Batman covers his face and disguises his voice, and doesn’t often run across people that are in Bruce Wayne’s circle (and those who are, like Penguin, know his identity anyway). He’s also notoriously reclusive and not close with anyone other than Robin (whoever that may be) and Alfred.
Superman reveals more of his face by taking off the glasses and pushing his hair back, just acts with a bit more confidence, and Kent is just a reporter with lots of friends. The fact that those closest to him other than his human parents do not recognize him is a bit strange.
Sure Batman covers half of his face and disguises his voice. But, both Batman and Bruce Wayne regularly appear in newspapers. Bruce Wayne may be reclusive for a billionare, but he still regularly goes to high society / charity events and gets his picture taken. I don’t know if you could identify Batman by the similarlities fo their chins alone. But, they’re the same height, same weight, etc. too. Plus, why is this billionaire ridiculously jacked? Why does he frequently have injuries? And yeah, Batman disguises his voice, but he doesn’t put on what seems like a different natural voice. He doesn’t do an accent or something. He just adds a bit of a growl to it.
People are obsessed with superheroes as it is, and they’re fictional. Imagine how obsessed people would be with Batman if he were real. Take the obsession people have over celebrities and athletes and dial it way up. Even if a chin isn’t a lot to go on, people would be obsessing over his chin and lips and neck, looking for any identifying features.
Superman is even more ridiculous. It’s just glasses. Maybe his hair is a bit different, but his head and face are almost unchanged. And, AFAIK, it’s not even like his glasses have real lenses in them. If he did something like wear contacts with a strong prescription and glasses with an opposite but strong prescription so that the glasses completely distorted his eyes, that might do it. But, he’s basically just wearing frames.
And again, there’s the body. Why does the nerdy reporter have a body like he spends every spare moment in the gym, and yet he apparently doesn’t even play any sports? Why does Superman almost never save him, but is always saving his colleague at the Daily Planet? It isn’t like Batman where Clark Kent’s image is in the newspaper all the time. But, there are plenty of people who know Clark Kent well, and also spend a lot of time around Superman.
The one thing I can see going for Superman is that it’s not clear that he actually has a secret identity. Batman goes around with a mask, which hints that there’s something to see under that mask. Superman seems to have nothing to hide. People might assume that when he’s not out saving lives, he’s at home, or he’s recharging his powers somehow, or returning to his home planet, or something else. Why would this super-being have a day job?
But, surely any Superman fanatics who wanted to spot him in person, or wanted to know more would spend all their time hanging out at the Daily Planet building. If there’s one place you’re likely to find Superman in Metropolis it’s near the Daily Planet. So, while these superfans are staking out the Daily Planet, wouldn’t they notice this guy in a suit who has Superman’s build, Superman’s haircut, and most importantly, Superman’s face?
A friend once got a haircut and it took me weeks to figure out who she was. I just thought she was a new person hanging out with someone there and wanted to be my friend because she kept talking to me.
Many years ago I looked right at my (now ex) partner at an airport when I was picking her up and kept on looking for her. We lived together at the time.
I ran into my lead singer at the store. He was wearing the same thing he always wears but had his hair pulled back. He stopped and talked to me and apparently I looked like I was trying to escape. He was telling the story at band practice when I had to admit I didn’t recognize him.
This is an ongoing problem in my life. I probably have a dozen of these stories that I can remember off the top of my head and a hundred more that I could dig out. I wouldn’t even want to guess how many people have talked to me that I don’t realize I knew them. Clark Kent taking off his glasses and suddenly becoming unrecognizable is totally reasonable to me. Dude could look me in the eyes, take off his glasses, and it would be like a whole new person appeared.
That’s prosopagnosia. We have hardware in the brain, wired to recognize faces — which is probably why pareidolia, aka ‘Jesus on a toast’, is a thing. Only, for some people this chunk doesn’t work as it should.
I myself have poor memory for faces if I don’t hang out with a person for a while. This presented challenges when I worked from home, but occasionally showed up at the office and was greeted by people with whom I only communicated through chat and saw on minuscule userpics.
It’s an awful thing but also amusing in its own way. When I used to go out with my ex I always had to memorize what he was wearing. One time we were at the grocery store and I forgot what shirt he was dressed in. I went off to get something from another aisle and when I came back he was gone. Eventually he physically grabbed me while I was walking past and found it very funny to tell me that he been laughing while watching me walk right past him about 5 times in a growing panic because I couldn’t find him.
