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bagheera_sanOh man, this living 45 minutes away from the uni does so not work for me. I keep missing the train.
I just noticed that the discussion about Lana in one of my recent posts (beware spoilers for "Action") has pretty much exploded - clearly, Lana is the way to go when you want to start wank in this fandom. And once more, like with Lex last season, a lot of the discussion revolves about:
1)how the characters compare to their "iconic" selves
2)whether Lex is evil or not
3)why the way the show treats Lex and Lana respectively is unfair
4)who will leave the show when
Ignoring the fact that I cannot hold on to an opinion for five minutes without revising it, it seems to me that Smallville, as a fandom, is pretty obsessed with moral. People keep trying to redeem and vilify characters. Me too, I mean, I'm a member in![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
lex_minions. But in a way, arguing about who's more "evil" is pretty much like throwing stones first, right? Not that I'm saying we're all villains (although I suspect some of you to be involved in mad science).
Whether it makes sense to discuss morals is not a fandom problem, of course.
1. Iconic self: pick a continuity
We all love the "the character are supposed to behave like their ICONIC selves approach", aka fanboy complaining (we love it so much that we got our own episode on this theme). But this is actually pretty pointless, even though I've done it myself, because there is so definite ICONIC version of the Superman characters. Who is your iconic Superman? Golden Age? Silver Age? Superboy? Superdick? Birthright Superman? Post-Infinite Crisis? Movieverse? Animated Superman?
Does your iconic Superman spend his days playing tricks on Batman and teaching Lois "lessons"? Because if you said Silver Age...
Is your iconic Lex a scientist or a businessman? A psychopath or a bitter genius? Did he first meet Superman in Smallville or in Metropolis? Okay, I'm stopping here, you get my point.
(For the record: my canon bible, as you probably have guessed, is the animated 'verse.)
2. Lanarama
Tell me there isn't a fan this side of the great Clana/Clex dividing line who hasn't, at least once (per episode) found Lana Lang annoying. We all agree that AlGough love Lana to the point of creepiness, and even if she isn't a Love-Me mutant, she is beloved by all characters by fiat of the producers. Fandom has a word for this and it's Mary Sue and we all hate it.
So since Lana has universe-warping powers of loveliness, and is without doubt often a selfish little brat, and progressed from pink sweaters to whapping Lionel over the head with a spade without much angsting, it's pretty hard to sympathize with her. Why pity or love Lana when everyone in her world already does?
Fandom is often pretty harsh and condemning when it comes to Lana. Let's be honest, here. If Lex had killed Genevieve Teague the way Lana did, and under the same conditions, would we have spent three seasons saying, "Lex is a murderer! He killed Genevieve Teague!" I reckon we would either have ignored it or somehow tried to blame it on brainwashing/evil countesses/Lionel.(See: dead doctor on wedding day). Or we would just have said: well, Mrs. Teague was evil anyways.
Instead of just using the million other reasons to hate Lana, we fall back on morals. Shaky ground when we're Lex apologists at the same time.
3. Determinismville
If you live in a universe where your destiny is already written, your soul is either condemned or saved from the moment you're born, and you essentially have no free will, does it make any sense to try and be good? Are you to blame for your actions at all?
Calvinists argued about this for a long time, I think.
The characters in Smallville are in that situation. Of all of the main characters, only Chloe and Lionel are truly free, because they're original characters. They can have a change of heart, they can go evil or good, they can live or die. They have a CHOICE.
Clark: no choice at all. Superman before Jor-El ever said, "Krypton is doomed!"
Lex: destiny until death do us part.
Lois: fool around with Green Arrow and mean editors while you still can. There are church bells in your future.
Jimmy: I'm sorry, but... "Jimmy Olsen Must Die!" (or so the comic "Countdown" tells me.)
Kara: Um. You might die, or perhaps not, or maybe you're from Atlantis. And you'll probably fall in love with a horse pretty soon.
On the other hand, maybe the determinism argument doesn't really work.
Pa Kent: dead.
Ma Kent: senator in Washington, flirts with evil guys.
Pete Ross: moved away to Wichita.
And Lana Lang? What does destiny hold in stock for her? I'm not a Lana expert. In some continuities she really is "Clark Kent's childhood sweetheart", and she's married to Pete in others. She also is a spunky reporter. And she sometimes isn't really a nice girl at all. Simply considering other continuities, she could turn out good or evil, although she probably survives to fight over Clark with Lois.
