July 18, 2025 • 45 mins
It's a bird, it's a plane, no it's journalist Lois Lane, winning Pulitzer Prizes and exposing the evils of the world with guts, smarts and determination. Friend of the show Joey Patt swings by to shed light on the history of this Superman character, and the blueprint she left behind for other women in comics after her.
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hey, this is Annie and Samantha home stuff. I never
told you, protected by I hurant you.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
And today we are so excited to once again be
joined by a friend of the show, contributor to the show,
fellow nerd, if you don't mind me saying yeah, no, yeah,
which is exciting because what you're here to talk about
is very nerdy. We are joined by Joey Patts, who
(00:41):
has brought a topic you've mentioned before discussing and I'm
really excited to learn more. But today we are talking
about a character you really enjoy, Lois Lane.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Yes, Hello, thanks for having me back, and yes, I
am back to talk about superheroes again.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
Surprise, surprise. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
And I came to y'all with this. I was like,
new Superman movie is coming out. I love Lois Lane.
She is one of my favorite DC characters. I think
she was super underrated, and I think she's a really
cool character to talk about, particularly when you're talking about
like women in science fiction and like kind of nerdy
(01:23):
media and the good and the bad of that.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
So yeah, excited to chat about that.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
I'm really excited to learn about it. I as a kid,
I Superman and X Men were like the two comics.
I really yes, yeah, And I consumed a lot of
Superman media and I always loved to Loistlane too. But
I feel like you're going to really educate me on
a lot of stuff that I don't know, because I
believe you brought up an iteration I had never heard about,
(01:51):
probably because.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
I was I'll start with I saying like, I grew
up watching a lot of the like Justice League and
like Superman cartoons, and it's interesting looking back because I
always like loved her as a character. I was, like,
I love Superman when I was a kid, I was
a big Supergirl fan. But like, I think Lois is
a character I've always liked her. She really grew on me,
(02:14):
like the last couple of years. Part of that is
as a working journalist now, I think some of it
is definitely ego. But I think recently, particularly some of
the most like some of the Superman stories from like
the past ten fifteen years, have done a really good
job of highlighting our character, which I'm going to get into.
(02:37):
But yeah, there recently was this new Superman movie and
I saw it last week with friend of the show fellow.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
iHeart person care from.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
It can happen here, which is also super fun going
to see it with somebody who's like equally as comic
book obsessed, and I felt a little less annoying being like,
oh my god, it's that thing that yeah, But I.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
Was super high good in this movie.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
I love Dan's gunn I love the Guardians of the
Galaxy movies and like, you know, the Scoopy Doo movies too,
throw back to that amazing films. But I was really
excited again, I love Superman. I this is a character
I think, especially like the possible years, I've really gotten
more into, and also like when the trailer came out
(03:24):
and definitely like some of the press around, they were
definitely talking about how they wanted to have like a
very hopeful fun tone to this movie, which I think
they really nailed. As I'm sure you can assume from
like the Fox News meltdowns about it.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
That has been fun.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
That has been fun to I like, actually, it's funny.
I was thinking about this because I was just on
another prior to the show, other show I work on
The Arnold Girls on the Internet last week with bridget Todd,
and I did at one point it was relevant to
the story we were talking about. But I went on
a little bit of a ran about why I really
do not like the Iron Man movies and I don't
(04:03):
think they hold up.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
And I was like there was something watching.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
This movie and like walking out of it and being like, Oh,
we're in like a new era of like superhero movies,
and that I think makes me very happy. But the
main thing that I think I was really excited about
for this movie was the cast.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
I think they cast it phenomenally. Annie. You mentioned x
Men before two.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
Nicholas Holt, who is also in the X Men movies,
plays Lex Luthor in this He he was phenomenal.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
He might have been my favorite part of the movie.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
Honestly, he's such a phenomenal actor. But also they cast
Rachel Brosdahan as Leis Lane, and I love Rachel Brosihan.
I love marvelous missus masl I thought it was a
great TV show.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
I think she.
Speaker 3 (04:46):
Has a really magnetic screen presence, and I was like, Oh,
this is perfect. That is absolutely Lois Lane. This is
gonna be so good because, like I said, Lewis Lane
is one of my favorite DC characters. Not just like
I like this character, like she is if I was
to say, like my top five DC characters, she would
definitely be up there.
Speaker 4 (05:05):
Have you watched the old versions of Superman with Margaret Kidder?
Speaker 3 (05:09):
I watched the like the like the Christopher Eves, like
seventies ones when I was a kid.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
Yeah, I will be so real.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
I do not remember them as well, but I know
I watched them at one point.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
There were like bits and pieces. I love Mark Kidder.
Speaker 4 (05:23):
She was one of my favorites.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
Like she was just She's phenomenal.
Speaker 4 (05:27):
She was one of those that was unconventionally like not
what you would have expected to play the like that lady.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
But she was also really feisty.
Speaker 4 (05:35):
In that level of like being the journalist who was
in your face.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
So I just wondered if you had like, absolutely no,
that's something I'm gonna get into too.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
I think looking at this character, it's really interesting to
see how like consistently she's been written as being like
she's been played by some phenomenal actress that There have
been a couple of adaptations.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
Of her that I have not liked. But for the
most part, I think, like, I'm.
