Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Fun with Polls Why do men watch L&C?

I was wondering...

I can understand why a woman would watch L&C. (I'm a woman too, after all <g>)

But why do men watch L&C?

--INSTRUCTIONS--

--This poll may be a little confusing, so read this before voting:--

You can find two questions. The first one is for the men voting, and the second one is for the women voting.

MEN:
Check your option(s) in the first question and check "I'm a man" in the second one.
Choose the reasons that apply to you, personally.

WOMEN:
Check "I'm a woman" in the first question and check your option(s) in the first one.
Choose your reasons "generally speaking".


I hope you enjoy it.
See ya soon,
AnnaBtG.

It wasn't until after I'd voted, and was looking at the results that I realized you could pick more than one option. (Even though your directions clearly say "option(s)". I guess I wasn't paying attention.)

Oh, well, it doesn't matter. I'm a woman, and I was just guessing, anyway. I would be interested in seeing what the men say (and comparing it with what the women thought they'd say!)

Interesting question.

- Vicki

I know at least one man (my husband) who watches (allegedly under duress) so he can:

1) root for Tempus.
2) laugh when Clark gives Lois a hard time. :rolleyes:
3) state that Lois is galactically stupid).
4) ooh and ah at how hot Teri was with long hair and curves.

I watched originally because I'm a big fan of Superman. I've watched a lot of incarnations, including the old George Reeves series, the Christopher Reeve movies, the Superboy series, and the Justice League cartoons on Saturday morning. Even Smallville (I sense the cringing out there). So that's why I started watching.

Why I kept watching was because of the chemistry between the two leads. I have to admit Teri's pretty easy on the eyes, though that wasn't necessarily the main ingredient in their combined chemistry. I also chose it for being funny and for the romance. The romance portion is what kept me watching all the way through as the A-plots were rarely worth it. Those got dumber as third and fourth season rolled along.

An example on how NOT to do chemistry is the Christopher Reeve movies. The first two were pretty good because they concentrated on both the Superman mythos and the relationship between Superman and Lois Lane (Back in those days, Clark Kent was the caricature, not the reality). By the time the third movie rolled around, the producers were having problems with Margot Kidder and chopped her down to a bit player. We ended up with the monstrosities that were Superman III the Un-divine Comedy (I felt like I was in Purgatory watching it), where Richard Pryor was the lead (It's nice to have humor in Superman but it shouldn't be a comedy), and Superman IV the Quest for Plot, which concentrated so much on politics as to make me ill. The only watchable moment of "IV" was when Clark surprised Lois by grabbing her and jumping off the balcony and the conversation that ensued, but even that moment ended with another brain-sucking kiss. When the DVD's came out, I bought "I" and "II". There was no way I'd buy "III" and "IV". Ugh.

Though A-plots like Dr. Mensa would have driven me insane if that's all there was, fortunately those weren't the focus so L&C remained a wonderful show to watch all through its run. A primary example is the oft-rewritten TOGOM. By itself, TOGOM has a pretty stupid A-plot. Come on, cloning gangsters? Raise your hands if you watched TOGOM for Prof. Hamilton or Al Capone (though my sister liked the episode because it had three people from Knots Landing but she isn't a FoLC). If Clark hadn't been shot, that episode would have gone completely unnoticed by fandom as just another typical episode. It was the reaction of Lois to Clark's murder and how the incident revealed her feelings for Clark that drove the popularity of that episode (ducking at all the tomatoes being thrown by those who actually liked TOGOM for the A-plot). That the relationship between L&C was made the focus of the series is why it is loved by so many FoLCs. Thank you DJL and RS, despite what the evil Eisner tried to do to you.

[EDIT] For clarification, I chose:
* I like Teri Hatcher (how does "I like Dean Cain" outvote "I like Teri Hatcher" in the men's section of voting by a 3-2 margin?)
* I'm a Superman fan
* It's funny
* It's romantic
I did not vote in the women's section, except for the checkbox for "I'm a man."

Since I am, at this time, the only voting man, you can use my answers here to filter out the votes of women in the men's question.

12 votes. 10 women, 1 man. Uh . . .

well, i'm a fan of the show as a whole. i like superman and comics in general, but more, i like clark kent (at least the show's version of him). i like the a plots. i like the writing. i like the chemistry and the humor and the romance and the fantasy.

the thing is, though, that i wouldn't have paid nearly as much attention to the show as i have if it weren't for the folcs. they're what i like best about the show. and fic. i like fic better than i ever liked the show, and i like the show more for having read the fic.

so, that's my take on it.

