Dean Cain has suggested he wouldn't be allowed to say Superman's catchphrase in a modern version of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. Cain is most famous for playing the part of Clark Kent, aka Superman, in the hit TV series back in the 1990s. Since then, he's revisited the world of Superman with an appearance on Smallville and a more substantial role on Supergirl as Kara Danvers' adopted father.
Cain has always preferred Superman to be a lighter character and has been quietly critical of the DCEU version seen in Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. To Cain, Superman is a symbol of American self-identity, best symbolized by his catchphrase "truth, justice, and the American way." This was introduced into Superman lore in the Adventures of Superman series in fall 1942, at a time when America's national sense of confidence was rocked by the Cold War.
Cain has long been willing to express his political opinions, as evidenced by an interview with Ainsley Earhardt, which was then shared by Bobby Lewis on Twitter. During the interview, Cain was asked about his views on the recent Black Lives Matter protests and calls to "defund the police." A recent Time Magazine editorial had extended this to the superhero genre, suggesting superheroes are basically cops with capes, who operate without any sense of accountability. A clearly outraged Cain insisted the whole discussion is baseless and that he is appalled at how restrictive popular culture is becoming. "This whole cancel culture thing that we're living in right now is crazy," Cain insisted. "It's like an early version of George Orwell's 1984. Up is down, war is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength. You know, that's newsspeak, and it's crazy... This stuff just all drives me insane. I promise you, as Superman, I wouldn't today be allowed to say, 'Truth, justice, and the American Way.'"
Cain is hardly a disinterested observer in this discussion; he's long worn his politics on his sleeve (or cape), endorsing Donald Trump in 2016. Furthermore, not only is he a superhero actor, but in 2018 Cain was also sworn in as a reserve police officer for the St. Anthony Police Department in Idaho. This places him in a unique position to comment on the current debate involving both police powers and superheroes, but unfortunately in this case he's clearly exaggerating - as anyone familiar with the comics would know.
While the phrase "truth, justice, and the American way" was indeed originally something of a simplistic rallying cry, it didn't take long for it to transform into a more critical assessment of American culture. After all, Superman comics asked time and again, what was the American way? Thus the Man of Steel's catchphrase became a mirror through which Americans could examine their own sense of self-identity. This was most dramatically demonstrated in 2011, when Superman famously renounced his U.S. citizenship and declared the American way wasn't enough anymore. This hit headlines worldwide, but of course it didn't last; in fact Superman has uttered his catchphrase many times since, suggesting contemporary culture has absolutely no problem with it at all.
Cain's words are an obvious exaggeration with reference to the small screen as well; the Arrowverse's Superman, Tyler Hoechlin, has publicly observed this is what he loves about Superman, while Supergirl even had an episode bearing the title "What's So Funny About Truth, Justice, and the American Way?" This episode repeated the tradition of putting American society under the microscope - which probably isn't quite what Cain imagined the catchphrase was about in the first place. There's an odd sense, then, in which an iconic Superman actor doesn't quite seem to understand the character he played.
Source: Bobby Lewis/Twitter