I'm coming out of the Smallville closet.
Lex does not trip my trigger. I could care less about his role on the show. Really. I don't watch for Lex. I'm there for Clark and his story.
Some of the Lex story intrigues me - when Lionel is involved. Otherwise? Eh.
I'm all about the story of Superman. Lex Luthor is the future enemy. Kind of neat to see his progression, but it's not the end-all, be-all of my Smallville experience.
My Chlark preferences? Also coincide with with the fact that ultimately I am all about some Clark/Lois.
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There also seems to be some revisionist history and confusion over the people who are so all-fired up about the Clark hate. When you are only looking from one side, it's hard to see the forest for the trees. So I'm here to give you the other side.
Clark hate runs rampant after Lex-centric episodes. It's a fact. Clark inevitably is horrible and terrible and a bully or mean and stupid and just not worthy of the character of Superman. He's not benevolent and perfect and all-knowing and superior to the human race in such a manner as to be the quintessential Superman at all times.
"Clark hate" as a term has only popped up in the last couple of weeks. As someone who's been talking about this phenomenon with ONE person behind the scenes, I've found it kind of weird and interesting that it's been popping up all over the place, being mentioned by people in fandom who have very few connections with each other. I've seen it mentioned by people I don't know in comments in other journals.
It's easy to spot and predict when it will happen. And that? Makes for uncomfortable moments, when those who want to like Clark and defend him regularly know that they can't interact because to do so could mean a fight. We all know how easily wars start in this fandom. It's been a while. Believe me, it's been a long while. This fandom is due a fandom war and I have been watching this one coming for a while. Resentment builds up over time over the perception, even though it may not be wholely endorsed by a fandom party or what have you, that one view is the overwhelming view and is the ONLY view.
I write what I want in my journal, but I constantly temper my views on the episode because I know if I don't? Someone will come after me on it. I don't have this rosey notion that what I say in my journal is the gospel truth and irrefutable. I don't believe that it doesn't have reverberrations throughout fandom. Someone likes what I have to say or doesn't like it. I can choose to be controversial and cause arguments on a weekly basis or I can be happy in my fandom by making sure that what I choose to talk about is what
I want to talk about. If I don't want to talk about the fact that personally, I can't see why Lex is considered a woobie, then I just don't mention Lex. See? I go on about having a fun fandom and enjoying my show and dissecting the intricacies of mythology and Superman and how Lionel is really the most Magnificent Bastard ever, all without having to run off on a side note of defending my position regarding Lex. Even when he's interacting with Clark? I seldom care, so I don't mention it. Besides, the headache isn't worth my time.
I can already predict every argument that's getting ready to come this way.
You're talking out of your ass. Actually, I'm not. Just because my view isn't the popular view doesn't make it a valid view. But I am tired of hearing those that are comfortable in their position and their friendships, knowing they have plenty of people to back them up on why a character is Teh Devil, tearing down the views of smaller groups just because they've never been vocal in the past. Maybe it's just because there are a lot of people that just want to have a happy, peaceful time in fandom. It's not rocket science, it's not the reason the world exists. It's a TV show that I like about a story I've loved since I was five.
If you can't take the heat, then just leave the fandom already. No. I would never, ever say this to anyone and refuse to accept having it said to me. My automatic reply is "bite my ass". We all have things we love and things we don't like on Smallville. We all identify with a character. Some are there for the mythology. Some are there for Clark. Some are there for Lex. Some *shudder* are there for Lana. Some could give a flying flip about romance, while for others it's everything. Fandom is the experience you make it 90% of the time, but the other 10% of the time it's the rest of fandom that effects your experience. I personally have cultivated a friends' list that seems to nicely coincide with my personal preferences. If I don't agree with someone's post regarding an episode, I probably don't comment. That's due to the fact that I'd rather go over where an interesting observation was made and hash out details and supposition on that than argue the points of whether what Clark did was the stupidest thing ever or understandable under given circumstances.
Then why the hell do you bother arguing about this at all? Because there's some lack of common courtesy in fandom. We're all going to stand up and say boldly that we prefer one character over the other, but we're not blind to their faults. Bullshit. Words are one thing, but actions speak louder. I've seen far too many times where "discussions" are held that are merely one person telling another what "is" and what "isn't" and refusing to see the other side. I've been on the receiving end of that. If you want to hold an intelligent conversation and discuss minutiae, then be open to other views. I have to say, the queen of Devil's Advocate is
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latxcvi. She knows how to do the inciteful discussions playing other sides. I don't mind when she comes a calling and rattles things up a bit, because I know it's not from blind dislike...it comes from carefully thought out reasoning. I like to think that I use carefully thought out reasoning too. I try and back things up with logic and arguments that mean something. (Okay, except for the random "Tom is damn pretty".)