Batman covers his face and disguises his voice, and doesn’t often run across people that are in Bruce Wayne’s circle (and those who are, like Penguin, know his identity anyway). He’s also notoriously reclusive and not close with anyone other than Robin (whoever that may be) and Alfred.
Superman reveals more of his face by taking off the glasses and pushing his hair back, just acts with a bit more confidence, and Kent is just a reporter with lots of friends. The fact that those closest to him other than his human parents do not recognize him is a bit strange.
I think both are a bit absurd.
Sure Batman covers half of his face and disguises his voice. But, both Batman and Bruce Wayne regularly appear in newspapers. Bruce Wayne may be reclusive for a billionare, but he still regularly goes to high society / charity events and gets his picture taken. I don’t know if you could identify Batman by the similarlities fo their chins alone. But, they’re the same height, same weight, etc. too. Plus, why is this billionaire ridiculously jacked? Why does he frequently have injuries? And yeah, Batman disguises his voice, but he doesn’t put on what seems like a different natural voice. He doesn’t do an accent or something. He just adds a bit of a growl to it.
People are obsessed with superheroes as it is, and they’re fictional. Imagine how obsessed people would be with Batman if he were real. Take the obsession people have over celebrities and athletes and dial it way up. Even if a chin isn’t a lot to go on, people would be obsessing over his chin and lips and neck, looking for any identifying features.
Superman is even more ridiculous. It’s just glasses. Maybe his hair is a bit different, but his head and face are almost unchanged. And, AFAIK, it’s not even like his glasses have real lenses in them. If he did something like wear contacts with a strong prescription and glasses with an opposite but strong prescription so that the glasses completely distorted his eyes, that might do it. But, he’s basically just wearing frames.
And again, there’s the body. Why does the nerdy reporter have a body like he spends every spare moment in the gym, and yet he apparently doesn’t even play any sports? Why does Superman almost never save him, but is always saving his colleague at the Daily Planet? It isn’t like Batman where Clark Kent’s image is in the newspaper all the time. But, there are plenty of people who know Clark Kent well, and also spend a lot of time around Superman.
The one thing I can see going for Superman is that it’s not clear that he actually has a secret identity. Batman goes around with a mask, which hints that there’s something to see under that mask. Superman seems to have nothing to hide. People might assume that when he’s not out saving lives, he’s at home, or he’s recharging his powers somehow, or returning to his home planet, or something else. Why would this super-being have a day job?
But, surely any Superman fanatics who wanted to spot him in person, or wanted to know more would spend all their time hanging out at the Daily Planet building. If there’s one place you’re likely to find Superman in Metropolis it’s near the Daily Planet. So, while these superfans are staking out the Daily Planet, wouldn’t they notice this guy in a suit who has Superman’s build, Superman’s haircut, and most importantly, Superman’s face?
I have stories! I never recognize anyone.
A friend once got a haircut and it took me weeks to figure out who she was. I just thought she was a new person hanging out with someone there and wanted to be my friend because she kept talking to me.
Many years ago I looked right at my (now ex) partner at an airport when I was picking her up and kept on looking for her. We lived together at the time.
I ran into my lead singer at the store. He was wearing the same thing he always wears but had his hair pulled back. He stopped and talked to me and apparently I looked like I was trying to escape. He was telling the story at band practice when I had to admit I didn’t recognize him.
This is an ongoing problem in my life. I probably have a dozen of these stories that I can remember off the top of my head and a hundred more that I could dig out. I wouldn’t even want to guess how many people have talked to me that I don’t realize I knew them. Clark Kent taking off his glasses and suddenly becoming unrecognizable is totally reasonable to me. Dude could look me in the eyes, take off his glasses, and it would be like a whole new person appeared.
That’s prosopagnosia. We have hardware in the brain, wired to recognize faces — which is probably why pareidolia, aka ‘Jesus on a toast’, is a thing. Only, for some people this chunk doesn’t work as it should.
I myself have poor memory for faces if I don’t hang out with a person for a while. This presented challenges when I worked from home, but occasionally showed up at the office and was greeted by people with whom I only communicated through chat and saw on minuscule userpics.
It’s an awful thing but also amusing in its own way. When I used to go out with my ex I always had to memorize what he was wearing. One time we were at the grocery store and I forgot what shirt he was dressed in. I went off to get something from another aisle and when I came back he was gone. Eventually he physically grabbed me while I was walking past and found it very funny to tell me that he been laughing while watching me walk right past him about 5 times in a growing panic because I couldn’t find him.
https://youtu.be/Decj0Q4a4U4
Henry Cavill discussing Superman disguise