Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Superman Related Man of Steel, relationships issues (spoilers)

OK, I tried to name this thread so people who don't want to know too much about Man of Steel will not be told the big issue.

So here is the question. How do people feel about Lois learning so quickly that Clark Kent is a super-powered alien?

I have to admit I was about it. We have seen the love triangle done to death, the Superman using every trick in the book to hide his identity from Lois done to death. So I am really glad she found out.

The fact that he is able to pull the wool over Lois's eyes always seemed too much. Especially in Lois and Clark where he kisses and caresses Lois in both guises, and is not only her co-worker, but her work partner, best friend, and boy friend before she realizes.

I am perfectly OK with Superman doing all sorts of tricks and such to keep up a dual-identity, but he needs a core base of supporters who know who he really is.

I am glad they let Lois know. The Memory wipe kiss was just a horrible idea, especially how it was Used in Superman 4. That was creepy and disturbing.

It will avoid the whole "Lois attempts to prove Clark is Superman" angle they did for years in the comics, but I think that has been done to death, and it prevents the Lois and Clark relationship from progressing at all.

I do at some level like how in Lois and Clark, Lois choses Clark over Superman, but it is in many ways a false choice. So false in fact he nearly leaves because he misunderstands what is going on.

Another problem with Lois not knowing, is that it makes all claims that Lois is a top notch investigative reporter suspect. I guess maybe the idea was to tell us "this disguise is so good that even the best reporter in the world can't see through it", but it is a lot easier to show that Lois is a good reporter if she sees through it.

I am also really about it, because it means Lois and Clark's relationship is likely to progress. Her not knowing is always a major stumbling block to them become really deep friends. Beyond that, the longer Clark does not tell her, the more hurt she will be when she fiends out.

I did come across someone claiming that Lois Lane is "objectified" in Man of Steel. While I would agree they could have given her more of a role, I thought they did a good job of giving her a pretty big role.

I mean, she does figure out that Clark Kent is Superman. She proactively makes the decision not to reveal his secret. I think we could have seen more of Clark and Lois talking and less of the flashbacks, but Lois clearly makes decisions there.

She very much plays a role in recuing him from the spaceship, and is one of the key people in figuring out what to do against the world engine. While it is true that she gets saved by Superman on at least three occasions, she does seem to do as much as possible to save herself.

I second that. Just how many times did he pull that on her, anyway? The implications are frightening.

I don't think that Lois was objectified. She was shown as an intelligent, driven woman. Of course Superman saved her a few times; it's what he does. It's also what she does. Lois goes to great lengths not only to get a good story, but also to fight the bad guys, and she is willing to put herself in dangerous situations to do so.

I like that Lois knows that CK=SM. What bothers me is that all of Smallville knows as well. A few too many overtly super things happened to Clark for his friends and acquaintances not to have figured it out. Besides him never wearing glasses until he's in the elevator on the way up to the newsroom. Why didn't he put his glasses on when he got dressed that morning?

I like the idea of Clark starting to wear glasses when he's around ten or so. He could wear them to remind himself not to use his powers, to actively prevent him from using his x-ray vision or burning stuff down with his heat vision on accident, or even just to appear more physically average. Then, when he uses his glasses as part of his disguise, no one will connect him to the teenager or twenty-something who looked exactly like Superman.

I was also bothered by Lois and Superman's kiss in the movie. There were several times where i was happily anticipating it and it didn't happen, but it really fell flat for me when they finally did kiss. They were standing in massive devastation with massive casualties all around, and there were witnesses. How was that a romantic moment for them? It just felt off. Besides which, it creates massive potential problems for them when she's suddenly dating the new guy at work whom she "just met." They'll have to be careful with how their relationship goes public.

This sounds like the result of a cut scene that maybe I should turn into a fan fic and post somewhere.

Clark and Lois are discussing his upcoming plan to get a job at the Daily Planet. (Obviously Lois knows Clark is going to apply for the job, she is not at all surprised to see him).

