Lana's biggest character flaw?

[Aurora Moon]

I think the biggest character flaw she has is that she was a little bit of a two-timer, even if she was apparently a virgin until season five.

the only constant thing Lana had going for her, and it doesn't paint her in a good light. She likes to have two boyfriends-- the main current one and the "backup" one.

Basically she has this pattern for her relationships which goes like this:
She starts up a new romance with a hot guy... is happy for a while. But then once she's settled into the relationship, she starts to get unsatisfied and starts second-guessing why she's with this guy. She starts up all kinds of drama about it too... She then heads for her "backup boyfriend", which is usually Clark Kent. She emotionally (but not physically) cheats on her current boyfriend when she attempts to woo Clark Kent into being her new main boyfriend. She then leaves that main boyfriend after much drama ensues. But Clark Kent then does something to piss her off... so she regulates Clark to being the "backup" again and goes off to find herself another new boyfriend. The cycle starts all over again.

Basically, she was utterly incapable of being in a steady relationship at all. Even when she became a kickass dark angel in season 6 to 7.

Granted, some of those could be excused because she was a teenager for most of the time... and Teenagers are notorious for being in highly unstable relationships. But even some of those relationships were bad for her, espeically since the large majority of them were with older men who had no business being in an relationship with a child like her... even if she was at the age of consent according to Kansas' law. *rolls eyes*

It's as if the writers only use her character to manfcuture relationship drama... in fact most of her character's story seem to be all about the relationships rather than being about her personal character development.

found a song that seems to fit her very well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8Gx4ntUK1A

[DJ Doena]

Lana has three major flaws as a character. You pointed out one of them.

The other two are:

She helds others to standards she herself doesn't live by. She absolutely hates it that people keep secrets from her and she behaves as if she were actually entitled to everyone else's hidden things. She on the other hand understands perfectly well that sometimes you just need to keep a secret. She kept her relationship with Jason hidden for a few months or else he'd get fired. He hid the 8-stone from him and even staged a fake break-in. After Lex included her in the spaceship project she didn't run to the government telling them "Hey guys, this might be relevant for national if not planetary security". And even after Dark Thursday she'd rather blackmail a scientist (compare her scene in Arrow with a similar exchange between Lionel and Chloe in Extinction!) than go public with this stuff. Even when she thinks Clark saved her where she should be just grateful (like after the tornado) she uses emotional blackmail to make him tell her the truth.

And she's afraid of the things she doesn't understand. It's starts very early, already in Hug. She's afraid of Kyle Tippet because "he lived in the woods for 10 years". She doesn't know anything about this guy, she hasn't even seen him spook her horse (because he didn't) and yet the combined efforts of Nell and Whitney make her see him as a bad guy just because. She agrees with Lex' Dr.-Mengele-33.1-project in Static, she's disgusted when she learns that Lex was turned into "one of them" in Vessel. For her, it's enough to have witnessed one bad apple to hate/fear all apples.

And how many times has she accused Clark of things he didn't actually do because she'd rather believe anyone over him?

[Aurora Moon]

The last two character flaws you mentioned could be tolerable in small doses... because a lot of people do have double standards in real life and often fail to realize that they're not holding themselves to the same standards that they demand of others. Parents do that all the time to their own children, for instance. Like they'd do some "adult things" that could very easily set a bad example/impression for their own children, but demand that their children never do any of those things. It's a case of "Do as I say, not do as I do."

It's also human nature to be scared of things you don't understand. I do agree with you that Lana should had kept an open mind and tried to learn more of the story before judging anybody, though.

However... I think the problem with Lana was that they didn't really fill out her character enough for those things to be balanced out by her more positive traits... so that those flaws wouldn't seem so glaringly apparent in comparison? She just seems like such a shallow character...

Because again, it seems like she's nothing without her relationships due to the way the writers wrote her. She just needs to be in a relationship with a man, which is why she never stays single for very long. yet she can't even stay in a long-term relationship??

