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Fandom is wacky: Smallville edition
So, I've been reading the TWoP boards for Smallville (which is kinda crazy, but I started going back over there for... Battlestar Galactica and the Supernatural boards are good (though the first season recaps of the show suck -- second season is looking up, because they're being written by the guy who wrote the recap for the pilot and not the Supernatural-hating hack that recapped the rest of the season... dude, at least try to be amusing when you hate)) and ran across this theory called 'Chlois'.
Which baffles me. Did this theory exist back in season three (which is the last time that I visited the Smallville boards)? I don't remember it, though the Chloe-worship is... familiar.
Apparently, there is a group of people who think that Chloe is going to change her name to Lois, dye her hair, change her personality, pretend not to know Clark, and then become the love of Clark's life (because he's not going to notice that Lois has gotten a lot shorter... because he's a "Big Dumb Alien" who isn't worthy of her Radiant Goddess Glow and... why do they want her with him again?).
Or I guess they think that Chloe is already like Lois Lane which... baffles me more. Chloe is soppy. Lois Lane is not soppy. Lois Lane is the opposite of soppy. I mean... I don't have anything against Chloe, I've always mostly liked her (she was my favorite female on the show in seasons 1-3, before Lois showed up and stole my heart (as she does)), but how is she anything like Lois Lane? Chloe is an underdog. She has, like, eighty-gazillion fans (note: number may or may not be exaggerated) because she's an underdog.
Lois Lane isn't an underdog.
I can't ever imagine Chloe staring down her boss and saying that she didn't write a mood piece because she "wasn't in the mood" (I can imagine SV's Lois saying that, though -- only the news that she's interested in, thank you). Lois is confrontational, pushy, and (gasp!) kinda bitchy. She steamrolls over people when she's figuring out what to do and then is annoyed at them for not being fast enough to move out of the way.
Not everyone likes Lois Lane. That's always been true. It amuses me how many people on the "Chlois" thread bash Lois and Clark's Lois, who strikes me as a classic Lois in the tradition of the better comics and the first two movies. Dude, y'all don't even like Lois. Why do you want your favorite character to turn into her? Is the love of Clark that wonderful and amazing?
I love Smallville's Lois Lane. Like the other classic comic characters (Clark and Lex), they took the basic character profile and twisted it so that Lois was actively fighting against her future.
But all three of them have the essence of what will one day make them their Iconic character (It took me forever to figure out that ILL stood for "Iconic Lois Lane", btw.). Lex has the will to power, Clark has that need to help, and Lois has the guts to stand up to both of them. All three of them are coming by those essences differently than the various other versions of themselves, but that's all right. That's comics. There are many worlds, many versions. They don't cancel each other out, nor do they necessarily lead into each other.
The comics are not the movies are not Lois and Clark is not Smallville. There's pre-Crisis and post-Crisis. Silver and Gold Age. Superman Returns and The Adventures of Superman. All different, but all with a few things in common. Superman. Clark Kent. Lois Lane. A little later, Lex Luthor.
Clark and Lois, though, first and always.
Also, I seem to feel the same protectiveness towards Lois that I feel towards Buffy and Rose. That is, I feel that they're strong female characters that I would feel honored to be anything like, so I have a shockingly limited amount of patience for dismissiveness towards them. Not criticism in general, just that particular brand of condescending criticism where I'm told that what I see as strength is really the cold-hearted, smug bitchiness of women who are getting 'above their places' (Want to make my blood boil in ten seconds or less? Mention that someone, particularly a female someone, needs to be 'put in her place'.). When Rose is dismissed as a stupid shopgirl or Buffy is called a heartless bitch or people call SV's Lois various hideously sexist terms and make everything all about her body (And her *omg* huge breasts, which just comes across as hypocritical when they're cooing over "Chloevage" every other post. I guess breasts are only okay if they're Chloe's.), I feel true feminist rage.
Which baffles me. Did this theory exist back in season three (which is the last time that I visited the Smallville boards)? I don't remember it, though the Chloe-worship is... familiar.