Speaker 3 (05:59):
Gonna get into the in a moment, but I think
like when it comes to specifically like the kind of
superhero girlfriend trope. She's one of the characters that she's
one of the few characters in that trope I will
really like go to bat for because yeah, it like
we're talking about comic books, we're talking about like nerd media,
nerd culture stuff, which I'm sure I'm preaching to the
(06:21):
choir here, but historically has not been the best towards
women in those stories and also historically has been very
like male character dominated. And I see a lot of
ways where you can write I mean not even it's
not even an imaginary question. There are plenty of instances
(06:42):
of characters that are written as just like the love
interest to the main male character, that are kind of
two dimensional, are very clearly like products of the male gays.
I think Lewis Lane has been at character that DC
has really stepped up and made her this really well
red character in her own right, because I would say,
(07:03):
I think the way that Lois Lane is portrayed is
the thing to me that makes her breaks a Superman story,
because she's like, she's literally like the foil him. She's
next on the call sheet, next important to him when
you're telling this story. So she also has to be
this really strong, compelling character, and I think this most
recent movie did a fantastic job of that. So pulling
(07:25):
back a little bit, taking a step back, I'm putting
my media studies professor had on.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
For a little bit because I think.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
In order to talk about this character, we need to
talk about the superhero genre as a whole, because.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
Back up for a sec.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
When you think about it, the whole concept of like
what we associate with the superhero genre, all of that
stems from Superman. Superman was created in like in nineteen
thirty eight, in the nineteen thirties, and this was the
first character that was like a superhero like. The superhero
genre did not exist before that, and it's called the
(08:00):
superhero genre is because he's Superman, like Superman came first.
Of course, when we're talking about fiction and literature, I'm
of the belief that everything is just a long running
cycle of fan fiction of other things.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
So of course there were things that inspired this beforehand.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
There were vigilante stories, There were you know, mythology and
fantasy and sci fi that this story pulled elements from.
But when we think about the idea of like a
superhero movie, or a superhero comic book. There's specific elements
you associate with that genre. It's like the costume, it
is the like secret identity, there's the super villain nemesis.
(08:43):
All of these are things that come from Superman. So
because of that, Superman is sort of this model for
the superhero archetype as a whole. I would say, like
the kind of defining golden era of comic book ones
are really Superman and Captain America, like pretty much every
character since then is an iteration.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
Of those characters.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
You could also argue Superman is kind of the top
of that pyramid and then everything else came down. But
because of that, Leis Lane is kind of the de
facto model for what the like superhero love interest character is.
She's literally like the first lady of the superhero genre.
(09:26):
And as I said, this is not necessarily my favorite
arch type. A lot of times this type of character
is not written in a way that I really like
or feel like. It is written in a very male
gaze kind of way. There are you know, like if
you I'm thinking of other iconic kind of like the
superhero civilian girlfriends, So not like Catwoman or someone like
(09:48):
characters that are. They're civilians. They're not like the superpowered character,
so like Mary Jane Watson or if you're a Flash fan,
than like Iris Wes.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
Like all of these characters, a lot them. There have
been good iterations of them.
Speaker 3 (10:03):
I really liked the you know, the MCU Spider Man's
MJ Watson that they did, But they're not necessarily characters
that I would like be like, yeah, no.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
I love them. They're these well rounded characters.
Speaker 3 (10:14):
Like a lot of the ways they're portraying in a way
that's very misogynistic, and so you would assume because of this,
like lowis Lane's sort of being the first, she would
be like the epitome of a lot of these tropes.
She's also, you know, a character created in nineteen thirty eight,
not necessarily the best time for women, but that means
(10:35):
that I do think like she is one of the
characters of the strope that holds up the best and
there's a reason that she still is seen as this
very iconic character.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
Another just quick note.
Speaker 3 (10:44):
On like the whole the superhero girlfriend trope, DC is notorious,
especially for like killing off love interests a lot too.
If you know the term like fridging like that literally
comes from DC uh, because there.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
Was like a story I think.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
It was on like the seventies or eighties, but there's
little I think it was like a Green Lantern storyline,
one of the Green Lantern characters. There's literally a scene
where he comes home and he sees his like dead,
his girlfriend is killed, and they like shove her in
a fridge and he finds her there.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
So that's where you get the term fridging, which means
you know.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
Like writing off this female character for man pain, and
you know she doesn't really exist other than this object.
So again I was like, all this just to kind
of set the scene as to where we're coming from,
which I think is not what you would expect with
this character. So going back to Lois My Girl, I'm
(11:43):
gonna do a quick general biography of the character and
like some history of how she's been portrayed over time.
I would guess that most people that have consumed American
pop culture over the past seventy eighty years are at
least somewhat aware of Lois Lay. Like I said, Superman
Lois Lane like that is the first couple of the
(12:06):
superhero genre as a whole. They're both icons. If you
ask your average person, like what do you know about her?
There's probably two things they know. One she is Superman's girlfriend,
and then two she's a reporter. I would actually put
them in the order of number one she's a reporter.
Number two she's Superman's girlfriend. But like Clark Kent, Lois
(12:29):
Lane debuted in the first ever issue of Action Comics,
which is what the Superman comics were originally called, in
June nineteen thirty eight. This is a character that is
eighty seven years old. She is literally older than my grandmother.
