Finding Reflections in Fiction ft Superman & F1

These days, when you open social media, it feels like everyone’s a film critic. The latest superhero movie drops, and within hours, there’s a flood of hate, snarky memes, and long-winded YouTube takedowns. “It’s not like the old ones,” they say. “Too much CGI,” “no heart,” “poor storytelling,” and the list goes on. Take Superman, for example. The latest iteration has received its fair share of flak. But amidst all the noise, I chose to do something a little different. I watched it as a comic book fan. And more importantly, as a learner.

Because sometimes, when everyone is hating on the surface, it’s worth diving into the depth.

Let’s talk Superman. Yes, the visual effects were intense. Yes, maybe the plot had holes. But you know what I saw? I saw a story of restraint. A being who could level a city with a flick of his finger choosing instead to walk among us, understand us, learn from us. That’s not just fiction. That’s philosophy.

Superman has always been a metaphor. Not for perfection, but for conscious power. Watching him try to fit in, to be more human than the humans around him, taught me something real: strength isn’t in how loudly you speak or how hard you hit, but in how well you listen. How much you hold back when you easily could explode.

We live in a world that rewards dominance, speed, loud opinions. But sometimes, the real hero is the one who pauses, listens, recalibrates, and still chooses kindness. That’s what I took from Superman, not heat vision or flight, but humility in power.

Then there’s Formula 1. A sport, yes. But also a symphony of physics, precision, and psychological warfare on wheels. Every race is a lesson in strategy. Every pit stop, a testament to teamwork. Every crash, a brutal reminder that even the most calculated moves can go wrong.

I didn’t watch F1 just for the thrill. I watched it because it showed me something about life that no lecture ever did: You can be incredibly skilled, lightning-fast, and still lose. Sometimes, life’s just about timing. And grit. And the ability to recover lap after lap, failure after failure.

In an F1 race, milliseconds matter. But so do long-term strategies. And that duality of being present in the moment while thinking five laps ahead, is exactly what life demands. From career choices to relationships, it’s the same principle. Be fast, but not hurried. Be strategic, but not detached.

So while some were busy hating on the Superman movie for not being “iconic enough” or for straying from the classic feel, I found something else. I found reflections. Reflections of my own life, my aspirations, my inner conflicts. I found metaphors in motion; not just in Superman’s restraint, but also in the raw intensity of F1.

And that’s really what stories are meant to be, aren’t they? Not flawless, but fertile. Not always accurate, but alive. If we expect every film to be a masterpiece, we miss the little moments that move us, even if they weren’t meant to.

Maybe that’s the biggest lesson. Life isn’t about what’s missing. It’s about what you’re willing to see. Superman may not teach you how to fly, but he might teach you how to hold back when you’re angry. F1 may not make you a racer, but it might teach you how to balance passion with strategy.

And as for the critics, let them talk. I’ll keep watching. I’ll keep learning.

Because sometimes, even in the most “flawed” stories, lies a perfect reflection of life.

Till the next time.

Akash.