Superheroes: For a bubble that was supposed to have burst a couple of Blade sequels ago, they’ve shown remarkable staying power in the fantasy-hungry mainstream. They are, it would seem, what’s for dinner, now and forever.
So let’s talk about them: The Heroes, the Hiro, and, of course, the Hero—Numero Uno, Big Blue, He Who Had Not Such a Great Summer At the Movies but Hey-There’s-Always-Television.
Let me begin by celebrating the passing — or, at least, waning — of a theme: the superhero-as-metaphor-for "otherness," difference, nerdiness, and purple-nurple-getting. Sure, it’s valid. Sure, it’s a potent idea for the core readers of comic books, who have their own nurples — real, metaphysical and imagined — to display as war wounds. But I’m just not sure I buy it. I’m not sure I buy beautiful, godlike Clark Kent’s 60,000th lament about not fitting in. (Not when he looks like Smallville’s Tom Welling, pictured.) I’m not even sure I entirely buy Heroes’ Claire bellyaching over how her invincibility clashes with her spiffy 1950s cheerleader outfit. (Though, on a more positive sidenote, I do like the suggestion planted in this Tim Kring interview that Milo Ventimiglia’s Peter Petrelli may be a Rogue-style parasite.)
Basically, I think all people — geek and jock alike, and Americans, especially — suspect they’re superheroes anyway, either as an entitlement or a coping mechanism. So what’s the big surprise when they find out they actually are? Like Hiro, the breakout favorite on Heroes, they knew they had it in them all along. Just once, I’d like to see a character who genuinely can’t distinguish his adolescent license-to-drive self-assuredness from his very real (and possibly dangerous) superabilities.
Sure, there will always be disenfranchised nerds, looking forempowerment fantasies. But the world has changed. The pop culturecenter has shifted, and the nerds are now the nexus. (Just look at theratings for Heroes.) This new world demands a steady diet of fantasy.Draw whatever religiopolitical conclusionsyou want from that statement, but know this much: The sweaty dreams ofnerd empowerment are coming true, in this world and in the fantasyworlds we’ve created. The question isn’t one of being different: The questionis one of being better. It’s that scary, Nietzschean side of the superheroequation, the more frightening, less attractive side. The hero asaggrieved, ostracized outsider was fine for those first few seasons ofSmallville, but it’s time to grow up, grow out, and face the toughestquestion of all: What does it mean to be "better" in a world where thereal-life X-men are Google guys and, let’s face it, there’s a lot more red kryptonite than green? That was the world hinted at in The Incredibles, the best mainstream superhero distillation to date, which some saw as a Red State celebration of and apologia for unbridled American exceptionalism.
On an entirely different subject: Al Gough and Miles Millar, I implore you, please let the Chlois Theorybe somehow true. I don’t like tortured, multidimensional crises in mycomic-book universe any more than you do, but if that’s what it takesto make Chloe (Allison Mack) the real Lois Lane, then, by Zod, do it. Sorry, Temp Lois (Erica Durance). You’ve been shown up. The Mack Lois is simply a superior being, and ain’t life cruel?
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Um, yeah you mentioned “he who had not such a great summer at the movies,” clearly referring to the world’s greatest greatest superhero, Superman. Since when does a movie that grosses $400 million domestically & internationally at the movies classify as bad? You’re absolutely out of your mind, dude.
Let’s also note the complexity of the bad guys in today’s hero/comic stories. Smallville’s Lex Luthor isn’t some cheesy toupee sporting uber-villian. He’s tortured and insecure. The audience knows that he will become “evil”, but we also identify with the 13 year old nerdy, outcast, beat-down, motherless facet of his personality and actually root for him. Let’s hope that creepy glasses wearing man from Heroes can have this realism and not be a criminal caricature.
so then… do you expect Chloe to have full blown ammnesia? Because she already knows he has powers, how would that work into the whole Lois loving Superman, but yeah whatever Clark…
Sheesh
and yet, no heroes TV watch. Please, please, one, just one… TV HEROES TV watch, just try it on for size.
