the Tragedy of Lex, part II
Jan. 23rd, 2007 01:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
xparrotI've been getting some really thought-provoking comments on the last rant on this, enough to want to compose a follow-up to place the blame where it really belongs. It's not really Clark, asshat or not. It's poor writing.
I said before that "Asylum" was Lex's most tragic moment, for being his most noble. The first time I read the recap of "Asylum" I was furious at Clark. But watching the episode itself, I honestly don't blame him. It's an incredibly tough position he's in. He knows firsthand how dangerous Lionel is, so much so that he's not sure how to save Lex from him; he's grateful that Lex's brain didn't get totally fried, and terrified that next time it might be, or worse. Not to mention, he's only 16 or 17 years old, and mental illness is scary. Especially when it's your cool, reliable, older friend who has always only ever been in control of every situation. Even knowing Lex's psychosis was initially drug-induced, it's still beyond Clark's understanding, beyond the limits of even his strengths. I honestly believe Clark doesn't tell Lex about those lost seven weeks then because he's worried about Lex, and not his secrets at all.
"Memoria", though, is pretty unforgivable. Going to Lionel, fully knowing what Lionel did to Lex before, what Lionel's love for his son means in practice...it doesn't even make sense. Except that Clark Kent has apparently read the comic books like everyone else, and knows Lex is doomed to be his enemy.
Ultimately? The biggest tragedy of Lex is that the SV writers wrote themselves into a corner. In the very beginning, having rewatched the pilot, they wrote Lex quite ambiguous - maybe he was a sincere friend, or maybe he was just using people, seducing them for his own ends. But then they made it clear that Lex's feelings went far beyond slick sociopathic manipulation, and ultimately damned themselves.
There was a way out, and I don't know why they didn't take it. "Memoria" is a crux already. The shocking revelations about Julian's death pretty much cement Lex's place as victim as much as perpetrator of his future crimes: abuse victims become abusers themselves, it's not moral as much as psychological, and after enduring the childhood implied by Lillian's murder, it's frankly amazing that Lex turned out as well as he did.
Instead of that confession, what if the episode had gone completely differently? By the end of third season, it would have been reasonable for the good Lex of the earlier series to start slipping down into the darkness that is destined to claim him. So what if Lex had regained his memories of Clark and his powers - and had turned on him? Had pulled an Onyx!Lex and sought to get control over Clark, had threatened blackmail or exposure or worse? And then at the episode's end he could have lost the memories again, returned to the status quo none the wiser - but Clark would have been, and we viewers as well.
Then Clark's reluctance to ever tell Lex the truth would make sense. Then Clark rejecting Lex's friendship at the end of season 3, and tentatively accepting it back in season 4, would have been an act of great, if foolish, generosity, wanting to believe in Lex even knowing better. Not the smartest thing to do, but the right thing to do, as a friend.
And yes, it would have made Lex a far less sympathetic character - but he's the villain. You're not supposed to sympathize with him that much, certainly not at the hero's expense. And every time Clark lies to Lex afterward, it would have been justified. Maybe not totally right - it's still lying - but understandable.
But the writers didn't do this. I guess they couldn't do it. Because even as late as third season, it wouldn't have been in character for the Lex Luthor they had been writing, the Lex Luthor who risks or offers anything for his friends, the Lex Luthor who suffers guilt to the point of recklessness, who would instantly exchange himself for a roomful of hostages, who would test an experimental cure on himself rather than risk someone else under his care dying. The Lex Luthor who knows his self-proclaimed best friend is lying to him, and yet still is willing to throw all his questions away for the sake of that friendship. This Lex, you can't see betraying Clark, not at that point in the series, not for any reason. Having written this Lex, they had no choice but to write Clark as inexplicably petty and selfish with his secrets as he is, or else they never would have been able to fulfill the demands of comic-book destiny. They developed a Lex Luthor with such a strong or desperate heart that he would not walk away from Clark Kent - and left themselves no choice but to write a Superman who would walk away from Lex Luthor, even when he reaches out for help.
