As a comic book reader, I approach any Superman TV show or movie expecting everyone there to look pretty much like their comic book counterparts. For example, I've known since I was twelve years old that Superman has blue eyes, so it took me a very long time to accept the frequent mentions of Superman's
brown eyes in fanfiction. I did not, on the other hand, ever have a problem with Dean Cain's brown eyes in the TV series. It was just that the stories "rubbed it in" that Superman's (and Clark's) eyes were the "wrong" color, and that bothered me. (But I have accepted the brown eyes now, at least in the world of Lois and Clark.
)
Because I always expect Superman and his supporting cast of characters to look like their comic book counterparts, this is what I expect them to look like:
Superman: Black spitcurl, blue eyes.
Clark Kent: Dark hair combed back, glasses.
Lois Lane: Dark hair, preferably cut in a page. Blue or even violet(!) eyes.
Jimmy Olsen: Red hair, blue or green eyes, freckles.
Perry White: Balding, salt-and-pepper hair, brown eyes, sixty-ish, stern-looking. (But after seeing Lane Smith, no one can possibly top his Perry in my eyes.)
Cat Grant: Long, voluminous, very blond hair, generally voluptuous.
Lucy Lane: Straight, probably shoulder-length blond hair, somewhat innocent-looking.
Lana Lang: Red shoulder-length hair, green eyes.
Because I think of these people this way, I have a real problem with a Cat Grant or a Lucy Lane who hasn't got blond hair, or a Lana Lang or a Jimmy Olsen who aren't redheads. Similarly, I had - and still have - a real problem with Dean Cain's Superman hair style. It was too severe, too slicked back, and, during the third and fourth seasons, too short. On the other hand, Dean's Clark Kent always looked splendid. Heck, Dean's Clark was splendid in every way, as we all know!
(What about Brandon Routh's Superman? Face, hair and eyes look just great, but his suit looks wrong. Routh's Clark looks... okay, but no Dean Cain!!!)
Teri Hatcher's Lois... now she was
perfect. You remember that promotional picture of Dean and Teri, where Teri stands behind Dean and opens his shirt, revealing his "S" shield? Here, Dean's got the right Superman hair style, and Teri looks... amazing. What a Lois she was!!!! Her looks, her personality, her acting ability...wow. Oh, wow. How lucky we are that Dean Cain gave us his Clark Kent and Teri gave us her Lois. (What about Teri's hair? I liked her hair whether it was long or short, except when it looked like it had been cut short and she was unsuccessfully trying to grow it back. And what about Kate Bosworth's Lois? I haven't seen the movie yet, it hasn't opened here, but I do know that she doesn't look like Lois to me. That baby face of hers.... No.)
What about Jimmy? I remember that there was a guy in the Christopher Reeve movies who looked just like Jimmy to me, but that boy made no impression on me at all. The stills I have seen of SR's Jimmy make me anything but impressed. So what about LNC's two Jimmys?
Neither Michael Landis nor Justin Whalin looked like Jimmy to me, but Justin definitely looked "less wrong" for the part than Michael. (I just can't imagine Jimmy with dark hair.) Also, Justin had a very charming and innocent sort of "Jimmy personality". He didn't look like Jimmy, but he felt like Jimmy, and that was more than good enough for me!
Ann