Lois:Clark, I think you need to try to protect your identity. It was a little to easy for me to figure it out.

Clark:Can I help you are the best investigative reporter there is?

Lois:Flatter will get you no where.

She kisses him, so he is left with mixed messages.

Lois:Well, OK, maybe my finding out is not the point, but everyone in Smallville knows.

Clark:Mainly just Pete and a few others. OK, Lana does too, but others have doubts.

Lois:Had doubts. Now they know there are super-powered beings.

Clark:Well, what can I do about it, it's not like I can kiss them to make them forget, not that I would want to kiss Lana, just you Lois.

Lois:OK, so maybe we can't do anything about people in Smallville knowing. But we sure better do something about people in Metropolis knowing. If you were some glasses maybe you would not look like Superman all the time.

Clark:Are you sure it will work.

Lois:Or you could put on this wig.

She pulls out a slightly hideous red wig.

Clark:I'd rather wear the glasses.

Lois:See, that wasn't hard.

For what it's worth, Wikipedia says that "over the next several weeks" Lois tracks down Clark after they first meet in the artic. I would not put much value on that line though, since there are no sources related to Man of Steel listed for the article. So it appears that line is based primarily on direct interpreting the film.

The biggest reason I want to re-watch the film is because I want to figure out when Lois and Clark first met. Is it really when he saves her from her wound, or did she first meet him as she was coming into the base?

Clark's the one who helps Lois's luggage off the helicopter as she arrives at the base. One of those faceless worker bees nobody notices, except us. They didn't "meet" per se, but they kind of passed through the same frame (film wise). He first saw her there. She first saw him along the cliff face. They didn't speak to one another, until he saved her from the security robot, and then healed her wound. They didn't "meet" (know each other's name) until Jonathan Kent's grave.

Or just watch the Masquerade episode of Smallville.

Here's the scene where Clark tells Lois about his idea to wear glasses:

Smallville, Masquerade -- glasses scene

But I still enjoyed your minific, John!

I was slightly surprised to see some people respond to mention of Lois knowing CK=SM as a break-through by saying "she knows in Smallville". My first reactions was "she doesn't know in Smallville at first", but after watching that clip it is clear that there is the similarity that Lois knows in Smallville before the Superhero becomes public.

I think though what it the break is not that Lois figures out, she has done that before in Lois and Clark and Smallville and even Superman II, but that she figures out without going through the phase of loving the hero and rejecting the man.

I have read some places where people seem to think the worst possible decisions was to cast a non-brunette as Lois Lane. I have to admit I complained about it before seeing the film, but I am now not sure why. Why do we care what her hair color is?

This has lead me to an interesting observation. In Superman:The Animated Series and Smallville, Lois was an army brat (I am not sure if that was the case elsewhere, but I have the impression it was true in the later comics, probably from the 1980s forward if not sooner). Well, Amy Adams is really an army brat. She was born in Italy because her father was stationed there with the US army. I guess people obsess more about physical features than actor background, but there are some roles that if you cast someone in them who is not actually that (such as a role of a deaf person), people will be up in arms about it, so why can't we give them points for casting an army brat in an army brat role. I guess since they never say Lois is an army brat, they really don't get points.

In fact, Lois almost acts more as soldier than reporter. Am I remembering right that she mentions when we first see her about having been embedded with an army unit, or is that what one of he other people says to her?

In doing some internet searching I found a few headlines from back in February where apparently a faux diamond wedding ring was among the Lois Lane prop items from "Man of Steel" auctioned off.

This mainly tells me pay no attention to spoilers, because some people were all like "this means Superman will be a home-wrecker". How they got that from the item is hard to say.

I half wonder if someone planted this just to drive up speculation. The other possibility is that they already shot parts of MoS2, but I still hold to the theory someone was messing with our the minds of the public to drive publicity.