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Thoughts on Whitney
Jun. 1st, 2003 01:55 pmI've been thinking about Whitney and his character lately, especially since my brother watched the Pilot episode. He said he was really confused by the character. When we first meet Whitney, he's a nice guy. Yes, he's with the hero's dream girl, but when Clark get sick, instead of acting like a sterotypical jock on TV, he actually seems concerned. Or, if not concerned, he does ask if Clark was okay and seems sincere about it. I always got the feeling that if Clark said, "No, I need to go to the nurse," Whitney would have responded something to the effect of, "I'm heading that way, why don't I take you?" He just seemed decent.
And then, forty mintues later, he strings Clark up, and as a viewer, my brother and I were left to wonder, "What am I supposed to think of this guy?" Becuase yes, it was a prank, but it's a mean prank. And since it's done to our hero and not some random kid we don't see, the cruelty of it all is highlighted. Add the unintentional (I think) Mathew Shepard imagry, plus the fact that Clark's sick (unintentional on Whitney's part), but it makes Whitney come off as a major asshole.
Up until "Kinetic," it doesn't seem we're supposed to like Whitney very much. Except, the monkeys who created the show (Mille and Gough) say in the comentary that their vision for Whitney was that he'd was who Clark would be without his powers. A kind of all-American jock, good guy, etc.
Huh? Are we supposed to believe Clark, as raised by the Kents, would grow up to string farmboys in the field? Because, as I said, after those first few episodes, Whitney was the rival for Lana's attention, and I never quite got why she stayed with him.
Then, in "Kientic" we begin to see Whitney as a kid whose life is falling apart and has to grow up really fast because of it. And I liked that Whitney, so I don't want to take away the jerkiness of the beginnign of the season. But, at the same time, I know there are some fans who have a hard time forgiving him because of the scarecrow incident, and the fact he never really, truly apologized for it (unless he did, and I forgot).
So I've been trying to think of a way to get the jerk back without making him one step away from a monster. I decided what would have been better was to show Whitney and the rest of the team--or the seniors on the team--sitting around trying to choose the scarecrow. Whitney would be playing with the necklace as they threw out names (also a good way to give the idea there are more people at the school than just the stars and the random extras). Someone woudl mention Clark, and Whitney would bring up Lana kissing him, and how he'd liked to get back at Clark, etc. But, as they're leaving, Whitney gets called by the coach to go over some plays, or hit the sauna, or *something* that prevents him from doing the prank. They rest of the guys take the necklace "for Whitney" and nab Clark. So, he's involved, but the taint isn't on him quite as strongly.
*shrugs* I actually don't know if that's any better, I just get so frutrated when I think of how they write their characters. All of them, actually, but I take out my frustation in my fics, too, changing what I don't like. I dont' know if I would have changed the Scarecrow thing if I'd written a fic for the pilot, though. I really thought COTW would only be about 5 fics long, so it wasn't all that important. Now, it is, but I'm not sure what I'm going to do with Whitney, Helen, Chloe, or the whole wedding thing.
And then, forty mintues later, he strings Clark up, and as a viewer, my brother and I were left to wonder, "What am I supposed to think of this guy?" Becuase yes, it was a prank, but it's a mean prank. And since it's done to our hero and not some random kid we don't see, the cruelty of it all is highlighted. Add the unintentional (I think) Mathew Shepard imagry, plus the fact that Clark's sick (unintentional on Whitney's part), but it makes Whitney come off as a major asshole.
Up until "Kinetic," it doesn't seem we're supposed to like Whitney very much. Except, the monkeys who created the show (Mille and Gough) say in the comentary that their vision for Whitney was that he'd was who Clark would be without his powers. A kind of all-American jock, good guy, etc.
Huh? Are we supposed to believe Clark, as raised by the Kents, would grow up to string farmboys in the field? Because, as I said, after those first few episodes, Whitney was the rival for Lana's attention, and I never quite got why she stayed with him.
Then, in "Kientic" we begin to see Whitney as a kid whose life is falling apart and has to grow up really fast because of it. And I liked that Whitney, so I don't want to take away the jerkiness of the beginnign of the season. But, at the same time, I know there are some fans who have a hard time forgiving him because of the scarecrow incident, and the fact he never really, truly apologized for it (unless he did, and I forgot).
So I've been trying to think of a way to get the jerk back without making him one step away from a monster. I decided what would have been better was to show Whitney and the rest of the team--or the seniors on the team--sitting around trying to choose the scarecrow. Whitney would be playing with the necklace as they threw out names (also a good way to give the idea there are more people at the school than just the stars and the random extras). Someone woudl mention Clark, and Whitney would bring up Lana kissing him, and how he'd liked to get back at Clark, etc. But, as they're leaving, Whitney gets called by the coach to go over some plays, or hit the sauna, or *something* that prevents him from doing the prank. They rest of the guys take the necklace "for Whitney" and nab Clark. So, he's involved, but the taint isn't on him quite as strongly.
*shrugs* I actually don't know if that's any better, I just get so frutrated when I think of how they write their characters. All of them, actually, but I take out my frustation in my fics, too, changing what I don't like. I dont' know if I would have changed the Scarecrow thing if I'd written a fic for the pilot, though. I really thought COTW would only be about 5 fics long, so it wasn't all that important. Now, it is, but I'm not sure what I'm going to do with Whitney, Helen, Chloe, or the whole wedding thing.
