I finally got back to this! I meant to come back sooner - bad week. It's a really interesting discussion.
I agree that Lana is closer to Lex than Clark in some regards - particularly her understanding of tragedy, her self-sufficiency and her idealisation of her mother.
I don't agree about Lana in season 4 though - for me, Season 4 was about Lana struggling to retain a sense of independence/freedom despite overwhelming external forces. She was given the mythic destiny plotline, which in Smallville is disempowering. She was driven to pursue the stones. Her relationship, which was meant to be adult and freely chosen, turned out to have been manipulated and duplicitous. She is caught up in a plot she doesn't want to be in and ends up killing someone and losing her innocence. She thought the world would bring her happiness - instead all paths lead back to Smallville and the themes of her life that she can't escape: death and sacrifice and the gap between image and reality. (Btw she got frozen in Forever - I remember because it was gross!)
However you are right that she has been gaining more agency - that's what's interesting. She wars against the restrictions of her destiny as idealised object. She proves herself to Lex by the end of Season 4 as a serious player when she double-crosses him and you can see him register her in a new way. You are right - the increasing agency may shape her future. I think Smallville shows the tug of war between destiny and free will: they may show this in Lana too.
Um, yes I do feel instinctively that this Clark's destiny will be tragic beyond the loss of Lex - I think they've made him a dark character who will have to sacrifice a lot of personal freedom to be a superhero. He has to confront what he fears about himself as an alien and that's going to be a difficult process. To be powerful he needs to embrace his own darkness and his fear of his own power(s). Of course, Clark has Lois in his future, and that does soften the blow somewhat. But I do think being Superman is not going to be romp for this Clark.
Why do I think Lana's story will be tragedy too? Because I feel that's how they've framed the entire story. Each of the three has a public face and a private dark side. They are flawed heroes in the tragic tradition and they are damned by their own decisions. But those decisions are understandable within the emotional context of who they are, what has shaped them and how they feel. That's tragedy. By exploring their youth, the true pathos of the future is shown. Lana is Clark's childhood sweetheart - she is destined to lose him. That loss is going to be bitter, no matter who ends it. If Lana ends it, I suspect it will seem like an empowering act, but will actually represent her limitations. Ok, lots of speculation here - I don't usually do that.
And yeah - Emily and Lana were definitely very femslashable. I guess it's just the fact that people hate Lana that has left that alone. Actually the influence of Emily on Lana's psyche would be really interesting to explore... she's had more than her share of obsessive love, for sure.
Oh - and I also wonder if Lana is destined to become her mother in the same way that the other two are destined to follow/be defined by their fathers. Lana's mother never got out of Smallville and died young. The fact that Lana has expressed a desire to leave but is still caught in exploring Smallville-related mysteries suggests this may be her future too. Don't know.
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I agree that Lana is closer to Lex than Clark in some regards - particularly her understanding of tragedy, her self-sufficiency and her idealisation of her mother.
I don't agree about Lana in season 4 though - for me, Season 4 was about Lana struggling to retain a sense of independence/freedom despite overwhelming external forces. She was given the mythic destiny plotline, which in Smallville is disempowering. She was driven to pursue the stones. Her relationship, which was meant to be adult and freely chosen, turned out to have been manipulated and duplicitous. She is caught up in a plot she doesn't want to be in and ends up killing someone and losing her innocence. She thought the world would bring her happiness - instead all paths lead back to Smallville and the themes of her life that she can't escape: death and sacrifice and the gap between image and reality. (Btw she got frozen in Forever - I remember because it was gross!)
However you are right that she has been gaining more agency - that's what's interesting. She wars against the restrictions of her destiny as idealised object. She proves herself to Lex by the end of Season 4 as a serious player when she double-crosses him and you can see him register her in a new way. You are right - the increasing agency may shape her future. I think Smallville shows the tug of war between destiny and free will: they may show this in Lana too.
Um, yes I do feel instinctively that this Clark's destiny will be tragic beyond the loss of Lex - I think they've made him a dark character who will have to sacrifice a lot of personal freedom to be a superhero. He has to confront what he fears about himself as an alien and that's going to be a difficult process. To be powerful he needs to embrace his own darkness and his fear of his own power(s). Of course, Clark has Lois in his future, and that does soften the blow somewhat. But I do think being Superman is not going to be romp for this Clark.
Why do I think Lana's story will be tragedy too? Because I feel that's how they've framed the entire story. Each of the three has a public face and a private dark side. They are flawed heroes in the tragic tradition and they are damned by their own decisions. But those decisions are understandable within the emotional context of who they are, what has shaped them and how they feel. That's tragedy. By exploring their youth, the true pathos of the future is shown. Lana is Clark's childhood sweetheart - she is destined to lose him. That loss is going to be bitter, no matter who ends it. If Lana ends it, I suspect it will seem like an empowering act, but will actually represent her limitations. Ok, lots of speculation here - I don't usually do that.
And yeah - Emily and Lana were definitely very femslashable. I guess it's just the fact that people hate Lana that has left that alone. Actually the influence of Emily on Lana's psyche would be really interesting to explore... she's had more than her share of obsessive love, for sure.
Oh - and I also wonder if Lana is destined to become her mother in the same way that the other two are destined to follow/be defined by their fathers. Lana's mother never got out of Smallville and died young. The fact that Lana has expressed a desire to leave but is still caught in exploring Smallville-related mysteries suggests this may be her future too. Don't know.