But I guess knowing AlMiles, we can say for certain that she isn't nearly as doomed as Lex.
And that's my point here. One reason to feel sympathetic towards Lex is because the world he lives in is PRETTY FUCKING UNFAIR. He's a Greek Tragedy, if Greek tragedies were sexy supervillains.
Imagine this. Lex Luthor in a therapy session. Tell us why you turned to a life of crime, Mr Luthor:
"I had an abusive, blackhearted incarnation of evil for a father and an unstable mother, who killed my little brother, only it was blamed on me. Then space rocks hit me and I went bald, for which I was bullied at school and I nearly killed my best friend, only I believe I actually did. Then I went through an adolescence of drugs and thrill-seeking. I was brainwashed more times than I can count, two of my ex-wives tried to kill me and the others tried to screw me over. The people whose respect I tried to gain kept telling me I was unworthy, and the person who meant most to me turned out to be a lying alien, oh and did I tell you about the time I was possessed by an evil alien despot? But I'm not evil, I'm telling you!"
Um, yeah. Because even after all that and six seasons of SV, Lex is still sorta ambiguous. He undeniably *does* commit crimes and believes the end justifies the means, but his motivations might actually still be noble, and not just in fanwank.
It's pretty hard not to be a Lex apologist, imho.
So, with this doubly unfair universe (Lex is doomed and Lana is saved) it's no wonder that we react by viewing Lana as a disgusting little evil brat and Lex as a tragic hero.
4. Checklist of Evil
Murder: check. They've both done it.
Kidnapping: check - Lionel in Lana's case, Level 33.1 in Lex's.
Blackmail: check.
Authorization of torture: check.
Actually doing the torture yourself: do spades count? Otherwise Lex is winning in this category (see: really cool Flash torture device)
Theft: questionable in Lex's case. He "stole" various Kryptonian objects, but I'd say any scientist or government agent or people like Pete (S2) would have done the same. But then again: Lex is filthy rich, and capitalists are all thieves! *dons communist hat* Lana obviously stole Lex's millions and she isn't exactly using them for charity. (see: torture, Lionel.)
Invasion of privacy: Lex's favourite hobby since he stopped reading comics, and Lana got a taste for it, too.
Lies: let's not even go there. They all lie through their teeth.
Crimes against fashion: Lana wins!
5. But Lex does evil in the name of good!
Does the end justify the means? Another question for the ages.
Fact is, we do not know either Lex's or Lana's full motivation. I assume what we're supposed to believe as good little viewers, at this point is:
Lex: wants to fight Kryptonian invasion. Wants to figure out Kryptonian secrets - but we don't know if he wants that in order to fight the invasion or simply satisfy his curiosity. Apparently no real interest in revenge against Lana or Lionel. Faked the baby to keep Lana, and cloned her because he needed something that would look good on his supervillain resume. Possibly had a small change of heart. Sees the world "in shades of grey".
Lana: wants revenge because Lionel forced her to marry Lex and Lex faked her baby, faked her miscarriage and told her he wouldn't let her go, complete with slapping. Clean and simple revenge. Don't tell me she didn't enjoy wielding that spade - go her. Lionel deserves that spade. But Lana also wants to "expose Lex's evil and help mutants." So far, we haven't seen anything on the "mutant" front, except Lana killed her clone, but she *is* spying on Lex, so I guess eventually she will make a move. And she wants Clark.
But! The fake baby! We don't know if it really was Lex. (Personally, I think this is denial, by now. The show has dropped the topic and thank god.)
No, we don't know for sure, but Lana believes it. And if I were in her shoes... I would probably still be stuck in that marriage, because I'm not brilliant and wonderful, and suddenly an evil mastermind, but I *would* want revenge.
I hate to be a relativist, but they've both done bad things for "selfish" reasons. Hating Lana for the same things we find excusable in Lex is unfair.
Come on, don't tell me Lex wants the truth for the greater good. He wants it because he goddamn wants it, and because it's Clark's, and Kara's and it concerns him. We all love Lex's obsession, but it's an inherently selfish impulse. And he did vicious things in the name of revenge, too: just look at the treatment of Arthur and Bart.
Personally, I think we should admit that they've both done their share of bad things and just sit back and enjoy them being bad guys in competent ways, at least compared to S6, while it lasts and before Lana will inevitably be redeemed.
