I totally agree with you about BR's Clark. I do like him better than TW's version and even, yes, CR's. Part of it is that I'm not a big fan of the idea that Clark is the 'mask' and Superman the 'real person', and Reeve's Clark/Superman dichotomy played into that big time. Whereas with Routh, while I do think Clark is partly cover for Superman, I nevertheless think he's still a *part* of Superman. Like, that's probably the person Superman would be if he didn't have these awesome powers and if he hadn't chosen to use them the way he does. And that person is very sweet and endearing and possessed of this quiet, earnest grace.
Yes--exactly. I think CR played Clark a little too much like Superman's mask, whereas Routh played him as one of Superman's layers.
To me, the sweetness is at the core of Clark/Kal-El; it isn't just that he's a good, decent man, he's a *nice* one, too, for the most part. And while Welling's Clark isn't actually mean, and he's capable of niceness, it's been a long time -- probably since as far back as S2/first half of S3 -- where I've felt like that sweetness is *inherent* in his character.
Yes, yes, yes exactly. I don't really blame too much of Clark's characterization on TW--the writers want him to be tortured, not dorky and sweet--but the sweetness is what I like about Clark, and why I loved Routh's performance so much.
In fact, I just tried to post a similar thing on your review, and got an error message (possibly because in another window I was *cough* playing sockpuppet *cough*), but I really liked what you said about the Clark we see on the farm being the real Clark, uniting the layers of Clark and Superman. And since I'm very open to other people's readings of things, I may go see another showing of the movie tomorrow after I watch The Devil Wears Prada, and see if your interpretation of Routh's Superman allows me to see past the plastic cape.
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Yes--exactly. I think CR played Clark a little too much like Superman's mask, whereas Routh played him as one of Superman's layers.
To me, the sweetness is at the core of Clark/Kal-El; it isn't just that he's a good, decent man, he's a *nice* one, too, for the most part. And while Welling's Clark isn't actually mean, and he's capable of niceness, it's been a long time -- probably since as far back as S2/first half of S3 -- where I've felt like that sweetness is *inherent* in his character.
Yes, yes, yes exactly. I don't really blame too much of Clark's characterization on TW--the writers want him to be tortured, not dorky and sweet--but the sweetness is what I like about Clark, and why I loved Routh's performance so much.
In fact, I just tried to post a similar thing on your review, and got an error message (possibly because in another window I was *cough* playing sockpuppet *cough*), but I really liked what you said about the Clark we see on the farm being the real Clark, uniting the layers of Clark and Superman. And since I'm very open to other people's readings of things, I may go see another showing of the movie tomorrow after I watch The Devil Wears Prada, and see if your interpretation of Routh's Superman allows me to see past the plastic cape.