There's a little show on TV lately called Smallville.
Some of you may have heard of it. It's another telling of the Superman mythology, this time centered on-- you guessed it-- Clark Kent's youth in Smallville.
The Superman story is our modern mythology-- the story is told and retold from different angles, giving us new perspective on this ideal man, this hero of generations. Smallville modernizes the story, making Clark Kent more believeable for today's audiences and less goody-two-shoes hokey than he may have been even as recently as the early 90's (remember Lois and Clark?)
But I'm not here to talk about Clark Kent.
No, Smallville has given us a new hero-- or rather an antihero-- to look at. Someone topical. Someone current. Someone hip. Someone REAL.
Lex Luthor is the new hero of Smallville.
We all know the story: Lex Luthor is Superman's archnemesis-- using his brains and wealth against Superman's überhuman abilities, his streetwise savvy against the Kryptonian farm boy's guileless good.
But not this time.
Michael Rosenbaum is the best Lex Luthor I have ever seen. His portrayal of Lex-- so deep, so complex, so interesting-- is nothing short of riveting. And he has to be-- Smallville is a cast of pretty young people, and some pretty hot older people as well. Tom Welling, who plays Clark, is a former Abercrombie & Fitch model, for god's sake. Kristin Kreuk (Lana Lang) is the new miss Cover Girl. Michael has to play the bald evil guy. Sure, he's not butt-ugly or anything, but that's not the point.
The point is that he doesn't play for looks in this show. He plays for presence, and for my money, that's the sexiest thing on television if you can make it work-- and he does. In spades.
In Smallville, Lex Luthor is the son of a despotic tyrant, Lionel Luthor, whose relationship with Lex is adversarial at best. Betraying him at every turn, ripping his trust out by the roots, it's almost as if his whole goal in life is to turn Lex evil.
But Lex ISN'T evil. And that's what glues me to the screen every week. We all know that Lex Luthor is destined to be Superman's greatest enemy-- we KNOW this. It's a fait accompli, a foregone conclusion, destined to be. But in this amazingly creative interpretation, Lex doesn't just lose his hair and blame it on Superman, putting him at odds with the hero for the rest of eternity.
No-- Lex is Clark Kent's friend. They're close. Clark is the only one who will give Lex a chance in the anti-Luthor climate of Smallville, and Lex is the only one observant enough to realize that there's more to Clark than meets the eye (and more, to actually investigate what that might be.)
And throughout the first one-and-a-half seasons of this hit WB series, we have seen Lex try time and again to do the right thing. To be a humanitarian. To remove himself from the shadow of his prepossessing father. He's no angel-- many and varied allusions are made to his troubled, angry past-- but he continually strives for equitable balance in his life between all the forces which pull him in different directions.
He mounts a business coup against his father when Lionel threatens to shut down the Smallville plant, source of the majority of jobs in town, and buys it out from under him to keep it open. He continually tries to help the Kents financially, only to be turned down by the prejudices of Jonathan Kent.
Slowly, inexorably, we see the tide begin to turn. The hand of friendship that Lex extends is continually slapped away; the phrase "no good deed goes unpunished" is made manifest at every turn.
But tonight was a turning point; tonight we got to see a bit of the Lex that will eventually be. Tonight's episode reveals that Lex's father has been spying on him, in fact wired his office with electronic surveillance to gain the upper hand in business. Infuriated, Lex smashes everything in the office and hires a crack team to do the same to Lionel.
He attempts to do something nice for Jonathan and Martha Kent, and is harshly rebuffed by Jonathan, who does this every time Lex approaches him. And this time, after SO MANY helpless, hurt rejections by this man, Lex shuts him down. There's a hint of a threat, a hint of violence-- but no more.
Michael Rosenbaum is treating us to a subtle blend of motivations and circumstances that create his character and lead Lex inexorably toward the inevitable conclusion. No one could withstand the harsh world of the Luthors and not be changed by it; even Lex's prodigious willpower must eventually yield to the undeniable. And thanks to Rosenbaum's superb acting, we get to SEE it. Every step of the way.
I want to take apart tonight's episode scene by scene to share with you how brilliant it is, but I won't. WATCH the show. You'll see more than you thought the WB's target twentysomething market shows were capable of. Depth. Thought. Foresight. Continuity.
It's easy to be Superman. Being Lex Luthor is hard. It takes more work than anyone ever thought. And that's why, in Smallville, Lex Luthor is the real hero.
Posted by Michael at January 22, 2003 01:16 AMM,
well that has to be the best article you've ever written. Nice work.
Lucas should tune in to see how a villain origin story is done.
Digression:
Have you noticed that in Kreuk's CG ads, they have added her name to the opening shot, but her voice sounds like it's been overdubbed. Ouch.
- It's red, it's shiny, and it's all mine...
CH
I never watch Smallville. Not because I think it's a dumb idea or anything, I just never had it appear on my radar. But now it has. I may have to watch it once or twice to see if it's as good as The M claims. Got to agree with CH, above, and say this is the best thing you've written here to date.
Cheers!
Garething
-Me? A Balseraph? Lies!!
