The
preceding email link is your opportunity to be counted as a supporter
of the Smallville Twist, also known online as a Chloiser.
We've
defined the twist broadly, resisting the temptation to advocate narrow
interpretations like "Chloe must permanently adopt the pen name
Lois Lane". We can build a bigger tent if every Smallville
viewer is a potential supporter of the twist. Many Smallville
viewers, for example, dislike the idea of literal switched at birth
revelations or the like, or of Durance's Lois Lane dying so that Chloe
Sullivan can adopt a pen name in her honor, or of a mind swap or
character merger that might combine Durance's Lois and Mack's Chloe
and have Mack end up playing her. Many of these same Smallville
viewers, however, are fine with or even advocate that Chloe, who is
already the Daily Planet reporter character, also have the romantic
destiny with Clark/Superman. They don't care about a
"rule" that says it has to be a character named Lois Lane
who has that destiny in every incarnation of Superman, without
exception. In fact, they dislike that as "same old same
old" and would rather have the Chloe Sullivan twist, especially
for a show like Smallville where the concept is a fresh new take on
the story.
On
the other hand, there is considerable support for a general
rule (one that can have exceptions on occasion, but is generally true)
that Clark should end up with the Daily Planet reporter character, not
for example with Lana Lang or Lori Lemaris or Wonder Woman. It's
a long-standing tradition of sorts that many don't want to see
completely abandoned, including Lana Lang supporters who recognize
that the tradition exists and is supported by many. For those
who do recognize that, the Smallville Twist is not just the best but
the only viable way to protect the tradition. Not via name
swapping or body merging or anything like it, but just as the Daily
Planet reporter character who ends up with Clark/Superman, Chloe would
effectively be Smallville's version of Lois Lane.
Rather than going completely against tradition, it would be following
through with Smallville's own great new spin on it and preserving the
general rule for the future.
Most
supporters of Durance's Lois also recognize that her character has
already had a tough reception, and would face major obstacles -- at
great cost to the show, the Lois Lane character, and the Superman
story generally -- if Warner Bros. were to press her into the Daily
Planet and Ultimate Romance destiny role. The traditional Lois
Lane should be more than a muffin-peddling college dropout turned copy
cat who assumes her cousin's life, both her career and romantic
interest. It would also do damage to Durance's career if her
legacy were to be the first Lois Lane to fail in a spectacular way.
It's better if her Lois is a Smallville exception, a blank slate Lois
Lane with a different destiny. Her Lois won't count at all as
the traditional version, if the writers have her gracefully bow
out of that competition and become something else as interesting and
appropriate as Warner Bros. and the writer imaginations can come up
with. Some of these other possibilities for Durance's Lois can
be extremely successful and it can become a win-win-win situation all
around, instead of a train wreck that damages careers, iconic
characters and a classic story.
So
we hope that any Smallville viewer will see the merit in
supporting the Smallville Twist. Assume it will be implemented
primarily in a what's-in-a-name or rose-by-any-other-name kind of way.
Chloe ends up the Daily Planet reporter character as she is now, and
her romantic destiny is with Clark. Don't assume anything more
than that, though there might well be more to it. Chloe might
adopt the pen name for a specific story as she did in season 3, or
a series of stories for example. But she won't necessarily
do so on a permanent basis, and don't assume there would
be any birth name revelations or mind swapping or the like.
Chloe herself may have said it best (and simply!) to an unconscious
Clark in her love letter to him in the second-season episode titled
"Fever" (excerpted):
CHLOE
I want to let you in on a secret. I'm not who you think I am.
In fact my disguise is so thin, I'm surprised you haven't seen right
through me. I'm the Girl of Your Dreams masquerading as your
best friend...
My
Dad told me there are two types of girls, the ones you grow out of
and the ones you grow into... I may not be the one you love today,
but... I think you're worth the wait.
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