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View Full Version : On Lana's 'Goodness'



REebee52
02-06-2009, 02:58 PM
I see a lot of people here angry over the fact that Lana acted like a 'moral compass' in the last few episodes of the show. Of course, there are dozens of other reasons people are upset, but I'm not going to discuss that here.
People are upset that she stopped Clark from killing Chloe when infected by Brainiac, and stopped Clark from killing Lex last night. Now the arguments are twofold:
1). Clark should never have considered killing in the first place.
2). The fact that Lana, who has done so many questionable things in the past, is the one who talks him out of it is absurd.

As to the first point:
When Clark wondered if he should kill Chloe, there were billions of lives at stake, perhaps more at stake than Clark's ever seen. The only other match that I can really think of is the Zod arc, but it never got the point where Clark would have to kill because he had the crystal. So here, the world's at stake, and you have legitimate heroes from the future telling you that you must do it to save the world. To question yourself at this moment is understandable.
Now as for Lex: he was in a fit of fury and lost control. It's something Superman does not have the luxury of doing, but he is human by nature, and losing control is something human's do. He isn't Superman yet, he still has a lot to learn. This showed some of Clark's humanity. And I still believe that when it came down to it, he wouldn't have been able to go through with it.

Now as for Lana as the Moral Compass:
The point of Superman is that he inspires people to be better, better than they thought they could possibly be. Lana has done a lot of stuff in morally murky areas, so how could she say these things to the future man of steel?
Because it was he who changed her. Lana was inspired by Clark tremendously, so much that it changed who she was and how she thought. She came back different: She was stronger, she was proud of what Clark was doing in helping people and didn't hold him back. She was inspired by this great man to become a petter woman. So when this great man had moments of weakness, she reminded him why he inspired her so much in the first place and brought him back to himself. It wasn't that she taught him, or that he 'relearned' what he knew; it's that she reminded him of what he believes in, the very things that pushed her to transcend herself. If he hadn't changed her in the first place, she wouldn't have helped him. So it isn't that she became the moral compass. Clark pointed her in the right way in the first place, she just reminded him of that.

Jor-Fer
02-06-2009, 03:25 PM
Great post.As Iīve said in another thread , seems that people doesnīt want to bring Lana the chance of redemption.Donīt forget that in early seasons she was inmaculate and then she turned to a Luthor.Why canīt anyone acept that she is now in the right path again?

Also , I think that both characters are mature now , you only have to watch earlier seasons and compare.This doesnīt mean that Clark is perfect and prepared to be superman...things like him loosing control and trying to kill Lex are the ones that he will leave AFTER his training.

jlbtjb316
02-06-2009, 03:34 PM
I agree with your analysis of Requiem. I would think that Clark fans would be happy that he does indeed bring out the best in people as Irma said in Legion. He helped Lana come back from a place of hurt and revenge to a place where she wants to put all that behind her and work by his side to help others. From the beginning of the show, we have seen that Lana has a desire to help others, and Clark helped her to refocus her life on that goal. Given that he couldn't save his friend Lex from going down a dark path, it is a good thing that he was able to help the one that he loves. I guess Lana just can't win. When her character took a darker turn, people complained, and now that she has turned her life around and decided to use the suit to help people (and keep it out of the hands of someone evil like Lex), a lot of people still are not happy.

It seems that when it comes to Lana and Lois, many fans (on both sides) want their character elevated at the expense of the other. Both play an important part in Clark's life, and it seems like the fans would want both Lana and Lois to be portrayed in a favorable light. Just because Clark loves Lana now does mean that he cannot love Lois in the future, and just because he loves Lois in the future does not mean that he does not truly love Lana now.