Glutton for Punishment
So despite my promise to myself to not get involved in the negativity on TWoP, I couldn't help myself tonight. Sometimes I just get so irritated that I feel like I have to say something if only to defend the underdog.
Here's part of the post (albeit it from the BItterness thread) that got me so riled up:
Case in point: Lex pays Lois's college fees. She drops out, probably never repays him, and campaigns for Jonathan against Lex, without any recognition by any other character on the show that she's turned against her benefactor. I'm not suggesting Lois should have been Lex's minion for life, but she just switched sides with no explanation, no apology, no discussion about her ethics, nothing.
I wouldn't mind all this so much if the show itself acknowledged the wrongness of the characters' reactions, but it doesn't seem to. It seems to uphold them. Also, it's almost impossible to find any critiques of this sort of thing anywhere but in Lex Fan circles, and our concerns are dismissed because of that. I wasn't a Lex fan before SV. It was SV that made me one, and SV made me despise Clark Kent.
Yes, the show is about a comic book character, but does that mean it doesn't matter what Clark does? He can lie, cheat, steal, commit adultery, break and enter, assault people, betray his friends, and kill -- but he's still going to be noble Superman next season, without any recognition and acknowledgement that he's done these things?
and here's part of another post discussing all of the nice things that Lex has done:
What about when Lex had the Sharks let Whitney play with them so that old man Fordman could see his kid play with the pros before he keeled over? Or when he provided Clark with confidence and limos and concert tickets (remember Radioheadgate of S1? Omar near lost his shit over that) so that he could take Lana out? How about when he saved Chloe and Gabe from certian death at Lionel's hand, even AFTER he tried to convince Chloe not to testify for her own safety? Bought the Talon so Lana'd quit her bitching about her pancaked parents having taken her to the theatre as a kid? Remember when he sent Lana to Paris to study art [/snort]?
Selfish motherfucker.
And here is my response:
And I know this is the Bitterness thread so I'm prepared for fallout, but even with all of the nice things that Lex has done, do they cancel out him experimenting on human beings and using them as lab rats? Or killing them in cold blood? Yes, you cloned your own brother and then had him assassinated, but you did rent out that football field for Whitney so I guess we'll call it even...
Would Hitler be a nice guy if before that whole Holocaust thing he volunteered at soup kitchens and animal shelters? And before anyone jumps down my throat, I am not saying that Lex is just like Hitler- he just happens to be a nefarious person from history who everyone has heard of.
By the way, I am certainly not trying to make light of the Holocaust in any way, shape, or form. When I called it "that whole Holocaust thing," it was meant to be dripping with sarcasm.
I just posted this a few minutes ago so no responses yet, but if I get any, I'll edit this post.
Everyone is certainly entitled to their own opinion about this show (and anything else) but some of these statements make me wonder how much of a grip on reality some of these people have...
I guess it goes back to that whole perception thing again. I just thought of kind of a random example though- When I was younger I used to read the Sweet Valley High books. It was about 2 identical twin sisters- Elizabeth and Jessica. Elizabeth was the booksmart, level-headed, practical, sensitive one with the steady boyfriend. Jessica was the fun-loving, care-free, popular cheerleader who had a new boyfriend every week. I always wanted to be just like Elizabeth and never understood why anyone would look up to or want to emulate Jessica. I thought she was selfish and pretty mean at times- conning her sister into doing all the chores, stealing boyfriends and such...However, I know that were plenty of girls who thought Jessica was the greatest thing since sliced bread and that Elizabeth was the lamest, nerdiest girl ever.
In my mind it was clear who was supposed to be the "good" twin and who was the "bad" twin, but Jessica was pretty much always redeemed in the end or learned her lesson or something. I guess (?) I could put this example towards Clark and Lex. In my mind it's so clear to me who the good guy is (Clark) and who the bad guy is (Lex), but there are plenty of people who see the exact opposite. They see Lex as the poor abused child who was just beaten down so much mentally that how else could he turn out except the way that he did. I can definitely see this as part of Lex's issues, but in my mind it's not an excuse.
My sister (the therapist) has told me numerous times that you (general you) can sit around all day and analyze that you are the way you are because of your terrible parents or your screwed up childhood or whatever else, but at the end of the day you have to take responsibility for your own actions and not use your past as an excuse for the things you do now.
I guess one could argue that Elizabeth was an idiot for putting up with her sister's crap and that she should have grown some balls and put Jessica in her place right from the start.
This is why I'm such a horrible writer- my mind just jumps from random thought to random thought without ever really making a clear point.
While I've been busy rambling, I got a response to my post:
I don't think either cancels out one another, with someone like Lex you have to look at the big picture. I don't think it's fair to say "well he experimented on people, therefore all the good he's done or tried to do before he experimented on people should be ignored" or vice versa. And to see where Lex "came" from its important to realize the ingratitude of the people he tried to help, especially if they kept coming to him even after they were firmly convinced of his evol.
I actually appreciate this response and whether or not I agree with it, at least I don't feel like I was just yelled at or berated.