Why is Lois considered pure but Clark isn't?

[liana]

Lois. It will be their commitment to each other that will propel Clark forward.

After Dr. Fate tells her that she'll be the one that he needs, and Carter saying pretty much the same thing, I have to believe that that is the path the writers will take with this.

Maybe. We will have to wait and see, but you do have a point here.

[ginevrakent]

Now, looking at Clark through the anti-life equation, I think it is obvious why he was so vulnerable. He simply feels lost and insecure; he's not malevolent or evil. He had what Jor-El called "pride" and Darkseid called "bravado", but he had not yet mastered these "dark" aspects of his soul: the doubt, the loneliness, etc. (I'd say he judges and condemns himself very harshly for past follies, too, and Darkseid certainly played on that in this episode.) I don't know, but I think viewing Clark's journey through the lens of the anti-life equation puts things in better perspective.

It most certainly does. Great post.

I think it's also important to note who Darkseid is targeting. He's not only looking for people who are wavering due to having elements of the anti-life equation weighing on their hearts. He's also looking for people with great power. Godfrey had power because of his position as a voice to the people. His power was of persuasion.

The darkness Clark has may not be all that different than what ordinary people deal with everyday, but for someone of great power and great promise like Clark, losing himself to that darkness would be terrible for him and for the world. Meanwhile, it would be a triumph for Darkseid.

[liana]

I don't think they meant she was pure in that she has never done anything wrong in her life. Lois would be the first person to say she has done plenty wrong in her life.

In the context of the epsiode from what I'm starting to understand is that she has unconditional faith in the Blur. She does have doubts and insecurities but she also has faith in the blur. It is that faith that separated her from Clark.

Clark seems to not have faith in anything right now and is open to be corrupted by the darkness.

Because, right now, he is completely depressed and has lost HOPE. It is about hope, really. Lois does have faith in Clark, and hope, but Clark has lost that. He needs to find that again, because without hope, despair takes hold of us. It is clearly the anti-life equation.

[Genny]

I took it as Clark lacks faith in himself, whereas Kara and Lois are sure of themselves and their destinies.

[herolee10]

I think that what they meant is that the person is feeling right where she is. Right now, Lois knows who she is and what she wants. She is not questioning herself any more or doubting herself or her future. That might be the key.

Everyone will always have doubts and fears, but there are paralizing fears, and the fears that you deal with, and go on. Right now, Clark has parallizing fears, that are preventing him of fulling reaching his potential.

Do I agree with this approach? No. But this is clearly what they mean, and it might be [SPOILER]the whole purpose of Homecoming next week, to overcome those fears.[/SPOILER]. Clark will always have fears, we all do. But finding his own place in the world means to deal with them, and eventually beating them.

oh so it was more about what the person was feeling in the forefront than overall insecurities in general then?..hmm..that makes sense.

[Lunarsun]

Simply watch it. Don't make accusations just because you don't remember correctly.



Watch the pilot episode of Lois & Clark. Watch Superman Returns. Clark has always the tendency to be a sneak-peaker.


And I hated the writers for erasing Chloe's memories. It was just before the mid-season break and I feared that they tried to "align" with the myth (people not knowing and stuff). But what Clark did was in good faith. Even Chloe admitted that she had the feeling as if a huge weight had been pulled off from her.

Sorry but I remember that episode and I remember Clark sitting up next to a still basically dead Lois who was just kidnapped from a hospital bed talking to Emil and Chloe before speeding off. Also I don't care how typical it is for him to be a stalker, that doesn't make it OK to stalk some teenage girl, WTF?



I also don't find it okay to have sex with said girl all the while you keep huge secrets about yourself that if she had known may have changed her decision, that's also pretty scary. Makes me sick to think Lois kissed clark so many times with him lying straight to her face. And lana, slept with this man with him lying to her every single day. Sooo gross.

[LoD]

well i'm not saying that Lois is a bad person, but last time that I checked, she had her fair share of insecurities as well...so I wonder as to what Darkseid was trying to say when he said that she was "pure"?

Lois may have insecurities, but she also has hope, love, courage, friends, and acceptance. What insecurities does she have really that Darkseid could exploit? Maybe before she talked to Carter, he could have exploited her then. Or, maybe, if he had time, he could work on her long enough so that she would become tainted, and thus become able to be exploited.

