Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Fanfic Related Clark Kent-fatalist?

I've been thinking about L&C and various fanfics I have read and it seems that Clark is very much a fatalist. He seems convinced at times that there is nothing he can do. When push comes to shove, he'll eventually do something, but he hesitates and stops himself when earlier intervention would have been more appropriate.
For example, with Dr. Deter, Clark went along with everything up to the point that Lois announced that she was going to France with Deter. It never should have gotten to that point.
With Dan Scardino as well, Clark seemed to have a very fatalistic attitude. He didn't fight for Lois. in the end it was her decision to break up with Dan and confront Clark. Shouldn't he have been more pro-active in their relationship then?
I see this all through fanfic as well, Clark is not a pro-active kind of guy. He seems to let things slide to the point that it is almost too late, and then takes action.

What is the origin of this attitude? Why is Clark this way?

I could see this as an interesting "younger years" explanation--how he developed this attitude. Or I could see it as a fanfic where he finally gets over this tendency.

Thoughts? Anyone know any stories that address this aspect of Clark's personality?

Why didn't you post this under "fanfic challenge"? It certainly reads like one.

I agree, and I believe it is a combination of two things:

1) Clark was taught to be polite and sometimes he doesn't realize that there are times when you have to forget your manners and do what needs to be done.

2) Clark was also taught to hide his powers, his strength. His parents meant in a physical way, but I think that eventually he got in the habit of hiding his strength of mind as well.

When you are taught something so consistently from such an early age, it becomes a permanent part of your psyche. So it's Martha and Jonathan's fault.

(Of course, it really the fault of TPTB on the show, because they wanted to ratchet up the tension to keep viewers.)

Another good example of him not being assertive enough was when Lois/Wanda convinced him that she wanted to go with Lex. Yeah, right! Clark should have bodily removed her from the scene. There would have been some nasty consequences but nothing could be as bad as letting her go with Lex.

I'm not so sure that it's because he feels there's nothing he can do so much as he worries about imposing in the lives of others. In the case of Dan Scardino, what could he do? Lois was justified in looking for a new boyfriend since he was constantly running off and he refused to be truthful with her about why that was. If he could have been truthful, or at least *there* for Lois she never would have given Dan the time of day.

When it comes to Dr. Deter, that was just poor writing on the show's part. That entire clone/amnesia arc was ghastly and out-of-character for him (IMHO). Even if he did believe that Lois suddenly loved Lex why was he willing to let Lex just drive away with her? He was an escaped convict! That's not fatalism, that's inconsistent writing. Same thing with Dr. Deter. Clark should have insisted that she get a second opinion.

Funnily enough, they completely lost me instead.

Yes, I was going to write "and instead they just pissed us off" but I was having a moment of temporary politeness.

When it comes to snarking? Always go with your first impulse. :p And that should go double for Clark.

Oh Sue... I love it when you play devil's advocate (Dan)...

So I'll pop up and weakly play devil's advocate with the clone arc...

It is not by any means my favorite part of the series, however there are parts of it that I do like... now... not when it originally aired, mind you...

So how bout this for some lame, weak, excuses in support of what happened in the clone arc?

With Deter... he was supposed to be the very best of the best, he had won awards, written books, was highly esteemed. And everyone, including Perry, seemed to trust him. Plus, Clark knew that he had a tendency to get jealous where Lois was concerned when any other men were close to her... not to mention closer at that moment than he was. So maybe he didn't intervene because he thought he was misreading things due to jealousy. Also, I feel like he was probably pretty desperate by this point to have *his* Lois back safe and sound, and Deter had said there was a chance that she might not come out of this. He couldn't even bring himself to *think* about that possibility. In fact, when Jimmy mentioned that possibility, he snapped at Jimmy a little, which is normally out of character for Clark, but totally believable in context.

Okay, now for letting Lois drive off with Lex, even I have a hard time playing Devil's Advocate on this one, but I'll just suffice it to say that Lois's whole speech about how she never loved him and wanted to go with Lex, blah, blah, blah... probably totally caught him off guard, and hit him like a sledgehammer to the chest.

He had been through a lot over the past few days, married to a clone... a clone who almost killed Lois... and all he wanted was Lois back, safe and sound, and then she blindsides him, telling him that she doesn't want to marry him and she's been hiding out from him.