Apparently, there is a group of people who think that Chloe is going to change her name to Lois, dye her hair, change her personality, pretend not to know Clark, and then become the love of Clark's life (because he's not going to notice that Lois has gotten a lot shorter... because he's a "Big Dumb Alien" who isn't worthy of her Radiant Goddess Glow and... why do they want her with him again?).
Or I guess they think that Chloe is already like Lois Lane which... baffles me more. Chloe is soppy. Lois Lane is not soppy. Lois Lane is the opposite of soppy. I mean... I don't have anything against Chloe, I've always mostly liked her (she was my favorite female on the show in seasons 1-3, before Lois showed up and stole my heart (as she does)), but how is she anything like Lois Lane? Chloe is an underdog. She has, like, eighty-gazillion fans (note: number may or may not be exaggerated) because she's an underdog.
Lois Lane isn't an underdog.
I can't ever imagine Chloe staring down her boss and saying that she didn't write a mood piece because she "wasn't in the mood" (I can imagine SV's Lois saying that, though -- only the news that she's interested in, thank you). Lois is confrontational, pushy, and (gasp!) kinda bitchy. She steamrolls over people when she's figuring out what to do and then is annoyed at them for not being fast enough to move out of the way.
Not everyone likes Lois Lane. That's always been true. It amuses me how many people on the "Chlois" thread bash Lois and Clark's Lois, who strikes me as a classic Lois in the tradition of the better comics and the first two movies. Dude, y'all don't even like Lois. Why do you want your favorite character to turn into her? Is the love of Clark that wonderful and amazing?
I love Smallville's Lois Lane. Like the other classic comic characters (Clark and Lex), they took the basic character profile and twisted it so that Lois was actively fighting against her future.
But all three of them have the essence of what will one day make them their Iconic character (It took me forever to figure out that ILL stood for "Iconic Lois Lane", btw.). Lex has the will to power, Clark has that need to help, and Lois has the guts to stand up to both of them. All three of them are coming by those essences differently than the various other versions of themselves, but that's all right. That's comics. There are many worlds, many versions. They don't cancel each other out, nor do they necessarily lead into each other.
The comics are not the movies are not Lois and Clark is not Smallville. There's pre-Crisis and post-Crisis. Silver and Gold Age. Superman Returns and The Adventures of Superman. All different, but all with a few things in common. Superman. Clark Kent. Lois Lane. A little later, Lex Luthor.
Clark and Lois, though, first and always.
Also, I seem to feel the same protectiveness towards Lois that I feel towards Buffy and Rose. That is, I feel that they're strong female characters that I would feel honored to be anything like, so I have a shockingly limited amount of patience for dismissiveness towards them. Not criticism in general, just that particular brand of condescending criticism where I'm told that what I see as strength is really the cold-hearted, smug bitchiness of women who are getting 'above their places' (Want to make my blood boil in ten seconds or less? Mention that someone, particularly a female someone, needs to be 'put in her place'.). When Rose is dismissed as a stupid shopgirl or Buffy is called a heartless bitch or people call SV's Lois various hideously sexist terms and make everything all about her body (And her *omg* huge breasts, which just comes across as hypocritical when they're cooing over "Chloevage" every other post. I guess breasts are only okay if they're Chloe's.), I feel true feminist rage.
no subject
I was willing to try to forgive her but she lost me again when she tried to renege on her deal with Lionel while trying to keep her column at the Daily Planet and lost me even more when she didn’t own up to what she did with her, “It was a moment of weakness, you of all people should understand!” statement to Clark. And then there are the issues I have with her hint dropping because if the reveal really were about Clark’s needs, she’d let Clark reveal on his own instead of forcing his hand to fit her needs on her schedule.
