Okay so I was just reading part one of SymbolicAngel's new fic, "Exposure," and I got to thinking--always a dangerous activity, I know. (Just so you know, this is just my pondering one afternoon while I'm bored, so proceed with caution...)
In the scene in HoL where Clark tells Lois about his feelings and Lois rejects him, we FoLCs always have so much sympathy for Clark (for obvious reasons).
But how many times have we thought about Lois and her feelings in this situation??
I say this because I've been in the awkward situation of having a (what I thought was) a platonic male friend confess that he had deeper feelings for me than just friendship. So I can perhaps over-relate to Lois' position.
But here's my point:
This was already a very confusing time for Lois. She was suddenly confronted with the most unexpected possibility of getting married (something we all suspect she had never really considered before). That is a huge commitment to be thinking about. As a result, she was forced to re-evaluate...well, pretty much her whole life. Marriage, especially to Lex Luthor, would change her life drastically, and she knew that. She had to consider her career, whether she was ready to even consider having children, living with a romantic partner (which canon says she never really did before--see HiM), and so much more. Of course, she was trying to figure out her feelings for Lex as well. Not to mention that Lex had already succeeded in knocking out most of Lois' support structure.
So my point with that is, Lois is under *tremendous* pressure at the moment of Clark's confession.
So why are we all so mad at her for hurting Clark?
Isn't it fair to say that Clark was being selfish at this point? If Clark were thinking with his head instead of his heart, he would have acted as a the reliable, platonic friend Lois had come to know him as. Instead of confessing his love, he should have, instead, helped Lois reason through the situation. He should have asked her how she felt about Lex and the whole situation. If Clark had remained reasonable and calm, as we all know, Lois eventually would have concluded that she did not love Lex, would not marry him, and probably even realized her feelings for Clark.
Now. I have been told, on occasion, that I'm too much like an automaton when it comes to romantic relationships, but isn't it fair to say that this would have been a better approach to the whole situation for Clark to take? Isn't it fair to say the Clark was *un*fair to Lois for confusing her even more by his confession?
Of course I realize that the writers of the show needed to create mega-angst for the season finale and so forth...and of course we all like it the way it is...but my point is: Clark's actions in the situation were unfair and perhaps even out of character.
What are people's thoughts on this? Am I totally off base? Should I never have brought this up? Am I over-empathizing with Lois here?
Let me know your thoughts, I'm intersted in hearing people's reactions.
BTW: I'm terribly sorry if there has already been an extensive discussion about this before. Just let me know and I'll drop the subject.