And again, like I said, not necessarily the best time
to be a woman. But something that I found really
(12:50):
interesting was even in this early comic book era, like
the nineteen thirties nineteen forties, Lois was always portrayed as
super smart, a go getter, and very career oriented, which
was not common in that era.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
You know, this was the Great Depression where.
Speaker 3 (13:06):
A lot of more women where we're working outside of
the home because you know, you had to. And then
this was going into World War Two, where you know,
you get Rosie the Riveter and a lot of the
pushes for women to work to help the more effort.
So it wasn't like completely unheard of, but it still
was a time where, like the narrative was, your goal
(13:27):
as a woman is to settle down and get married,
have kids, work if you absolutely have to, but ultimately
the goal should be like your husband's providing for you.
So I think finding out that that this sort of
like career focused like part of her character has always
been there. That to me, whether or not the writers
were intending that to be the case, that to me
(13:47):
feels very radical because now now it's easy to sort
of we're on the flip side of it where there's
you know, there's like the girl Boss character trope, but
we're not talking about like Devil wears Parata type character here.
We're talking about like a young woman that is trying
to be successful, that is trying to get things done,
(14:09):
and that again, nineteen thirties, that was not like a
given that.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
That would be part of her character.
Speaker 3 (14:17):
Of course, she was not like the first, you know,
female character to have a personality in a job, but.
Speaker 1 (14:23):
So like the character herself.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
She was originally created by Joe Schuster and Jerry Siegel,
where the creators are Superman. She was based on this
fictional reporter named. This is the most nineteen thirties fictional
reporter name ever. Torchi Blaine is played by Glenda Ferrell
in a series of Warner Brothers films, and then she
(14:46):
also at one point she's played by a couple different actresses.
One of them is named Lola Lane, which is where
the name Lois Lane came from.
Speaker 1 (14:52):
I watched a.
Speaker 3 (14:53):
Couple of like short clips. It's very nineteen thirties.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
You know, fast.
Speaker 3 (14:59):
Talking, hot, you know, curl detective reporter kind of thing.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
But it was fun. It was fun.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
Lois Lane, the character is the daughter of Ella and
Sam Lane, the latter being a US Army general, and
Lois grew up being trained by her father in the
kind of typical military dad fashion. Her family moved around
a lot and a lot of adaptations. Her mom dies
when she's pretty young, so there's kind of this mirroring
(15:32):
of with Clark Kent's.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
Story where he grew up very like isolated.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
She had sort of a similar thing where she, you know,
felt kind of separate from the world around her.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
In most versions.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
She also has a sister named Lucy Lane, who had
originally appeared in the nineteen fifties.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
Apparently the lanes.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
When they were originally introduced, like in the first comics,
they were farmers like Clark Ken's parents.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
They changed just at some point.
Speaker 3 (16:00):
I would say, probably just because not that many people
grow up on farms these days, so you know, it
makes sense to not have both of your lead characters
grow up on farms. And then also, like I said,
her dad is this like major army general, which kind
of gives her the backstory of you know why she is,
(16:28):
why she's able to fight, you know why she's she
She kind of has all of this military backing and
training and stuff without actually having to have had a
military background.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
It it gets a nice cheat code for the character.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
As an adult, Lois is a reporter at the Daily Planet,
which is where she meets Clark Kent. And when she
and Clark are first introduced, they have a bit of
a rivalry. They're both like the hot, young new reporters
at the Planet, and they're both very obsessed with this
new Superman store that's been popping up. And over time,
(17:02):
of course, they become good friends and fall in love
and you know, become the iconic couple that they are today.
I mentioned earlier in the Golden Age comics in the
nineteen forties, Lois is written as being very smart and
very career oriented, and something I was kind of surprised
to find out was that during this era. In the
(17:23):
early comics, she is also written as being the only
character that suspects that Clark is Superman, and she helps
all these like Zany attempts to try and get him
to admit his secret identity.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
None of them work out. Of course, that was.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
Something that I honestly thought that was something that had
been added to a lot of like the later adaptations,
you know, maybe or earlier it wasn't. But no, that
is something that has always been a part of her character,
which makes sense because again she is a She is
an investigative reporters. She did at her job obviously, and
again depending on the adaptation you're reading, at some point
(17:56):
they start dating. Either Lowis figures out that Clark a
Superman or Clark tells her. I prefer the former, because, again,
brilliant investigative journalists, she knows what she's doing. Also, I
find that way funnier if she's like trying to get
him to I there's like a running joke and like
Superman media where She's always like jumping off of things
(18:17):
and like getting clarke to which I.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
I think that's great.
Speaker 3 (18:21):
I'm like, this goes. She's so determined to be like, no,
I'm getting the truth that I'm like, i will throw
myself off this building and just be like, let's see
what happens, which gets us into of course, especially in
earlier comics, there's a number of instances where Lois is
captured by like the villain of the week or Lex
Luthor or whatever evil bad guy blah blah blah, and
Superman asked to go in and save her. And this
(18:42):
is where you can be like, that's the misogyny. It's
the damsel in distress trope, which I will counter with
two things. One, I think, yes, this was a character
that you know again, it's the superhero girlfriend character. She,
especially when she was early introduced, plays that role. I'll
give DC credit where credit is due. They have definitely
(19:05):
done less of that over time, Like there's been less
of her being portrayed as the stan slone distress and
more is like her own character, capable of.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
Taking care of herself. Again, she has that military training.
