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If you could only use two words, an adjective and a descriptive noun, to describe your dominant impression of Lois and of Clark, what words would you use?

Clark: caring outsider? heroic alien? super-powered caretaker?

Lois: determined journalist? rebellious truth-seeker? driven mystery-solver?

I'm not satified with my attempts, so how would you describe our intrepid pair in two words?

I think that's one of the hardest questions anyone's ever asked, lol. I looked at it and thought "oh, this'll be easy", then a minute later decided it was incredibly difficult! *scratches head and thinks hard*

Lois . . . Lois is passionate. That's the adjective I would use. I think you had something with "truth-seeker", because that IS what she is passionate about. (There is the matter of being passionate about Clark, but she wasn't always that way, and anyhew, that would be difficult to put into a single word.)

Clark is harder. Much harder. An adjective that work are "caring", yes, but then you have to somehow express his not-human side, and "caring alien" just doesn't do it, lol. "Super-powered" is a good adjective, but what to pair with it? "Caretaker" makes me think of a person who works in a nursing home--much as Clark would be congenial to everyone in a nursing home, it just doesn't fit for me. "Gentleman" is a nice one (covers his great manners), but I don't think it really expresses his depth of feeling. I think I'm going to have to stop there. If I ever think of something else, I'll let you know.

harder question than it first seem becuase you've restricted it to 2 decriptors, Sheila:
so, my immmediate response:
Lois: conflicted truth-seeker
Clark: compassionate hero

would like to have a 2rd adjective though
Clark's sense of humour
Lois's appaling tatse in men (and that might include CK/S <g>)

won't push my luck and ask for a 4th adjective

c.

It is surprisingly difficult. I figured, "heck, I know L&C; it'll be a snap." And then I couldn't pick just two words to give that dominant impression. I wanted to get across Clark's kindness and compassion, his concern for others, his selfless willingness to risk himself for others, and at the same time, his feeling of being an outsider who doesn't fit in, who is afraid to reveal himself, plus his desire for justice and his extraordinariness as well as his sense of the ridiculous. You wanted 4 words, Carol? I was having a hard time settling for anything less than 8.

With Lois, I wanted to get across her passionate intensity, her competitiveness, her desire to make the world better, and at the same time, her manic babbling and tendency to run rough-shod over people, her insatiable curiosity, her ability to look beneath the surface and her simultaneous blindness, her confidence and her insecurity.

Both of them have a wonderful blend of the contradictory characteristics that show up in real people, so it's pretty tough to limit them to only two words.

However, I really like the words "passionate" for Lois and "compassionate" for Clark, so if I can figure out a noun to use for each one, I'll be satisfied.

Definitely the restriction to 2 descriptors made it harder. But matching nouns to those adjectives shouldn't be as difficult as coming up with matching pairs from scratch.

Clark:
Hero is definitely one that comes to mind, of course. ("compassionate hero" I definitely like, Cc!)
Then of course, alien. I can't seem to think of anything that hasn't been mentioned before.

Lois:
I still think "truth-seeker" is a decent one.
Activist, in a sense, but not completely.
Journalist touches too little of who she is--truth-seeker gets more of that.

I still come back to "compassionate hero" and "passionate truth-seeker". That's my final input, I think.

On a sidenote, your description of Lois, Sheila, reminds me SO much of myself. I became aware a month or so ago that I identified with her a lot, but I didn't realize how much personality-wise I had in common with her. Passionate intensity for SURE--all my friends would second me on that one. Competitive, not as much as Lois is. Desire to make the world better--oh yes (I'm an Idealist according to the MBTI ). I ramble on and on and don't always remember to let people in on the conversation (though I'm not nearly so harsh as Lois is, just too self-absorbed). I can be extremely curious--and I just plain THINK about things no one else would bother thinking about (and wondering why they are that way). My mix of confidence and insecurity is different from hers, mainly because I haven't had the same life experiences, and the whole guy-realm is a totally different matter for me. Anyhew, just some thoughts I had on the subject. (*sighs* And above are the results of my rambling, lol.) I love that description of her, though. The one of Clark is really good too. Now, if I ever met a guy like him . . . lol. Superpowers not necessary.

Your description really does capture both the essence and the complexity of each character, Sheila. Both are paradoxical in some ways, absolute in others.

They're both courageous, for example - but at times perhaps foolishly. (Lois moreso for obvious reasons )

I'm picking up your word 'outsider' - both Lois and Clark are outsiders (at least at the beginning of the series) : he physically and she emotionally, and so both are vulnerable. And as you say each in some ways contrasts the other: she's intense and he's laid back; she's open; he's secretive.

Clark: Altruistic and compassionate outsider
Lois: Passionate and driven truth-seeker

still not 2 words though. and the Clark descriptor doesn't get at any flaw in his character either - maybe the 2 word thing can't be done because of the complexity of their characters?

wait, a minute - "Strange Visitor" ?

c.

Ooh, great question, Sheila! I'll mull it over and come back when I've got something.

Edit: While I was mulling, I wondered whether I could even do this for myself. The answer? It's hard. See if you can find two words to describe yourself...

Oh, and I've got one adjective for Clark so far: empathetic. Not sure I like it enough yet to stick with it, but it's my first stab. That said, I kind of prefer it to compassionate, because it implies (to me, at least) his great capacity to really put himself in the other person's shoes; to think like they do. Mind you, could he do that with Lex Luthor? Not sure!

Yvonne

You've presented us with a daunting task, Sheila.

I thought about it for a while and decided that limiting two characters who have taken a life of their own in my imagination to an adjective and noun each is impossible. They are fully developed characters, complex, contradictory and complete.

Therefore, I say that it's impossible to put each of them into a neat container of words. All that does is limit them.

So I will enjoy what others say, but I wont play.

gerry

I agree, gerry. The problem with doing this exercise with Lois & Clark is that it's like doing it with a real person. Yeah, Yvonne, I did try it on myself, and it's so hard because it's so limiting, and I only seem to be able to identify my good points or my bad points, but never both. But I required it of a couple of students I'm working with, so I figured I'd better make myself do it, too.

At this point, I'm kind of leaning toward "compassionate champion" for Clark--only because in the context I'm using it in, "hero" means male protagonist, not someone who is truly heroic. And I'm using champion in the older sense--not a winner, but someone who stands in the place of and fights for a person who can't defend him/herself. Think of Ivanhoe serving as a champion for Rebecca, fighting the enemy she couldn't meet in personal combat to prove her innocence. Defender of the helpless--but not St. Clark.

For Lois, I'm debating between "passionate truth-seeker" and "driven truth-seeker," the latter of which seems to hint more at Mad Dog Lane to me. However, it still misses the way she fights for the little guy (I'm thinking of that store-keeper in DLW who recognized her but didn't tell the patrolman that she was there). And both descriptions fail to indicate any of Lois's or Clark's flaws. Then again, I'm just looking for a dominant impression of each character.

BTW, I'm really glad I thought to bring this question to you guys. Your suggestions and discussions have been very helpful.