Why do one person's views matter anyway? Yours or mine? Why can't we all just get along? The last part first - the reason we can't all just get along is because 1) we're human and conflict is human, 2) words have effects, and attacking something that others like inevitably causes an effect in them, whether it be irritation or anger or disappointment, just like if they hated that same thing, it causes feelings of empathy and excitement, 3) the written word in LiveJournal is easy to misinterpret because it has no body language, because in LJ-land there aren't people, just blogs and thoughts without inflection or intonation. As to why one person's views matter...all our views matter. We're all part of fandom. We're all here to interact and have fun. We make up the whole of the fandom through our shared views. But there has to be an acceptance that this isn't some hive mind community. I have the right to filter what I read based on what I like, as do you. What none of us have the right of is denigrating others for pointing out what we don't want to see. Face it folks. Many of you *do* bash on Clark weekly. It's like a mantra. Whatever. But far be it when others point out that it will happen next week. Far be it for me to point out that the Clark hate, at times, is based on nothing more than the fact that he is. not. Lex. Predicting it? Means a pattern has been established. Patterns don't come from nowhere. People don't notice patterns independently of each other for no reason. Multiple people are noting the Clark hate. Guess what. It just might exist.
Hate is a strong word. I don't hate anybody. Clark isn't anybody. Lex isn't anybody. They're words on paper. They're pictures on a screen. They're not human. I hate SUVs. I hate spiders. I'll admit that. But it's a thing, not a person. Make the distinction between real people and fantasy here. Hate IS a strong word, when it relates to people and your interactions with them. I may jokingly say I hate Bill Gates, but since I don't know him, I really don't. But wishing a character dead, using all caps to go on a rant about a character, following up a rant on Clark with "and Lex is such a woobie", they're all indicative of one thing...that the bias is toward one, not the other. And I'm sorry, but Clark hate isn't when someone says they hate Clark. It's when they spend several paragraphs ranting on and on about all the things he did wrong in an episode, all the things Lex did right, and no mention of the other side for either. I've seen that time and again. It's not stating hate, but it's the implication.
Look, I'm not saying you should go out and love Clark unconditionally. I do, but whatever. That's just me. I'm not saying you should give up Lex or even stop hating. But accept a few responsibilities. Accept that people aren't stupid. Accept that whatever you write can be read differently from your intent. Accept that differing views are fine. Accept that maybe you're not always right. Accept responsibility in word and deed.
I love the people I've met in fandom. I refuse to leave. But we tend to go through cycles. We're all happy go lucky for a while, living peacefully. But as time goes on, we get a bit more involved in a story line, we discuss things in closed quarters with buddies, we delve into a certain area and know where we'd like the show to go. We get braver and less cautious about what we post in our journals. We all know we live in fear of fandom wars. But as time goes by, the memory of the last one dulls and we get more vocal and irritated with others for silly things.
Personally? I find the Clark hate a silly thing not worthy of a fandom war. What I DON'T find silly is seeing, in writing, a dismissal of any and all Clark hate concerns as merely sour grapes from a few people who have no clue what they're talking about.
Look, I've talked around and around this whole thing. In the end I'm going to be a better fandom participant on behalf of those of smaller groups and BE as vocal as I'd like regarding what characters I like and don't like. One thing that I do reserve the right to do though is, on occassion, when an episode just pinged me in the best possible way, to make the request for only happy, fluffy bunny comments. Hell, I'll argue all you want other times, but happy moments should remain so in those instances. I'd suggest everyone do that if the episode made them happy enough. Memoria did that for me in a way that only Rosetta had before. So I put a disclaimer up because I didn't want to read about how Clark was Teh Evil for daring to go to Lex's father because he was afraid Lex might kill himself.
In the end, there are small measures to making fandom more respectful without tempering your opinions. In the end, that's all they are. That's all it is.
I will be gone this evening from the computer. I am leaving comments open for various reasons, among them the fact that people should have a one stop shop to discuss everything I've said since it reflects directly on fandom at large. I also don't think I'm totally right on everything, so people should have the opportunity to give their opinions in return. But I probably will not be responding to each individual comment for one reason - there's not much that I haven't said here, and arguing my point with someone accomplishes nothing.
Feel free to defriend if you wish.
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