Speaker 3 (19:17):
There are many many adaptations where she is you know
they she she knows how to handle a lot of weapons.
That that one of my favorite likes. Like DC cartoons,
there's a great scene where like she likes sneaks and
she's like in the She's she's like in some she's
(19:38):
like the White House or something, and she's like trying
to get somebody and she just like pulls out this
giant gun and I was like, I'm amazing.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
So yeah, again credit where creds?
Speaker 3 (19:48):
Do?
Speaker 1 (19:48):
I think DC has adapted over time.
Speaker 3 (19:50):
Also, again, look, most of these situations she needs to be.
Speaker 1 (19:56):
Safe fun from.
Speaker 3 (19:56):
It's not because she's helpless, but it's because she's doing
her job.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
She is a really good investigative reporter.
Speaker 3 (20:03):
She's a Pulitzer Prize winning investigative reporter.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
And look, if.
Speaker 3 (20:07):
I I'm just saying, if I knew that I had
a bulletproof, super strong, flying alien boyfriend that would show
up and save me from whatever goofy situation I ended
up in, I would maybe take a couple more risks too,
maybe break into a couple of government buildings. I mean no,
I would never do that, but I get where she's
coming from. You know, it's more like you got to
(20:29):
use the tools that are in your arsenal right, And
that leads me to like one of my favorite things
about this character, which i've kind of gotten that again,
she's very very brash. She's very go go get it
get her. That's not a right go She's a go getter.
That's what I'm trying to say. She's a go getter,
get it, and she is a character that I think
(20:52):
like when she's written right, when she's written in a way.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
That like she has to.
Speaker 3 (20:58):
Be just like Batch, Loewe's and Clark are the iconic
couple that they are because they are both the characters
that will run into the burning building to save somebody.
The only difference is that Clark is fireproof, and I think,
like some of my favorite versions of Lewis Lane, which
timing to get into later, a lot of them really
(21:19):
mirror the way that Batman is written as a character,
which I think is really interesting because they're both these
characters that are they're like the humans, They're the non
superpowered characters in a world of superhuman beings. They're motivated
by this desire to help people and to create a
better world and to take down those in power, and
because of that, they are the people that will run
(21:40):
into the burning building and you know, use their brains
to take.
Speaker 1 (21:44):
Down the bad guy.
Speaker 3 (21:45):
Like there's a lot of Superman runs where like, yes,
I guess technically Superman is Lex Luthor's nemesis, Lois Lane
is really the one that he's facing down, like she's
the one who's gonna get him in the end.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
And also, yeah, again I think like she's a character.
Speaker 3 (22:04):
She's an investigative reporter, similar to the way that Batman,
Like my favorite versions of Batman are like when it's
really written as a detective story, my favorite Lewis Lane
arcs or when it's written as a detective story, so
it makes sense they're you know, my two favorite Clark
Kent love interests.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
Of course, what I didn't.
Speaker 4 (22:23):
Say that.
Speaker 3 (22:28):
There's some fun like love triangle stuff with the three
of them too, which I'm also you know what, I'm like,
this could be a challenger situation and anyways, not going
on that tangent. Anyways, Clearly I'm not the only one
too that thinks that she is this really interesting character
in her own regards, because there have been a number
(22:49):
of runs that have centered where Lewis Lane has been
like the cover character. She's been the she's been the
main character like over the years. The first was from
nineteen forty four and it was called another incredibly nineteen
forty four name Lois Lane, Girl Reporter. It's the same,
which is just I don't I'd just sit with that person.
(23:11):
But you know, I'm like, they gave her her own run.
That's who knows to that Girl Reporter. I don't know
about that.
Speaker 1 (23:19):
But you know they tried.
Speaker 3 (23:22):
There was another one later on, called Superman's Girlfriend Lois Lane,
which ran from the late fifties through the mid seventies, which, honestly,
I was like, that's a pretty long run for a
comic book series. I was like, okay, yeah, like and yeah,
this was the pre women's lib era, still starting with
Superman's Girlfriend, but you know, I guess it's a step
(23:44):
up from Girl Reporter. Maybe there have been a couple
more runs where she was at the helmet that for
the next couple decades. Most recently, in twenty nineteen, DC
published a twelve issue mini series called Lois Lane, written
by Gregor who is one of my favorite comical writers.
I love the series. It's really great, really leans into
(24:06):
it again that like it reads very similar to a
Batman comic.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
It is a detected story.
Speaker 3 (24:12):
Also, it does open the first couple issues are in Chicago.
Speaker 1 (24:17):
So there was a little bit of hometown bride there.
Speaker 3 (24:20):
That series also features Renee Montsoya, who is another one
of my favorite underrated DC characters. If you've seen Birds
of Prey, that's the Rosie Perez character and that she's iconic.
Speaker 1 (24:34):
I love her.
Speaker 3 (24:35):
She also like spends half the series flirting with Lois
and I'm like, this is you know what beautiful? A
big theme of that story too, is like in the background,
there's this whole thing about.
Speaker 4 (24:47):
How like.
Speaker 3 (24:49):
They there were like pictures leaked of her and Superman kissing,
and it's like the double standard of people being like, wow,
he would never do that. She's a married woman, but
also she's evil curve, how dare she? And like talking
about that kind of double standard and it's a It's
a good series you're checking out. Would recommend it again.
