[ SECRET POST #3366 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #3366 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 03 pages, 055 secrets from Secret Submission Post #481.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[philstar22]

I don't really get that. Because to me what they both are is good people and optimistic. And I don't think good equals dull. It is nice to have characters that aren't dark and gritty anti-heroes.

[(Anonymous)]

I don't think it's that clark's a good person that makes him boring, I just think he's been around so long and has risen to this 'of course he can overcome anything' status.

Like you have a superhero like Jaime Reyes, who's just as good a person as Clark and listens and learns his values from his parents like Clark did. But he's still young and new and can mess up and doesn't know the capabilities of his powers so he's interesting.

[philstar22]

Hmmmm. Okay, I get that. I don't agree, but I get it.

I just feel like a lot of people do call Clark boring just because he's good, like everything has to be dark and everyone has to be anti-heroes and that simple heroes are boring. And that I really don't get at all.

[(Anonymous)]

Oh no, I get that. I don't think just because someone's good it means they're automatically boring.


But I think a lot of superman stories have been boring, and i don't think it has to do with his 'goodness'. (Honestly I think it's the ones that try to make Supes gritty that end up being the worst.) But how do you give a character that can do anything a challenge?

[philstar22]

I think he can do everything, but the best authors remember that he won't do everything. His own personal limits are what make him interesting. He sees the best in people and puts his own limits on what he'll do with his powers.

Also, when authors remember to make Clark the real person, seeing him balancing his real life with the mask can be interesting.

It does take a good writer, though. And I can see why he would be particularly hard to write well.

[(Anonymous)]

That's because a lot of the people who write Clark (and Captain America, and similar Lawful Good archetypes) tend to forget that goodness is not an inherent trait. It's a series of choices at every turn, and those choices aren't always easy. Those writers tend to mistake punching for conflict, so their arcs are pretty empty, and the characters are bland cardboard until and unless they pass into the hands of a better writer.

[(Anonymous)]

I'm not a big Superman fan so I'm just speaking very generally here.

But it isn't being good and optimistic that I dislike. I agree that not every hero needs to be gritty and dark. It's just that I want characters I can relate to, who I see develop and grow. I want to know they are affected by what's happening around them. So if they are simply THE GOOD GUY to start with and and don't really change, have no personal crises, are basically untouchable (not physically, but mentally) it's just, what kind of story are they really telling? I don't mean they have to go through phases where they are a dick or ever stop being good, I just want to see complexity. If the schtick is that they are super good, I would prefer to see them make tough choices, or have to prove their strength of spirit, or something. Otherwise, what's the point?

[(Anonymous)]

You obviously haven't read the comics. Because that kind of stuff happens a TON in the comics.

[(Anonymous)]

yes anon, I am sure he is a very fascinating, well-rounded and well-developed character in the comics lol

[(Anonymous)]

I think Captain America is a good example of a non-gritty, optimistic superhero done well, and that may be because he has flaws and isn't physically invincible. Supes has always received criticism for being too perfect and overpowered (though there are some comic book runs where this isn't true at all).

[philstar22]

Cap isn't quite the same because his history as a soldier and possible PTSD makes him a bit different from Clark. I think it makes Clark harder to write. But as I said below, I think one of the keys to writing Clark is understanding that he himself sets the limits on himself. He can do most things, but he won't. So writing him having to struggle with those limits he sets on himself can be really interesting.

[(Anonymous)]

I sometimes wonder if I would like Captain America if I was from the US. As it is, I can't stop myself from seeing him as this total nationalistic American symbol, and it annoys the hell out of me.

[(Anonymous)]

But that's the thing, he's nothing like that or even remotely jingoistic. I'm not American and I adore him.