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Sep. 7th, 2005 11:56 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thehefnerWas it too much for me to expect the name Lex Luthor to be common knowledge?
I mean, I just assume that the vast, vast, VAST majority of people I'll meet in my normal-world travels wouldn't know most things about superhero comics. Which is one of the reasons why I never talk about comics with someone who doesn't read them; I'm rather sick of the "I have no idea what you're talking about" look I get. My college roommate of two years was actually surprised to realize that I hadn't even mentioned the Green Lantern around him. At WAC, with the exception of a select handful of people like Dave and even Clancy, people couldn't tell the difference between Green Lantern and Green Hornet (why do so many people get that one confused? Green Hornet was hardly a presence even when he was a TV show, for fuck's sake!)
But when someone doesn't know who Lex Luthor is, as was the case not too very long ago, I get kind of exasperated.
Superman as transcended being a "comic book character," and so much of him has achieved iconic status. "Clark Kent" is synonymous with the face we put on for others, hiding our real selves. "Kryptonite" with our personal weakness, with that which more than anything else can bring us to our knees in an instant. "Krypton" with the home to which he can never return. "Lex Luthor" with our greatest enemy, bald or not. Superman has transcended pop storytelling and achieved what all superheroes theoretically should and do to some extent: modern mythology.
Then again, I've known people who didn't know who "John, Paul, George, and Ringo" were. Things like this inch me ever so much closer to the Dark Side of becoming the Comic Book Guy. Fat, bitter, lonely, and sarcastic. ... well, at least I'm not fat. Anymore. Yet.
Well, we've got a new Superman movie out. I am hesitant, based on some of the odder creative decisions behind it (the costume needs brighter reds and a bigger S symbol to work, it really, really does), but the one thing that absolutely, totally works for me is the casting of Kevin Spacey. And now they've released the first promo image of him as Lex.
This, ladies and gentlemen, is Lex motherfucking Luthor.
I mean, I just assume that the vast, vast, VAST majority of people I'll meet in my normal-world travels wouldn't know most things about superhero comics. Which is one of the reasons why I never talk about comics with someone who doesn't read them; I'm rather sick of the "I have no idea what you're talking about" look I get. My college roommate of two years was actually surprised to realize that I hadn't even mentioned the Green Lantern around him. At WAC, with the exception of a select handful of people like Dave and even Clancy, people couldn't tell the difference between Green Lantern and Green Hornet (why do so many people get that one confused? Green Hornet was hardly a presence even when he was a TV show, for fuck's sake!)
But when someone doesn't know who Lex Luthor is, as was the case not too very long ago, I get kind of exasperated.
Superman as transcended being a "comic book character," and so much of him has achieved iconic status. "Clark Kent" is synonymous with the face we put on for others, hiding our real selves. "Kryptonite" with our personal weakness, with that which more than anything else can bring us to our knees in an instant. "Krypton" with the home to which he can never return. "Lex Luthor" with our greatest enemy, bald or not. Superman has transcended pop storytelling and achieved what all superheroes theoretically should and do to some extent: modern mythology.
Then again, I've known people who didn't know who "John, Paul, George, and Ringo" were. Things like this inch me ever so much closer to the Dark Side of becoming the Comic Book Guy. Fat, bitter, lonely, and sarcastic. ... well, at least I'm not fat. Anymore. Yet.
Well, we've got a new Superman movie out. I am hesitant, based on some of the odder creative decisions behind it (the costume needs brighter reds and a bigger S symbol to work, it really, really does), but the one thing that absolutely, totally works for me is the casting of Kevin Spacey. And now they've released the first promo image of him as Lex.
This, ladies and gentlemen, is Lex motherfucking Luthor.
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Re: Warning work-boredom fueled long-ass comment....
Date: 2005-09-07 11:00 pm (UTC)Re: Warning work-boredom fueled long-ass comment....
Date: 2005-09-07 11:39 pm (UTC)Re: Warning work-boredom fueled long-ass comment....
Date: 2005-09-08 05:42 am (UTC)