I see your point, Nancy, and I certainly agree that Clark has to lie in order to have any private life at all. His life would be insufferable if he didn't lie about himself at all. But while you are absolutely right that we are all lying about ourselves daily, I doubt that there are many members of these boards who lead a total double life. And, of course, in this story, Lois might have been less ready to totally jump to conclusions if Clark had come clean with her about the secret that he does have. And he ought to have been honest with her, considering he is trying to make her fall in love with him and not with Lex. I could never buy that load of baloney that Clark had to lie about himself to Lois so that she could fall in love with the real him. As long as he is going to be Superman as well as Clark Kent, Lois won't know the real him until he lets her see both aspects of himself.
It's interesting that Clark and Lex can both be said to lead complete double lives: Clark is a mild-mannered reporter who is secretly the spandex-clad superhero, and Lex is the billionaire philantropist who is secretly an arch-criminal. Clark tries to tell Lois about Lex's second nature, but because he has no proof regarding Lex and doesn't come clean about himself, Lois doesn't believe him.
I think you yourself pinned down Clark's character so admirably in that vignette you wrote about Superman the movie, where Clark himself played a part - was it Jimmy? - and surprised everybody by turning out to be an excellent actor.
Ann
