Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Off Topic Secret Identity trends with Super heroes

Is it me or have things changed regarding secret identities? I've never read comics but I was a big fan of Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman while growing up in the 70s. No one ever knew their secret identity, only a trusted few. And if some one did find out, it was a huge deal. I was floored when Lois learned Clark was Superman in "Superman 2". Up to that point, it just hadn't been done.

Fast forward to the 90s. Instead of being isolated only with her watcher, Buffy Summers has friends who help her. Half the town came to know her powers. Both recent incarnations of Spider Man (2000s) let Peter Parker have the girl. And in the CW "Arrow", the team keeps growing and growing. People keep finding out that Oliver is the Arrow but the revelation is subdued.

So if there was a new TV version of Superman, would Perry and Jimmy be part of the team?

I completely agree. Today's world, mostly today's youth, is all about telling everyone everything that's going on in their lives, whether people want to know about it or not. The important concept of keeping something secret for someone's safety has gone out the window. I'm in S9 of Smallville, and it seems everyone in Metropolis (with the exception of Lois who CAN'T know -- heaven forbid! ) knows Clark's secret. When she finds out, I hope he's lost his powers temporarily due to green K exposure, so she can slug him good and hard.

Could be. I know that these days, I get really frustrated/irked with shows that keep the secret and am really pleased when others are brought into the team instead. I think the main reason I'm currently enjoying shows like Arrow, Beauty & the Beast and Sleepy Hollow is that they didn't take that route. Conversely, although I've greatly enjoyed the first two seasons of Grimm, I got very bored, very quickly of the whole Juliette doesn't remember/know thread in S2.

I guess as far as keeping the secret goes, I've been there, done that. Now things are much more interesting if the hero/power couple has a support team around.

LabRat

I never really noticed this trend before - interesting! I really love that Buffy had a team, but I didn't want everyone to know. I like the secrecy and think it's important to the character and identity of the hero... then again, I don't like the forced "OMG Lois/Juliette/etc. hasn't figured it out yet??" thing.

And I definitely didn't like... (bear with me, I'm going to try out this SPOILER feature even though this probably doesn't count as a true spoiler anymore...)

Sara

Well, about MOS, Lois tracked just Clark Kent, because up to that point there was no Superman.

I would guess it goes along with the trend of making the superheroes more vulnerable, which means they need the help of others. I tend to like that sort of a story, but ONLY after the hero has tried to go it alone, and then only with very close, trusted people. There has to be somewhat of a balance there.

Of, course, then there's the Tony Stark model - "Aw, screw it. Yeah, I'm Iron Man, isn't that AWESOME!!!" I have to admit, that was hilarious in the first IM movie.

Virginia, you have an interesting point about how there's very little secrecy in our lives today to start with, so it makes sense to be reflected in fiction.

I noticed the "no Secrets" trend as well, especially with (pardon the politics for a moment) Edward Snowden releasing things that other figures don't want to have released whatsoever. It's a similar quandry, how much to reveal and how much to conceal. It seems like there's a move towards MORE knowledge and that includes secrets about one-self.

We live in an era where it's acceptable to put every detail of your life on Facebook/Twitter/etc., so it makes sense that pop culture would reflect that.

This is why it's even more important to keep one's secret identity secret, and even more difficult.

As soon as I saw the title of this thread, I had to jump in on Smallville. I love Smallville, but the fact that EVERYONE knows that Clark is "The Blur" was a constant annoyance while I was watching the series.

I like the way that Love & Capes approaches it. Either you have a secret personal identity or you have none at all. Amazonia (the Wonder Woman character) does this very effectively in Love & Capes, but it would not be right for Clark.

Secret identities only work if they are secret.

Bob

First chance to hop on the boards (and comment) with the new look, so I hope I'm doing this right....

I agree that that's the trend, and although social media might have something to do with that, I think it's less about telling everyone everything and more about the ratings. I mean, think about how action movies in general have changed over the years. It used to be a fight scene would make an action movie, and now if an action film doesn't end with a semi-apocalyptic wasteland then it's disappointing to the fans. Our level of shock factor has increased over the years, therefore more shark-jumping needs to be done to keep audiences on their toes. That's why the reveal is always a good bit-- it's a secret identity, no one should know about it, so when someone does actually find out, the audience doesn't expect it. The same, of course, goes for the opposite though, because when everybody kinda knows, it's just cheesy. Which is also the screw-it-I'm-Ironman bit worked too, because no one expected it still. It's all about pulling one over on your audience as long as you can.

Just my two cents. :p

I have to agree that it sucks when the whole town knows about the secret. That wouldn't work for me either. Unlike some fans, I NEVER wanted the secret revealed to the world in Stargate SG1, for example. That would have ruined it for me.

A small, select group of close friends or colleagues though or bringing in former nemesis so they don't ruin things by constantly chasing you or getting in your way unnecessarily - like, say, Person of Interest - that's what works best for me.

LabRat

I've noticed this new trend as well, and I like it a lot. One of the things that made the first few episodes of season three of "Lois and Clark" so exciting to me was that having someone in on Superman's secret without things being reset at the end of the episode felt so fresh and different from what had come before in other versions Superman. I'm glad to see that the trend has continued for other shows and movies. I think it opens up for more story possibilities when you have a couple of characters in the know about the superhero's secret identity, not to mention that it probably makes the writer's job a little easier since it allows for the hero to have someone to work with instead of being alone to fight the villain of the story.

In some ways a secret needs a good support team. In Clark's case it's always been the Kents and (sometimes) Lois (at least part-time.) It's one of the things that I think the new52 is lacking (to detrimental effect).