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oiranPost-finale, it seems that the supposed battles between those who love Lex and the three lurkers who hate him are over at last. Maybe it's just my FL, but just about everyone I've met either here on LJ or back on TWoP has been a Lex fan first and foremost. The Clark-is-best fans are few and far between--and they have not been Lex haters. Rather, they have termed themselves Clark apologists, as it is obvious even to them that Lex is neither evil nor deserving of hatred.
Comics Lex is not 100% evil. I can't imagine that there's a way to make a character 100% anything, except perhaps 100% boring. I suppose there are maladjusted fanboys out there who would argue percentage points on Lex's EQ (evil quotient) and call me ignorant and cite my ovaries as proof, but this is LJ, not a comic book forum board, and the Lex-is-evil camp supposedly has deep, weedy roots in LJ.
I have seen the fact that Lex is not 100% evil in the comics used to support the idea that Smallville Lex will not have to "turn evil" after all. However, comics canon also supports the idea that Clark is going to be Superman, regardless of what viewers of Smallville think of him. That TV canon can fuck mightily with either of these outcomes is theoretically possible, but it's not likely. But you can't cite comics canon to support a wild extrapolation that results in Lex being the ultimate good guy if you're not willing to also acknowledge that same canon does, in fact, support Clark Kent becoming Superman, the embodiment of justice and all that is good. Regardless of whatever sort of fanwank you try to pull on the future roles of Lex and Clark, Clark is still expected to become Superman and Lex is supposed to become "evil," even if "evil" actually means "misunderstood, misguided, and probably quite bitter after all he's been through." And that, to me, is the beauty of the Smallville show.
Just as Lex is clearly not evil at this time, it's also clear that he's probably never going to be truly evil. However, he'll do things that result in a negative outcome, and they'll be perceived--by Clark, at the very least--as having evil intent. It puts an interesting spin on the notion of evil, a variation on the What-if-Hitler-got-into-art-school argument, i.e., wank on a grand scale.
And an imperfect Clark, a Clark who was once an asshole teenage boy, complete with kneejerk reactions, misplaced loyalties, and untimely erections (we don't get those onscreen, of course, but you know they've got to be embarrassing him on a regular basis), is a much more interesting character than a perfect Superman whose spitcurled façade stands stead for a personality. Based on our onscreen Clark, mild-mannered will also be a disguise, a diversionary tactic on a scale equivalent to the primary-colored PJs. There's no reason that I know of to believe that this Clark should somehow be more thoughtful than his peers or his parents, so I'm curious why the anti-Clark SV watchers want him to act and react according to a comic book future that he has yet to live--and which might not ever play out in this particular universe.
I guess I just don't see where the fun is to be had with not looking at events from both Clark's and Lex's respective viewpoints. Rigid thinking strips away all subtleties and makes Lex into a martyr (which I think he'd hate) and Clark into a tedious bully (which he obviously doesn't want to be), and why would anyone want to watch a show about characters like that? Despite their irritation with one another, neither one is ready to let go yet ("This friendship is over!" teenage hissyfits aside). That Lex hasn't kicked Clark-the-Liar to the curb isn't because they're writing it wrong. It's because Lex has reasons to not want to be rid of Clark.
Lex has been made multifaceted, which is a welcome change from the cartoon supervillain persona. However, Clark has also been given additional facets…and they've brought him down to earth, made him a more manageable size. There's really not a lot of room in the mythos to make Clark yet more super, yet more good, more just and more truthful. (Well, I don't see where Clark has ever been all that truthful, but…) Clark and Lex both have been given depth and substance--and they've both been humanized, reduced from their prior extremes.
You don't have to see the slash to recognize the sort of epic tragedy--romance, even--that they're trying to evoke. The relationship between Clark and Lex--however you define it--is going to be the most important one in either of their lives. That it's happening when they're both so very young, so very hurt, and at such odds, is positively swoon-inducing. That "fans" want to reduce that to picking sides is just…boring. And if you try to tell me otherwise, you'll bore me, too.
If I had to pick one, I'd pick Lex…but I don't have to pick one. And I still have yet to see evidence that anyone wants me to do so--other than the folks who insist that Lex wears a halo when the rest of us aren't looking.
Lex would never wear a fucking halo, people.
~~~
Also? Yami no Matsuei is so damn cute. I promised myself I wouldn't get all obsessed with anything new, much less the mere hint of cartoon dick…
~~~
I'm writing original novel segments in my head as my new bedtime story. Yay! Bedtime story! The problem is, they're all taking place in beds in addition to being formulated there. If I'm going to think of it as a novel, I suppose there has to be something happening when the characters are vertically oriented. And, no, it can't be fucking standing up.
Oh, yeah. Did I mention I'm going to try writing a novel again? It probably won't hurt a bit this time around.
