30 Days of Smallville | Day One | Favorite Character...
Well, if you know me at all, this shouldn't be that hard to guess....
Favorite Character: Lois Joanne Lane
(click for bigger)
What can I say about this character that hasn't been said already by people far more eloquent than I? (Read: latest issue of Durance Magazine if you don't believe me). I'll try anyways because that's the point of the meme.
This character possesses so much of what I admire in women and look to in my women characters - she's ballsy and brave, she's fierce with a capital F and funny; self-deprecating, humble, even insecure at times and then in turns cocky and incredibly confident, she's flawed and full of contradictions, she's comfortable in her own sexuality and an emotional porcupine but if you're lucky and she lets you in, she is loyal to the end. She's perfectly aware of every single one of her faults and doesn't spend her life apologizing for them or softening them up to make the people around her feel better. She is what she is, you take it or leave it. I love that (especially because this world has a habit of making women apologize for who and what they are no matter what they do, and I hate that).
Perhaps the thing I love most about Lois Lane is that she is unequivocally A DOER. So many female characters are passive, reactors to the world around them, no better than pieces of flotsam tossed about by the plot and the male agents in the storyline. What's cool about Lois, is even when the show had to hem her in as a character and kept her boxed, and restricted to periphery, she never came across as a victim or as inherently useless, she never lost herself and we never lost her. Sure, she was out of sight, but there was no doubt she was out there, doing things by herself, for herself. She's one character who, I feel, and it's always been this way in the mythos, cannot be swallowed up by Clark Kent (Superman) in the way that a being and a character that overwhelming can overshadow everything and everyone around them. And in the case of Smallville, this is his show, so... yeah. Why? Because she's fucking Lois Lane. She's nobody's bitch. It's awesome.
This doesn't even touch the tip of the iceberg there's a lot to love with this character.
Aside from the above, when I look at the show, I think that Lois is one of maybe three characters that actually has a remarkably cohesive, coherent, fascinating and comprehensible story arc. When we met her in season four, it was easy to trace the bare elements of the woman that would one day be 'the Lois Lane' we're accustomed to seeing but she wasn't there yet. Not by a long shot. Now, six years later, I can point to the journey, and nearly every step of it makes sense - from the prickly teenager with a giant-sized chip on her shoulder, a mile-wide streak of sarcasm that she used as her defense against the world and as a mask to hide her very deep insecurities to the woman she is now. Still a little prickly and snarky but with a self-awareness and a layer of emotional maturity that's really interesting to see play out, and so much more. We've been lucky, I think, to watch it all unfold. Despite the mistakes and some of the shit-poor decisions by our dear friends, Al and Miles, and the writing staff (I'm looking at you Grant, although that folly did provide useful lessons that contribute to the whole in hindsight and had the added bonus of dealing with a side of Lois I value intensely: her sexuality and her professional journalistic arc, so whatever) -- I love her to bits and pieces.
ETA (this para): I just had to add that I have gotten worried over this season that Lois' independent identity as a journalist is being overshadowed by her relationship with Clark. It's never really been enough for me to stand up in arms but there have been moments where I've cringed and been like... um, show, get it together because she deserves better than that. And Lois, the Journalist, is my favorite thing of all time. Hopefully, in this closing run, they'll stop with that and actually have some balance with the characterization. Okay, SV writers. Thanks.
Close runner up, like it was a hard one: Clark Kent. No doubt I will get my chance to stan over him later though.
Because I'm a Durance fan almost as much as I am a Lois one, I'm leaving this here because - she's gorgeous. Click for bigger, her eyes are incredible.
Next up.... I'm trying to choose between Least Favorite character (so hard!) and something else.
Favorite Character: Lois Joanne Lane
(click for bigger)
What can I say about this character that hasn't been said already by people far more eloquent than I? (Read: latest issue of Durance Magazine if you don't believe me). I'll try anyways because that's the point of the meme.
This character possesses so much of what I admire in women and look to in my women characters - she's ballsy and brave, she's fierce with a capital F and funny; self-deprecating, humble, even insecure at times and then in turns cocky and incredibly confident, she's flawed and full of contradictions, she's comfortable in her own sexuality and an emotional porcupine but if you're lucky and she lets you in, she is loyal to the end. She's perfectly aware of every single one of her faults and doesn't spend her life apologizing for them or softening them up to make the people around her feel better. She is what she is, you take it or leave it. I love that (especially because this world has a habit of making women apologize for who and what they are no matter what they do, and I hate that).
Perhaps the thing I love most about Lois Lane is that she is unequivocally A DOER. So many female characters are passive, reactors to the world around them, no better than pieces of flotsam tossed about by the plot and the male agents in the storyline. What's cool about Lois, is even when the show had to hem her in as a character and kept her boxed, and restricted to periphery, she never came across as a victim or as inherently useless, she never lost herself and we never lost her. Sure, she was out of sight, but there was no doubt she was out there, doing things by herself, for herself. She's one character who, I feel, and it's always been this way in the mythos, cannot be swallowed up by Clark Kent (Superman) in the way that a being and a character that overwhelming can overshadow everything and everyone around them. And in the case of Smallville, this is his show, so... yeah. Why? Because she's fucking Lois Lane. She's nobody's bitch. It's awesome.
This doesn't even touch the tip of the iceberg there's a lot to love with this character.
Aside from the above, when I look at the show, I think that Lois is one of maybe three characters that actually has a remarkably cohesive, coherent, fascinating and comprehensible story arc. When we met her in season four, it was easy to trace the bare elements of the woman that would one day be 'the Lois Lane' we're accustomed to seeing but she wasn't there yet. Not by a long shot. Now, six years later, I can point to the journey, and nearly every step of it makes sense - from the prickly teenager with a giant-sized chip on her shoulder, a mile-wide streak of sarcasm that she used as her defense against the world and as a mask to hide her very deep insecurities to the woman she is now. Still a little prickly and snarky but with a self-awareness and a layer of emotional maturity that's really interesting to see play out, and so much more. We've been lucky, I think, to watch it all unfold. Despite the mistakes and some of the shit-poor decisions by our dear friends, Al and Miles, and the writing staff (I'm looking at you Grant, although that folly did provide useful lessons that contribute to the whole in hindsight and had the added bonus of dealing with a side of Lois I value intensely: her sexuality and her professional journalistic arc, so whatever) -- I love her to bits and pieces.
ETA (this para): I just had to add that I have gotten worried over this season that Lois' independent identity as a journalist is being overshadowed by her relationship with Clark. It's never really been enough for me to stand up in arms but there have been moments where I've cringed and been like... um, show, get it together because she deserves better than that. And Lois, the Journalist, is my favorite thing of all time. Hopefully, in this closing run, they'll stop with that and actually have some balance with the characterization. Okay, SV writers. Thanks.
Close runner up, like it was a hard one: Clark Kent. No doubt I will get my chance to stan over him later though.
Because I'm a Durance fan almost as much as I am a Lois one, I'm leaving this here because - she's gorgeous. Click for bigger, her eyes are incredible.
Next up.... I'm trying to choose between Least Favorite character (so hard!) and something else.