On the subject of Miss Lang

[serafina20]

Everyone's thoughts are making me think about it. And I can't help but wonder if the main problem isn't Lana, but everyone else.



The more and more I think about it, the more I start to think that maybe Lana isn't the problem. Not exactly. Yes, she's unevenly characterized. Yes, she does more than humanly possible for a teenage girl to be doing. Yes, she wears a lot of pink and complains about being abandoned and takes up a lot of screen time. And, yes, she's not all that interesting when she's doing the relationship dance with Clark.

However, name one character besides Lionel who isn't unevenly characterized on the show. And, before you say Lex, let me reply with Dichotic (yes, Lex has a temper, but he was always very careful only to show the temper when around his father or in the privacy in his own home), Visage (even MR couldn’t save the "wall around my heart" speech), Fever (yes, there's a deleted scene in which Lex does make it to the hospital with the intention of seeing how Martha is doing, but it was deleted and therefore doesn't count), and most of what happened with Helen, actually. And perhaps there are examples of Lionel being inconsistent, but I can't think of any right now. But Chloe, Clark, Jonathan, Martha, Pete, and Lex all have characterization problems that we tear apart and complain about and, sometimes, ultimately ignore.

Yes, KK is a weaker actress compared to the others (except TW in the early episodes), but that doesn't explain everything. The fact remains that Lana isn't perfect. We all know this. We've all pointed it out at various times, but other characters still treat her like she is. But she's not. Lana is judgmental (Extinction, Visitor, and, hell, even the Pilot in her first scene with Lex). She's manipulative (the way she kept a back-up boyfriend in Clark, her dealings with Beanery, the way she co-opted Chloe's letter to Clark in Fever, and maybe a few more examples). She's selfish, needy, depressed (not a character flaw, exactly, but a way she's not perfect), clingy, whiney, weak, and a bad dresser (never mind I may have wore clothes like her in high school; I was a bad dresser too).

However, she's also motivated. Her motivations change (sometimes she wants to leave, sometimes she's desperate to stay), but once she sets her mind to something, she goes after it. She quits cheerleading and becomes a waitress. She gets fired from that and flounders as to what she wants to do (during this time she does volunteer for one or two projects) until she decides she wants the Talon. And then, she keeps going after it until she gets it (even with a motivational speech from Clark; let's face it, we all need a little motivation once in awhile). She pours everything she has into the Talon and, yes, no teenager could pull it off, but, then again, you don't find too many high school freshmen as editor of the school newspaper, getting an internship with a major paper during the summer, and basically running everything single-handedly. She finds out about Henry, and while it was a stupid-ass storyline, if I found out that someone else might be my real father, I'd try to make contact with him, too. When she decides to go to art school, she doesn't let anything stop her from going. She even avoids the one person who can stop her.

Yes, some things with Lana are completely hard to swallow. Let's take S2. She lost Nell, Whitney, her father (two times; once, she lost Mr. Lang and then she lost Henry), Clark (a number of times), Whitney's horse (well, almost), and then she had to relieve losing Emily again. Now, one or two of those would be interesting storytelling (Whitney and Emily, especially), but all of them together in one season had me wanting to take bets on who she was going to lose next. And then, as we know, she borrowed personality traits from Lex and Chloe.

But I still don't think that's why the character is so hard to take. I think that the reason why Lana is so hard to swallow is because, no matter what she does, what flaws she shows, what strengths come out, almost everyone in the show reacts to her in the exact same way. The exact same *positive* way.

Lana opens the Talon? She's strong, resourceful, smart, etc. Lana breaks up with Whitney via a video letter long after she should have? Meh, that's okay. It was honest. Lana doesn't want to leave SV? That's fine, that's normal and Nell shouldn’t be able to make her move. Lana snoops through Chloe's things? Oh, bad, but, oh, okay, no problem. Chloe forgives her, because she doesn't want to ruin their friendship (which Lana later tells her was never as solid as all that anyway).

I want to go off on a tangent here about the whole Chloe/Clark/Lana triangle. It was believable up to a point. Had I been Chloe, I probably would have continually told Lana I didn't blame her, it wasn't her fault, we were still friends, etc. But... I wouldn't have meant it. I would have been seething. I would be just as angry, if not angrier, with Lana as I was with Clark because Clark is just a guy and Lana is my roommate and *friend*. There should be some loyalty. But Chloe never seemed to be angry with Lana. Ever. She only goes after Clark while continually forgiving and protecting Lana. And that was frustrating because it was so unrealistic.