(25:10):
Love Greg Greca. He wrote one of my favorite uh
Batwoman runs. He writes a lot of really great queer stories,
which I also was shocked to find out that I,
you know, actually I don't know how I identifies I
just saw on his Wikipedia page that he is married
to a woman.
Speaker 1 (25:27):
So I was shocked that he's at least like maybe
he's a little who's to say he could be by
but uh, but I was.
Speaker 3 (25:32):
I was surprised with that because I was like, wait,
I feel like every single story I've read about you,
it's been incredibly gay.
Speaker 4 (25:37):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (25:37):
He also wrote the Old Guard movie. If you've seen that.
I love that movie. Oh yeah, we did a feature. Yes,
apparently the second one is out there too. I gotta
of course she is, of course, just so you know,
I did not know about that, but I'm obsessed. I like, see,
that's gonna be.
Speaker 3 (25:56):
I do regularly get Uma Thurman and Charlie's Throne mixed up, though.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
So that's gonna be How are you gonna do this?
Oh no, that'll be rough or amazing, one of the
two amazing, I know.
Speaker 3 (26:10):
I was like, I mean, I'm not gonna complain, and
they're both love the two loves of my life. But uh, anyway,
So anyways, back lois for the last couple of points
of her story. But yeah, back in the nineties, going
back a little bit, she and Clark get married.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
If you're familiar, it are all with the Superman comics
that I needs to There's a lot of ups and
downs there.
Speaker 3 (26:37):
Uh. And then in twenty fifteen, she and Clark have
a kid named John Kent who has been around for
a minute now. He was Superboy for a while and
then most recently he has taken over the Superman mantle
in some comic runs. I'm gonna stop there and not
get into it is this is where we get into
like it's comic books, there's no clear timeline territory. There
(27:00):
some runs that are out right now where Clark is
Superman and there's some where John is Superman.
Speaker 1 (27:06):
Is confusing.
Speaker 3 (27:07):
We don't have to care about consistency at this point.
But yeah, but John is at this point a pretty
established character. So Lois being a mom is also a
pretty established part of her character, which again props to DC.
I think they did a good job of having this
become part of her character. You know, the Superman series
(27:28):
as a whole, like family is very central to that,
But it didn't really do anything to like sideline her
character or take away any of that kind of like
power that she has, which I think that I think
like kudos to them for that that could have easily
been a chance for them to sort of sideline her,
and they decided not to do that. And you know,
(27:52):
you can have a It is the thing where it's
like you can have a character that is both you
know very much her own has her own agency, is
in charge of her own destiny, is doing all this
really bad stuff, is taken down bad guys.
Speaker 1 (28:11):
And she's a mom and she has a kid, and
that is part of her character too.
Speaker 3 (28:17):
Also John Kent famously the bisexual Superman with the male
of interest currently, So you know, if this woke Superman
is not enough for Republicans right now, quick side note
about that, I will say too, there's obviously a lot
of coverage of this movie talking about the fact that
some people are freaking out a little bit about you know,
(28:39):
they made Superman woke, a character that entire thing has
been protecting people and making the world a better place.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
Crazy.
Speaker 3 (28:47):
But I do think this movie, like I will say,
I went in a little bit skeptical. I was like, oh, sure, okay,
it's gonna have like some leftist themes.
Speaker 1 (28:54):
Short it does.
Speaker 3 (28:56):
It does. There's there's some fair there's some like allegor
in the movie that you're like, oh, okay, yeah, wow,
this is actually I get it kind of renewed my faith,
I think in the ability of superhero movies to not
just kind of obviously with every superhero movie there's an
element of like, yes, this reflects American militaryism, American exceptionalism,
(29:22):
but also there are a lot of beautiful things that
you can have in these narratives. And I think this
was really pulling back from a lot of the military
heavy elements and was taking a much more humanitarian approach,
and I thought that was fun.
Speaker 1 (29:34):
That is the sort of intro to Lois Lane, the
real hero of the story.
Speaker 3 (29:43):
You know, look, this is the fun thing too, is
because in the story you get like there's Superman.
Speaker 1 (29:50):
Superman's the main character.
Speaker 3 (29:51):
Clark Kent is the alter ego people know Clark Ken
is a different character in this universe. Clark Kent is
Loslaine's husband, like he is just she is. That is
her boy toy and like good for her, like he's
the trophy husband. I think that's beautiful.
Speaker 2 (30:09):
It's also fun too because she's she's sort of like
you said, the rival at first, but she's pitted as
like he knows she's on Oh yeah, and so he's
always trying to like and as the audience, we know it's,
you know, the same person she is on I think like.
Speaker 3 (30:27):
Third dynamic works goes like he's intimidated by her because
she he knows that she is super smart. She can
figure him out. She is one of the few people
that can like take him down because she's that good
at what she does. I think, yeah, I'll pivot here
to like some of my favorite uh versions of her
and some like small kind of details about her. One
(30:51):
side note as a as a as a short girlie
I do appreciate and well, obviously she's next to Superman,
so she's always gonna look very short, but like a
win for just like short girls that don't shut up.
I diva love it, but.
Speaker 1 (31:14):
A couple are kind of like small pigs. Voter character
I got it. Multiple Pulitzer Prize winning reporter like that.
Speaker 3 (31:20):
Is inconsistently about her is like she is really really
good at her job. She like she is.
