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A Clex fan's attempt to shred the Clex...
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emelerin said "Talk about Clex, break my heart." How could I resist? Someone who actually dislikes the pairing would probably do a better job, but I'm giving it the ole college try.
In the context of Smallville Clex is my favourite pairing, however, in all other Superman incarnations I'm all for Clark/Lois or Lex/Lois, or Lois/Selena, or Lois/Diana - you get the idea. This is the only incarnation in which Clark and Lex seem to share a destiny. While other canon might suggest that they have a connection, it has never been so deep as it is on Smallville. It's an easy jump from destiny to Destined Love (followed by Destined Hate), especially considering the visual subtext on the show. The thing is, Clex really isn't analogous to Romeo and Juliet's star-crossed love and the two characters really aren't that compatible. Don't get me wrong, I love the pairing and have a lot of fun writing it but I to keep in mind that Clark and Lex are bad for each other.
Canonically, Clark and Lex are very rarely shown enjoying each other's company for the sake of company. One might argue that the limitations of the tv format preclude this but we do see buddy scenes on other shows. Most times Clark and Lex are interacting on screen, there is a secondary (and sometimes even tertiary, oh my!) agenda at work. Clark wants money from Lex. Lex want's information from Clark. How many times have they just chilled in the study playing pool? Thinking hard? Me too. Their relationship is based on mutual need and desire, not on compatibility. Each of them is socially dysfunctional and at times it seems it is the idea of each other and their friendship that is more attractive than the reality.
I said that I don't think these two are actually all that compatible and here's why:
1. They don't get along. Ok, this seems so obvious as to be retarded. You may argue that the conflict we see in the relationship is temporary, caused by extreme stresses but Clark and Lex have never, from the beginning of the series, been able to just be together.
2. They don't understand each other. At all. Clark and Lex each have extremely rigid ideas of the other but neither is correct in his assumptions. Look at their history of misunderstandings and arguments - has either of them really moved closer to understanding and accepting the other? I would argue that they understand each other just enough to really screw up.
3. They don't even like each other! No, I'm serious. See #2. Clark and Lex want to change each other. They expect more of each other. They push each other. They don't for a moment allow the other to be who he actually is. They're like little boys, frustrated with a favourite toy. Why can't it work like this? I suspect that each would be happier with someone else with a best friend but they're both limited in what toys they get to play with.
4. Their expectations and desires are wildly divergent. Lex wants a family's total acceptance, as well as total freedom. Clark just wants to be normal. While they might seem to match superficially, the two goals are so functionally different that there are bound to be problems. (Duh).
5. Clark is too young for Lex. Seriously. There's a reason Lex is seen with women his age and much older. Lex is very much an adult, though with the idiosyncrasies of a younger man. In this sense he is typical of men who've grown up quickly and lost their childhood in the process. Clark, well. Clark is a teenager and I'm not sure there's any way of arguing that he doesn't behave like one.
Ok, so Clark and Lex are pretty incompatible on a fundamental level. We already knew this, though. Most Clex stories have an undercurrent of impending DOOM because we all know it's coming canonically and the inbuilt tensions in the relationship ensure that the DOOM will never really go away. It's always going to be in the background.
The whole basis for the pairing is a friendship that isn't! Fellow Clexers, lay down your quills and keyboards for we write nonsense! Nonsense, I say.
But seriously. Does Clex really boil down to tired enemies slash? I could list all the reasons I'm fascinated by the pairing and why in the context of Smallville I think it will always be more dynamic than any het pairings, but I'd rather hear your thoughts.
Sorry Em, I just ran out of steam there. *g* I'll break your heart tomorrow when I have better arguments.
emelerin said "Talk about Clex, break my heart." How could I resist? Someone who actually dislikes the pairing would probably do a better job, but I'm giving it the ole college try. In the context of Smallville Clex is my favourite pairing, however, in all other Superman incarnations I'm all for Clark/Lois or Lex/Lois, or Lois/Selena, or Lois/Diana - you get the idea. This is the only incarnation in which Clark and Lex seem to share a destiny. While other canon might suggest that they have a connection, it has never been so deep as it is on Smallville. It's an easy jump from destiny to Destined Love (followed by Destined Hate), especially considering the visual subtext on the show. The thing is, Clex really isn't analogous to Romeo and Juliet's star-crossed love and the two characters really aren't that compatible. Don't get me wrong, I love the pairing and have a lot of fun writing it but I to keep in mind that Clark and Lex are bad for each other.
