Smallville (TV series)
Ongoing American television series that began in 2001. Filmed in Vancouver.
Smallville follows the adventures of Clark Kent before he became Superman, of Lex Luthor before he became Superman's nemesis, and of their families and friends. The main setting is the town of Smallville, where the meteor shower that accompanied Clark's arrival to Earth has left a legacy of "meteor freaks" -- people transformed by the effects of kryptonite meteorites in the area around Smallville, who conveniently often serve as super-powered villains of the week for Clark to battle.
Characters
When the series begins, Clark Kent (Tom Welling) is a high school student, and Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum) a young man who has arrived in Smallville to work for his father, Lionel Luthor, a powerful business executive.
The main female characters in the series are Lana Lang (Kristin Kreuk), whose parents were killed by the meteors, Chloe Sullivan (Allison Mack), a budding investigative reporter, and Martha Kent (Annette O'Toole), Clark's adoptive mother, a farmer and businesswoman. Lois Lane (Erica Durance) joins the cast in a later season.
Sam Jones III played Pete Ross, the one character of colour who was a series regular, from 2001 to 2004. (Kristin Kreuk is Eurasian, but her character is coded as White.)
The series has drawn repeated criticisms for its portrayal of Lana Lang as a perpetual damsel in distress and idealised love interest, defined by her relationships to male characters and by Clark Kent's pining for her, complicated by his secrecy about his origins and his abilities. Lana's aunt and adoptive parent, Nell Lang (Sarah-Jane Redmond), was quickly written out of the series.
Homosexuality and Smallville
HoYay!
Smallville quickly attracted a devoted slash following, because of the strong subtextual homoeroticism between Clark Kent and Lex Luthor (which began with a mouth-to-mouth resuscitation scene in the first episode). The term "HoYay", short for "Homoeroticism, Yay!", was coined on the TWOP message board for the show.
Evil Lesbianism
Female homosexuality has been portrayed exploitatively on Smallville. In two instances, female meteor freaks sexually targetted Lana. In the episode "Visage", criminal shape-shifter Tina, in love with Lana, impersonated Lana's boyfriend in order to get close to her, and in "Facade", another meteor freak, Abigail, kissed Lana, causing Lana to experience horrible hallucinations.
External Links
- Wikipedia entry
- Superman vs. the Lesbian Psycho Killer on Smallville at AfterEllen.com
- Smallville Exploits Lesbianism, Again at AfterEllen.com
- Homoeroticism, Yay!, on the TelevisionWithoutPity Smallville forums.