Speaker 4 (31:28):
You know.
Speaker 3 (31:29):
I talked a bit at the beginning about how part
of me, it's like the eco part of me that
wants to be like, yeah, it's the journalist characters that
are like saving the day. But like she really like
there's a reason Clark Kent is also a journalist, like
it was written because it was like supposed to be
any whatever.
Speaker 1 (31:43):
I'm not going to go on my.
Speaker 3 (31:46):
The pros and cons of the way that we talked
about journalists in our world today. But you know, going
back to that twenty nineteen run that I was talking
about with the lows Lane run that was We're in
like peak for Trump administration, it very much is like
inspired by that, affected by that It talks about the
mistrusted journalists at the time, and I think, like that
(32:06):
is something we're like, we're seeing this movie do really
well right now, and I think this character is like
having a rival, because yeah, like so much of the
marketing campaign was around the fact that like he's just
a nice guy and he wants to help people, which
is like a nice change from again years of just
superhero movies sort of being like and we are so
(32:29):
strong and bad and we can kill everybody, and we
have so much tree, we have so much trauma from
nine to eleven, and we're never gonna get over that
damn trauma. And what I was talking about the beginning,
I think like specifically having her be this like the
fact that she and Clark at least like in terms
(32:50):
of like intellect and like motivation, they're very similar characters. Again,
the main difference is he has superpowers, she doesn't. She
is justice like she is also fighting for justice. She
is also there's a kind of a bunch of DC
storylines because CC loves to do the thing where they're
like Superman lost his powers.
Speaker 1 (33:09):
Ah, and then I.
Speaker 3 (33:11):
Don't know, I'm of the belief that it's getting old
at this point, I'm done with those storylines. But every
time it happens, like she kind of steps up like
she again, she's got them.
Speaker 1 (33:22):
She has the sort of whether she wanted to or.
Speaker 3 (33:27):
Not, raised with the ROSCT training type thing because her
dad was this big military dude. She's like, she's the
person that will run into the burning building. She'll face
down like dictators. She she's gonna fight. I was thinking
about this recently too, where I was like, what, like,
(33:48):
is there a version of this character that is like
gender swapped, where we have like the girl is the
character with it, Because you know, you could point to
characters like wonder One and like Steve Trevor kind of
being the like you know, non superpowered love interest.
Speaker 1 (34:06):
I don't find him that interesting of a character, or like.
Speaker 3 (34:10):
Whatever the best one I was thinking of, or I
was like, actually, I think this algorithm make sense. Is
like if you've seen The Boys, like literally the main
character is Huey from The Boys, who I would argue
is like maybe the closest we have to like a
gender swat version of that, or like his girlfriend is
the really like she's the one with the superpower. She's
(34:31):
the one who is like this public face, and he's
the one who's kind of, you know, not necessarily liked
by Also, because that's another thing about her characters. She
makes a lot of enemies because again she's this.
Speaker 1 (34:43):
Hard, like.
Speaker 3 (34:46):
Really bad, you know reporter who's like she's gonna stop
in nothing.
Speaker 1 (34:51):
Love that for her.
Speaker 3 (34:52):
There's also a couple versions where like she gets superpower again, look,
super Branko makes it been around for forever, so like
every imaginable thing that could happen happens, she gets superpowers,
and some she becomes Superwoman alongside Clark. Personally, I those
are my I prefer the Again, I really like the
(35:14):
runs where I think like she's written like this like
detective character that also has more to do with the
fact that, like, those are the characters that I like more,
I think. But yeah, she you know, she also is
Superwoman sometimes like she is just she she takes over
the same.
Speaker 1 (35:30):
Role as Clark.
Speaker 4 (35:30):
All that.
Speaker 3 (35:41):
Ending on a couple just small, fun, fun facts about
the character. I'm wearing purple today and to record this,
and she is oftentimes wearing purple, which I always was
just like cool aesthetically, it looks beautiful. When I was
watching the the movie, the most recent that came out
with again friend of the show gar from It could
(36:04):
Happen Here, they pointed out like, oh, yeah, it's because Superman.
He's red and blue were his color, so it's a combination.
And I was like that that makes sense. I never
realized that, but yeah, so thank you shout out to
Garret for informing me of that, which I also thinks cute.
It's like she's again this kind of mirror of his character,
(36:26):
something that kind of going back to how things that
were originally written in a way that maybe was dipping
its toes into misogyny that I think has been kind
of revamped in a way that I don't hate. She
has sort like throughout all of the comics has never
been able to spell like she like that is a
like running joke about the fact that she's this like
(36:47):
really really successful reporter and she like kind of small.
There have been some interpretations where it's like, oh, like
maybe she's like dyslasic or something. But it's like at
the point where I and this is me being too
like projecting a little bit I as somebody who also
so cannot spell. For sure. I do have a running
theory that a lot of the best writers that I
know are terrible at spelling things correctly. So I was like,
(37:08):
you know what, maybe this just odds to my thing
that I need to remind myself so I feel better
about the fact that I can't spell either. But yeah,
but it's like, you know, it's a fun little thing
about her. I love this character, my personal favorite adaptation
of the character, and I really love the racial Brad's Hand.
Speaker 1 (37:25):
Movie ab version. This most recent movie I think we.
Speaker 3 (37:28):
Brought up before the show I told you both the
watch My Adventures with Superman, really good cartoon show that's
on HBO.
