What's Wrong with Lois Lane?

by:  LunarKnightz
written:   June 22, 2006

 

As a child in the 1980's, I grew up with the first cycle of Superman movies, starring Christopher Reeve and Margo Kidder. And I loved them. I was especially a fan of the Supergirl spin off, because dude, a girl with super powers. What's not to like about that?  But when I wasn't pretending to be Supergirl.

 

I was Lois Lane. Because she was Superman's girlfriend, and she was tough too. She saw what she wanted and went after it. And as a kid that heard the preaching of Barbie saying "We Girls Can Do Anything."

 

I believed it.

History of a Lois Fanatic...

In elementary school, right before I went to bed, I'd watch the 50's Television show- "The Adventures of Superman", on Nick-at-Nite. This Lois was a bit of a busy body, and she got into trouble, but she'd fight to save herself- I didn't see her as a damsel in distress. Someone with unfortunate timing, maybe.

When I was in Junior High, Superman flew onto the small screen in "Lois and Clark: The New Advantage of Superman". And while yes, Justin Whalin as Jimmy Olsen was part of the reason I was watching, I also loved Lois Lane. Teri Hatcher's Lois was nosy and stubborn, and she got into trouble all the time. She was determined, with a mission to get a story, or attract Superman's attention. Lois was more than just Clark's girlfriend or partner, or rival, she was his partner; and as Clark saved her, she saved him a little too. And yeah, the show jumped the shark when they introduced a frog eating Lois clone, but that didn't diminish my memories of Lois, which made me run right out and buy the season 1 DVDs when they were released in June of last year.

In 2001, I was bitterly disappointed when the WB cancelled my favorite show at the time, Roswell. The word was that a contributing factor to it's cancellation had been the pick up of a pilot called Smallville, a prequel to the Superman story.

 

I really had my doubts. Lex and Clark being friends? Superman without the suit?  It couldn't work.

 

But it did. And even after reading the comics on and off for years, and being a fan of previous incarnations, it was Smallville that has made me into the super crazy Superman devotee that I am today.

So what if Superman didn't have the suit? And Lex and Clark being friends? ROCKED. And even if we didn't have Lois, we had Chloe, who was this beautiful, brilliant, driven reporter. And yeah, she got into trouble, and Clark got her out of it. And she was too nosy for her own good. She was persistent- sometimes, too much. She researched the Supernatural, and...wait, Chloe seemed to be like a young Lois Lane, in another guise. Brilliant move, Al & Miles, giving us Lois when we didn't even know it!

Enter Erica Durance...

And then....they gave us Lois. And even though I really wanted Chloe to be Lois, I gave this new Lois a shot. And in "Crusade" and "Gone"...I liked her. She was yappy, but seemingly intelligent, and driven to find out what happened to Chloe. I liked her devotion to Chloe, and adored the way she drove Clark up the wall. Let Lois be the one in the future who has to chase after Clark. That's a neat twist. I liked that. So if Chloe couldn't be Lois, then at least we'd have this Lois.

But Lois...it's fair to say that my opinion of her dropped sharply throughout the rest of the season. Originally, Erica Durance was signed to guest star on two episodes in season four. And those two episodes weren't too bad. But having Lois attend Smallville High? Was an unneeded stretch. The worst happened in "Recruit", when Lois gets booted out of Met U on her butt for being a drunkard.  In season 5, Lois' characterization became even worse. As the character of Lana Lang grew a personality and grew up, Lois backslid even further. Lois should be a role model, not T&A and comic relief.

Now I know that Smallville has taken a lot of liberties with the Superman story, but Lois needs certain events in her past. For Lois to be as featured a reporter at a seemingly young age so she is who she is when Superman comes in the picture- she needs experience. She can't just fall into reporting- she needs to have the newspaper in her blood. She needs to have more than big boobs and kung fu moves; she needs a college education and work experience that will make her a believable reporter for a major metropolitan newspaper. That doesn't come by peddling muffins at the Talon or by suddenly becoming adept at politics.

Superman Returns & another take on Lois Lane...

Soon, we'll see Lois on the big screen again, portrayed by Kate Bosworth in Superman Returns. While I have my issues with the movie itself, I found this part from IGN's review of the movie particularly interesting:

 

On the other hand, Kate Bosworth is entirely too young to play Lois Lane. In fact, she's wrong in more ways than that. Okay, so Bosworth doesn't look at all like a traditional Lois Lane; that kind of goes without saying. But seeing as these films are supposed to be viewed as a continuation of the first two, Bosworth is just no Margot Kidder. She doesn't do an emulation of her, which is fine, but through her interpretation of the character she never captures the tough-girl feel that Kidder was so great at. Why is Lois Lane tough? Because we're told she is. Why is she a good reporter? Because we're told she is. Remember that scene early in the original Superman where Clark and Lois are pulled into an alley? Lane kicks the gun out of the robber's hand and nearly gets shot, but Clark catches the bullet. Great scene. And a great intro to Lois. With Bosworth's incarnation, I never get the impression she could protect herself. She's just a whiney damsel-in-distress.

 

Lois Lane has lost her edge. Our two current Lois' are pale shadows of previous incarnations of Lois, and I believe, including the comic character on the printed page in comic books. In the medium of film, why are people not showing us why Lois is a character who is as beloved as her super powered beau?   Lois Lane is a role model, and she has been for generations of girls. Unfortunately, she seems to be dumbed down a la Pink's song "Stupid Girls". And Lois is one character who never, ever should be.

A woman can be powerful. We've had women on the Supreme Court, and half the country expects Hillary Clinton to run for President in 2008. People watched and loved the adventures of Buffy the Vampire Slayer for seven seasons. We follow powerful female protagonists on shows like Veronica Mars and Medium.

What is happening to the Icon?

So what's wrong with Lois? Why don't people get it? She doesn't have to be perfect. We prefer our characters a little flawed, actually.

We want a Lois with an edge.

 

A Lois who won't always be right.

 

A Lois who is driven and accomplished.

I just don't get why this character's getting dumbed down. Don't tell me it wouldn't sell. The character of Rachel Dawes in Batman Begins had the bad misfortune of being played by an actress who got tangled up in Tom Cruise tabloid fever, but still, the character was a lot stronger of a woman than Lois Lane currently is. And that's sad, considering Rachel was a character created for that film, when Lois is a character with years of back story.

And heck, the character of Chloe Sullivan is so close to the version of Lois that fans WANT to see today that there's a whole Chlois movement- and a belief, that Chloe really is Lois Lane.

Lois deserves better than to be a dumbed down damsel in distress.

 

And so do we.

 

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