I'm not saying that everyone who Lana interacts with should hate her. She's a nice girl. And this is a TV show with a limited cast. There are no Jonathans and Harmonys like on BtVS to rotate in and out, saying catty or dismissive or positive things about Lana Lang. So having Chloe be pissed off and not speaking to Lana for an episode or two, then having them make up would have been believable within the confines of the show. But no one ever gets mad at Lana, at least not for an extended period of time. Not even when they should. Clark doesn't have to because she's his dream girl, but not everyone has to view her as being perfect.

And I think this is where the frustration from the audience comes from. Remember Accelerate when Lana tells Clark she's afraid of disappointing him because she's not perfect? And we were all (well, maybe not all) horrified that he told her that she was and could never disappoint him? That's because *we* know she's not, and could probably like her more if *someone* (again, it doesn't have to be Clark), but *someone* acknowledged that. And even though it was Clark saying that Lana was perfect, what we've been seeing is a town full of people who think Lana is just fine the way she is. And, maybe, that means the writers thinks she's just fine and they don’t see the flaws and personality traits they'd already worked into the character. If the writers don't see the character for what she truly is (someone who, in the end, is pretty human), then who will?

Which, strangely enough, leads me to Lana and Lex. Because I think, in his own strange way, Lex does see that. He told Lana she was a breath of fresh air in the way she treats him, and he's right. She can take him down a peg (or could, in the Pilot) amuse him (Hothead), commiserate with him (Cravings), go to him for help (with the Talon), get pissed off at him (Zero) then forgive him. He can tease her (Nocturne), identify with her (I honestly think that's why he did the punching bag thing with her in Precipice; even though he's been trained, he's still victimized a lot, and I think that helped him connect when she was pushed over the edge. Plus, bullies like the ones in that episode are easier to take than mutants, so he wanted to show her how to deal with it). When his life started falling apart at the end of S3, she was really the only comfort. Chloe was scary because she'd been involved with Lionel, Lionel was terrifying because, dude. He's Lionel. And Clark continued to be Clark. Meanwhile, Lana came over once a week, they went over the books, and then chatted about mundane, normal things. She was comfort. He knows her flaws, knows how she can get, but, in the end, Lana Lang is a nice person and he responded to that.

So, that's my long, rambly way of saying that, yes, Lana Lang's characterization has basic flaws that irritate and get in the way of the story. However, the thing that exacerbates the problem is not the character itself but the way other characters react to what the idealized version the people who created her see in their heads rather than how she actually comes across onscreen.

Comments

[lexcorp-hope.livejournal.com]

This is an awesome post, and so dead-on! I was actually thinking about something tangentially related to this, this morning- that the men writing the show obviously don't understand teenaged-girl dibs. If they had, they would have known that Lana couldn't put dibs on Clark (because she was dating Whitney,) and that Chloe, by virtue of going with him to the dance, had dibs. Even if they break up; a loyal friend might still crush over him for ages and ages, but she wouldn't touch. It's certainly not rational (who is, at that age??) and it's not like Clark had to go along with the dib calling, but at least where and when I grew up, Lana would have been the bad friend for saying yes when he asked, even if Chloe said, through gritted teeth, "No, go ahead."

[serafina20.livejournal.com]

that the men writing the show obviously don't understand teenaged-girl dibs

They really don't, and that's a point i had't even thought about. The whole teen aspect. What kind of got my wheels turning was a comment a friend of mine who recently started watchign the show made. She said something to the effect that the one thing reality television has taught us is, in a sitution where two girls like the same guy, they get mad at the other girl, not the guy. The guy they forgive all faults.

Now, neither Chloe or Lana are Jerry Springer girls, but there should be some anger between them about Clark. I can see it on Lana's end of it, but you rarely see Chloe really, truly angry that Lana stole the guy that she had dibs on.

