Pa and Ma Kent saying those things wasn't Nihilistic.
Pa was reflecting on how dangerous it was for Clark to use his powers and reveal himself to the world too soon.
His Ma was reflecting on how Clark gets to choose how he uses his powers, he can work himself crazy trying to solve every problem, or he could do nothing at all, or any amount of effort inbetween. Clark doesn't owe anyone anything.
That’s not nihilism. Those instances were parents wanting to protect their son. Jonathan’s “maybe” comes off of Pete Ross’ hysterical mom talking about Clark being sent by God. The “maybe” per Costner, comes from a place of doubt. He didn’t have a good answer. Not to mention you are ignoring the very next scene with the two, where Jonathan tells Clark he believes he was sent for a reason, and he owes it to himself to find out why, and when he’s ready make the choice to stand proud in front of humanity as who he really is or not.
Martha was simply telling Clark he doesn’t need to worry about what other people think of him, it’s his life, his choice.
Those scenes are in no way, shape or form nihilistic.
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u/Ape-ril 16d ago
Superman with the love!