*pats the thinky one* I'm so charmed that you think of me during the eps--with the fireplace and Clark's space and all!
Lex rejecting his experience by telling Lana his mother was proud That's a very interesting point to raise! Because I do think there was an element of self-denial in lying to her. Yes, the lie was calculated, but I don't think it was just about Lana. If he'd really wanted to confront the horror of his vision and deal with what it might mean, sharing it with someone would have been a good step. But he's not going to do that--to me that implies that it will continue to have subconscious power over him, even if he tries to reject its message. I'd love to read a ficionalisation of Lex's pov in that scene--I can imagine that he would be both horrified and fascinated by the vision.
Lana really could probably have touched her parents if she'd wanted to Again, Becky, this is a great insight--I think you are right that her parents appear 'untoucheable'. She did seem very awed by them, almost standoffishly so. She didn't rush into their arms, despite her desparate longing for them. It's quite tragic, and perhaps suggests that Lana's parents exist more purely as concept than real figures. Actually, comparing the three visions, Clark has the most physical contact with his parent, and that fits the idea that he lost his father most recently so it's appropriate that to him his father is still a fully-fleshed, warm, 'real' person. Lillian is somewhere in between--both concept and real (as Lex remembers her quite vividly).
Re. Visions versus Afterlife Yes, there is much debate on this at the moment--above, rumpuso mentioned that someone had suggested that the shadowy setting for Lillian versus the light for Jonathan implied Lillian was in Hell and J in Heaven. That literal reading didn't come spontaneously to me, and my personal view is that the writers have left it deliberately ambiguous whether the visions are A) real visitations from the Afterlife or B) manifestations of the characters' subconscious. I think it's interesting that even without real visions, absent (dead) parents have always played an important role in SV. And there's always been that blurry line between to what degree they are iconic (eg Lana's necklace was always a pretty empty symbol--it doesn't lead anywhere, it's pure memento), and to what degree they still exert 'real' influence over the character (eg Lex having access to Lillian's money was an important plotpoint). So I guess now the dual role of the absent parent as Icon and Real Person is made manifest in these visions. Long way of saying--yes, I think it's good to look at both sides, though I personally tend to explore their role as manifestation of subconscious.
Re. The Theology of Smallville Interesting! It's amazing to me that they have kept God out of it for so long, actually. There's a lot of pseudo-religious imagery in SV, but they never have any references to church-going or to God per se. However an Afterlife would imply a God, right? It's a tricky thing because Clark himself is a God-like figure. So he poses problems for conventional theology. I don't know the comic canon on this either? Is Superman's world a Christian one? Someone else might have to answer this one I think...
does Lex see his future in Hourglass? No, he doesn't. He asks Cassandra what she saw but she's dead. But he did have that other vision--the painfully beautiful one of destroying the Earth. Lex's ignorance about that vision is so dark--I've found it very disturbing that he doesn't know, but he secretly suspects that she saw something so horrible it killed her.
You prompt me to think about things! You should do this more often! *bg*
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branchandroot
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Date: 2006-04-09 12:30 pm (UTC)I'm so charmed that you think of me during the eps--with the fireplace and Clark's space and all!
Lex rejecting his experience by telling Lana his mother was proud
That's a very interesting point to raise! Because I do think there was an element of self-denial in lying to her. Yes, the lie was calculated, but I don't think it was just about Lana. If he'd really wanted to confront the horror of his vision and deal with what it might mean, sharing it with someone would have been a good step. But he's not going to do that--to me that implies that it will continue to have subconscious power over him, even if he tries to reject its message. I'd love to read a ficionalisation of Lex's pov in that scene--I can imagine that he would be both horrified and fascinated by the vision.
Lana really could probably have touched her parents if she'd wanted to
Again, Becky, this is a great insight--I think you are right that her parents appear 'untoucheable'. She did seem very awed by them, almost standoffishly so. She didn't rush into their arms, despite her desparate longing for them. It's quite tragic, and perhaps suggests that Lana's parents exist more purely as concept than real figures. Actually, comparing the three visions, Clark has the most physical contact with his parent, and that fits the idea that he lost his father most recently so it's appropriate that to him his father is still a fully-fleshed, warm, 'real' person. Lillian is somewhere in between--both concept and real (as Lex remembers her quite vividly).
Re. Visions versus Afterlife
Yes, there is much debate on this at the moment--above,
Re. The Theology of Smallville
Interesting! It's amazing to me that they have kept God out of it for so long, actually. There's a lot of pseudo-religious imagery in SV, but they never have any references to church-going or to God per se. However an Afterlife would imply a God, right? It's a tricky thing because Clark himself is a God-like figure. So he poses problems for conventional theology. I don't know the comic canon on this either? Is Superman's world a Christian one? Someone else might have to answer this one I think...
does Lex see his future in Hourglass?
No, he doesn't. He asks Cassandra what she saw but she's dead. But he did have that other vision--the painfully beautiful one of destroying the Earth. Lex's ignorance about that vision is so dark--I've found it very disturbing that he doesn't know, but he secretly suspects that she saw something so horrible it killed her.
You prompt me to think about things! You should do this more often! *bg*