[azarsuerte.livejournal.com]

Which, strangely enough, leads me to Lana and Lex. Because I think, in his own strange way, Lex does see that. He told Lana she was a breath of fresh air in the way she treats him, and he's right. She can take him down a peg (or could, in the Pilot) amuse him (Hothead), commiserate with him (Cravings), go to him for help (with the Talon), get pissed off at him (Zero) then forgive him. He can tease her (Nocturne), identify with her (I honestly think that's why he did the punching bag thing with her in Precipice; even though he's been trained, he's still victimized a lot, and I think that helped him connect when she was pushed over the edge. Plus, bullies like the ones in that episode are easier to take than mutants, so he wanted to show her how to deal with it). When his life started falling apart at the end of S3, she was really the only comfort. Chloe was scary because she'd been involved with Lionel, Lionel was terrifying because, dude. He's Lionel. And Clark continued to be Clark. Meanwhile, Lana came over once a week, they went over the books, and then chatted about mundane, normal things. She was comfort. He knows her flaws, knows how she can get, but, in the end, Lana Lang is a nice person and he responded to that.

I think you've just summarized in one paragraph why I like Lexana. Everyone else around Lana loves her blindly and puts her on a pedestal. Lex sees her for who she really is--a flawed human being like anyone else--and cares about her anyway! Which is as it should be. :-) And because of that, it makes *me* like Lana more when she's around him.

Cool post--very thought provoking. :-)

[suzycat.livejournal.com]

I'm hoping that continues to be the case; I'm scared that as he gets closer to Lana, he too will fall into the worship.

It truly is the most perplexing thing about the show, sometimes.

[serafina20.livejournal.com]

It truly is the most perplexing thing about the show, sometimes.

It's so perpelxing, that I almost hope that making people see her as being perfectly perfect is her mutant power. She's due for one.

[serafina20.livejournal.com]

And because of that, it makes *me* like Lana more when she's around him.


I found myself looking forward to the Lex/Lana scenes near the end of the season. Not only did Lex seem more at peace during them, but Lana was ten times as tolerable.

Cool post--very thought provoking

Thank you for commenting!

[thepouncer.livejournal.com]

Dead on interpretations. I know that much of my annoyance with Lana (aside from KK's sub-par portrayal) comes with the way *everyone* treats her as the bestest thing ever. I actually have to do a lot of squinting over her scenes with Lex, so that a lot of his positive statements become expressions of irony instead.

[serafina20.livejournal.com]

I actually have to do a lot of squinting over her scenes with Lex, so that a lot of his positive statements become expressions of irony instead.

While I was writing the part about Lex and Lana, I did have to stop and analyze whether or not Lex actually sees the human inside the pink, or if that's just my fanon version. A lot of times, in fanfic, (mine esp.) Lex hates Lana not because she's really done anything to deseve it, but because she's his rival. That, and because a lot of times Lex is written through the lense of the viewer, he sees her flaws when others don't. But I do think that Lex on the show does see her more realistically than everyone else.

[sabershadowkat.livejournal.com]

He does, it's not just becasue of your story. Which goes on to make me wonder how intentional is it that the others *don't* treat her any differently, considering that Lex *does.* I'd have to look at the writers of the episodes you mention to see if they also wrote the Lana-pedestal ones. It does verify that there's no continuity in the show and that the writers don't bother to go back and check characterization :)

And I might as well post the rest of my opinion here. A problem that I have with Lana is that Clark is still chasing after her, long after THEY BROKE UP! FOR GOOD REASONS! Clark comes off a seriously pathetic and very much a loser for still chasing after her romantically, so my perception of Lana is highly colored by wanting Clark to just stop already.

[serafina20.livejournal.com]

Which goes on to make me wonder how intentional is it that the others *don't* treat her any differently, considering that Lex *does.*

Yeah, you're right. in fact,t he only time I think Lex treated Lana with kid gloves was right after she was attacked in "Witness" and that was with good reason. After that, he went right back to challenging her to rise above her hated self-image.

Clark comes off a seriously pathetic and very much a loser for still chasing after her romantically, so my perception of Lana is highly colored by wanting Clark to just stop alrea

But so does Lana, really. She has very good reasons not to want to be involved with him (secret issues aside) and yet, in the end, she always forgives him and gravitates back. She's got an abused-wife personality that could potentially be an interesting arc to investigate, but the writers ignore it and don't. And that makes her a very creepy person that we're supposed to adore and want to be.

[serafina20.livejournal.com]

A problem that I have with Lana is that Clark is still chasing after her, long after THEY BROKE UP! FOR GOOD REASONS!

