butterfly: (With Supes -- Lois (by phanviola-icons))
butterfly ([personal profile] butterfly) wrote2006-10-05 03:39 am
Entry tags:

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.

[identity profile] beck-liz.livejournal.com 2006-10-05 11:54 am (UTC)(link)
Part of the "Chloe is Lois" stuff started long before Smallville had a Lois. Partly because we were all afraid she'd get killed off, and that was one way she could be "killed" while still being able to stick around. The prevailing theory at the time was that she'd be forced to go into some sort of witness protection program, thus forcing her to pretend not to know Clark. At least at first.

All the "Chloe is Lois" stuff since then, though, is mostly wishful thinking. Because a lot of people don't like Lois as she is currently, and think Chloe makes a much better Lois than Lois does. This Lois has never been my favorite version (see Margot Kidder or Terri Hatcher), and I do like Chloe better than her, thanks to watching the show from the beginning and falling in love with Chloe from the start. However, I do like this Lois. All the Lois-bashing in this fandom drives me just a tad insane. (Your blood pressure might rise if you go to [livejournal.com profile] sv_live during the show airing, since it seems like a majority of the people who post there hate Lois.)
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[identity profile] danamaree.livejournal.com 2006-10-05 01:56 pm (UTC)(link)
I think it's Rose's accent, and her background that people, especially in England dump on.

[identity profile] fresne.livejournal.com 2006-10-05 02:04 pm (UTC)(link)
And yet, that's how I started at TWoP.

I think the thing with Chloe may be, well, for my part I'm not sure how Lois is going to become reporter Lois.

Since Chloe is in that ecological niche, they keep having Lois do things that not only aren't all about the investigative journalism, but I don't see her picking that as her career.

Mind you everyone still has fuzz on their cheeks, so I'm hoping they pull it off by the end of the series. Cuz, yeah, I love brash, annoying, sexy, go getter Lois. But then my fav is the Fleisher cartoons Lois.

[identity profile] librarianstales.livejournal.com 2006-10-05 02:10 pm (UTC)(link)
I adore Lois Lane. (Also a be L&C fan). I think she's a brillant female character. It distresses me that people will still carry the attitude that a woman that is strong enough to stand up for what she believes and what she wants is a smug bitch.

By the way, I'd add Margaret "Hotlips" Houlihan from the series M*A*S*H onto our list. She was a wonderfully strong character and wonderfully human.

[identity profile] moojja.livejournal.com 2006-10-05 02:47 pm (UTC)(link)
This might be a minor point, but in one early eps. Chole used her cousin Lois's name when turning in a news report. I think that started the speculation.

[identity profile] frelling-tralk.livejournal.com 2006-10-05 02:50 pm (UTC)(link)
I guess this is the part where I admit to being a Chlois fan :P

how is she anything like Lois Lane?

Well from I understand, the originally wanted SV to have Clark, Lex, Lois as young characters together, but they weren't allowed the Lois name for some reason. So they admit to writing Chloe as a sort of proto Lois, just without the name. And then there were was an episode where she tried to submit an article under Lois Lane, and the theory grew in popularity. I become a fan of the theory after Thirst in season 5...
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[identity profile] radioreverie.livejournal.com 2006-10-05 03:27 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah, the whole Chlois thing really confuses me. Chloe does not have nearly the self-possession or fortitude that says "Lois Lane" to me. Not to mention that with all of the dubious shit she's pulled, both as a friend and as a journalist, I really don't ever want to see her in that position. Also, her curiosity manifests itself so cartoonishly. I like that Lois' curiosity as portrayed on Smallville is more contained, more driven by justice and the desire to expose wrongdoing. Being an investigative reporter shouldn't mean that one's curiosity level should rival that of a nosy neighbor.

I must admit though that I really don't like the Lois of Lois & Clark, mostly because I felt that her standard of journalistic ethics was alarmingly low, and that more often she was shrill, humorless, and whiny rather than tough, witty, and take charge.

[identity profile] clari-clyde.livejournal.com 2006-10-05 04:52 pm (UTC)(link)
I thought that Chloe was spunky and really liked her in S1. She lost me during S2 with the while “pissy because he let me break up with him” attitude and lost me even more when she turned to Lionel — and yes, it was over watching Clark and Lana kiss.

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.

