A thread because I keep seeing people refer to this small visual nod to Plato in Man of Steel as if it means Snyder endorses Platonism when the opposite is true.

To simplify, Plato wrote about how to be virtuous and ideal forms. These forms were non-material and could only be understood through reason.

Thus he created the Allegory of the Cave. Only Philosopher-Kings can see the light. The rest of us live in a cave and look at shadows.

This viewpoint is often critiqued as childish—seeing such black and white ideals as what virtue is.

And what does young Clark deal with? Both fathers telling him he has to live up to being an ideal. And doing so causes him anguish as he represses himself.

In Batman v Superman, young Bruce also sees the world this way—diamond absolutes. But when his parents are killed, his view of humanity changes. He believes they can’t reach those diamond absolutes.

So he falls.

Into a cave

He doesn’t stop believing in those ideals though. He just think humans are too corrupt to reach them. He can only see shadows as he looks for the light.

He thinks being Batman brings him out of the cave, but where is he as an adult? In the Bat Cave staring at flashes of light.

He fears & fights Superman because Superman seems like a Platonic form made material. Humans reach for him. He reminds Bruce of how corrupt humans and himself are. Except...

“Maybe he’s not some devil or Jesus character. Maybe he’s just a guy trying to do the right thing.”

Superman isn’t either of these ideals of good and evil man created. He’s just a guy. And Bruce will see him that way in the infamous Martha scene, rejecting him as a Platonic form

That’s why Bruce says his iconic line “Men are still good. We fight, we kill, we betray one another, but we can rebuild. We can do better. We will. We have to.”

His definition of good has changed.
It’s not about being a diamond absolute. It’s about trying to do the right thing.