Someone commented in this entry, and I was reading the comments and another thought popped into my head:

Lana chased after Clark too after they broke up. In fact, except for Whisper, when Clark has a change of heart, it seems to me that Lana did most of the chasing. Even in Magnetic, I think Clark's primary motivation wasn't to get back together with her, but to protect her from a guy who was giving him serious willies. And, when it comes down to it, Clark has *good* instincts about who's a mutant and who isn't (and who's dangerous and who isn't).

This is one of the things that kept cracking me up in the early Adam/Lana scenes. Lana kept complaining about how Clark didn't know what he wanted, when he quite obviously did: he wanted to be with her, but knew it was best for both of them not to be together. Lana was the one who kept telling him the door was open. And, when she didn't get what she wanted, she got bitchy.

[candygirl-2005.livejournal.com]

This is exactly what I was saying in my comments to Hope's letter to Al. Like you say, nobody on the on the show ever makes Lana face the consequences of her actions. Or, when they do, like Chloe's anger with Lana's intentional snooping, then the other person gets made out to be the bad guy (see Clark's incomprehensible siding with Lana before he even heard the details). I think it's that very reason that some of us will never be able to like Lana. Great post!

[serafina20.livejournal.com]

see Clark's incomprehensible siding with Lana before he even heard the details)

Well, I can see why Clark sided with Lana. She's his dream girl, and he's always going to be biased, whether we like it or not. And while i'd rather have him see her for who she truly is, if it doesn't happen, there's not much we can do. But other characters definetely need to see her better, otherwise there's no 'in' for the audience. We're stuck with a bunch of POV's that don't make sense, and therefore we feel alienated and frustrated by the worship of this very flawed, and very real girl.

[latxcvi.livejournal.com]

This is an excellent articulation of what is perhaps the single most off-putting thing about Lana's characterization/conceptualization by the PTB. What made Lana so charming to me in, say, Hothead, was that she was able to acknowledge she sucked at something and *so were the people around her*. Conversely, what made me want to shake her - and the creative team - in Accelerate is that, rather than calling Clark on the bullshit of refusing to see her as she really is, she acquiesced in letting him have his fantasy of her perfection because she was afraid to lose him (I think); it was as if she'd decided to buy her own press.

Like you've said, it would be easier, I think, for a lot of people to empathize with Lana - and thus, potentially to like her - if there was ever any kind of intra-textual acknowledgement of the idea that she's Not Perfect, that she screws up and hurts others and herself sometimes. If I had the time and inclination, I could probably go back across the seasons and look at fan reaction to Lana from episode to episode and I'd be willing to *bet* that those times when fans have not only not minded Lana but have actually kind of liked her? Have been those episodes where she or someone else around her has acknowledged that she screwed up in some way.

[serafina20.livejournal.com]

Conversely, what made me want to shake her - and the creative team - in Accelerate is that, rather than calling Clark on the bullshit of refusing to see her as she really is, she acquiesced in letting him have his fantasy of her perfection because she was afraid to lose him (I think); it was as if she'd decided to buy her own press.

And no one chose to show how tragic that was, either. Had it been presented as something sad instead of something beautiful, it could have been an interesting storyline. But it was sold to us as true love, so it was creepy.

If I had the time and inclination, I could probably go back across the seasons and look at fan reaction to Lana from episode to episode and I'd be willing to *bet* that those times when fans have not only not minded Lana but have actually kind of liked her? Have been those episodes where she or someone else around her has acknowledged that she screwed up in some way.

I have no doubt about that. I *love* Lana in Hothead and I really enjoyed the part in Lineage when Clark is ranting about how rude and scary it was for Rachel to come up and push herself on him and wonders aloud who does that, and Lana sort of self-deprecatingly raises her hand. It was so *real* and understandable. Any frustration I'd felt about the way she'd appraoched Henry was erased because it was pointed out how stupidly she went around it. It allowed the audience to see her as a human instead of through the lense of Perfecion.

[latxcvi.livejournal.com]

Had it been presented as something sad instead of something beautiful, it could have been an interesting storyline. But it was sold to us as true love, so it was creepy.

