Lana

[bagheera_san]

I'm making a post about Lana! Yesterday, I wrote a scene with Lana POV and realized that I like writing Lana - late S6 Lana. (There's nothing like writing a char to make you sympathize with them.) I don't suddenly think she's awesome, but it got me wondering.

Why does Lana suck so much? She doesn't have to!

Lana is in a pretty interesting place at the end of S6. She knows quite a bit of Clark's and Lex's secrets (how much does she know about Level 33.1, though?). She got in way over her head with back-up boyfriend Lex. She didn't think he was going to want to marry her! And now she's part of that whole Luthor thing, and Lionel wants her to spy on her husband, who not only faked her baby (as far as she knows) but also has turned out to be pretty scary.

Lana could be interesting. She could be a smart, indepedent, ambitious girl. She managed a cafe while going through highschool and still mainting social contacts and a boyfriend most of the time. Lana should be a busy workaholic instead of this big fat lump of inertia that slows down every scene she's in.

Why does she suck? I do think it's KK's acting some of the time. She's improved lots since S1, but she still sucks the life out of scenes she's in. But it isn't always like that. When she plays Lana bad, bitchy, or angry like in "Phantom", it's totally okay. Only when she plays Good Girl Lana it gets unbearable.

Also, we've all noticed that Lana doesn't have enough flaws to be relatable. She only shows the occasional bit of fright and physical weakness, and only when it suits the producers. Make her (deliberately) self-centred. Arrogant. A bit dumb while trying to be smart, like Victoria. Ambitious. Give her a temper. Instead of a noble martyr, make her scared shitless of Lex and Lionel, like she should be.

And while we're at it, dress her in jeans and T-shirt. The hottest thing Lana has worn in the series imho was her outfit from "Mortal". Plain country girl. Not those odd, uncomfortable clothes she wears now. Lana is incredibly pretty, she doesn't need tons of make-up and strange clothes.

They should have made Lana the Good Mutant, instead of Chloe. They should have given her morally difficult powers (like the love-me mutation fandom attributes to her) and show her deal with it (the love-me powers would be ideal as a metaphor for the "most popular girl in highschool" Lana was. How does someone like that deal with knowing that no one loves them for themselves, but because they're pretty or fashionable to or pretend to be helpful and nice?) Or, hell, they should have her try to be a witch. It would be hilarious if Lana tried to curse Lex but only got as far as making a pencil float.

Or they should have run with the streak of xenophobia Lana has always displayed. She used to hate mutants and aliens. Now she suddenly is A-okay with them. Why?

Lana could have been a cool character. Let's hope she finds herself - elsewhere.

Comments

[lukita.livejournal.com]

I liked Lana at the beginning of the series (read:Pilot) when she doesn't know Clark Kent, who lived next door to her for how many years? She was kinda cute and background-ish and being stalked 24/7.

I agree that Lana could be an interesting character, but SV does a lot of things that hurt the character. Other than the 'could no no wrong', Lana-centric episodes tends to drag oooooon with really stupid fanboy fantasy. Hello? Lana as a vampire? With girls kissing? While other characters get plot and character development, Lana gets... to dress in sluty clothes and memory loss. I would like to see her rescule herself for once instead of waiting for Clark to pull her fat out of the fire. It would have made those Lana-fu makes more sense or heck, I won't even mind if she floats pencils.

[bagheera-san.livejournal.com]

*coughs* I, um, admit that I liked girl-kissin vampire!Lana. She was delightfully cracky, precisely because she was a fan fantasy. Of course you couldn't take that ep seriously.

I would like to see her rescule herself for once instead of waiting for Clark to pull her fat out of the fire. It would have made those Lana-fu makes more sense or heck, I won't even mind if she floats pencils

Exactly! Lana has no permanent skills. Once in a while, she suddenly can do something (manage a business, be an artist, lana-fu, fake her death) but it's never again mentioned.

[lukita.livejournal.com]

Okay, I enjoyed the girls kissing as well, but the whole episode was such fan service, I kinda rolled my eyes and stopped watching.

Dood, with everything Lana can do I'm surprise she haven't done something more with her life than get marry. Well, I understand that the show probably don't want 'single mother' hanging over their heads, but still...

rant rant raaaant

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Part of the problem with Lana is the total lack of humor to her character. Chloe always was fast talkig and wry, Clark had his struggles with his powers...Lana's most likable moments I think were in the very beginning of the series, when she was an ordinary high school girl screwing up being a waitress, and Clark's puppy crush was silly, and you could laugh at/with her. ...er, of course then I didn't watch many other scenes with her until 6th season. So maybe she was really a laugh a minute and I missed it. But her scenes were so agonizingly dramatic this season...(of course so were everyone's. Especially the agonizing part...)

