Tag: clois

To me, the core of that attraction is that she is a better reporter than he is. Think about being Superman for a second. The Olympic record for weightlifting is 1,038 lbs., but you could lift more than that as a child. The record for the 100 meter dash is 9.58 seconds, but you can travel over 51 miles in that time. Going to Vegas? You don’t need your X-Ray vision to win at Blackjack, because you can just count the cards while holding down a conversation about nuclear physics. Without really trying, you are better at just about everything than anyone else in the world.

However, (as Mark Waid once pointed out in a podcast with Marv Wolfman) none of that really translates to your chosen profession. Typing really fast does not help your prose. Being able to lift a tank does not help you convince a source to go on record. It is as near to competing straight up with normal people as Superman would ever be capable of. Even then, it comes easily enough to him that you get a pretty lofty perch at a great paper very early in your career. It is just in this one context, there is someone better than you are: Lois Lane.

As mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent, you reach up for the first time in your life and she rejects you.

To me, it is an inversion of the Luthor story. Luthor sees someone above him and feels hate. Superman sees someone above him and feels love.

Dean Hacker, comment on “

Giving Lois Lane A Second Look, For The First Time

” by Kelly Thompson (CBR: She Has No Head!)

I’ve reblogged this before without commentary but I’ll just add that this is one of the reasons why it’s essential to the myth that the Clark Kent identity be “real” in some way. Yes, Superman hides parts of himself as Clark. He keeps his head down. He tries not to draw attention. But he CANNOT be a buffoon. He can’t be a total clown. He MUST be real in some complex capacity because when he is not you miss this very real and important part of the myth wherein he can legitimately compete against Lois Lane as a journalist and try his best and truly give it all he’s got and LOSE. When Clark Kent is a total buffoon, it robs Lois Lane of her right to go toe to toe with Clark Kent and ultimately WIN. Man of Steel actually ::did:: achieve this by showing her track him around the world to the point where he literally just had to give up because he couldn’t outrun her. Smallville/Lois and Clark/the animated series all achieved this. He needs to actually try to beat her and realize he cannot do it. She’s better. He is second best and he not only accepts this but is delighted and besotted that he could try so hard and someone might still be better. And not just anyone…a woman with zero superpowers.

(via therearecertainshadesoflimelight)

To me, the core of that attraction is that she is a better reporter than he is. Think about being Superman for a second. The Olympic record for weightlifting is 1,038 lbs., but you could lift more than that as a child. The record for the 100 meter dash is 9.58 seconds, but you can travel over 51 miles in that time. Going to Vegas? You don’t need your X-Ray vision to win at Blackjack, because you can just count the cards while holding down a conversation about nuclear physics. Without really trying, you are better at just about everything than anyone else in the world.

However, (as Mark Waid once pointed out in a podcast with Marv Wolfman) none of that really translates to your chosen profession. Typing really fast does not help your prose. Being able to lift a tank does not help you convince a source to go on record. It is as near to competing straight up with normal people as Superman would ever be capable of. Even then, it comes easily enough to him that you get a pretty lofty perch at a great paper very early in your career. It is just in this one context, there is someone better than you are: Lois Lane.

As mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent, you reach up for the first time in your life and she rejects you.

To me, it is an inversion of the Luthor story. Luthor sees someone above him and feels hate. Superman sees someone above him and feels love.

Dean Hacker, comment on “

Giving Lois Lane A Second Look, For The First Time

” by Kelly Thompson (CBR: She Has No Head!)

I’ve reblogged this before without commentary but I’ll just add that this is one of the reasons why it’s essential to the myth that the Clark Kent identity be “real” in some way. Yes, Superman hides parts of himself as Clark. He keeps his head down. He tries not to draw attention. But he CANNOT be a buffoon. He can’t be a total clown. He MUST be real in some complex capacity because when he is not you mIss this very real and important part of the myth wherein he can legitimately compete against Lois Lane as a journalist and try his best and truly give it all he’s got and LOSE. When Clark Kent is a total buffoon, it robs Lois Lane of her right to go toe to toe with Clark Kent and ultimately WIN. Man of Steel actually ::did:: achieve this by showing her track him around the world to the point where he literally just had to give up because he couldn’t outrun her. Smallville/Lois and Clark/the animated series all achieved this. He needs to actually try to beat her and realize he cannot do it. She’s better. He is second best and he not only accepts this but is delighted and besotted that he could try so hard and someone might still be better. And not just anyone…a woman with zero superpowers.

(via therearecertainshadesoflimelight)