Yes, yes, *yes*. It *could* have been really interesting if the creative team had gone out on that limb and tried to show us that it's not Clark's Secret that's damaging to a potential Clark/Lana hook-up so much as how he and Lana relate to each other *generally*. And the thing is, because they're destined to Not Be Together *anyway*, pursuing the storyline that way could have made for good, organic drama - Clark and Lana can't be together despite caring for each other very much because they're *not good for each other*. It would have been different and it would have been *real*; a lot of people can empathize with the idea that you can love someone deeply and passionately yet know the two of you together are toxic to one another. That would have been a Clark/Lana mating dance I'd've been interested in watching, you know?

have no doubt about that. I *love* Lana in Hothead and I really enjoyed the part in Lineage when Clark is ranting about how rude and scary it was for Rachel to come up and push herself on him and wonders aloud who does that, and Lana sort of self-deprecatingly raises her hand. It was so *real* and understandable.

Yes!! I was actually thinking of that scene as I was writing the last part of my original reply to you, because not only was it a moment when we, the audience, knew Lana'd been dopey, but Lana *and Clark* knew Lana'd been dopey, and there was no attempt to have Clark back-peddle in his opinion that that was a stupid way to go about things just because Lana had done it. And Lana was *completely* adorable in that moment because she was very human and, as you said, real. It contrasts very sharply with the scene later in the season between Lana and Jennifer Small; I don't ding Lana for that 'cause she's only 16 and Jennifer was laying some heavy shit at her door, but if I'd been the creative team reviewing that scene? I would have revised it so that Lana didn't sit there acting like it was her due that Henry was so wrapped up in her and, instead, called Jennifer out on the completely whack-ass bullshit she was sprouting. If Lana had said, like, the Lana-esque version of "Look, lady, I don't know what crack you're on, but I've known your husband for five minutes. If y'all are having problems in your marriage on the basis of me having known Henry for five minutes? Y'all have bigger problems that have *nothing to do with me*"? I would have eaten her up with a spoon because again, it's not playing into this notion that Lana Is So Perfect and Wonderful Whole Families Can Be Torn Apart By the Gravitational Force of Her Wonderfulness, but is, instead, the show acknowledging no, really, Jennifer, Lana's simply Not That Good. Like, even if Jennifer was acting like a fool, there was no call for having Lana - and thus the series, intra-textually - *endorse* it.

So. Yeah. I totally think you've hit the nail on the head of just how the creative team has done a disservice to Lana as a character.

comics tie-in

[sage]

Thank you so much for posting this. I think it's really interesting from a comics pov, too, since comics!Lana was idealized by Clark, but pretty much only by Clark. From what I've read, everyone else seems to have known the snoopy redhead teenager *was* a snoopy redhead teenager, including herself. It was endearing. It made her just as sweet and fallible as everyone else.

This is a huge problem they've had in the writing of the Superman comic. How do you write stories about a guy that's more or less invincible and has no real problems beyond his periodic marital troubles with Lois and conflicts with coworkers at the Planet? How do you make that interesting, especially with only a limited cast of supporting characters to draw on. Meanwhile Batman's got an entire clan to draw from, and by and large tells much more interesting stories.

Lana totally suffers the same over-idealization, and in a way I wonder if Al and Miles have so much trouble presenting her because they're *too* steeped in the Superman mythos, where so much of the story is Superman vs. the FOTW/villain of the arc, a spat with Nemesis!Lex, flirting/fighting with Lois, patting Jimmy on the head, and dodging Perry. Oh, and sometimes he remembers to call his Ma.

I know that's a massive simplification of what are sometimes some really wonderful storylines...but I'm generalizing here. What I find really interesting is how S3 has given us a group of former friends who've become completely alienated from one another, while the comic gives us a group of painstakingly normal people who do their best to save the world, do the right thing, and print the truth. And in Batman, we have a group of fundamentally alienated, damaged human beings who come together as close-knit, strangely functional, if really weird, family.

I mention the Bats because I *really* liked goth!Lana. I would've loved a Lana who had actively flipped out when Nell took off and Whit died. That alone was major. Throw Tina in on top of it? By rights, she should've blown a gasket. And that's before the Henry Small stuff. (Great list, btw.) If they'd shown that, I think we all might be happier.

Re: comics tie-in

[serafina20.livejournal.com]

From what I've read, everyone else seems to have known the snoopy redhead teenager *was* a snoopy redhead teenager, including herself. It was endearing. It made her just as sweet and fallible as everyone else.