I just wish that the writers would actually take the time to develop her character without turning her into some kind of shallow canon Mary sue. It just seems like that most of the time stuff just happens to her, as opposed to her just doing things without being provoked into it by other factors.
For those who don't know what a mary sue is... here's a definition of one from TV tropes:

The prototypical Mary Sue is an original female character in a fanfic who obviously serves as an idealized version of the author mainly for the purpose of Wish Fulfillment. She's exotically beautiful, often having an unusual hair or eye color, and has a similarly cool and exotic name.
She's exceptionally talented in an implausibly wide variety of areas, and may possess skills that are rare or nonexistent in the canon setting. She also lacks any realistic, or at least story-relevant, character flaws — either that or her "flaws" are obviously meant to be endearing. She has an unusual and dramatic Back Story. The canon protagonists are all overwhelmed with admiration for her beauty, wit, courage and other virtues, and are quick to adopt her as one of their True Companions, even characters who are usually antisocial and untrusting; if any character doesn't love her, that character gets an extremely unsympathetic portrayal.
She has some sort of especially close relationship to the author's favorite canon character — their love interest, illegitimate child, never-before-mentioned sister, etc. Other than that, the canon characters are quickly reduced to awestruck cheerleaders, watching from the sidelines as Mary Sue outstrips them in their areas of expertise and solves problems that have stymied them for the entire series. (See Common Mary Sue Traits for more detail on any of these cliches.) In other words, the term "Mary Sue" is generally slapped on a character who is important in the story, possesses unusual physical traits, and has an irrelevantly over-skilled or over-idealized nature.
Originally, the term used to apply exclusively to fanfiction, but by the time of Star Trek: The Next Generation, the term "Canon Sue" started seeing use, applying Author Avatar standards to canon works (most likely inspired by the backlash against Wesley Crusher; even Wil Wheaton has decried the character's obnoxiousness). It was around this time that the term started to lose a concrete meaning, since the label started getting applied even to characters who weren't explicit self-inserts (such as the title character of the episode "The Empath"), but just happened to use similar tropes. It was also (most likely) around this time that the term started to gain its pejorative tone. Finally, the advent of the Internet allowed the term to migrate out of the Star Trek community to most fandoms, losing pretty much any real meaning in the process. There are dozens upon dozens of essays that offer interpretations of what the term means, generally basing it off of some usages of it, but none of them are truly comprehensive or accepted. Using the term in most contexts isn't too far off from Flame Bait, generally provoking the defendant into rants. Much Internet Backdraft has resulted, especially if the term is applied to a canon character on a popular show.

[Degobunny]

Lana had some good traits too though. She knew how to talk to people to get things done, excelled in school, and fought for what she believed in good or bad. I wouldn't say Lana was a two-timer. Lana just happened to attract a lot of male attention.With Whitney, long distant relationships are hard. If you notice after Whitney she never had a long distance relationship. The closest was Jason, and well he moved to Smallville. With Jason and Lex, Clark just refused let go of his feelings for Lana. So Lana imo is not a two-timer so much as Clark idealized Lana to an extent that was extremely unhealthy.

[Dagenspear]

Lana had some good traits too though. She knew how to talk to people to get things done, excelled in school, and fought for what she believed in good or bad. I wouldn't say Lana was a two-timer. Lana just happened to attract a lot of male attention.With Whitney, long distant relationships are hard. If you notice after Whitney she never had a long distance relationship. The closest was Jason, and well he moved to Smallville. With Jason and Lex, Clark just refused let go of his feelings for Lana. So Lana imo is not a two-timer so much as Clark idealized Lana to an extent that was extremely unhealthy.

I kind of agree. Lana wasn't awful. She was just okay.

[Aurora Moon]

Actually if you watch her closely when she's interacting with those men, she does have a tendency to lead them on... whenever she meant to or not. Especially with Clark! It was basically like Lana couldn't ever let go of her feelings for Clark, so when she got into an relationship with other guys... she would basically send signals Clark's way that basically says: "If you act on it, then I'm yours! forget those guys I'm with."
Again, that is a form of emotional cheating and two-timing in my opinion. It was like Lana couldn't make up her mind on what she really wanted... Clark or those other guys she was dating at the time.

I just realized that Lana also had another disturbing trend when it came to her relationships... with the exception of Clark, she had a tendency to go for guys who were significantly older than she was.

In season one, Lana was 14 years old as seeing she was a freshman. But her boyfriend Whitney was a senior, which made him 17 years old. imagine if Whitney had turned 18? he would be in so much trouble!!

Adam Knight was also around Whitney's age.