Gough/Millar already shot themselves in the foot by killing off Jonathan Kent. Everyone from Smallville to Metropolis is going to need a mind-wipe by the time this series comes to an end. Anyone got Zatanna’s number?
(Just look at the ratings for Heroes.) You said it Scott. I guess I’ll just have to be happy with Slezak’s Weekly Heroes Popwatches for now. Unless he liked my Haiku from last week: Pull our train, Slezak!
Hiro from the future, rules.
Heroes TV Watch, please.
As to Chloe knowing about Clark’s powers…Chlois could work by the simple fact that Smallville has skewed the original mythos so much what would it matter if Chloe knows about him? Lois Lane and Lex Luthor don’t belong in Clark’s youth (Smallville), but they’re there anyway. It couldn’t possibly get anymore skewed than it already is…Smallville stands alone waaaaay outside the original Superman mythos, so have fun with Chlois, I say.
Yes, Al and Miles.. PLEASE make the Chlois theory be true! Couldn’t agree with you more Scott!
Allison Mack is a far superior actress and Chloe has shown traits of being Iconic Lois Lane since day 1. It’s a natural and organic progression for her to fill that spot in the future.
YESSSS!!!!!
To the Chlois theory. This would make Smallville worth all the crap they have done.
Chloe already is everything Lois Lane should be. From the pilot I always thought, hey why does Lois have blond hair. Later on I found out her name wasn’t Lois.
Oh I completely agree with you on the Chlois theory bit, it has, just had to be true! Alternate Universes can be confusing but there is just no other way I see it. Chloe IS Lois. Allison Mack’s portrayal of Chloe Sullivan is awesome and so is her chemistry with Tom Welling. Chloe is the one for him in the Smallville verse, she is his soulmate… No other way.
Oh… I’m so into Chlois!!! I mean we have been heard several times that Smallville might be dealing a totally different reality, dimension, earth, so for me the Chlois theory can totally work!!!
, just a thought, be well and take care 
Chloe has always been the iconic Lois Lane for me, no matter her name!! Thanks for bringing this up
Oh.. and I loved Superman Returns!!!
Well I definitely like where Heroes is taking the superhero genre – so far their interpretation seems much more relatable tham most superhero stories. And I also like the fact that, unlike existing comic-based superhero stories, Heroes isn’t locked into any pre-existing canon, so they are free to take the story wherever they please.
As for your comments about “Chlois” on Smallville, AMEN!! I could not agree with you more on this! They’ve been dropping clues and laying the foundation for 5 years now, and while I’m sure they would have planned for this kind of a twist to be revealed at the very end, it would be nice if we got to experience a few episodes with the “official” Clark/”Lois”/Jimmy/Daily Planet dynamic before the show finally retires. But yes I definitely agree, Allison Mack’s Lois is pretty freakin awesome!
Out of his mind is right. The minute they turn that annoying motor mouth Cloe into Lois is the minute this show is beyond saving. They’re already pushing it by having Luthor and Lana together.
Chloe as Lois? Really? She strikes me more as a Judith Miller for the teeny bopper set. Terrible, unethical reporter. Annoying actress, too. But seriously, um, no. Erica Durance’s Lois makes a nice tough-talking dame in the His Girl Friday mold. Allison Mack’s Chloe seems like she breezed in from the set of some Nickelodeon show.
Totally for Chlois. The analysis is spot on – Erica couldn’t act her way out of a paper bag and it’s time to let the character who has the real connection with Clark and has been the reporter involved in every thing assume her rightful role.
Chloe is TOTALLY Lois. Brash, loyal, crusading for the people, and the one person who sees and brings out the Superman in the Hunk of Flannel we’ve had for the past six years.
It doesn’t hurt that Mack has been acting for years and can run rings around Ms. Durance or that unlike Durance and Welling whom Howard Stern rescently pointed out don’t have an iota worth of chemistry, Welling and Mack just light up the screen whenever they interact.
