Lois still rejects Clark, even though he is now smart, sexy and personable, and she rejects him in a really cruel, mean way. This is something I don't recognize and don't understand.
So why do my explanation of the LLC triangle not work? If she can’t have Superman what kind of man to you think she would go for? To me, Lois lacks self-esteem. She needs to be confirmed by others in every aspect of her life, her strength and independence are reactions to this. But deep down she is looking for her father, someone that can shield her from all the troubles of the world when she falters. Thats why she is attracted to men of power, Clark Kent OTOH, seems to be more in the mould of her mother or sister more likely to need help when the going gets tough.
But you are right even in the modern comic Lois never were interested in Luthor. Then again in say “Man of steel” Luthor came on to her in a rather conquering, boorish fashion, something Lois obviously doesn’t take well too.
But in L&C he treats her with courtesy, respect and seemingly gives her space. He is the American dream personified, why couldn’t Lois be attracted to him? If the world and Lois cannot see through Superman, why should they be able to see through Lex Luthor?
The classical Gary Stu like superman certainly have an large element of the revenge of the nerd. (Then again I’ve never much appreciated him. I’ve never understood why he was so nice and caring towards humanity except possible because he was a product of his Kryptonian heritage.)
But I got even more irritated by the fact that Clark didn't have to behave so stupidly. He chose to act that way, to protect his secret identity. But in doing so, he also chose his secret identity over the girl he liked. He couldn't honestly expect her to like the stupid facade he showed her, so how could he be angry at her for rejecting him?
Perhaps he unconsciously thinks that she really should be able to see through him?
This is the classical female technique If you can’t figure out what you did wrong I certainly aren’t going to tell you.
But hey, what's this? Lois still rejects Clark, even though he is now smart, sexy and personable, and she rejects him in a really cruel, mean way. This is something I don't recognize and don't understand. In fact, her behaviour is so hard to understand for me that I don't take it too seriously. There are hundreds and hundreds of fanfics out there describing how Lois learns to acknowledge to herself that Clark is a great guy. My enjoyment of these stories - which in many cases are splendid - is diminshed by the fact that I don't understand why she ever disapproved of Dean Cain's Clark Kent in the first place.
For me it’s about patterns. Lois expect to date suave city-men that that can give her the confirmation that she needs. Not naive country-boys from the mid-west, no matter how broad their shoulders are. Once someone is labelled it becomes difficult to see them as someone else.
I also got the feeling that he is similar to Claude in several ways charming, well-traveled etc and got some of the things she liked to give him, moreover she IS taken by him and my impression was that she treats him extra harshly to convince herself that she really isn’t attracted to him.
But I shudder at the episode where Clark proposed to Lois and she not only turned him down, but she also asked him to go get Superman for her. She was telling Clark that he had nothing to offer her. I don't believe that she would reject Dean's likable Clark so out of hand - this is not the Lois I want to believe in.
I agree that one is artistic license, sure she is ruthless sometimes but I couldn’t imagine that he would dismiss his suit so callously, It ranks up there with the proposal scene in level of character assassination, but at least here it’s easy to understand what the writers were aiming for.
But I don't recognize Lois's relationship with Lex. It was never there in the comics. In the comics, Lois was not a woman who would choose to ally herself with a bad guy because she hoped she would get favors and advantages that way.
And that decidedly not was she is doing in L&C either.