Jason Tegaue was 19 years old, when Lana had just turned 16 years old.

Lex Luthor was 21 years old around the time of the first season, so when he and Lana eventually got together he would had been at least 23 years old while Lana was 17 years old and graduating from high school.

ummm... what the hell were wrong with the writers that they kept on pairing up an underage girl with older guys?? That's kind of creepy....

But in a sense it also highlights how Lana kept on going for relationships that was doomed to fail from the start, espeically with such large age gaps.

[jon-el87]

Jason Tegaue was 19 years old, when Lana had just turned 16 years old.

Lex Luthor was 21 years old around the time of the first season, so when he and Lana eventually got together he would had been at least 23 years old while Lana was 17 years old and graduating from high school.

Your math is wrong. She dated Jason, during her senior year/season 4. She would've been 17, when they first met and became 18 during their relationship. And she started dating Lex, towards the end of season 5, when she's already in college and about 19. She might even have been a year older, as the below linked wiki lists her birth in the fall of 1986 (suggesting that she's been held back for a year, for some reason). Meaning, she would've been 18/19 with Jason and 20 with Lex.

http://smallville.*****.com/wiki/Timeline

[Aurora Moon]

Okay, that's less bad... but you have to admit that a 17-year-old dating a 19 year old is kind of sketchy, even if she does turn 18 years old during the relationship. And not to mention that he became an coach at her school. It was no wonder why Lex Luthor felt that was morally wrong and reported Jason to the school board for dating an student while he was there... even if the said student was of legal age (18 years old) at the time.

So basically that still leaves Whitney and Adam Knight. She was still under the age of consent under Kansas law, while those guys were 17 years old going on 18. I wonder which writers thought it was realistic for a older senior like Whitney to go for a freshman like Lana Lang, lol.

I guess my issue is how the writers choose to portray her relationships and how she deals with it...

[DJ Doena]

Okay, that's less bad... but you have to admit that a 17-year-old dating a 19 year old is kind of sketchy, even if she does turn 18 years old during the relationship. And not to mention that he became an coach at her school. It was no wonder why Lex Luthor felt that was morally wrong and reported Jason to the school board for dating an student while he was there... even if the said student was of legal age (18 years old) at the time.

She turned 18 in Paris (Crusade), a few weeks after they've met.

And despite what Lex was claiming when Jason and Lana confronted him, given the events in Hypnotic I very much doubt Lex' actions in Jinx were of noble intentions.

So basically that still leaves Whitney and Adam Knight. She was still under the age of consent under Kansas law, while those guys were 17 years old going on 18. I wonder which writers thought it was realistic for a older senior like Whitney to go for a freshman like Lana Lang, lol.

I guess my issue is how the writers choose to portray her relationships and how she deals with it...

When you think about it, the Lana-Whitney relationship was the most disturbing.

The older you get the less a few years age difference matter. Nobody is going to think much about a 26-22 couple. But a 18-14 couple? He a senior and she does his homework? When have they even started dating? In Middle school? The pilot took place in October, a few weeks after L/C/C/P started their Freshman year in high school.

But then again, not much makes sense about this first year (driving cars, being editor of the school paper).


But then again I wonder when they did decide that Whitney was already a senior. I doubt that was already the case in the early episodes. Back then he might as well have been a sophomore or even a freshman himself (him being on the football team doesn't count, Lana had a center role in the cheerleading squad at the same time).


Maybe it would have been better to start with the sophomore year (like Buffy did). You could explain away a lot of inconsistencies and have previously established relationships without much eyebrow raising.

[Aurora Moon]

But then again I wonder when they did decide that Whitney was already a senior. I doubt that was already the case in the early episodes. Back then he might as well have been a sophomore or even a freshman himself (him being on the football team doesn't count, Lana had a center role in the cheerleading squad at the same time).

Maybe it would have been better to start with the sophomore year (like Buffy did). You could explain away a lot of inconsistencies and have previously established relationships without much eyebrow raising.

This is a very excellent point, and I agree on that front.

The writers tend to write out scenes like they've never been to a high school before as freshmen. For instance, like having Lana Lang be the homecoming queen when most american schools have rules state that freshmen can't be the homecoming queen. In my high school, you had to be a Senior (16-18ish years old). and so on forth. But I have heard of some schools letting sophomore students run for homecoming queen.
Having this set in the sophomore year would solve so many inconsistencies that those writers created in the first season.

