289 lines
14 KiB
Plaintext
289 lines
14 KiB
Plaintext
```art
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_____________________________________________
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//:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::\\
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//:::_/ _-"":::_--""" """--_::::\_ ):::::::::\\
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//:::/ /:::::_" "-_:::\/:::::|^\:::\\
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//:::/ /~::::::I__ \:::::::::| \:::\\
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\\:::\ (::::::::::""""---___________ "--------" /::://
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\\::::\""""""------_____::::::::::::::::::::::://
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\\:::"\ __----__ )::://
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\\::::::::::::::::""----""":::://
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\\:::\^""--._.--""^/::://
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\\::"\ /":://
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\\::"\ /":://
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\\::::://
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\\_//
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"
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```Superman Logo
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# An Introduction
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In the midst of the indomitable covid affair I have been hard
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pressed to find entertainment that avoids dragging me down into
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further darkness. It feels like an overwhelming amount of recent
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television has been dark, gritty, or tragic. In a happier world,
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in a happier time, that would be fine. Right now I find myself
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repeatedly checking to see if Brooklyn 99 has a new episode.
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It hasn't.
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What's a man to do? I turned to nostalgia. As a man on the younger
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edges of generation X, I was just the right age to enjoy the birth
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and early years of Nick @ Night, Nickelodeon's alternate
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programming late-night content. If you're not familiar it
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consisted mostly of TV shows from the 50s and 60s. Classic
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favorites like Mister Ed, Dragnet, and Get Smart.
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Not only are these shows wonderfully wholesome in a way that just
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isn't seen anymore, they also pluck the strings of nostalgia in
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just the right way to resonate in my heart. They warm me, comfort,
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and sooth. They are a cup of tea or a conversation with an old
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friend. Just what the doctor ordered for social distancing.
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I have temporarily acquired a collection of these shows. For the
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foreseeable future I'll be spending my time here sharing my
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thoughts and observations on vintage television. What does it have
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to say to the world of 2020? What should have been left in the
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past? Just how racist can a wholesome sitcom get? These are all
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topics we'll traverse together, and much more.
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# The Adventures of Superman (1952) - Part 1
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In 1951, George Reeves and Phyllis Coates filmed a 58-minute
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black-and-white film titled "Superman and the Mole Men". It formed
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what would become a pilot of sorts for a television show. That show
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was shelved initially until Kellogg's, the cereal maker, decided
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to sponsor it as they had done with the Superman radio program. In
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the autumn of 1952 the show hit the air.
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Relatively quickly the show writers learned that their audience
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consisted primarily of children between six and twelve years. This
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combined with a protagonist who was completely invulnerable would
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create a major challenge for the scripts. Plot-lines needed to be
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simple enough for young children to follow and the hero was
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difficult to put into direct danger. Thankfully Clark Kent has many
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idiotic friends to fall into traps for him.
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This brings me to my first observation about the show, for which I
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must offer credit to the great people of the tildeverse IRC network
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for inspiration and discussion. Talking some of these ideas through
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with them helped me reach some unusual conclusions.
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=> gopher://tildeverse.org Tildeverse on Gopher
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=> https://tilde.chat Tildeverse IRC network on HTTP
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## The Lois Lane Conundrum
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Lois Lane is insane.
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I mean that quite literally. Oxford dictionaries describes someone
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insane as "in a state of mind which prevents normal perception,
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behaviour, or social interaction." I will argue
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that Lois' state of mind displays all three qualities:
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* prevented normal perception
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* prevented normal behavior
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* prevented normal social interaction
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In the early episodes of season one, Lois has already displayed an
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illogical degree of disregard for her own safety. The episode
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"Rescue" is a prime example. A man has been trapped in a mine
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after it collapses upon him. Lois is present at the mine, as are
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other workers. They signal the disaster crew to come help. These
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are trained men who specialize in this work. Their arrival is
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imminent. The dangers of an unstable mine have been discussed with
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her and she has been told clearly to avoid the mine. So what's a
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Lois Lane to do? That's right, run straight into the mine without
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equipment or plan. She has to help, after all!
