely different person they found out I had green eyes after 10 years of being in their class they legit didn't even know my eye color. And it's not like we never hung out with each other, no our class was connected we always hung out with each other everyone was friends even the guys and girls together, we all played together outside of school we ate together sometimes, we hung out a lot, and I was the joker of our class very risky but also funny you know, so they saw my face a lot
Yeah, that "Hypno Beam" thing definitely sounds like a serious case of shark-jumping.
I actually have something similar to the whole superman glasses thing happen to me frequently. I usually have a goatee, but I like to shave it all off a few times a year. After shaving it all off I can go up to friends (some who I have known for many years) and they don't recognize me until I tell them who I am. I wrote a psychological theory when getting my masters degree that peoples' brains are hardwired to make split second decisions, so they often take "shortcuts." By this I mean that we look at a specific part of a person and make a mental connection between that feature (i.e. a specific hat, mustache, etc.). when that feature is removed, it takes our brains longer to recognize who that person is. This length of time varies from person to person ranging from seconds to possibly even hours.
Well NerdSync did a pretty good job of explaining why Clark Kent isn't immediately recognized as Superman. It's not just because of a different outfit and a pair of ordinary glasses.
The glasses are tinted, he parts his hair left instead of right, he pads his clothes, he slouches, he raises the pitch of his voice, he acts passively and clumsily.
I think it was during John Byrne's run on Superman in the 80's when his powers were described as purely psychic in nature. It's not so much that his muscles are strong, for example, he's just an extremely powerful telekinetic... or maybe nix the 'tele' part, since he has to actually touch the things he's moving. So maybe he just unconsciously affects peoples' minds when he doesn't want to be recognized.