(Untitled)
And fire did rain from the sky, lo, the end of the world draws nigh…
( The Hypocrite in Tights, Or Why Clark Kent Needs to Lie All the Time: )
( The Hypocrite in Tights, Or Why Clark Kent Needs to Lie All the Time: )
Lex fan girl here, but I do agree that Clark gets unjustly beat down for absolutely everything that he does. I suppose that is because people do tend to hold him to a higher standard then other characters on this show or any show because he is destined to become Superman. People forget that this is his journey to superdom and that he will fall and fail along the way. That's the point of the show, to show Clark learning and growing from his mistakes so that he can one day become Superman.
He tried to save Lex from himself. This didn’t work out so well. He will get more practice at it, but in the meantime, Lex is becoming his greatest failure, and he blames Lex for that. Because that was what he was taught to do.
I love this so much! And it is so sad because I think Clark could have saved Lex from himself:( Lex will no doubt blame Clark for everything because it is easier to place the blame on someone else rather than himself. They both end up losing out on a "friendship of legend".
I like Clark, but I will always prefer Lex. I'm not really sure why or when this happened. While I feel sorry for Clark and this enormous burden that he must carry on his shoulders, he still has people around him that love him unconditionally and will always be there for him. Lex has absolutely no one. I don't think that is so much woobiefying him as it is fact. That's just so sad to me:(
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I think people really just hate Clark because MR is so good that it's impossible NOT to sympathize with him. It's kneejerk and not based on Clark's actions really. They just know they love Lex, and therefore Clark judging and being mean to Lex means Clark sucks. Most people don't analyze their reactions to characters more deeply than that.
Yes, Lex really is a tragic figure. The Smallville Lex is anyway. He is the classic villain with a reason. It's made all the worse because he tried so hard and just fucked it all up. That appeals to us on a human level. It's important to keep in mind that Lex on Smallville has yet to do anything really bad. Even the bad things he has done have been baby steps compared to what he will eventually do. He's not yet Lex Luthor, Supervillian, the same way that Clark has yet to cross the floor from idealistic and confused kid to Superman.
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That's it exactly! There is this double standard that drives me crazy. People argue that you can't judge Clark by Superman standards because he's not yet superman. Yet, these are the same people saying it is okay for Clark to treat Lex the way he does because we all know Lex will end up destroying the world! Lex isn't even close to being that person yet. So by human standards, I find Clark beating Lex up every few episodes rather disturbing. Just like I would be horrified if Lex were attempting to beat Clark up. People just don't treat each other that way.
Are you a Brex fan by any chance? I'm all about Brex! I should have another Brex vid done in a few months:)
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That is SO true. That's pretty much what I meant when I said people are morons.
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*nods* I think MR, as the more experienced actor, works with bringing layers to Lex. In the official companions, it's mentioned that he's occasionally asked for a close-up if he thinks it's necessary.
Often when reading spoilers, I think both Clark and Lex are being as bad as one another. Then I watch the scene (thinking of the Crusade clex) and Lex is all looking all sad and woobified, and TW was playing Clark as just so angry and self-righetous that I couldn't connect to him and ended up taking Lex's side after all. On paper, I could read that scene and think both sides had a point. And then Clark on screen comes across (to me) as kind of an asshat.
I find that with Clark, I often have to try and justify to myself why he does what he does. ie. the end of Bound when Lex is confessing to major self-loathing and Clark is stood there with his arms crossed feeding that loathing. Or "I can't understand why my best friend keeps lying to me" etc. With Lex, he does some awful things, but MR humanises it for me. It's easier to love Lex from what's on screen, and I don't need to take it away to think about and justify it to myself. Clark I have to think it through and work at liking him. MR does that for me on screen. If that makes sense.
I think part of it may be that TW sees Clark as the good guy, so doesn't feel such a need to work at making a connection with the audience and justifying Clark's lapses. Whereas MR realises he's playing the villian, and works at making Lex relatable.
Plus there's one character who talks about his darkness, and loathing the things he does. And one character who judges the people around him, and clearly does see himself as morally superior. People are going to call out the more "perfect" character even when the friendship is equally screwed up on both sides. The same thing happens with Lana, the writers gloss over her behaviour, so the audience at home builds up her flaws out of frustration that the show never addresses them.
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