[identity profile] grimorie.livejournal.com 2006-10-06 02:11 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, you have no idea how much I'm loving your Lois love (and Buffy love and Rose love). I agree with pretty much everything you said about Chloe and Lois. First season of SV I pretty much sold my fan love to Chloe and I was pretty much rooting for a Chloe/Clark pairing since it seemed indicative that he had a type and well, it was highschool. You rarely end up with someone you went out with in highschool.

Then I realized Clark was all about Lana and then there were a lot of plot stupidities and it drove me out of the show. Then I heard Lois Lane was in S4 I couldn't help but watch because it was Lois!

From the first moment she appeared on screen Lois appeared on screen I fell in love with her character. She's brash, rude, driven and absolutely no reverence for Clark's 'mystique' which was a breath of fresh air considering everyone's attitude about Clark. And that's what I always loved about Lois, that she's a grounding force for him, that he can be a superhero but Lois reminds him that he's also Clark and he needs to cook dinner!

And, yes, I love that Lois owns her mistakes, that she's responsible and she doesn't shirk what she considers her duty. I loved that she doesn't back down from Lionel Luthor, I love that she constantly, constantly keeps Clark off balanced and forces him to react in a different way with her. He doesn't have the same baggage with her and Lois is not in anyway interested about his secrets.

And much as I love Chloe, I agree with you on Chloe's drive for journalism is more close to sensationalism -- [livejournal.com profile] huzzlewhat has also said something to that effect that while Chloe *is* passionate about journalism but [livejournal.com profile] huzzlewhat notes that Chloe often investigates to support her own conclusions rather than letting the facts add up. Her post is here (http://huzzlewhat.livejournal.com/52422.html#cutid1) btw.

It's why I love Lois -- because even in Crusade, it felt like Lois is more passionate and focused (when she does get focused) on finding the truth. In trying to make the world better.

Then I went out and tried to find other fan's take on Lois and I was severely burned with the experience. The amount of hate and vile thrown her way was just -- and yes, I second skipping the Exposed recap in TWoP by the time I got to the second page I was ready to stab the recapper.

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.

It annoys me that if any female character demonstrates any type of characteristic like that she's immediately hated on, and damn, the sexist comments on Lois is just sickening. Call me crazy but seeing a woman on TV who isn't a stick figure, who has curves is refreshing -- another one of the reasons why I loved Rose. Ugh. Fandom is crazy sometimes.

BTW, I rewatched Crusade last night and I just got a kick when Lois brought Amnesiac!Kal-el(Clark) to the hospital and she wanted to pass him off to the attending but the attending tells her that since she found Clark, she's responsible for him now. At first watch it meant nothing for me but last night it struck me as especially resonant that Lois was told that Clark is her responsibility.

It's like that old proverb about saving a person's life and being forever responsible for them.

[identity profile] bop-radar.livejournal.com 2006-10-07 08:49 am (UTC)(link)
*rotfl* OMG! You just found out about Chloisers! *rotfl*
Yuh. Um, yes, there are lots of those fans.

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.
*falls in love with you* Yes. So do I. Feminist rage. I can't go near a lot of the TWOP boards or into some parts of LJ because the sexist vitriol that is heaped on Lois and ED is so repulsive. You nailed it here--it's extremely hypocritical.

I also feel protectiveness to strong female characters like Lois and Buffy (and, for me, Starbuck and Roslin in BSG). I just don't understand why women want to buy into milksoppy versions of women rather than the few strong (and complex) women that are finally being offered to us in the media.

People = weird

[identity profile] amandajane5.livejournal.com 2006-10-10 10:13 pm (UTC)(link)
Yes!!! Very much so!!!

I'm a Clark fan, which, you know, can kind of get you in weird places, but I haven't been able to read one of Omar G's recaps since Lois showed up, because he just doesn't *get* her, and he's let the TWoP SV forums descend into this place where if you don't have the *exact same opinion* as every one else, you're kind of not welcome. Which isn't what TWoP is supposed to be about, and it totally isn't in other places, it's just Omar and it makes me mad.

I love the side of Clark that Lois brings out. He *makes* jokes! He giggles! They have a much more *even* relationship than he's ever had with Chloe. I'm enjoying them scoobying together, now that Chloe knows, but really, a love-match? There? Clearly no.

I admit it, the Chloisers have started driving me batty. I used to be able to see it, but then Lois showed up and she's so *Lois*!!