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In this case we see a clear demonstration that she does not
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properly perceive the threat in the situation despite clear
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communication. She is a city reporter with no background in what
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to do here. She has no skill to offer and no plan to help, but
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help she must. Her own importance is disproportionate in her mind.
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In the episode "The Secret of Superman," Clark Kent has teamed up
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with police to set himself up as bait to capture a group of men
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using a modified truth serum to control people. It is part of a
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dastardly plan to uncover Superman's true identity. No sooner has
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Clark feigned capture than Lois is back to her old tricks. She, for
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her own safety, has a policeman assigned to shadow her as she is
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a possible subject for abduction. But Clark is in trouble! Again,
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what's a Lois Lane to do? That's right, something batshit crazy.
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Lois slips her police protection and rushes to the scene without
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backup. Backup she already had, mind you, had she not gone out of
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her way to lose it. She then rushes headlong into the building to
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confront the criminals. These men are known to have slipped the
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mind-controlling poison into the drinks of their targets, and so
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Lois is not to be fooled. When the dastardly leader offers her a
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cup of coffee she of course tell him to go to hell! Oh wait... no.
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This is Lois Lane. She agrees. She's a little parched from all
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the stealthy sneaking away from her protectors after all. But
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never fear! She demands to pour the coffee herself. "Fine, fine,"
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says the bad guy, "but what's that over there on the floor? Is
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that blood?" And as quickly as that, she is distracted and the
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drug is slipped.
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I suppose this article could go into an argument of just how
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stupid this woman can be, but I digress. Here again she has shown
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a lack of judgement due to a misperception in her own power and
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effectiveness. Her behavior is baffling.
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### The Cause - Part 1
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In the episode "The Mind Machine" a gangster is on trial. He has
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kidnapped a scientist working on a machine to help modify the
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behavior of mentally troubled patients. The gangster has other
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plans for it, though. He pressures and threatens the doctor until
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he uses the machine to overwhelm the willpower of those witnesses
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testifying against him. This long-range mind-control has a
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terrible side effect, though. It drives the target completely
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insane, eventually killing them.
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Lois is eventually the only witness remaining, and time is running
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short for Superman to find the machine and stop the men from using
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it upon Lois. In fact, the way the episode plays out, Superman is
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not quite in time at all. The machine has already been turned on
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and is effecting Lois on the stand, though the command is never
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given that would have overridden her will. Superman manages to
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stop the men just in time for that to be prevented, and the doctor
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destroys the machine vowing never to build another. The day is
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saved and all is well (other than several dead witnesses and a
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clear case of a mistrial).
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But what if Lois didn't get away without consequence? Her behavior
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following that encounter does mimic to a lesser degree that of the
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others who have been reprogrammed. Her own lack of understanding
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could be due to the infernal machine. It's an idea, certainly, and
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since we have no clear timeline in this series as every episode
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stands alone in time, this could theoretically represent the
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beginning of her time with Superman and the origin of her
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behavior. There's just one bit working against that theory.
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Lois has been deeply investigating a kingpin of metropolis (and
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yes, they do call him "The Kingpin" in the episode,
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interestingly). That suggests she's been at this for some time. It
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doesn't square up with the other timelines at play. She wouldn't
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have that sort of assignment early in her career, and her
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relationship with Clark would be less developed. I think this
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scenario is unlikely, and there is another that is far more
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plausible.
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### A Quick Aside
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Before we talk about what I believe to be the true origins of
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Lois' insanity, I want to call attention to some very strange
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behavior in Superman in this series. In "The Mind Machine", Clark
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is with a pilot in a small plane flying over the mountains in
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search of the radar signal given off by the machine so he can
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pinpoint its location. When the signal is found he learns he is
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out of time and that Lois is already on the stand. He has to act
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NOW. So what's a good, upright, Superman to do? That's right...