And let’s not get into Exposed. The future Superman shouldn’t have to marry the woman who was so petty she betrayed his safety for a newspaper column she didn’t deserve. But Exposed just made me boil over with how very anti-Lois Lane she was. (BTW: If you don’t want your blood pressure to rise, don’t read the Exposed thread on TWoP. The feminist in me was fuming in anger with the comments on the episode posted.)
I like Chloe, but only when she’s not doing journalism things or pining over Clark. With Jimmy in the picture, that hopefully takes care of her crush on Clark. As for the journalism, I have so many many issues with that and Exposed and the Chloe Chronicles highlighted just what a bad journalist she is. But I guess I’ll just have to live with it if I’m gonna watch the show. :-x
Because of Chloe, Lois is a refreshing change of what journalism should be. It should be people-focused placing emphasis on how events affect people. She went after Lionel because getting away with murder was wrong and she went after the plastic surgeon because letting girls suffer their self-esteem was wrong. Journalism should be people-focused not freak-show focused which is how I feel Chloe treats the meteor-rock phenomena.
Also, I love Lois because she has a sense of ownership about her mistakes. She goes after Lucy because Lucy is her responsibility and when she babysat the girl in Fragile, she owned up to the girl’s disappearance saying no excuses, the girl was her responsibility.
And I love that Lois is loyal to her friends and family. She didn’t have to go after Chloe’s murderer. She didn’t have to work on Jonathan’s campaign for free. But she did so because wanted to help.
But I think what tips the Chloe vs. Lois to me is in how they deal with Lionel. All throughout S3, Chloe looked like a deer in headlights not knowing what hit her. Lois on the other hand, stared down Lionel and knew exactly what his weakness was and got him to act out on it. That to me is what Lois Lane is about — she knows how to get people to show their hands even as she’s going for the jugular. People shun Chloe just like that and Lionel regarded her an annoying fly and I don’t remember her ever getting information from a hostile source.
Anyways, my fave Lois Lanes are this one and the Justice League (cartoon) one which, I now realize, are the newest and latest incarnations of Lois Lane. I’ve heard good things about Phyllis Coats’ Lois so I’m curious about that. Otherwise, I’ve never been a fan of most Lois Lanes as most of them have been cartoony caricatures of what boys/men fear feminists are like. Though, I will give past Lois Lanes something of a break since women did need to be more bulldog-ish to overcome the sexism of the times.
Part One
S1 Chloe was a lot of fun. Bouncy and eager and not, you know, an insane protype of 'woman scorned' which made no sense, as she wasn't at all scorned. Chloe, baby, Clark can't read your mind. He's a teenage boy. Not being a pushy asshole, he's going to assume that you mean it when you say you aren't interested, especially if he's been at all worried about losing your friendship.
I was willing to try to forgive her but she lost me again when she tried to renege on her deal with Lionel while trying to keep her column at the Daily Planet and lost me even more when she didn’t own up to what she did with her, “It was a moment of weakness, you of all people should understand!” statement to Clark.
Chloe tries to have it both ways a lot of the time. She doesn't want to be the one pushing in the relationship with Clark, so she tries to make him chase her. She doesn't want to work for Lionel anymore, but she doesn't want to lose the perks she got because of him. And, yeah, with you on the 'not owning' thing.
And then there are the issues I have with her hint dropping because if the reveal really were about Clark’s needs, she’d let Clark reveal on his own instead of forcing his hand to fit her needs on her schedule.
Oh, god, yes. I just watched an episode where Clark was worried about leaving his parents alone on the farm and she was all, yeah, I can see where they'd miss your skills, all wink-wink, nudge-nudge, and Clark's poor, baffled, and scared reaction made me mad at her. Clark is very clearly not ready to talk about it, but Chloe can't help pushing.
And let’s not get into Exposed. The future Superman shouldn’t have to marry the woman who was so petty she betrayed his safety for a newspaper column she didn’t deserve.
I have only seen the Lois bits of Exposed so far (which I thought were spectacular), but now I'm curious about Chloe's role in the episode, which I just thought involved making Lois do all the hard work.
