Carol, you make very good points, and I can't really say that I disagree with any of them. I postulated that vulnerability/invulnerability could be part of the reason why, but that certainly doesn't mean that it's correct. I agree, we should not view his emotional vulnerability as automatically greater than anyone else's. Truthfully, I had never really thought about the entire issue in any great depth, and I hope that others post here to share their thoughts and opinions.
With the bit about "saving himself", you're right that it was Zara's expression rather than Clark. I actually wasn't thinking of either of those examples from the show when I mentioned that, but rather the various fanfics that have taken the idea that Clark was a virgin and put that particular spin on it as the reason why. I suppose it appeals to the romantic in me. But admittedly it is more fanon than canon.
And the lack of air time devoted to Clark's losing Lois in DTOSC is a definite sore spot with me. I try to comfort myself saying that we only ever saw him coping with the news as Superman, so that he had to remain somewhat detached and emotionless, and that he couldn't give in to the grief that would have flooded him. Maybe I've just read too many stories, but I do feel that Clark would have been completely devastated under those circumstances, and that it was only his many years of concealing a part of himself from the rest of the world - and the public experience of acting differently as the superhero - that enabled us to see Superman as relatively calm. Angst-lover that I am, I would have loved to see more of Clark - as Clark, not hiding behind the superhero's facade - reacting to the loss of Lois, just as we saw Lois in TOGOM.
EDIT - I see that DJ slipped in while I was busy writing up this monster post and expressed the same thoughts on this.
Back to STG... I don't know how Voyle would know this any more than you do. I just remember that it was in the episode. But I am puzzled by your comment that Myrtle thought Clark was immortal and would therefore suffer more/longer. It's been a while since I saw the episode (hurry up, S.4 disks!), but I don't remember this aspect at all. Why did she think this?
Kathy