And I think that's why many fans find Chloe endearing. She's nosey, bitchy, snarky, snoopy, and often very wrong. And she gets called on it, she feels bad about it, but people (in SV) still like her. And therefore the audience responds.

Lana totally suffers the same over-idealization, and in a way I wonder if Al and Miles have so much trouble presenting her because they're *too* steeped in the Superman mythos

But they show a very flawed Clark, and I'm not sure that's unintentional. I think they have a good idea what a fuck-up Clark is being, and they need him to be in order to help push Lex over the edge. Every character on the show is allowed to have flaws and be viewed as having flaws by everyone else, except for Lana. She's this focal point of purity and goodness even though the character has pleanty of flaws herself. But the audience is forced to view her from only Clark's POV (except near the end of S3 when we saw her as Lex saw her) and it's very frustrating.

Re: comics tie-in

[lastscorpion.livejournal.com]

I think I've read that AlMiles deliberately avoid the actual comics, and never were much of the Superman Comics guys to begin with, that the Christopher Reeves movies were their Superman canon. Of course, some of the other writers have comics ties.

what we've been seeing is a town full of people who think Lana is just fine the way she is. LOL! Two words: Krypto-Mutant Ability.

[thelana.livejournal.com]

Accelerate definitively horrified me. Especially the throwaway way it was dealt with. I've never really "felt" the Clana relationship. But one of the few moments where I felt like I could somehow see the motivation for both of them was early in Season 1, the scene where Lana talks about everybody just seeing her as the little princess and Clark basically vowing that he sees the real her. And Lana? Fascinated.

No, it wasn't an overtly deep moment. But in the confines of Lana's character? I could see that motivating her. Motivating her to want a relationship with Clark and keep holding out for it, at least for a bit. Occasionally.

And now in Accelerate he reveals that, oh right, he sees her as pwetty!perfect! after all. Oh great yet another aspect (one of the few I could buy) of that interaction exposed as being bullshit.

[serafina20.livejournal.com]

But one of the few moments where I felt like I could somehow see the motivation for both of them was early in Season 1, the scene where Lana talks about everybody just seeing her as the little princess and Clark basically vowing that he sees the real her. And Lana? Fascinated.

I very recently saw that scene, and my mind immedialy flipped to Accelerate, where he basically broke his promise. The problem with that scene was not that Clark didn't see her as flawed (although it woudl have been more romantic and spoken better of him had he), but that Lana just accepts it. And the writers give us no indication that we're supposed to see that as massivly fucked up. IT's like they feel true love is seeing only what you want to see in the other person, which is just scary. And it's their inability to present us with characters besides Clark who see Lana for who she is that takes the frustrating aspect of one relationship and extends it to the entire character.

If that made sense.

[thete1.livejournal.com]

Man, *yes*. I absolutely could have had an easier time with Lana as a character if I wasn't always more than a *little* convinced that the writers all thought she was perfect-no-matter-what, and were thus writing the characters in a way that suggested they thought that, too -- whether or not it was remotely plausible that they *would*.

And honestly, what does it say that the only person who seems to be able to see her flaws on a week-to-week basis is the bad-guy-to-be?

On a meta level, I find it to be both disturbing and unsurprising.

[serafina20.livejournal.com]

And honestly, what does it say that the only person who seems to be able to see her flaws on a week-to-week basis is the bad-guy-to-be?

And they don't always see it. Often, they're the ones idealizing her in order to stalk.

It's funny, because I guess one of the reasons they put Chloe on the Lana train was because they knew a lot of fans sympathized with Chloe, and if she liked Lana, we'd like her. But I *liked* it when Chloe would disparage Lana, not because I was "yay! Lana sucks!", but because it was very real. And while I don't think Chloe has to hate Lana, or always talk bad about her or anything, she oesn't have to love Lana they way everyone else does.

[thete1.livejournal.com]

It's funny, because I guess one of the reasons they put Chloe on the Lana train was because they knew a lot of fans sympathized with Chloe, and if she liked Lana, we'd like her. But I *liked* it when Chloe would disparage Lana, not because I was "yay! Lana sucks!", but because it was very real. And while I don't think Chloe has to hate Lana, or always talk bad about her or anything, she oesn't have to love Lana they way everyone else does.