And hope that when the show is over, Lex will still be redeemable.
I just noticed that the discussion about Lana in one of my recent posts (beware spoilers for "Action") has pretty much exploded - clearly, Lana is the way to go when you want to start wank in this fandom. And once more, like with Lex last season, a lot of the discussion revolves about:
1)how the characters compare to their "iconic" selves
2)whether Lex is evil or not
3)why the way the show treats Lex and Lana respectively is unfair
4)who will leave the show when
Ignoring the fact that I cannot hold on to an opinion for five minutes without revising it, it seems to me that Smallville, as a fandom, is pretty obsessed with moral. People keep trying to redeem and vilify characters. Me too, I mean, I'm a member in
lex_minions. But in a way, arguing about who's more "evil" is pretty much like throwing stones first, right? Not that I'm saying we're all villains (although I suspect some of you to be involved in mad science).Whether it makes sense to discuss morals is not a fandom problem, of course.
1. Iconic self: pick a continuity
We all love the "the character are supposed to behave like their ICONIC selves approach", aka fanboy complaining (we love it so much that we got our own episode on this theme). But this is actually pretty pointless, even though I've done it myself, because there is so definite ICONIC version of the Superman characters. Who is your iconic Superman? Golden Age? Silver Age? Superboy? Superdick? Birthright Superman? Post-Infinite Crisis? Movieverse? Animated Superman?
Does your iconic Superman spend his days playing tricks on Batman and teaching Lois "lessons"? Because if you said Silver Age...
Is your iconic Lex a scientist or a businessman? A psychopath or a bitter genius? Did he first meet Superman in Smallville or in Metropolis? Okay, I'm stopping here, you get my point.
(For the record: my canon bible, as you probably have guessed, is the animated 'verse.)
2. Lanarama
Tell me there isn't a fan this side of the great Clana/Clex dividing line who hasn't, at least once (per episode) found Lana Lang annoying. We all agree that AlGough love Lana to the point of creepiness, and even if she isn't a Love-Me mutant, she is beloved by all characters by fiat of the producers. Fandom has a word for this and it's Mary Sue and we all hate it.
So since Lana has universe-warping powers of loveliness, and is without doubt often a selfish little brat, and progressed from pink sweaters to whapping Lionel over the head with a spade without much angsting, it's pretty hard to sympathize with her. Why pity or love Lana when everyone in her world already does?
Fandom is often pretty harsh and condemning when it comes to Lana. Let's be honest, here. If Lex had killed Genevieve Teague the way Lana did, and under the same conditions, would we have spent three seasons saying, "Lex is a murderer! He killed Genevieve Teague!" I reckon we would either have ignored it or somehow tried to blame it on brainwashing/evil countesses/Lionel.(See: dead doctor on wedding day). Or we would just have said: well, Mrs. Teague was evil anyways.
Instead of just using the million other reasons to hate Lana, we fall back on morals. Shaky ground when we're Lex apologists at the same time.
3. Determinismville
If you live in a universe where your destiny is already written, your soul is either condemned or saved from the moment you're born, and you essentially have no free will, does it make any sense to try and be good? Are you to blame for your actions at all?
Calvinists argued about this for a long time, I think.
The characters in Smallville are in that situation. Of all of the main characters, only Chloe and Lionel are truly free, because they're original characters. They can have a change of heart, they can go evil or good, they can live or die. They have a CHOICE.
Clark: no choice at all. Superman before Jor-El ever said, "Krypton is doomed!"
Lex: destiny until death do us part.
Lois: fool around with Green Arrow and mean editors while you still can. There are church bells in your future.
Jimmy: I'm sorry, but... "Jimmy Olsen Must Die!" (or so the comic "Countdown" tells me.)
Kara: Um. You might die, or perhaps not, or maybe you're from Atlantis. And you'll probably fall in love with a horse pretty soon.
On the other hand, maybe the determinism argument doesn't really work.
Pa Kent: dead.
Ma Kent: senator in Washington, flirts with evil guys.
Pete Ross: moved away to Wichita.
And Lana Lang? What does destiny hold in stock for her? I'm not a Lana expert. In some continuities she really is "Clark Kent's childhood sweetheart", and she's married to Pete in others. She also is a spunky reporter. And she sometimes isn't really a nice girl at all. Simply considering other continuities, she could turn out good or evil, although she probably survives to fight over Clark with Lois.