Comics Lex is not 100% evil. I can't imagine that there's a way to make a character 100% anything, except perhaps 100% boring. I suppose there are maladjusted fanboys out there who would argue percentage points on Lex's EQ (evil quotient) and call me ignorant and cite my ovaries as proof, but this is LJ, not a comic book forum board, and the Lex-is-evil camp supposedly has deep, weedy roots in LJ.
I have seen the fact that Lex is not 100% evil in the comics used to support the idea that Smallville Lex will not have to "turn evil" after all. However, comics canon also supports the idea that Clark is going to be Superman, regardless of what viewers of Smallville think of him. That TV canon can fuck mightily with either of these outcomes is theoretically possible, but it's not likely. But you can't cite comics canon to support a wild extrapolation that results in Lex being the ultimate good guy if you're not willing to also acknowledge that same canon does, in fact, support Clark Kent becoming Superman, the embodiment of justice and all that is good. Regardless of whatever sort of fanwank you try to pull on the future roles of Lex and Clark, Clark is still expected to become Superman and Lex is supposed to become "evil," even if "evil" actually means "misunderstood, misguided, and probably quite bitter after all he's been through." And that, to me, is the beauty of the Smallville show.
Just as Lex is clearly not evil at this time, it's also clear that he's probably never going to be truly evil. However, he'll do things that result in a negative outcome, and they'll be perceived--by Clark, at the very least--as having evil intent. It puts an interesting spin on the notion of evil, a variation on the What-if-Hitler-got-into-art-school argument, i.e., wank on a grand scale.
And an imperfect Clark, a Clark who was once an asshole teenage boy, complete with kneejerk reactions, misplaced loyalties, and untimely erections (we don't get those onscreen, of course, but you know they've got to be embarrassing him on a regular basis), is a much more interesting character than a perfect Superman whose spitcurled façade stands stead for a personality. Based on our onscreen Clark, mild-mannered will also be a disguise, a diversionary tactic on a scale equivalent to the primary-colored PJs. There's no reason that I know of to believe that this Clark should somehow be more thoughtful than his peers or his parents, so I'm curious why the anti-Clark SV watchers want him to act and react according to a comic book future that he has yet to live--and which might not ever play out in this particular universe.
I guess I just don't see where the fun is to be had with not looking at events from both Clark's and Lex's respective viewpoints. Rigid thinking strips away all subtleties and makes Lex into a martyr (which I think he'd hate) and Clark into a tedious bully (which he obviously doesn't want to be), and why would anyone want to watch a show about characters like that? Despite their irritation with one another, neither one is ready to let go yet ("This friendship is over!" teenage hissyfits aside). That Lex hasn't kicked Clark-the-Liar to the curb isn't because they're writing it wrong. It's because Lex has reasons to not want to be rid of Clark.
Lex has been made multifaceted, which is a welcome change from the cartoon supervillain persona. However, Clark has also been given additional facets…and they've brought him down to earth, made him a more manageable size. There's really not a lot of room in the mythos to make Clark yet more super, yet more good, more just and more truthful. (Well, I don't see where Clark has ever been all that truthful, but…) Clark and Lex both have been given depth and substance--and they've both been humanized, reduced from their prior extremes.
You don't have to see the slash to recognize the sort of epic tragedy--romance, even--that they're trying to evoke. The relationship between Clark and Lex--however you define it--is going to be the most important one in either of their lives. That it's happening when they're both so very young, so very hurt, and at such odds, is positively swoon-inducing. That "fans" want to reduce that to picking sides is just…boring. And if you try to tell me otherwise, you'll bore me, too.
If I had to pick one, I'd pick Lex…but I don't have to pick one. And I still have yet to see evidence that anyone wants me to do so--other than the folks who insist that Lex wears a halo when the rest of us aren't looking.
Lex would never wear a fucking halo, people.
~~~
Also? Yami no Matsuei is so damn cute. I promised myself I wouldn't get all obsessed with anything new, much less the mere hint of cartoon dick…
~~~
I'm writing original novel segments in my head as my new bedtime story. Yay! Bedtime story! The problem is, they're all taking place in beds in addition to being formulated there. If I'm going to think of it as a novel, I suppose there has to be something happening when the characters are vertically oriented. And, no, it can't be fucking standing up.
Oh, yeah. Did I mention I'm going to try writing a novel again? It probably won't hurt a bit this time around.
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no subject
Date: 2004-05-23 06:49 pm (UTC)yes.
Exactly.
I adore Clark.
I am not an apologist - I have nothing to apologize for.
I adore Lex.
He's not perfect.
I don't want him to be.
I like Clark and Lex TOGETHER.
Either one alone just isn't as interesting.
So, no, I don't have to choose. No one should have to choose!
:-)
no subject
Date: 2004-05-23 08:04 pm (UTC)Either one alone just isn't as interesting.
Agree, and agree.
Even if they're not in the same room, the same building, or even the same continent, the fact of their past friendship (define as you choose, of course) is going to loom large over everything. It gives me a little chill, frankly. A sexy, wrong, angsty chill.