Smallville rant (pre-review of 8.04)

[bop_radar]

Ok, guys. Unpopular (and unexpected) fannish opinion warning on this one, but I need to get it out there. I've realised what is bugging me about this season. And it's kind of huge. This is in response to 8.04 so may be spoilery, but I'm going to review 8.04 separately because I have other stuff to say about it. It's the Clois. I hate it. It's now become clear that it's not just some errant bad writing--they are deliberately characterising Lois as having (strong) feelings for Clark.

WHY?! Since WHEN?!

I've racked my brains and I don't understand it. Until now there has been attraction there, sure, but it's been very firmly repressed/buried and it's been something that is subtle and nuanced and all the sweeter for that. They've been able to play moments where Lois has softened a little towards Clark and then quickly shut down on him again in comedic fashion. There's no more of that. In this episode, she pretty much had an entire monologue where she admitted to herself that she had very strong feelings for him but was fighting them.

No. Sorry. That's not my Lois.

Here's why:
1. It breaks canon. It's way, WAY too early! And also Lois does not fall in love with Clark first: she falls for SUPERMAN. (ETA: deleted because it's not really my main gripe for reasons made clear in the comments.)
2. It's this season's writers imposing a view of Lois on the character that has not arisen organically. I can't think of one plausible reason why Lois has suddenly got this level of jealousy about Clark. She falls for heroes, damn it! And she has never seen Clark as one. It makes no sense.
3. It changes the Lois and Clark dynamic--what I love about that dynamic is Clark pining and Lois being kickass and oblivious. This is flipping that around and I'm being selfish here: that doesn't float my boat.
4. It's not even internally consistent within this season--last episode she had some amazing scenes with Oliver and worked through her emotions about their break-up. She's growing and beginning to consider that she may have been too hasty in her feelings there. She may be able to consider dating a hero in the future... That's great! And then suddenly she's lusting after Clark. Um... Weird connection there because--and I point this out again, because it's important--she does not view Clark as a hero.
5. Even more tragically, they are defining Lois solely through her romantic plot this season. So far she has no other plot. Sure, she's a reporter but now that plot is all about Clark and his entry at the Daily Planet (and their ongoing flirtations). I really want to believe they will give her her own arc that's separate from that, but I'm not sure... the closest we got to it was having her scenes with Oliver last season which so far are my favourite Lois scenes in season 8. Coincidence? I think not.
6. There's an accompanying issue that we saw in 8.02, which I'll call the 'Lois and Clark' effect: it's the tendency to tear Lois down or make her look like a ditz or an idiot for comic effect and so that Clark can sigh wryly and with superiority and we can all remember who's really great. It's the main reason that while I loved that show as a teenager, I cannot swallow it now. Tearing down strong women = not cool in the naughties. Not cool and NOT HOT. And on SV, doubly unnecessary because Clark is already great, already fully defined in his own world.

Sigh. MEGA-SIGH.

They just took my ship and changed the entire dynamic on it's head. They took my favourite character and rewrote her. I am feeling a MASSIVE disconnect with Lois now... I switch in and out of her depending on how heavily Clois-y the scene is. Not Clois-y at all? GREAT. Somewhat Clois-y? Hmm. Very Clois-y? I got nothin'. It is SO WEIRD. It's a total reversal for me from previous seasons.

This is my one great ship of all time, people! It's the one thing I thought Season 8 might be good for. Why is it being taken away from me?! *weeps*

I know I may be pretty alone in this opinion--my liking of Clois is about a very specific dynamic that I know is not everyone's cup of tea, and I respect that. I am sure there will be people who will like the Clois this season more than ever before because it more closely correlates with a dynamic they like. I am sure there are counterarguments to the case I've put here... and I'm happy for those of you who disagree with me and are finding it either not a problem or actively enjoyable. That's awesome. You rock on. But it doesn't work for me and I need to face that because I think it's an overall direction that will remain consistent this season and it's going to irk me.

But fear not! I have other things which are delighting me no end and actually greatly enjoyed this episode... so my next post will be more interesting positive.

Comments

part I

[latxcvi.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry that you're not getting the dynamic you were hoping for and I'm sympathetic to your frustrations about that. Personally, I prefer Lois Falls For Clark First to Lois Falls For Superman First because I like the idea of her falling for the actual guy rather than his persona (and that ties in to the fact that I always hated the trope that Superman was the real guy and Clark Kent was just a mask; to me it always seemed like such a ... reductive way of looking at the character). So yeah, I guess it all comes down to personal preference regarding the dynamic. The only thing I really need is that it be mutual; if Lois is realizing she's got deeper feelings for Clark, then I need the same thing to be happening on his side of the equation.