Paul

I'll admit it: Sometimes I could just care less about the man in red. I'm brainwashed by the fact that I think Superman really is just a caricature. Um...I'm not sure why I watch it really. I guess I just watch it for certain parts. I like the all the sports metaphor discussions in Lucky Leon. I hated the Argh in general, but I liked watching the clone be so...un-Lois. and etc etc.

Jen

Edit: Yeah, I like fic better than the show too. I mean, if we all sat down with the show in our hands, it would look something like:

Clark (sits down with coffee): Good morning, Lois.

or something. I could not read a 500Kb story like that. It takes talent to bring an ordinary script to life and then to even venture off into unknown territory and things that the script alone can't explain.

To see Teri!!!! Is there any other reason?

Ok, now serious. It's an interesting show. and IMO it gaves a different vision of Superman

Apart from that, it's funny and I think it gets funnier when you watch it several times, because you get details you haven't seen.

I can't stand a second watch of Smallville...

Jose

So far out of 21 voters, 17 women, 3 men, 1 abstention. As a guy, I'm feeling badly outnumbered here.

Well, I answered to try to improved the ratio, but you might as well get used to being outnumbered. I've been in the minority for *long* time. All in all, it's not so bad.

I'd like to say that all the time I've spent swapping bytes and bits with the wonderful women in FOLCdom have helped me gain a deeper understanding of women.

In reality, I think us men are just doomed to accept our fate and suffer.



(ducking back to my lurker status now that I've managed to stir up a bit of trouble...)

Laugh at me while I'm crying over (his words:) "just a stupid tv show."

Well, my husband watched the show before I did -- he was a Superman/comics fan from way back... but once it was off the air, his interest waned. If it hadn't been for FOLCs and fanfic, I'm sure I'd have wandered off years ago, as well. But once I'd made so many good friends and sampled the fabulous array of fic... well, I was hooked all over again

PJ

Well, I must identify with ethnica <g>. My long-suffering brother <well - that's what he calls himself - *I* say he's privileged > watches it entirely to

1). Laugh at Dean for wearing tights.
2). Groan and make stupid noises during WAFFy scenes.
3). State that Lois must have been 'pretty darn stupid' <or words to that effect > not to figure it out straight away.
4). Make sarcastic comments at the villian's lines.
5). Jeer at me for liking a ***BLANK*** show like L&C.

He has various other viewpoints as well, but posting them would not only go over the PG13 limit, it would also earn me a lot of dirty looks, cold shoulders and general disruption of my reputation as a staunch upholder of the merits of this show

Sara

I just like the oriental-causcasion mixes.

And to over those grorgious biceps and six-packs.

I must admit that I am a hopeless romantic at heart.

As many of you know, Elisabeth and I would watch the show as our weekly 'date' when we were married and broke.


James

Not "just." You're able to select as many options as you want. The poll didn't allow us to register a weighting for each choice or reasons why. Even though I selected Teri as one of my options, that selection was not the major reason, nor was her appearance the main reason I made that selection (not that she isn't very attractive). Her chemistry with Dean was amazing. It's hard to believe another actress could mesh with Dean as well as she did. I also think she is a better actor than Dean. <ducking thrown tomatoes>

The main reason for me was the romance aspect, just as it was with you. But without the ability to weight our choices, the poll gives the appearance that all choices are measured equally.

Of course, I'm a guy, so I can't speak for the women who answered. But I can explain why I made the choices as a man.

Don't worry about tomatos, Roger, it's been pretty well accepted that Teri was the better actor -- though Dean did improve as he gained experience.

And from talking to various guys through the years, I was pretty sure that the romance was the number 1 reason most guys watched -- or if not of all the guys who watched the show, certainly of the guys who stuck around in fandom!

However, you can't tell me you didn't like that title shot of Teri coming head-first down the coal chute.

PJ

I certainly wouldn't object to it. Seriously, though, it wasn't that revealing. I actually preferred the title shots of the two of them coming through the clouds and the one with the moon backdrop.

Sigh. Love the kisses better.

Hmm...
I use to think that men are as romantic as women, but they don't want to show it. But male FoLCs have two reasons to show it.

1) They are surrounded by WAFFy stories (lol)

and

2) They are surrounded by women who like WAFFy stories (lol, too)!

But, as you can see, we female FoLCs have misjudged them.

(And they say that women are difficult to understand!!)

Anyway.
See ya all and thanks for replying to my poll.
AnnaBtG.