I didn't take "purity" to be an innate quality, but speaking more to the strength of a person's convictions or self-hood at the time Darkseid meets them. A pure individual had fewer chinks in the armor which he could exploit. He was looking to weaken people, to alienate their heroes, and then, in a world without heroes, people would feel scared and lose hope: bada bing, bada boom.

With Godfrey, and then Clark, he found vessels already vulnerable to the point where he could possess them. That's what worried Kara -- not that Clark was irrevocably damaged, but that Darkseid would hit while Clark was vulnerable (frustrated, etc). Clark feels alienated, apart from his friends and his love, and he's got lots of other issues that all fit up perfectly with the anti-life equation. He's impure because his sense of self, his confidence, has been whittled away by all these things. His insecurities are simply far greater, IMO.

[A Flawed Fashion]

Lois and Kara both seem much more aware of themselves and who they are than they ever did in the past. As soon as Lois came back, she knew what she wanted and she's seems more sure of it than ever before. Kara is a woman with a mission. They both have doubts and insecurities, but they aren't about who they are and who they want to be.

Clark and Oliver on the other hand, are pretty lost in figuring out who they are. It wasn't about being evil, but about being lost and confused. Clark certainly is confused. He's getting closer to being completely comfortable with himself, but until the day he steps out as Superman, I don't think he will be fully there.

[herolee10]

Lois may have insecurities, but she also has hope, love, courage, friends, and acceptance. What insecurities does she have really that Darkseid could exploit? Maybe before she talked to Carter, he could have exploited her then. Or, maybe, if he had time, he could work on her long enough so that she would become tainted, and thus become able to be exploited.

Idk..I mean Clark has those things as well, if not more. The only friends that Lois has left on this show is her misguided Ex, while Clark has the entire JLA/JSA, and others as friends, and Clark has had a more loving upbringing when it came to his family life, and he has accepted himself better than before imho.

[LoD]

It most certainly does. Great post.

I think it's also important to note who Darkseid is targeting. He's not only looking for people who are wavering due to having elements of the anti-life equation weighing on their hearts. He's also looking for people with great power. Godfrey had power because of his position as a voice to the people. His power was of persuasion.

The darkness Clark has may not be all that different than what ordinary people deal with everyday, but for someone of great power and great promise like Clark, losing himself to that darkness would be terrible for him and for the world. Meanwhile, it would be a triumph for Darkseid.

Thanks! And I think you explain here about Clark and Godfrey and power much better than I just did in my previous post.

[smallville fan]

Thanks (although my sleepiness led to typos...oh well). I hope we find out more about what Clark has unshakable faith in soon, too. It kind of goes along with what Kara was saying about flying. Clark needs to find that one thing he can focus on--that one thing that lifts his burdens (doubts, fears, anger, guilt) until he's like a feather--then he'll be free of darkness, doubt, and be able to fly.

I think it's going to be Lois ala Dr. Fate's prediction, "...she is the key."

[kaliber]

I also don't find it okay to have sex with said girl all the while you keep huge secrets about yourself that if she had known may have changed her decision, that's also pretty scary. Makes me sick to think Lois kissed clark so many times with him lying straight to her face. And lana, slept with this man with him lying to her every single day. Sooo gross.

I do believe the the only time that Clark slept with Lana before she knew about him was when Jor-El had taken away his powers and had tossed him aside. Clark thought he would be human for the rest of his life.

[ginevrakent]

I was thinking about the first time we heard Clark (or anyone) mention the anti-life equation. He was talking to Chloe about the argument he had with Lois earlier in Oliver's office. It was almost as if Lois losing her faith in Clark (because he lied to her about Oliver being "fine") was enough for Clark to allude to the anti-life equation.

[herolee10]

i mean really considering SV's history, it's not surprising as well that Clark would be written to be the person that's not 'pure' while everyone else on this show is written otherwise.

[ginevrakent]

i mean really considering SV's history, it's not surprising as well that Clark would be written to be the person that's not 'pure' while everyone else on this show is written otherwise.

I think they're defining "pure" as a state of being that is with very little guilt or doubt to be exploited. As has been mentioned many times, Clark has sacrificed and suffered more than anyone, so it makes sense that he would have more guilt and doubt to struggle with and overcome.