I wouldn't even think of trying to talk you out of how you feel -- what makes a 'ship work for people is often as individual a thing as fingerprints -- but I do disagree, somewhat, with a couple of your arguments.

1. It breaks canon.

This is problematic because if one is really going to go there, then Lois shouldn't be in Smallville at all. Neither should Oliver. There's never been any non-AU version of the uber-canon where Clark knew Lois before his first day at the Daily Planet or where he knew the Green Arrow before Clark became Superman. For that matter, it's only in the Silver Age Superboy line of comics that Clark and Lex knew one another and were friends before they were enemies. SV has played so fast and loose with many aspects of the canon already that I do think it's hard to single anything out -- other than Clark doesn't become Superman, Lex doesn't become a villain -- and say it's impermissible because it violates canon.

I can't think of one plausible reason why Lois has suddenly got this level of jealousy about Clark.

I read her OTT reaction as being precisely because she was surprised to find herself feeling proprietary about seeing Clark with Maxima. She didn't expect that out of herself, which suggests to me that what she feels was buried deep and she was taken aback when it bubbled to the surface. Even as she's talking to Maxima, she's denying that she feels anything. It's Maxima who insists there's something deeper there.

She falls for heroes, damn it! And she has never seen Clark as one.

I would argue that Lois falls for honorable men. She didn't know AC had any kind of powers when she dallied with him; she just knew that he had certain ideals about how the world should be that she found admirable. She fell for Oliver before she ever knew he was the Green Arrow and in fact, when she suspected him of being GA in Hydro, she was actually upset about it precisely because she didn't agree with GA's style of vigilantism. By my lights, she was crying about it to Clark because she thought she'd discovered that the honorable man she loved was really the sketchy vigilante whose moral compass didn't quite align with hers. She was upset because she wasn't quite sure she could reconcile the two. At the end of the day, she came to think better of GA because she thinks Oliver is an honorable man and that made it easier for her to give his actions as GA the benefit of the doubt that they were being done with good intentions.

It's SV canon that Lois already thinks Clark is an honorable young man (Reckoning).

Re: part I

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

Personally, I prefer Lois Falls For Clark First to Lois Falls For Superman First because I like the idea of her falling for the actual guy rather than his persona
Yup! On balanced reflection me too. And I've just struck out that part of my complaint for that reason. And also because it's been well pointed out that SV is more consistent with post-Crisis comics canon.

what makes a 'ship work for people is often as individual a thing as fingerprints
Yeah, ultimately that's the problem. It doesn't work so well for me now and I'm not really attached to this post as meta--it's more just a record of my personal resignation about the dynamic flipping away from what I personally prefer.

She didn't expect that out of herself, which suggests to me that what she feels was buried deep and she was taken aback when it bubbled to the surface.
Paid. But I found the whole thing massively overwritten. If it had been more restrained I could have rolled with it, but the strength of Lois's reaction (she screamed and tapped at his chest and stormed off!) seems to me like she couldn't really remain oblivious to her reaction and its implications. Yes, she protests against it to Maxima but Lois ain't dumb. She knows what that kind of over-the-top behaviour means and she may not like it but she just realised she has feelings for Clark. I think that showed in their final scene too where she very carefully avoided telling Clark what Maxima said. Once upon a time Lois would have blurted that out to him and been all 'HAAAA! Isn't that funny!' Now it's too close to the truth for her to voice.

she was crying about it to Clark because she thought she'd discovered that the honorable man she loved was really the sketchy vigilante whose moral compass didn't quite align with hers
That's not quite my reading of that scene, but I agree that it's well established that Lois likes honorable men. And she does think of Lois as one--she has gone so far as to say she'd be lucky to end up with someone like him one day. But before that did not mean she was actively interested in him, it just meant that she recognised in him qualities she appreciated.

Re: part I

[latxcvi.livejournal.com]

On balanced reflection me too.

I just saw your comment above where you say that what you really need(ed) is for Clark to fall for Lois first and you know what? I'll admit that I've had a little twinge of resistance to her doing the falling first, too. Like, I can go with it if that's how they're playing it because I think he's going to be right on her heels -- i.e., I don't think it's going to be unilateral or unrequited at all; um, I also think it's going to take forever for either of them to say anything to the other, but that's a post for another day -- but there's a small part of me that wants him to go ass over tea kettle first. I think ... I think I like the idea of having the fact that Lois Is Really Awesome validated through Clark going ga-ga over her.

Re: part I

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

Yes! Yes, that's it! *clings* That is the heart of my complaint--I probably tried a little too hard to 'legitimise' it, but really it's just personal preference. I want ga-ga Clark! :D Because it validates Lois but also because he's so cute when he's smitten.