Superman Anniversary Meme - Day 07
Day 01 - The first time you ever saw Superman
Day 02 - When you became a Superman fan
Day 03 - Your favorite Superman medium
Day 04 - Your favorite Superman comic/title.
Day 05 - Your Favorite Live Action Superman
Day 06 - Number of Superman comics/memorabilia you own
Day 07 - Your favorite Superman related character.
Trick question. Obviously my favorite is Clark Kent, but people have to understand that I love Clark even more than I love Superman. But that's an easy answer so I'll try to use someone else...like Lois Lane. But not just any Lois Lane, though I am appreciating her more in the comics, but that's all due to Erica Durance's portrayal. Never before, even though I really liked Teri Hatcher's Lois, have I fallen for a Lois Lane than with Erica Especially in the last couple of seasons. I'll admit it, and this is practically heresy to say in front of my lovely Clois friends, but I wasn't terribly fond of Lois at first. Sure, I liked the chemistry between her and Clark, and I loved scenes like the hospital scene in Crusade, the shower scene in Gone, the dunk tank scene in Facade, the two of them plotting against the cheerleaders in Devoted, and the scene where she stops him from killing the Sand-Dude in Pariah...but I didn't too much like how she disrespected Clark in his own home and in front of his parents. Sorry, but it bothered me when Chloe and Lana made snide comments, so it bothered me as well when Lois did it and she didn't even know the guy that well.
But now that I look back on it I see that she was the only female on the show Clark was allowed to banter with, to insult as good as he was given, to laugh at without hurting her feelings, and she was the only one that didn't intentionally make him feel guilty about one thing or another. And when she made mistakes, it was acknowledged not only by the other characters and Clark, but by HERSELF--which meant that the writers saw her screw ups as screw ups and weren't validating bad actions or words. She messed up and she owned up to it and tried to make it right. She didn't blame it on anyone else and she didn't wallow in it for episodes on end. And she's pretty forgiving. Where other characters would've held it over Clark's head that he kept Oliver's attempted suicide from them, Lois allowed him to try to make it up to her. Where other characters would've kept bringing up that he went back to Lana in Season 8 (like a lot of fans like to keep bringing it up as if he was cheating on Lois *eyeroll*), Lois was rightfully hurt, and then went about her business. She didn't stop talking to him or go running to his enemies with information or for comfort, she kept the friendship going but let him know that she wasn't going to wait for him...and when he was ready to handle her, she laid down some awesome relationship guidelines. That's character.
And she goes to see a therapist. I can think of a FEW Smallville characters that should be going to a therapist, but Lois does it on her own. Whether it's an homage to a previous canon concept or not, this shows that Lois recognizes that she has issues and needs to work them out with a professional. That's humility.
And most importantly, her moral code is on par with the future Man of Steel. She told Zod that she was staying with him after he was shot because "It's what Clark would do." Some people took offense to it because, yes, if Lois hadn't ever met Clark, she still wouldn't leave a dying man alone. But that wasn't the point. It was to point out that she recognizes Clark's morality in an episode where his so-called allies were questioning his methods. It was to show solidarity and that Lois gets him in a way that his oldest friends and "allies" don't. And the kicker that pushed Lois even deeper into my heart was Charade, and that she GOT why the Blur hid his identity, thereby making Lois and Clark equal partners in the secret keeping. And you know what? She messed up again in Salvation by trusting Zod over Clark, but the first thing she did was apologize. She KNEW she messed up, didn't turn it around on the Blur or Clark and make it his fault, but instead she still turned around and closed her eyes, not thinking she deserved to see his face after what she saw as her screw up, and just hoped he would be able to trust her again. That's integrity.
And oddly enough, my love of Lois has made me see Lana in a much more sympathetic light than I used to.
So what we have is, IMO, the first truly 3 dimensional Lois Lane that I've ever seen. One who is equal parts beautiful, flawed, and kick ass, and in ED's Lois I've finally understood why no other woman in Clark/Superman's life will be the love of his life the way Lois is. And now in the past two seasons she is only one rung below Clark on my favorite character scale (the others are so far below they're probably just holding the ladder).
But I've stated before that Lois represents the Spirit of humanity in the Superman universe. She reminds him of what it is he fights to protect everyday. She fights for Truth and Justice just as Superman does, but she does it in her own way, and I'm glad that an episode like Hostage helped the future Pulitzer winning journalist see that she doesn't need to be a side-kick to make a difference. She does it with her work, with her spirit, and by saving Superman everyday--by keeping him human.