And okay, now she's got something to angst about. But for years her biggest pain was her squished parents, and, "Oh my boyfriend who I already broke up with died. And the guy I didn't quite get together with died. And the guy who I sort of broke up with died." Which, compared to the traumas the other chars on show (Lex & Clark) had gone and were going through ("I'm the last of my species! I'm not human! My father wants me to rule the world!" "My mother murdered my baby brother and I took the rap! I've been knocked out more than any char in TV history! My father wants me to rule the world, and not in a good way, either!"), just didn't measure up, angst-wise, and that made her annoying. I don't know why she had to go needlessly angsty, why she couldn't have stayed the somewhat ditzy cheerleader.

Barring that, I wish they'd just let her be evil. Forget the nice girl, bring on the bitch.

I also think the Clana is innately annoying, because it's doomed, but doomed to mean nothing. Lex & Clark are epicly tragic because they can never be friends, but will always be intensely related. Clark & Lana are just a footnote, Clark's teen romance; Lana's not real competition for Superman in most fans' eyes, nor is she meant to be his great tragic lost love. If they'd made her one of Clark's friends, that would be one thing; but the Clana is never shown as based in friendship (or else Clark would be happy for her if she was happy with Lex, rather than bloody miserable), it's always based in...umm. I don't know. They don't even had UST - it's been resolved! Several times! And didn't work! That's just irritating.

Re: rant rant raaaant

[bagheera-san.livejournal.com]

Well, lack of humour is a problem for many of the characters, but at least Clark and Lex tease or use sarcasm once in a while. But Lana neither does funny things nor says funny things.

I completely agree that early S1 Lana was likeable. I loved the scene with her at the graveyard at night - she was almost weird enough to match Clark and Lex.

The only time I ever found the Clana somewhat sweet was in the first couple of eps in S5, when they were both human and non-epic, and in a handful of scenes towards the end of S6, because their love had something illicit and doomed about it. They work if Clark is reduced to the human boy he's trying to be, and they work if she's the unreachable girl Clark can't have because she has a boyfriend/husband. But whenever they actually get together... ugh.

I don't know why she had to go needlessly angsty, why she couldn't have stayed the somewhat ditzy cheerleader.
Yeah. It's not as if this show desperately needs more angst!

[acampbell.livejournal.com]

If they'd have the other characters recognize/validate some of her flaws, it would help a lot. IMO, it's human nature that, if all you keep hearing is how great someone is, and you can SEE that their actions and nonactions prove they're NOT, it makes you hate them!

I've used Lana in a few fics; I don't relate easily to her, but I always try to find that interesting character I know is in there somewhere, and, according to comments, occasionally succeed.

[bagheera-san.livejournal.com]

If they'd have the other characters recognize/validate some of her flaws, it would help a lot.
I'll have to remember that for my fic. It's a very good point!

[tasabian.livejournal.com]

Your essay nails the problem. She's supposed to be the character we identify with, the "ordinary girl" among the super heroes/villains but the lacks of flaws and lack of humour make her unrelatable. I can relate to Lex a lot easier than Lana. Plus, as acampbell points out, she's constantly getting propped up by other characters, who keep apologizing for her, explaining her motivations etc.

And as to the clothes, they let KK pick out her wardrobe once, in the opening scene of "Crisis." She picked a great outfit, exactly right for a teenage girl to wear for a study session. But the producers hated it and were quoted in an interview saying they'd never let KK pick her clothes again. They have a real "Galatea" thing going with poor KK.

I think KK's acting has gotten a lot better. But I actually liked the character more in the early years. Now all Lana's plots are soapy ones and take time away from the action/genre/humour stuff I actually want to see.

[bagheera-san.livejournal.com]

It's strange about the clothes on SV. Clark looks great in any old rag, and Lex is usually well-dressed. Chloe sometimes wears odd stuff, but mostly she looks nice. Lois wears natural clothes and usually looks great (but has a red latex suit at the back of her closet.) But Lana...

[the-rejection.livejournal.com]

I think the big issue with Lana is that the producers and writers like her too much. A character is doomed to be boring to the audience when she's so beloved by her creators.

Also, I feel sorry for poor KK; she signed onto this series when she was eighteen, and her role was relatively simple and not too prominent: pretty damsel in distress, unreachable love interest. I think she's improved as an actress (she makes a good Luthor) but that Lana is just boring. I also think she's just so tired with the show she no longer cares as much. I know I probably wouldn't, after all the things it's been through.

I look forward to your Lana fic, though; I sometimes wish their were more Clana in fanfic, just so I could like it. There's just not enough tension in the onscreen pairing. It's kinda like watching a gay guy and a lesbian try to get it on - you know they don't want it but they go for it anyway.

[bagheera-san.livejournal.com]

Playing Lana must be rough for KK. She's got lots of fans, sure, but I think she's also the most hated character.

It's not a Lana fic I'm writing, she just plays a major role in the plot - ironically, as damsel in distress ;)