I have a niblet of a theory about why our boys act as they do, and it goes back to the psycho-mutagenic effects of Green Kryptonite (aka gK).
The theory that gK is a Monkey's Paw - that it grants wishes in the worst possible way - is long established in fanon, and maybe canon. And Smallville is so soaked in the stuff, I posit Clark has been affected in the way his mind works, even when the gK isn't making him physically ill.
Lex's touchstone - over and above even Saving The World From The Alien Menace - is knowledge. Knowledge for its own sake, knowledge for strategy's sake, knowledge as a means of keeping himself safe. Adding the Monkey's Paw factor, that means his quest for knowledge is carried out, and fulfilled, in ways he didn't intend or want, originally.
Mind-control thus becomes part obsession with knowledge, and part Monkey's Paw wish fulfillment. It would keep people loyal, or at least keep them from betraying him without his knowing about it ahead of time. Also, the more he knows about mind control, the more he knows how to prevent it being done to himself.
Clark's a little trickier, but here's my theory: Clark's overriding desire is to be accepted for himself. Thanks to the gK's Monkey Paw factor, he's put up with almost anything for that.
He put up with Pete's various betrayals, he accepted Alicia's manipulations of other people (turning against her only when she manipulated him), and now he accepts the brutish tactics of Ollie and Co. without the anger and self-righteousness he shows Lex. A case could be made that he only turned against Lex once and for all when it became clear that Lex would not "accept him for himself," but would keep questioning and investigating him. In the future, Clark will put up with becoming Superman - sentencing himself to a kind of multiple-personality disorder, and the double life that goes with it, not to mention being humankind's Mr. Fix-It, in order to find the acceptance he craves.
gK took their natural longings and turned those longings into a trap that neither will escape from.
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winterfish
Motivations for Mind-Controlling Lex and Doofus Clark
Date: 2007-05-12 01:00 am (UTC)The theory that gK is a Monkey's Paw - that it grants wishes in the worst possible way - is long established in fanon, and maybe canon. And Smallville is so soaked in the stuff, I posit Clark has been affected in the way his mind works, even when the gK isn't making him physically ill.
Lex's touchstone - over and above even Saving The World From The Alien Menace - is knowledge. Knowledge for its own sake, knowledge for strategy's sake, knowledge as a means of keeping himself safe. Adding the Monkey's Paw factor, that means his quest for knowledge is carried out, and fulfilled, in ways he didn't intend or want, originally.
Mind-control thus becomes part obsession with knowledge, and part Monkey's Paw wish fulfillment. It would keep people loyal, or at least keep them from betraying him without his knowing about it ahead of time. Also, the more he knows about mind control, the more he knows how to prevent it being done to himself.
Clark's a little trickier, but here's my theory: Clark's overriding desire is to be accepted for himself. Thanks to the gK's Monkey Paw factor, he's put up with almost anything for that.
He put up with Pete's various betrayals, he accepted Alicia's manipulations of other people (turning against her only when she manipulated him), and now he accepts the brutish tactics of Ollie and Co. without the anger and self-righteousness he shows Lex. A case could be made that he only turned against Lex once and for all when it became clear that Lex would not "accept him for himself," but would keep questioning and investigating him. In the future, Clark will put up with becoming Superman - sentencing himself to a kind of multiple-personality disorder, and the double life that goes with it, not to mention being humankind's Mr. Fix-It, in order to find the acceptance he craves.
gK took their natural longings and turned those longings into a trap that neither will escape from.