Thank you Mr. Brown!
That’s what we’ve been saying all along, Mack Lois is ONE & ONLY Lois! I would forgive every little “You’re beautiful” “She will be Loved” “Insert Lifehouse song here” played everytime Lana is on screen, if they let us have Chlois.
vive la Chlois!
Clark and Lois are obviously made for each other, even if they don’t see it yet. As for the Chloe situation, all Clark has to do is give her a long and powerful super kiss — and she will forget everything!
Sign me up for Chlois! Clark already remarked how he’s Her BOY Friday.
Also big fat word on how refreshing Hiro is; Loving Hereos as well.
Chloe as Lois? Please no. A short computer nerd know-it-all. Is this Ugly Betty Meets Smallville? I’d be all for Chloe being Superman though because Clark can’t figure anything out without her telling him what to do =^D
Chlois! Woot! I never though I’d see the day when this was mentioned ‘mainstream’ as it were. Chloe and Clark have always been the Lois and Superman of this series, and seriously what relationship could be more “worth the wait” than this one? She makes him a better person, as he has done her. Classic and Iconic, here’s hoping that someone at the CW has the guts enough to follow through on what they started six years ago.
LOVE Hereos. Love it. Smallville’s Clark Kent could take a page from Hiro.
Allison Mack, however, is amazingly perfect as Lois Lane and I’m wondering why I never saw it before. She’s amazingly likeable as well as amazingly goregous. It would be a true Cinderella story and as UB has proven – that’s the kind of happy ending America wants.
Heroes just gets better and better! How cool is future Hiro?!
The Chlois theory, would be such an interesting twist. I really hope Al and Miles makes it happen. Miss Mack portrays what in my mind is a young Lois Lane. Just a bottle of hair dye and a name change to make it complete.
Didn’t you get the memo? Al&Miles squashed the Chlois theory some time ago. Chloe’s an interesting character, but she’s not Lois Lane. Erica Durance’s Lois is a brilliant reinvention of one of pop culture’s most important female icons. AM’s Chloe works well as a viewer avatar because she’s someone it’s easy to relate to. But Lois Lane needs to be a lot more than that–and that’s what SV’s real Lois Lane, in Erica, offers.
Alright, Hereos and Chlois – two of my very favorite things in the same spot!
Chlois offers up the solution to the problem of Durance’s Lois so perfectly, it’s always a thrill to see people come on board. Keeping Lois Lane a smart, educated, inquistive, self-supporting woman who knows what she wants and won’t stop until she gets it is exactly what Smallville needs to redeem this show. It’s why Durance’s Lois fails: she’s used as comic relief and gratitous nudity while Chloe shows off the side that every Superman fan has known for years, it’s her passion for the truth and for justice that keeps the Man of Steel weak in the knees.
Chloe works as Lois Lane, for the same reason she became a fan favorite on her own; she’s a bright, head-strong woman with a clear goal to reach even if she has fight to get there every inch of the way. It’s such an *American* archtype that I can’t help but hope she makes it up to all her dreams by the end of the series.
ALL Chloe Sullivan needs is “Lois Lane” as a pen name, for she has every single possible quality that makes up “Iconic Lois Lane”…and THAT has been evident since the pilot episode six seasons ago.
Chloe Sullivan.
Snarky. Sexy. Smart. Strong.
The “Lois Lane” of the new Millennium.
DEAL WITH IT.
~Icon
Chlois would be one of the biggest twists in television history. What are Al and Miles supposed to say? “Yeah Chloe is totally Lois! Damn you guys are smart! So you’ve figured out our sooper sekrit ending… please still watch?” No. They’re gonna keep the mystery up until the very end. Any television producer would do that.
Well Scott, I completely agree. Chloe is everything Iconic Lois Lane is, except for the name. Allison Mack is an amazing actress and to be able to pull off being Lois Lane, it takes exactly that.
And I’m totally referring to her as The Mack Lois now! Brilliant!
Yeah! Chloe has always been the real Lois Lane:)