This blind Lana-bashing is ridiculous

[dus61]

I'm not Lana's biggest fan. To be absolutely honest with you, my favorite character on the show is Lionel. He's the most dynamic and quite frankly the most interesting. However, I was watching last night's Smallville with my g/f and at some point I looked to her and said something to the effect, "The Lana-bashers are going to be out in full force tonight." And that's when she informed me, I've been saying that pretty much after every new episode this season. Why? Why this blind hatred for this character? I know it's a God given right to be able to hate whoever you want for whatever you want, but why? I decided I had to write an essay of sorts defending her character. Not that it will make a difference. I've said years ago that the hatred for Lana goes much deeper then a mere CW show. I'll touch on that toward the end.

What are some of the qualms regarding this character? Bitchy? Whiny? Self-centered? Self-righteous? Manipulative? Etc. My goal here today is to help you understand that these characteristics(at least with the main characters)aren't so much character flaws for Lana alone, so much as they are about par for the course when it comes to the show, Smallville. When Lana and Clark were together, if she acted like Lois did when she was with Ollie you people would have rioted. No, it's not Lois being quirky. It's Lois being a bitch. The whole argument that Lana never went about figuring out Clark's secret the right way. For the love of God, look at how Lois acted throughout the (albeit brief)relationship with the Green Arrow! I think Lana how's been downright tolerant having to endure the broken logic throughout the series as it relates to matters of the heart and Clark in general.
Lana being an annoying, whiny, girly girly. Most of this goes back to the Lana/Clark/Secret angle. But look at Chloe throughout the series. The way she refuses to this day to get over Clark to the point it ended her relationship with Jimmy Olsen. The most recent episode she made a joke about being "psycho ex-g/f-ish". There have been points in the past 6 years that I have gotten that vibe from her. Remember when Lois dunked Clark at the pep rally and Chloe stood back and had that...look. Folks, Chloe creeps me the hell out. She is easily the most annoying character on the show in my eyes. Dawson's Creek got a lot of flak for the way their "high school" characters talked. Take all of those characters, add some Billy from the Power Rangers, and that's Chloe. Even when she was in high school she was a little too "wordy" for my taste. In regards to relationships on the show, I think Lana has been the most consistent between the 3(Lana, Lois, Chloe). Not really wavering unless under the influence of something stupid like a rock or vampires.
Self-centered, self-righteous, manipulative. There was a really good post earlier today by Krets in this very community talking about Lana's evolution as a character. Think back over the past 1-2 seasons. Put yourself in Lana's shoes for 2 seconds. If you knew deep down inside that someone you loved dearly was keeping a secret from you, your supposed best friend knew about it, your husband had been experimenting on you, your father-in-law was threatening to kill someone you loved in order to keep you locked into a marriage you really wanted no part of, who COULD you trust? It will be interesting to see how her relationship with Chloe takes off in the future now that they both know Clark's secret(Chloe still being in the dark on Lana knowing of course). Her character has been through quite a lot in the past year or so. Evolution is a must. I'd be disappointed if her character remained that naive midwestern prom queen throughout the entirety of the show.
The writing. I hate going here because it breaks down the 4th wall and reminds us that this is in fact a fictional tv show based on a pop culture icon but...

I love how whenever Clark is written into a scene where he looks absolutely ridiculous it's, "the writers!". Whenever Chloe just magically breaks into a government security system or she's left fawning after Clark as he saves the day it's, "the writers! or "Clark and Chloe need to just get together already omgz!". Every character, Lex, Lionel, Lois. Let's be honest here, the writing for Smallville was never top-notch. However, whenever Lana's sporting fangs or floating around trying to sell to the viewer that she's a witch she gets absolutely hammered by the fans. Here's an excerpt from a real life post after the episode 'Spell' aired on a Smallville community I frequent:

"This whole witch storyline sucks. I think the writers are just using it as an excuse to keep Lana on tv. WITCHES DO NOT BELONG IN SMALLVILLE!!'
(later in the same post)
"Chloe looked too cute as a witch! She really manages to pull it off and make it believable in a quirky way!"

You've got to be kidding me...

In closing I'd like to offer the real reason i feel most people do not like Lana. This has been my opinion from the beginning: look at Smallville's target audience. Lois is too hard to relate to for girls who watch Smallville so scratch her from this discussion. It comes down to Lana and Chloe and Clark. Clark represents the guy that you crush on and befriend and help in math and basically fall head over heels for. Lana is the super cute, popular girl in school who ends up with said hunk. Smallville, to the dismay of fans, follows a very, art imitating life on this one. Chloe is so easy to identify with. Not saying she's ugly(because Allison is very attractive in her own way)but she's not the universal knock out that many consider Erica and Kristin to be. Therefor, I feel that girls who watch the show root for Chloe to get with Clark and in doing so are embracing their own insecurities and looking for that fairytale ending that everyone longs for no matter what age you are. Once again, I'm in no way alluding to the attractiveness of the girls in this community, but what I'm saying makes complete sense.

Nothing I just typed will change anything. But here's hoping that the remainder of Smallville is as enjoyable as can possibly be for the fans that tune in and watch every week.