But I guess knowing AlMiles, we can say for certain that she isn't nearly as doomed as Lex.
And that's my point here. One reason to feel sympathetic towards Lex is because the world he lives in is PRETTY FUCKING UNFAIR. He's a Greek Tragedy, if Greek tragedies were sexy supervillains.
Imagine this. Lex Luthor in a therapy session. Tell us why you turned to a life of crime, Mr Luthor:
"I had an abusive, blackhearted incarnation of evil for a father and an unstable mother, who killed my little brother, only it was blamed on me. Then space rocks hit me and I went bald, for which I was bullied at school and I nearly killed my best friend, only I believe I actually did. Then I went through an adolescence of drugs and thrill-seeking. I was brainwashed more times than I can count, two of my ex-wives tried to kill me and the others tried to screw me over. The people whose respect I tried to gain kept telling me I was unworthy, and the person who meant most to me turned out to be a lying alien, oh and did I tell you about the time I was possessed by an evil alien despot? But I'm not evil, I'm telling you!"
Um, yeah. Because even after all that and six seasons of SV, Lex is still sorta ambiguous. He undeniably *does* commit crimes and believes the end justifies the means, but his motivations might actually still be noble, and not just in fanwank.
It's pretty hard not to be a Lex apologist, imho.
So, with this doubly unfair universe (Lex is doomed and Lana is saved) it's no wonder that we react by viewing Lana as a disgusting little evil brat and Lex as a tragic hero.
4. Checklist of Evil
Murder: check. They've both done it.
Kidnapping: check - Lionel in Lana's case, Level 33.1 in Lex's.
Blackmail: check.
Authorization of torture: check.
Actually doing the torture yourself: do spades count? Otherwise Lex is winning in this category (see: really cool Flash torture device)
Theft: questionable in Lex's case. He "stole" various Kryptonian objects, but I'd say any scientist or government agent or people like Pete (S2) would have done the same. But then again: Lex is filthy rich, and capitalists are all thieves! *dons communist hat* Lana obviously stole Lex's millions and she isn't exactly using them for charity. (see: torture, Lionel.)
Invasion of privacy: Lex's favourite hobby since he stopped reading comics, and Lana got a taste for it, too.
Lies: let's not even go there. They all lie through their teeth.
Crimes against fashion: Lana wins!
5. But Lex does evil in the name of good!
Does the end justify the means? Another question for the ages.
Fact is, we do not know either Lex's or Lana's full motivation. I assume what we're supposed to believe as good little viewers, at this point is:
Lex: wants to fight Kryptonian invasion. Wants to figure out Kryptonian secrets - but we don't know if he wants that in order to fight the invasion or simply satisfy his curiosity. Apparently no real interest in revenge against Lana or Lionel. Faked the baby to keep Lana, and cloned her because he needed something that would look good on his supervillain resume. Possibly had a small change of heart. Sees the world "in shades of grey".
Lana: wants revenge because Lionel forced her to marry Lex and Lex faked her baby, faked her miscarriage and told her he wouldn't let her go, complete with slapping. Clean and simple revenge. Don't tell me she didn't enjoy wielding that spade - go her. Lionel deserves that spade. But Lana also wants to "expose Lex's evil and help mutants." So far, we haven't seen anything on the "mutant" front, except Lana killed her clone, but she *is* spying on Lex, so I guess eventually she will make a move. And she wants Clark.
But! The fake baby! We don't know if it really was Lex. (Personally, I think this is denial, by now. The show has dropped the topic and thank god.)
No, we don't know for sure, but Lana believes it. And if I were in her shoes... I would probably still be stuck in that marriage, because I'm not brilliant and wonderful, and suddenly an evil mastermind, but I *would* want revenge.
I hate to be a relativist, but they've both done bad things for "selfish" reasons. Hating Lana for the same things we find excusable in Lex is unfair.
Come on, don't tell me Lex wants the truth for the greater good. He wants it because he goddamn wants it, and because it's Clark's, and Kara's and it concerns him. We all love Lex's obsession, but it's an inherently selfish impulse. And he did vicious things in the name of revenge, too: just look at the treatment of Arthur and Bart.
Personally, I think we should admit that they've both done their share of bad things and just sit back and enjoy them being bad guys in competent ways, at least compared to S6, while it lasts and before Lana will inevitably be redeemed.
And hope that when the show is over, Lex will still be redeemable.