Posted by: Garething on January 28, 2003 07:48 PMSee.. now I stopped watching Smallville, because I got tired of this in the first season:
1.Teen "A" encounters Kryptonite or Adult "A" does.
2.Teen/Adult "A" gains weird power.
3.Teen/Adult "A" goes on a rampage.
4.Clark puts the smackdown on Teen/Adult "A" with no one the wiser.
Seemed like that was the plot every time I tuned in. It got old quick.
Now... that being said, I've always thought that Rosenbaum brought a very interesting presence to the character of Lex. And that Lex was well-written, even if the weekly A-plot wasn't.
Now perhaps I wrote off the show a little too soon. I must admit, there was one show that sent shivers down my spine. The old woman that could see the future. She saw Lex's... him standing in a field of flowers... with a glove on one hand (nice!) .. and the flowers all die as it the sky rains blood upon him. No... POURS down on him. Then she dies before being able to utter a word. THAT was just damned riviting. And chilling.
I guess I'll hafta catch a re-run of this episode. Rosenbaum IS the "hero". No question.
But we all know that M just wants to wax his head. (Although MrsM (AgentM2?) might have something to say about that...snicker)
;)
Agent A.
Posted by: Agent A on January 31, 2003 02:20 PMI haven't gone out of my way to watch
" Smallville " until recently, with any regularity, & in the 1st season, it did seem like it had more mutants & meta - humans than the " X -Men ", thanks to the presence of Kryptonite from the meteor shower as Kal - El's ship came to Earth. But anyway, when I have watched
" Smallville ", I have come away quite impressed with Lex's character. & I think there is something Shakespearean in the fact that he will go from a relatively decent guy - albeit with floating ethics & questionable business practices & some ulterior motives - someone who just wants to be liked for who he is, to a villain. Michael Rosenbaum had stated that there had been talk of turning Lex into a villain early in the series' run, & if it was true, he would leave. I think that says a lot about Rosenbaum. We know that the inevitable will happen, Lex will turn into a villain, let's just not have it happen during the first two chapters, eh ? Othello was not always considered a villain, & Alonso Quixana didn't always tilt at windmills, & Scrooge wasn't always a pench - penny. A character SHOULD develop, instead of poured out of a mold, or cut out of fibre - board. Let's watch Lex & see how the man develops.....
M,
i have watched smallville since the first episode, i love it, i'm in love with lex, and i couldn't agree with you more. except...i don't think it's as easy to be clark as you lead unsaid people to believe.
-jade (you can call me wednesday)
This article is so true, although Clark is the most favoured character, most people forget about Lex who i feel also has a Leading role in 'smallville' as almost every episode evolves around him, and him gettin in2 trouble or him saving The Kent Family or his friends. So thnx for the article. Wuz pretty kool.
Hey juz a question: 'HOW OR WHY DO CLARK AND LEX BECOME ENEMIES?? I MEAN DOES LEX FIND OUT ABOUT CLARKS POWERS?????
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Posted by: Psychotic DJ - Smallville Theme (PMC Edit) on April 22, 2003 07:58 AMI am still just a semi - regular viewer of
" Smallville ", but I am impressed by Lex Luthor's character. I find it ironic that Clark K.'s relationship with Lex has been somewhat strained on Clark's side, for the most part, ( He even threatened Lex once or twice, if I recall ) & Lex has tried his darndest ( I would use stronger language, but this may be a " PG - Rated " board )to be a " regular guy " & to fit in with the populace of Smallville, & the Luthor name is still hated & / or feared / extremely disliked in the meantime. M is right. Being a
" Superman " or future Superman is easy. Being Lex Luthor is hard. But I think they found the right actor to play Lex. I just wish I'd seen him in his pre - " Smallville " roles to have a little background on Mr. Rosenbaum.
DanielIcarus
LEX is MY hero,too.Michael Rosenbaum is AWESOME
as Lex.i likedjohn shea's Lex onlois & clark,but
NO ONE holds a candle to Michael's Lex!!!!!!!!!!!
I really enjoyed this article. I usually browse through, but his was definately worth reading. You did a great job. I always wondered when if at all Lex was eventually going to turn evil. I agree that he really plays the part well. Keep up the great work.
-God Bless.
Posted by: Mia on November 23, 2003 05:59 PMI really enjoyed this article. I usually browse through, but his was definately worth reading. You did a great job. I always wondered when if at all Lex was eventually going to turn evil. I agree that he really plays the part well. Keep up the great work.
-God Bless.
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Posted by: slot on January 29, 2004 10:12 AMAMO A LEX Y EN CONSECUENCIA, TAMBIEN AMO A MICHAEL ROSENBAUM
Posted by: GUILLE on March 21, 2004 10:09 AMThere's something about Michael Rosenbaum that can make you watch five Smallville repeats in a row. I admit the program is good itself, but I'm finding it hard to determine if it is actually the plot that I watch it for, Lex brings so much into the program, and I find myself being utterly mesmerised into the scenes he appear into... basically, I love him, he's amazing.
Posted by: Joey on April 14, 2004 07:49 AM