But Exposed just made me boil over with how very anti-Lois Lane she was. (BTW: If you don’t want your blood pressure to rise, don’t read the Exposed thread on TWoP. The feminist in me was fuming in anger with the comments on the episode posted.)
Yeah, I think I'll pass on that one. I loved the Lois bits I saw (Don't Cha Wish Your Girlfriend Was Hot Like Me, indeed -- plus not backing down to the cop or to the evil diplomat guy, her only needing Clark for the superhuman bits of the rescue instead of all of it, and her just... overall kickass-ness), and I can imagine some of what they would have said about all the stuff I enjoyed so much.
I like Chloe, but only when she’s not doing journalism things or pining over Clark. With Jimmy in the picture, that hopefully takes care of her crush on Clark. As for the journalism, I have so many many issues with that and Exposed and the Chloe Chronicles highlighted just what a bad journalist she is. But I guess I’ll just have to live with it if I’m gonna watch the show. :-x
Yeah, I've never gotten the impression that Chloe's all that good a journalist. She's passionate about it, but about just the kind of journalism that I'm not all that happy about. Chloe does the kind of journalism that most journalists today do, where it's all about sensationalism. Lois looks like she's going to be a journalist who focus more on social justice and on letting the people know the things that they deserve to know. The fourth estate, not junk journalism.
Part Two
Exactly! Chloe is all about finding the odd things and the weird things and pointing them out. Lois seems to want to point out the wrong and unjust things instead.
Also, I love Lois because she has a sense of ownership about her mistakes. She goes after Lucy because Lucy is her responsibility and when she babysat the girl in Fragile, she owned up to the girl’s disappearance saying no excuses, the girl was her responsibility.
A breath of fresh air after both Chloe and Lana, both of whom have problems owning up to their responsibilities.
And I love that Lois is loyal to her friends and family. She didn’t have to go after Chloe’s murderer. She didn’t have to work on Jonathan’s campaign for free. But she did so because wanted to help.
And that sense of ownership and her deep loyalty are both traits that are really good for the future Lois Lane to have -- she'll need them a lot more than she'll need a background in writing about meteor-rock freaks.
But I think what tips the Chloe vs. Lois to me is in how they deal with Lionel. All throughout S3, Chloe looked like a deer in headlights not knowing what hit her. Lois on the other hand, stared down Lionel and knew exactly what his weakness was and got him to act out on it. That to me is what Lois Lane is about — she knows how to get people to show their hands even as she’s going for the jugular. People shun Chloe just like that and Lionel regarded her an annoying fly and I don’t remember her ever getting information from a hostile source.
So true! Chloe can't hide her fear and go on the offense. Lois manages to bulldog her way into the Kents' home and into their lives, because she likes them and is determined to be around them so much that they end up liking her out of sheer self-defense. She gets reactions from people and she throws them off-balance. You can hate her, but you can't ignore her.
Anyways, my fave Lois Lanes are this one and the Justice League (cartoon) one which, I now realize, are the newest and latest incarnations of Lois Lane. I’ve heard good things about Phyllis Coats’ Lois so I’m curious about that. Otherwise, I’ve never been a fan of most Lois Lanes as most of them have been cartoony caricatures of what boys/men fear feminists are like. Though, I will give past Lois Lanes something of a break since women did need to be more bulldog-ish to overcome the sexism of the times.
I've seen it written that you can check the pulse of mainstream feminism by seeing what's being done with Lois Lane. She is possibly America's most visible icon of strong, female power -- a woman strong enough to match up with Superman. Even she'd written as a bitch or a caricature, it says a lot about the attitude of the time.
I find it really interesting to compare Smallville's Lois to Superman Returns's Lois. SR's Lois is simply... softer, all around. Wears a dress when her boss tells her to, wears high heels while sneaking around in an investigation. Washes dishes, which annoyed me a bit, as I refuse to believe that Lois Lane doesn't have a kick-ass power dishwasher. I find Smallville's Lois to be both a stronger character overall, and also a better role model.