Originally posted by Lynn S. M.:
[QB] This has developed into a fascinating discussion. I had had no idea that I would be starting a maelstrom with my story idea!
Originally posted by TOC:
The way I see it, Lois is used as a means to explore Clark's angst. If I may make a horribly crude and admittedly unfair comparison, imagine a scientist who takes a child's hamster and subjects the hamster to torture to explore the kid's reaction. In order to explore the full emotional repertoire of the child, the scientist kills the child's small pet.
Of course, this also means that the hamster is expendable. Under the circumstances, its death is far more interesting than its life. Or rather, the loss of its life is not such a big deal, but its death is valuable because it produces fascinating results - namely, the kid's grief.
Your analogy is flawed in one very serious respect: If a scientist were to kill a real child's pet, it would take place in *real life*. the pet would be dead. Period. The child would have to live the rest of their life knowing that the pet had been killed. Such an act would be highly unethical.
By killing Lois, or any other character, in fanfic, we are dealing with fiction. No actual people are dying. Frankly, when it comes to fiction, especially something like fanfic, ANY character is expendable, and should be "expended" as necessary to further the story. This is not at all a callous statement, since:
1) We are dealing with FICTION (Yes, I am repeating myself here; I think this point is worth repeating)
2) The fictional universe "resets itself" when you put down that piece of fiction. Unless someone chooses to write a sequel, the characters will remain "alive and well" in other fanfic.
In the "Superman as a Christ figure" thread that you started, Lynn, Marcus Rowland pointed out that several comic book heroes have died and returned from the dead. There is Superman, of course, but also Batman and Captain America. And let's not forget Mr. Spock.
I won't argue with you there; but I will say that in each instance (and especially that of Mr. Spock), I would rather have had the character, once dead, remain dead. To me, the returns have always seemed to cheapen the powerful death scenes.
My point is that all the characters who died and then returned were male. Or am I wrong about that? Does anyone know of a female fictional character who died and then returned to her own living body so that she could go on living on the Earth as herself as before?
An interesting question. I'll have to think about that one. The two that leap to mind (Elvira Gulch and Phoenix) are not exactly positive examples...
--- I just thought of a third: Romana (and possibly other female Gallifreyans) in Dr. Who.
- Lynn