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punch the pilot into unconsciousness, flick on the autopilot, and
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jump out of the plane leaving him to his fate. Later on in the
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episode that same plane runs out of fuel and Superman swoops in to
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save it from crashing. Effectively Superman has saved that man
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from Superman.
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Punching his friends until they're unconscious seems to be a trend
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with him when he needs a bit of privacy. He does the same maneuver
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to his close friend and investigator, Candy, in "The Stolen
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Costume". Since his costume was, well, stolen, he had to run in
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and deal with the bad guys as Clark Kent, revealing his true
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identity. He couldn't risk his friend seeing who he was, so he was
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very fast to knock him out.
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But what about the bad guys? The man is a blackmailer and wanted a
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payday. The woman, his accomplice, was much less willing to go
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down this path but had been pressured into it. Superman won't kill
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them, they say. Superman doesn't do that. So what's a Superman to
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do? That's right! He flies them deep into mountainous country and
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places them on the top of a dangerous peak from which there is no
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safe way down. "I'll be back with food for you soon," he tells
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them before flying off. The punishment, as Superman has decided
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acting as judge & jury, for knowing his identity is that they must
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live the rest of their lives alone in the frozen wilderness where
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they can never reach another human soul. It's no surprise the two
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decide to risk it in a climb down the mountain. Unfortunately for
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them, the climb was indeed too difficult. In the final scene we
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learn they have fallen to their deaths. This is clearly a direct
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result of Superman's forced, life-long imprisonment. He is
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directly to blame for the deaths of two people.
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Honestly it shouldn't shock me one bit. I believe it only took
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until episode 4 before we found Superman recommending the police
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beat the truth out of a man during an interrogation.
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Truth, justice, and the American way! Probably not what they
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meant, but it still works.
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### The Cause - Part 2
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We return again to Lois Lane. Why is she insane? I posit it is a
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simple byproduct of her close association with Superman itself
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which is at fault. His presence has:
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* inflated her perception of self importance
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* inflated her perception of her own threat level
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* removed all sense of consequence
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Superman's fascination with Lois Lane brings her again and again
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into the spotlight of action. Where things that matter occur,
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Clark is surely there. And with him is Lois. If someone is
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threatening Superman, Lois is the easiest target. In those rare
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occasions when Superman is not the focus of activity in
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Metropolis, she is still a report for a major metropolitan
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newspaper. Lois Lane is quite literally at the center of
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EVERYTHING in the city. As a result she perceives herself to be
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important to everything in the city. It's easy to see why she
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might think that.
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Her understanding of her own threat level is likewise conflated by
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Superman's presence. When the intrepid reporter storms into the
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den of thugs and thieves, she isn't afraid. They should be. She's
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got their number and they're in for it when she gets back to her
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typewriter. Oh, what's this? They're surrounding her so she can't
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get to that typewriter. 3...2...1...SUPERMAN!
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And that brings us to the final, but most important part. Nothing
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Lois does has consequences for her. She could quite literally
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chose to no longer take the elevator down to the ground floor but
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rather step out the window of the daily planet office and plummet
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toward the ground. Superman will be there to catch her. She could
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run into a collapsing mine and Superman will be there. She can
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confront a deadly doctor with a mind control agent, but why be
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afraid. This literally always works out for her.
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What a lifestyle!
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### What can we learn?
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The final bit that caught me off guard when I came to this
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conclusion was that these symptoms all seemed familiar. Those
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effects are not just a product of close association with Superman,
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they describe someone who has a close association with wealth.
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Consider the inflated sense of self importance. Consider the
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inflated sense of power and threat they weild. And then recognize
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the way consequences vanish magically away with money.
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For Lois Lane this was enough to drive her to insanity. Superman's
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presence in her life:
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- prevented her normal perception
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- prevented her normal behavior
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- prevented her normal social interaction
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If this is the textbook definition of insanity, what does that
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tell us about the wealthy running the world today?
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