Thanks to all those who have offered heartfelt sympathy and kind words, especially Lynn. Every parent I've been around goes through pain and suffering because of his or her child or children. Our other two sons didn't get along at all when they were younger. My wife went home one day to find them in the front yard, ready to go after each other, one with a baseball bat and one with a golf club. Just knowing how seriously they fought took a lot out of both of us. And I know that many others have faced equally difficult situations, even if they weren't quite so immediately dangerous.
Now, back to our regularly scheduled comments:
Mike M. wrote that he was certain that Lois would not have revealed Superman's real identity had she learned it at any time in the show's run, nor would she even have considered it. I don't buy that at all. As I mentioned before, drama and angst (however one defines that word) are the agents by which the characters grow and learn. Sometimes I think that people who don't like to read heavy drama are ones who have suffered great pain in their own lives and don't want to relive it. That's totally cool - I get that, I really do. And some just don't want reality to intrude on their escape strategy. That's also cool.
But if I'm honest with myself, the times when I've learned the most about myself and how I should live are the times when I've been under the most stress. When my family was going through all that pain a quarter-century ago, I thought about doing some dishonest things to relieve the financial pressure on us, despite my younger self's braggadocios proclamation that "I'd never do that for any reason!" I learned, though, that I could be tempted - even if I never did those things.
Season 1 Lois would indeed be tempted to print Superman's secret identity. She'd also be tempted to use his abilities in her investigations even if Clark thought it would be wrong. She might not have actually done those things, but to insist that those thoughts wouldn't even cross her mind denies her basic humanity and her opportunity to grow and mature as a person. Season 3 Lois wouldn't seriously consider it, and probably not even during mid-Season 2, because she'd become a different person by then.
How did this happen? Because of her own drama and angst pressing on her, reshaping her, squeezing out the impurities in her character and allowing the gold and silver to dominate.
I do not, nor will I ever, write a story just to insult someone or to prove that hey, I can torture these characters all I want! Not happening. I will, however, continue to put them in pressure situations which will force them to make choices which will make them grow and learn and improve as people. I think that was one of the messages of the show: Even with super-powers, you still have things to learn and ways to improve yourself.
