‘Superman’ shies away from child abuse memorial
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In Ottawa, Canada, Todd Boyce was so moved by the story of Jeffrey Baldwin -- who was starved to death by his grandparents -- that he raised money for a statue to honor the 5-year-old boy who loved Superman. He had even hired someone to design it.
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"He wanted to fly," his father, Richard, tells the CBC. "He tried jumping off the chair. We had to make him stop. He dressed up (as Superman) for Halloween one year. He was so excited. I have that picture at home hanging on my wall. He was our little man of steel."
"It was important for me because I really felt I wanted to capture the photograph of Jeffrey wearing his Superman costume and have it as close to that as possible," Boyce said.
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Things were going splendidly for the memorial statue, until DC Comics got wind of the project, and killed Superman's role in it.
"Basically they didn't want to have the character of Superman associated with child abuse. They weren't comfortable with that," he said.
When you have a copyright, child abuse is like Kryptonite.
Photo via Remember Jeffrey Baldwin Facebook page