Speaker 1 (37:35):
Max really cute.
Speaker 3 (37:37):
That version of Blowislaine, by the way, also is Korean American, which.
Speaker 1 (37:42):
Is really cool.
Speaker 3 (37:43):
She's also like the way that she's portraying the show.
That was like that show really was like the thing
that got me to be like, oh wait, yeah, no,
I love this character. She's so funny in that she
like they make her kind of a top boy too.
She's got like a short haircut.
Speaker 1 (37:55):
Like I liked it. I was like, you know what
it was? It was a cool she was she was fun.
Speaker 3 (38:02):
Like I said, I grew up watching a lot of
the cartoons, so like the Superman animated series version of
her is always gonna be like my image in my head.
Speaker 4 (38:08):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (38:10):
The Christopherrees movies. Love that one.
Speaker 3 (38:14):
I'll admit I did as a as a former c
W enjoyer slash, I still think, I I I have
a lot I love the c W. I'll be I
think it's like it is like that to me, It's
like this is it's keeping the spirit of camp alive.
But I like the Superman of lowis c W show
the actors who plays her in that she's phenomenal. It's
(38:35):
the guy from teen Wolf who plays Superman, and he
is also just like that was another version where I
think I watched it and I was like, oh yeah,
like Superman is fun when he's just like a nice
goofy guy.
Speaker 4 (38:48):
Uh So is that the one that gets crossed over
into because I watched a lot of.
Speaker 1 (38:57):
And I love I love across that world. You're gonna
gonna give me, it's gonna get me.
Speaker 3 (39:02):
But it's so funny because I know if like my uh,
because I've just been watching some like like the Instagram
algorithm is like picked on. They were like, You've been
watching a bunch of stuff about like Superman lately and
it keeps showing me clips from like the CW crossover
shows and like I loved Supergirl back in there too,
and that that was a great show.
Speaker 1 (39:21):
Oh my god, what an era? What an era?
Speaker 4 (39:24):
That Lois Lane. I don't know her name, hypodist, but
she was a dead ringer for Margaret Kidder to me, like, wow,
she is like her doubleganger and the way she acted
the only few things again it was in the Crossover,
but her like she was the main wise character for
both all three of them, because it was the Arrow. Yes,
I watched for a while the Arrow Flash and Superman
(39:46):
like she was trying to and Supergirl, all four of
them more there she was giving them each advice, and
it was all the most sane sound advice that they
had like to listen to, and I was like, okay.
Speaker 1 (39:55):
Exactly, okay, this is what we go back to.
Speaker 3 (39:59):
I think, honestly, like my favorite I keep saying my
favorite versions of her, which when I think she and
like Batman Bruce Wayne when they're Britten as very similar characters,
were like they're the voice of reason. Yeh, she's the strategist.
She know, like, she's smart, she's there's a reason she
is good at what she does. There's a reason that
she's the one taking down dictators, taking down these like
(40:20):
Lex Luthor type characters just as much as Clark is. Yeah,
and yeah, that's again I think that is something that
I think I really love about her character. I think
I want to see more. It would be nice if
like we could get this kind of standard for the
(40:42):
way that these like love interest characters are written, because again,
I don't think it's a given. I think a lot
of times like and again, like going back to I
mentioned like Iris West is one of the characters where
like she's not necessarily always written as like super three dimensional.
I think like the Flash TV showed it a pretty
good job of.
Speaker 1 (40:58):
Like making her. Yeah, I love her. Oh yeah, oh yeah, no, no, no, no,
shade to her.
Speaker 3 (41:03):
I love her in the Flash TV show, like I
think there is I think, like to me, Lo has
kind of created this blueprint for how you can do that,
and I I think that's great.
Speaker 4 (41:14):
Yeah, I like that. They are all trouble makers. You're right,
They're like they're the one that like starts up a
little bit of chaos so we can see the potential,
but they get the story.
Speaker 3 (41:24):
Again, she's the one jumping off of the building. I
love when somebody like made a montage of just all
of the like clips of her jumping off of things, and.
Speaker 1 (41:32):
I'm like, Diva, She's everything. I love it.
Speaker 3 (41:38):
It's so good.
Speaker 1 (41:41):
Well, we have loved this conversation, Joe. This is so fun.
Speaker 3 (41:47):
And of course, yeah, anytime you know, my favorite thing
to talk about.
Speaker 1 (41:54):
I have learned a lot.
Speaker 2 (41:55):
I will now I'm like, I want to go back
and watch some things enjoy the character more too.
Speaker 1 (42:02):
So thank you, thank you, thank you, of course, yeah,
both of you.
Speaker 3 (42:05):
Nita watched My Adventures with Superman, by the way, and
let me know your thoughts because you're actually a quick
tangent too. Because you talked about the Uh, there has
kind of been this consistent like she's had all these
different adaptations, there been certain things that have like tied
the character together. She's been very assertive, very wise, like
I think My Adventures Superman, because it's also a younger
version of the character.
Speaker 1 (42:26):
Has a bit of a fresh take.
Speaker 3 (42:28):
She's still the same, like, you know, very assertive, can
I get what she wants?
Speaker 1 (42:35):
Very smart, very bright character.
Speaker 3 (42:37):
But like, I really liked that series specifically because I
think it did a good job of having a fresh
take on the character and still keeping all the things
that make her like who she is and make me
love her. So, yeah, that's my plug watch that show.