Canonically, Clark and Lex are very rarely shown enjoying each other's company for the sake of company. One might argue that the limitations of the tv format preclude this but we do see buddy scenes on other shows. Most times Clark and Lex are interacting on screen, there is a secondary (and sometimes even tertiary, oh my!) agenda at work. Clark wants money from Lex. Lex want's information from Clark. How many times have they just chilled in the study playing pool? Thinking hard? Me too. Their relationship is based on mutual need and desire, not on compatibility. Each of them is socially dysfunctional and at times it seems it is the idea of each other and their friendship that is more attractive than the reality.
I said that I don't think these two are actually all that compatible and here's why:
1. They don't get along. Ok, this seems so obvious as to be retarded. You may argue that the conflict we see in the relationship is temporary, caused by extreme stresses but Clark and Lex have never, from the beginning of the series, been able to just be together.
2. They don't understand each other. At all. Clark and Lex each have extremely rigid ideas of the other but neither is correct in his assumptions. Look at their history of misunderstandings and arguments - has either of them really moved closer to understanding and accepting the other? I would argue that they understand each other just enough to really screw up.
3. They don't even like each other! No, I'm serious. See #2. Clark and Lex want to change each other. They expect more of each other. They push each other. They don't for a moment allow the other to be who he actually is. They're like little boys, frustrated with a favourite toy. Why can't it work like this? I suspect that each would be happier with someone else with a best friend but they're both limited in what toys they get to play with.
4. Their expectations and desires are wildly divergent. Lex wants a family's total acceptance, as well as total freedom. Clark just wants to be normal. While they might seem to match superficially, the two goals are so functionally different that there are bound to be problems. (Duh).
5. Clark is too young for Lex. Seriously. There's a reason Lex is seen with women his age and much older. Lex is very much an adult, though with the idiosyncrasies of a younger man. In this sense he is typical of men who've grown up quickly and lost their childhood in the process. Clark, well. Clark is a teenager and I'm not sure there's any way of arguing that he doesn't behave like one.
Ok, so Clark and Lex are pretty incompatible on a fundamental level. We already knew this, though. Most Clex stories have an undercurrent of impending DOOM because we all know it's coming canonically and the inbuilt tensions in the relationship ensure that the DOOM will never really go away. It's always going to be in the background.
The whole basis for the pairing is a friendship that isn't! Fellow Clexers, lay down your quills and keyboards for we write nonsense! Nonsense, I say.
But seriously. Does Clex really boil down to tired enemies slash? I could list all the reasons I'm fascinated by the pairing and why in the context of Smallville I think it will always be more dynamic than any het pairings, but I'd rather hear your thoughts.
Sorry Em, I just ran out of steam there. *g* I'll break your heart tomorrow when I have better arguments.
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Most times Clark and Lex are interacting on screen, there is a secondary (and sometimes even tertiary, oh my!) agenda at work. Clark wants money from Lex. Lex want's information from Clark.
Whoa, dude, I could not even disagree more at *all*. ^_^ We see them hang out in lots of episodes. If they don't hang out *more* it's because Lex has a *job*, you know? Considering how little they *ought* to run into each other, what with their ages, social circles and schedules, the fact that they sometimes *do* just hang out and play pool, and the times they "coincidentally" run into each other at the coffeeshop, seems pretty significant to me.
I can't actually argue with most of your points-- that they don't understand each other, that they expect things from each other that they're not willing to give. And actually, I think a lot of Clex stories would be a lot better if they *did* acknowledge the constant, mutual tension and frustration inherent in their relationship, even at its closest-- this isn't something that could just be fixed if Clark only confessed to being an alien, and then suddenly there would be bliss and happiness and schmoop.
Their relationship does have fundamental problems, and, well, it *is* doomed. But the thing is, neither one of them is willing to give up or end the friendship at this point. Actually, near the end of season two, a lot of people were saying "They hate each other now!" but my perception was that they were kind of accepting each other more-- sharing more information with each other, when in the past they might have stonewalled. (Mostly about kryptomutants-- Emily in "Accelerate," or evil jockboy from "Witness.")
