Originally posted by ccmalo:
She's no meaner than Clark really when you consider the actual incidents, and they are very few , that reveal Lois to be less than perfect.
All right. I'll bite. Specific examples of Clark being mean, please? The only one I can think of is the Godzilla incident, which was mean, but which was also retribution for Lois' earlier actions. (No, I am not excusing what he did; just saying that it wasn't an action he took out of the blue -- unlike a lot of Lois' actions against and cutting remarks toward Clark.)
As for Lois, I can think of a lot of examples off the top of my head. Aside from the specifics I mentioned earlier, there were the "way, way after" comment, Mr. Greenjeans, and Hack from Nowheresville. There was the way she tore down everything about Smallville before she even saw the place. And I could easily go on.
Don't get me wrong - I don't think Clark was perfect; not by a long shot. He was unreliable, he was a liar, and it was because of his unspoken demands that Lois love Clark rather than his alter ego that the "two person love triangle" lasted as long as it did. But his lack of reliability and his deceptions were limited to self-preservation and attempts to serve the greater good. I am not going to venture into a discussion on whether the ends justify the means in this case; I'm just pointing out that, whatever you may think of his actions, his heart was in the right place. Yes, he was a lunkhead and he should have told Lois about himself long before she discovered his secret. And there were probably times that he ran out on her when the emergency services personnel could have handled the situation. But all that is a far cry from the shoddy way Lois treated him and others in S1 and S2.
Just so you don't think I'm being totally one sided, I do understand that the reasons behind a lot of Lois' actions stem from her own insecurities -- that, as I wrote in a private discussion with someone earlier today, "Because of her upbringing, she doesn't feel worthy of love, nor does she feel that love is something that could last even if she found it. She sublimates her desire for love into a desire for respect; and, since she feels at some gut level that relationships (even friendships) are impossible for her, she throws herself into her work as a means of trying to prove her worthiness as a person. I think I understand her motives; I just don't like thinking AS her. Villains can be fun to write because you can allow yourself to think in ways that would normally be anathema to you; Lois, however, is not a villain. Thinking as her is just plain painful." I can feel sorry for her, but I wouldn't enjoy being in her (i.e., the S1 and S2 version of her) company, and I don't like getting into her head to write her.
But then again, if everyone enjoyed writing the same characters, we would have far less varied fanfic. Vive la difference!
Joy,
Lynn
p.s., I am guessing that this is the start of what could be a long conversation, so I'll let you know in advance that I won't be able to get onto the computer much at all during this coming work week. If others have kept the discussion going through the week, then when I have a chunk of free time I can spend at a computer the following weekend or work week, I'll probably chime in some more then.