*nod nod* Man, I could absolutely be on board with Chloe loving Lana, if, you know, they'd shown Chloe *seeing* her, and loving what she saw... as opposed to just showing Chloe -- and everyone else -- loving the image of Lana in TPTB's minds.

[ann-tara.livejournal.com]

This is the cut-to-the-chase explanation of the big problem with Lana Lana, and particularly explains my own personal problem with (nay, hatred of) the character. If everyone didn't behave like they worshiped Lana and treated her like no matter what selfish, crappy, even ugly act she does and who she goes out of her way to hurt is okay 'cuz she's Lana and she's purdy (which is really in the eye of the beholder) and you have to love her ('cuz the producers love KK), then she probably wouldn't be such a hateful character. I mean, I'm sorry, there is no way in hell Chloe should be playing Lana's lapdog because Chloe shouldn't like Lana at all. Lana's only given her every reason not to like her, and it's not believable that Chloe would do so.

This is exactly what separates Lana from her closest on screen comparison, Marissa on The O.C.. Mischa Barton, like KK, is no actress, and the character she plays is annoying in the extreme. BUT, what keeps me from expending precious time loathing Marissa as I do Lana is the fact that Marissa isn't treated like gold teflon in the town of Newport. Everyone does not love her, or even like her all the time (including her own mother); and when she does bad things, as she does often, she gets called on them, and they are portrayed as being bad acts - unlike when Lana is being bad, as I think she is 90% of the time, it never matters 'cuz she's Princess Lana and therefore whatever crap she pulls must be viewed as good in the Bizarro World that is Smallville.

Unfortunately, this is the one huge Lana problem that I never see being repaired.

[serafina20.livejournal.com]

Lana's only given her every reason not to like her, and it's not believable that Chloe would do so.

Well, that's not exactly true when you look at the show as a whole. In early S1, the only reason Chloe had not to like Lana was Clark liked her. She didn't really know Lana all that well, and when Lana came to her for help (to find her mother's speech), I could see where Chloe's views on Lana changed and softened. However, over the course of their friendship, both girls have been bitchy and rude and mean to each otehr, but they still pretend they're bestest friends. The problem is, theres never a moment in which we see either one is pretending or really seething underneath until something like Chloe being pumped with the truth serum happens. And, even then, it was Lana who got to trash Chloe and not the other way around.

I like your example with Marissa on the OC. And the same is true for someone like Buffy on BtVS, or Cordelia on Angel the series. All are girls who are beautiful and loved, but we're not only shown their flaws, we know others see them as well.

[celli]

This makes *so* much sense to me, and I'm thrilled that you laid it out clearly.

[serafina20.livejournal.com]

This makes *so* much sense to me, and I'm thrilled that you laid it out clearly.

I'm happy it makes sense! I just wish the producesr saw it as such.

[kylandra.livejournal.com]

I think this is an excellent point. Looking at Lana's character, she's not perfect, but we're constantly told by pretty much every character and the creators that she's Perfect and Wonderful and we must all love her. (Now I keep thinking of Galadriel trying to get the One Ring and her line "All shall love me, and despair!" Heh.)

I have a feeling that if people would just let her be wrong, if just *somebody* in SV would dislike her or something, I'd be considerably less nauseated every time she comes on screen.

[serafina20.livejournal.com]

Now I keep thinking of Galadriel trying to get the One Ring and her line "All shall love me, and despair!" Heh

Hee! I have a manip that someone did with that line. It's here

I have a feeling that if people would just let her be wrong, if just *somebody* in SV would dislike her or something, I'd be considerably less nauseated every time she comes on screen.

I liked her with Adam Knight at the beginning, when he didn't put up with any of it. I liked her with Chloe in the first few episodes of S1 because Chloe very matter of factly (and sometimes, bitchily) dealt with her. But then it changed and everyone had stars in their eyes when it came to Lana. bleh.

[kattiya.livejournal.com]

Hey girl! How are you?

Love this meta, and was wondering if I could archive it at Existential Heroes? Working on the current update and would love to include it. Thanks!

[serafina20.livejournal.com]

Hey! I'm pretty good. Having some downs and not-so downs about work, but it'll get better.

Go ahead and archive it. I'd be flattered. ;)

[kattiya.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much Kelly! (It always gets better *pets*) And just in case you missed the post:



Existential Heroes, Smallville's meta archive, has been updated. Reorganized by date with a second update to follow.

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