(Sidebar: I know this was only a tangential point, but the whole "Clark only wants money from Lex" thing gets right up my back. Lex has given the Talon to Lana, bought a new computer lab for the Torch, set up a pro football game for Whitney, offered to pay for Amy's therapy after she attacked him, offered (unprompted) to bring in psychologists for Tina!Whitney... Clark didn't ask him to do any of those things. He *has* asked for other things, but we've seen that Lex has no problem saying "no" to unreasonable requests, and we've also seen Clark back down and not even ask when it looks like it's not a good time to ask. I just don't see Clark's interest in the friendship being as mercenary as a lot of people seem to want to paint it as. I mean, Clark's seen how hurt and angry Lex gets when Clark and the Kents *refuse* to take his money when he wants to do business with them, or make them a gift. I don't think people should knock him for graciously accepting a gift Lex has chosen to give.)
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Got your back up, did I? Good. *eg*
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Got your back up, did I?
*grins* Course not. What would make you think that?
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*cries, covers ears* Lalalalalala I CAN'T HEAR YOU.
:p
Ok, fess up. How long did it take you to compose that little post-script?
Re: :p
Wait, LBDing is wrong now? When did that happen? People need to tell me these things!
How long did it take you to compose that little post-script?
I'm very close to my inner teenie and I'm not ashamed to admit it, dammit. *sticks out tongue*
Re: :p
Everything is wrong now. Might as well kill yourself and get it over with.
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Clark/Whitney all the way, say I. Except for the dead bit.
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-.-
Btw, interesting rant and frankly, it touches on all the reasons why I'm attracted to the pairing, just as the above post does. I'm a sucker for DOOM and if one were to read my finished and in progress Clex fics, one would quickly find that they're a catalogue of things that could go terribly wrong, even while going right. I cannot fathom a happy future for them, unless it's couched in the kind of earth-changing angst (and yes DOOM) that
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I see what you mean about being attracted to the inherently destructive qualities of the pairing, although it's never a pairing that I could be interested in reading. SV just leaves me cold in general, apart from the occasional snippet about Lionel or Martha. Maya explained the plot of Jenn's fic to me a while ago, and while the Clark characterisation sounded unlikely to me, I could see how the CLex in it would work.
Nobody understands my Clitney-love. Wah. Oh well, I'm not even interested enough in the pairing to read in it myself, I just ship it. Or did before getting the terrible news.
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It may be fucked up, but I actually agree with most of your points and they're part of the reason I love Clark/Lex.
Oh the joyous messiness of it all!! Yay CLex! Okay - let's address a few points:
but Clark and Lex have never, from the beginning of the series, been able to just be together.
they may not spend aeons of time together, but they most definitely have been shown to hang out. In Lex's office, in the barn, on the back of some truck/trailer thing. They watch the sunset, they drink coffee together, they stop in the street and shoot the shit. They chat. GOD what I wouldn't give for more of it though.
2. They don't understand each other. At all.
I think this is interesting. I think a lot of people do ignore their differences, the outlooks they do not share. That pivotal moment in the emily-clone episode (i suck at the names) where Lex says 'All ethics aside...' and you can see Clark shutting down completely, flaring with anger... I loved that. Their relationship will never be easy. That said, they do have genuine moments of understanding and mutual comfort, those little friendship times where you just look at the other person and do the nod thing, and you know that they see it all the same way you do. They do have those moments.
3. They don't even like each other! No, I'm serious. See #2. Clark and Lex want to change each other. They expect more of each other. They push each other. They don't for a moment allow the other to be who he actually is. They're like little boys, frustrated with a favourite toy. Why can't it work like this? I suspect that each would be happier with someone else with a best friend but they're both limited in what toys they get to play with.
This one was my favourite! Because it's true. They expect more of each other. They push. YESSS. I LOVe that about their relationship. Everything gets fucked up when they stop expecting more. And Clark already has that comfy best friend in Pete. It's not enough. These men are not made to be normal. Their paths to grown-up-ed-ness have to be difficult. I think their antagonism is something that molds them. Mmmm CLexy goodness.
Does Clex really boil down to tired enemies slash?
Who do you think you're fooling?! You love it. And no, it's not enemies slash. I've read my fair share of Draco/Harry to know that when I see it, and this is nothing like it. For one thing, they aint enemies yet and never will be! denialcorp yeah!. For another, it's the interplay of genuine friendship within the antagonistic two-heads-of-that-cave-beasty-thing paradigm that make them so fascinating to slash. That, and they're really hot.
These were not my best arguments. Why do I get the feeling I'm preaching to the choir??
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Like with Livia, I agree with your points. I was (of course) just yanking your chain. *g*