I said before that "Asylum" was Lex's most tragic moment, for being his most noble. The first time I read the recap of "Asylum" I was furious at Clark. But watching the episode itself, I honestly don't blame him. It's an incredibly tough position he's in. He knows firsthand how dangerous Lionel is, so much so that he's not sure how to save Lex from him; he's grateful that Lex's brain didn't get totally fried, and terrified that next time it might be, or worse. Not to mention, he's only 16 or 17 years old, and mental illness is scary. Especially when it's your cool, reliable, older friend who has always only ever been in control of every situation. Even knowing Lex's psychosis was initially drug-induced, it's still beyond Clark's understanding, beyond the limits of even his strengths. I honestly believe Clark doesn't tell Lex about those lost seven weeks then because he's worried about Lex, and not his secrets at all.
"Memoria", though, is pretty unforgivable. Going to Lionel, fully knowing what Lionel did to Lex before, what Lionel's love for his son means in practice...it doesn't even make sense. Except that Clark Kent has apparently read the comic books like everyone else, and knows Lex is doomed to be his enemy.
Ultimately? The biggest tragedy of Lex is that the SV writers wrote themselves into a corner. In the very beginning, having rewatched the pilot, they wrote Lex quite ambiguous - maybe he was a sincere friend, or maybe he was just using people, seducing them for his own ends. But then they made it clear that Lex's feelings went far beyond slick sociopathic manipulation, and ultimately damned themselves.
There was a way out, and I don't know why they didn't take it. "Memoria" is a crux already. The shocking revelations about Julian's death pretty much cement Lex's place as victim as much as perpetrator of his future crimes: abuse victims become abusers themselves, it's not moral as much as psychological, and after enduring the childhood implied by Lillian's murder, it's frankly amazing that Lex turned out as well as he did.
Instead of that confession, what if the episode had gone completely differently? By the end of third season, it would have been reasonable for the good Lex of the earlier series to start slipping down into the darkness that is destined to claim him. So what if Lex had regained his memories of Clark and his powers - and had turned on him? Had pulled an Onyx!Lex and sought to get control over Clark, had threatened blackmail or exposure or worse? And then at the episode's end he could have lost the memories again, returned to the status quo none the wiser - but Clark would have been, and we viewers as well.
Then Clark's reluctance to ever tell Lex the truth would make sense. Then Clark rejecting Lex's friendship at the end of season 3, and tentatively accepting it back in season 4, would have been an act of great, if foolish, generosity, wanting to believe in Lex even knowing better. Not the smartest thing to do, but the right thing to do, as a friend.
And yes, it would have made Lex a far less sympathetic character - but he's the villain. You're not supposed to sympathize with him that much, certainly not at the hero's expense. And every time Clark lies to Lex afterward, it would have been justified. Maybe not totally right - it's still lying - but understandable.
But the writers didn't do this. I guess they couldn't do it. Because even as late as third season, it wouldn't have been in character for the Lex Luthor they had been writing, the Lex Luthor who risks or offers anything for his friends, the Lex Luthor who suffers guilt to the point of recklessness, who would instantly exchange himself for a roomful of hostages, who would test an experimental cure on himself rather than risk someone else under his care dying. The Lex Luthor who knows his self-proclaimed best friend is lying to him, and yet still is willing to throw all his questions away for the sake of that friendship. This Lex, you can't see betraying Clark, not at that point in the series, not for any reason. Having written this Lex, they had no choice but to write Clark as inexplicably petty and selfish with his secrets as he is, or else they never would have been able to fulfill the demands of comic-book destiny. They developed a Lex Luthor with such a strong or desperate heart that he would not walk away from Clark Kent - and left themselves no choice but to write a Superman who would walk away from Lex Luthor, even when he reaches out for help.
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no subject
Date: 2007-01-23 05:11 pm (UTC)I don't know why they wrote Lex that way. The last couple seasons he's gone pretty completely evil (I haven't seen most of those yet, so don't know why) but he was definitely not faking it the first few. My guess is that the series got so much attention for the revolutionary take on Lex Luthor, it was the most successful part of the show, that they decided to run with it, without taking into account where they eventually might want to bring the character. Thinking ahead is not a typical TV producer's strong point...(casting Michael Rosenbaum didn't help their cause, either - he's really good at playing vulnerable. He's really good at playing slickly deceptive, too, but...)
(in other news I love that icon! *pats the Aoshima-puppy*)