All I can say is that Clark looked stunned... didn't even look like he was fully functional, after she said that. He obviously wasn't thinking clearly... and in the next episode even says as much "I let her drive off with him... I'm an idiot!"

Hee hee hee. Okay, enough playing Devil's Advocate. I'd like to see someone take up this challenge...

-- MR

You know what challenge I'd like to see written? Clark actually bodily removing Lois/Wanda when she tells him she doesn't love him. As much as I don't like the clone arc, I'd love to see a story written solving it before it went too far. Any takers?

~Kristen

I think Sue should write it.

Yep, I'm with Lisa on that.

hehehe!

Here here...

Well, there you go, Sue. Add another story to the growing list we already discussed earlier...

I told you, you're gonna wake up old and gray one day and wonder where the time went... hee hee.

<What do you mean I am too? I have no idea *what* you're talking about >

-- DJ

It’s about the modern interpretation of Superman, originally Superman did good because it was the good thing to do. Possible his goodness was the manifest of the superior Kryptonian civilisation.

In the 1990thies with the revamp the writers tried to add some depth to him and the reasons behind his lawful good outlook. In this incarnation Superman greatest fear is that he would be corrupted by his unrestrained power. He therefore makes it a point of submitting to authority, helping him to feel a restraint on his actions. At same time he don’t need to eat, sleep cannot get sick or hurt and can excel in anything he puts his attention to, this makes him hesitant to judge humans. Since he can reshape the world pretty much to his will, he lives within his own mind as much as he does in the reality of society, struggling with the differences between the right answer and the practical one.

Here is the fatalism you are talking about, why he so hesitant to see too his own needs. The more tempting it is to use powers to make his dreams come through, the scarier it would be. And Lois has touched him deeply, at the same time everything is up to him, if he make it so, nothing on earth could stop him from spending the rest of his life with Lois.
That is why it so important that Lois comes to him of her own will without Clark stacking the deck in his favour. He might also have felt relief to get away from her when she have such a powerful grip over his emotions.


And Deter was mostly poor writing. It’s amazing that those scenes that has the greatest dramatic potential, like the revelation and marriage were so poorly handled.

Excellent point, and one I wish I had thought of.

In the case of Wanda/Lois leaving with Lex, if Clark forced her removal from the scene (which doesn't necessarily equal Clark getting to "keep" her), her reaction and his guilt would all be part of the "nasty consequences" I referred to above.

I think a good writer (coughSuecough) could write a really rich story about this event, especially if they draw on the angle that Arawn talked about.

Well, not sure if it's exactly what you're looking for, but I did write something along those lines, many many years ago. It's very small so I haven't even put it on the archive. But it's my (hopefully) improved version of the Double Jeopardy ending

PJ

Oooh, Pam! I just went and read that story (and the other story - rewrite of Forget Me Not that you could link to from there).

Ohhhh, I LOVED it!

Wonderful.

Why didn't you ever put it in the archive? You really should. 'Didn't your mother teach you it's rude not to share?'

-- MR

Thanks, MJ It was just a tiny thing, and it seemed a waste of people's time for me to archive it... but I'm glad you liked it.

PJ

And this attitude isn't just manifest in Clark's relationship with Lois! Let's not forget that LOIS was the only one to fight to find out that Superman (and therefore, Clark) was not responsible for the heat wave in The Man of Steel Bars. Clark was all ready to give up, giving off MAJOR "what's the point?" vibes the whole episode.

Edited to add: This is TOTALLY irrelevant, but I just saw that I've passed the Pulitzer, 300-posts mark by TEN, and hadn't even noticed! WOOHOO!

I seem to recall telling Pam something like this years ago. Not just about this fic, but I believe there are several others as well that are not on the archive. Tsk!

Not everyone finds the fandom through that old website of yours, Pam. Have pity on them!

Yes, several, but they're *odd*! <g> I mean, there's the one that's the sequel to a round-robin that was a prequel to an episode... and a couple of little revenge fics, from during the non-wedding ARRRGH.

Though that's what I said about the printer story, too, and it ended up nominated for a Kerth so maybe I should reconsider...

PJ

Definitely, Pam - send them ALL to the Archive.

And Tracey's Shadows of the Mind also puts a more assertive Clark in the scene at the end of Double Jeopardy.