I think part of the problem with Whitney was that the writers didn't know what to do with him. So they decided to have him be a senior who graduated and went off to war. Honestly, I think they should had him be the same age as Clark and the others... and, I was also fine with him just being that ******* football jock that Lana dated. Because it helped in having the viewers see the contrast between Clark and Whitney and how they dealt with things.
Whitney liked to do a lot of questionable stuff with his friends, laboring under the idea that "Boys will be boys". He saw the Scare-crowing "tradtion" as something that was just a prank, despite the fact that it can be quite deadly to the health of humans in real life. He didn't see his friends cheating on their midterms as something that was a big deal at all, even if they could easily get kicked off the football team for if it was ever found out. Basically he was an ******* who justified a lot of things by saying they were just "no big deal", etc.

Clark doesn't do any of those things. In a way I think whitney could had been great as a way to deliver stories about the moral issues that everyone eventually faces in high school, without it getting too preachy. A shame that the writers never went down that route.

[Dagenspear]

Actually if you watch her closely when she's interacting with those men, she does have a tendency to lead them on... whenever she meant to or not. Especially with Clark! It was basically like Lana couldn't ever let go of her feelings for Clark, so when she got into an relationship with other guys... she would basically send signals Clark's way that basically says: "If you act on it, then I'm yours! forget those guys I'm with."
Again, that is a form of emotional cheating and two-timing in my opinion. It was like Lana couldn't make up her mind on what she really wanted... Clark or those other guys she was dating at the time.

I just realized that Lana also had another disturbing trend when it came to her relationships... with the exception of Clark, she had a tendency to go for guys who were significantly older than she was.

In season one, Lana was 14 years old as seeing she was a freshman. But her boyfriend Whitney was a senior, which made him 17 years old. imagine if Whitney had turned 18? he would be in so much trouble!!

Adam Knight was also around Whitney's age.

Jason Tegaue was 19 years old, when Lana had just turned 16 years old.

Lex Luthor was 21 years old around the time of the first season, so when he and Lana eventually got together he would had been at least 23 years old while Lana was 17 years old and graduating from high school.

ummm... what the hell were wrong with the writers that they kept on pairing up an underage girl with older guys?? That's kind of creepy....

But in a sense it also highlights how Lana kept on going for relationships that was doomed to fail from the start, espeically with such large age gaps.

I think you mean that older guys were attracted her and she was attracted back. The fact of the matter is, those guys are basically the ones who hold the most responsibility in those relationships. Regarding the other thing, Lana was always on the verge of breaking up with who she was with to be with Clark, when something stopped her. Whitney, she was going to but then his father passed. With Adam, well, she was never actually with Adam. With Jason, she never sent any signals until Jason started freaking on her. Lex, well, she was going to leave Lex, but then Lionel coerced her into the marriage.

[Sexy Kal]

She's a female dog and also a slut. Her aunt Nel did a bad job raising her and she turned out to be one of those girls who always has a backup boyfriend and sleeps with whoever will listen to her even if they're evil (Lex).

She was with Lex just to get revenge on Clark for breaking up with her, terrible. She's scum, and she's beneath Clark. Why Clark even liked her for so long is completely beyond me. I can understand him liking her in high school but after seeing who she really is and what she's really like Clark should have stopped chasing after her and found a better girl to be with. Alicia was a good candidate but she got murdered and Lana didn't even care, that b****.

[Dagenspear]

She's a female dog and also a slut. Her aunt Nel did a bad job raising her and she turned out to be one of those girls who always has a backup boyfriend and sleeps with whoever will listen to her even if they're evil (Lex).

She was with Lex just to get revenge on Clark for breaking up with her, terrible. She's scum, and she's beneath Clark. Why Clark even liked her for so long is completely beyond me. I can understand him liking her in high school but after seeing who she really is and what she's really like Clark should have stopped chasing after her and found a better girl to be with. Alicia was a good candidate but she got murdered and Lana didn't even care, that b****.

Well, that's some hardcore misogynisim right there. Clark didn't really care about Alicia after Pariah either. She did not get with Lex for revenge. Lex wasn't evil then and even if he was, she didn't know that. You're fanwanking a lot of this.