I think the third season is supposed to come out soonish,
so that.
Speaker 1 (42:55):
Was definitely the one I was thinking of. I remember
you had mentioned the Yeah, also I did.
Speaker 3 (43:00):
I brought up The Boys before Jack Quaye does voice
Superman in that, and I honestly.
Speaker 1 (43:07):
I watched this show before I watched The Boys, So
it was very jarring then being like, wait, no, I
know your voice, but like not like that.
Speaker 2 (43:14):
Yeah, yeah, I'm sure, Oh, very different characters. Oh yeah, well,
thank you. You're welcome back anytime. We have so many
nerdy topics to cover, so many, so many. Well in
the meantime, where can the good listeners find you?
Speaker 3 (43:35):
Yeah, you can find me on Instagram slash Twitter that
I never check anymore, but you can find me at
pat not Pratt that is Patt n ot pr at t.
You can also check out some other stuff that I
(43:55):
do on the show Afterlives that is out now season two.
Speaker 1 (44:01):
It's all about marsh P. Johnson.
Speaker 3 (44:03):
Our sixth episode actually dropped today when we're recording this,
so it'll it'll be out by the time you're listening.
But you should definitely check that out, especially if you're
interested in like queer history and you know, sort of tying,
you're interested in all of the like messed up stuff
that is happening right now and kind of looking at
(44:23):
how we got here and how like our ancestors got
through also terrible stuff that happened in the past. Would
definitely check out that show. You can also listen to
There Are No Girls on the Internet, which I work
on occasionally guest host. If you listen to our episode
from last Friday, you can hear my brief rant about
why I can't stand iron Man and I do. I
(44:47):
do partially blame the Iron Man movies for Elon Musk
being this prominent and the news cycle, but you know,
just a teaser.
Speaker 2 (44:57):
Yeah, yes, well, listeners, please go check all of that
stuff out if you haven't already, and thank you again Joey.
Speaker 1 (45:06):
Can't wait till next time, of course.
Speaker 3 (45:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (45:09):
If you would like to contact us you can. Our
email is Hello at stuff Whenever Told You dot Com.
You can find us on Blue Sky. I'm also a
podcast or on Instagram and TikTok at stuff When Never
Told You for us on YouTube, and we have a
book we can get where we get her books. Thanks
as always to our super produced Christine Neert Inxtective Crust
Maya and your contributor Joey.
Speaker 1 (45:25):
Thank you and thanks to you for listening Stuff I
Never Told You Protection by Heart Radio. For more podcasts
from my heart Radio, you
Speaker 2 (45:30):
Can check out the heart Radio app Apple Podcast wherever
you listen to your favorite shows.
Hey, this is Annie and Samantha home stuff. I never
told you, protected by I hurant you.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
And today we are so excited to once again be
joined by a friend of the show, contributor to the show,
fellow nerd, if you don't mind me saying yeah, no, yeah,
which is exciting because what you're here to talk about
is very nerdy. We are joined by Joey Patts, who
(00:41):
has brought a topic you've mentioned before discussing and I'm
really excited to learn more. But today we are talking
about a character you really enjoy, Lois Lane.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Yes, Hello, thanks for having me back, and yes, I
am back to talk about superheroes again.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
Surprise, surprise. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
And I came to y'all with this. I was like,
new Superman movie is coming out. I love Lois Lane.
She is one of my favorite DC characters. I think
she was super underrated, and I think she's a really
cool character to talk about, particularly when you're talking about
like women in science fiction and like kind of nerdy
(01:23):
media and the good and the bad of that.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
So yeah, excited to chat about that.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
I'm really excited to learn about it. I as a kid,
I Superman and X Men were like the two comics.
I really yes, yeah, And I consumed a lot of
Superman media and I always loved to Loistlane too. But
I feel like you're going to really educate me on
a lot of stuff that I don't know, because I
believe you brought up an iteration I had never heard about,
(01:51):
probably because.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
I was I'll start with I saying like, I grew
up watching a lot of the like Justice League and
like Superman cartoons, and it's interesting looking back because I
always like loved her as a character. I was, like,
I love Superman when I was a kid, I was
a big Supergirl fan. But like, I think Lois is
a character I've always liked her. She really grew on me,
(02:14):
like the last couple of years. Part of that is
as a working journalist now, I think some of it
is definitely ego. But I think recently, particularly some of
the most like some of the Superman stories from like
the past ten fifteen years, have done a really good
job of highlighting our character, which I'm going to get into.
(02:37):
But yeah, there recently was this new Superman movie and
I saw it last week with friend of the show fellow.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
iHeart person care from.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
It can happen here, which is also super fun going
to see it with somebody who's like equally as comic
book obsessed, and I felt a little less annoying being like,
oh my god, it's that thing that yeah, But I.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
Was super high good in this movie.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
I love Dan's gunn I love the Guardians of the
Galaxy movies and like, you know, the Scoopy Doo movies too,
throw back to that amazing films. But I was really
excited again, I love Superman. I this is a character
I think, especially like the possible years, I've really gotten
more into, and also like when the trailer came out
(03:24):
and definitely like some of the press around, they were
definitely talking about how they wanted to have like a
very hopeful fun tone to this movie, which I think
they really nailed. As I'm sure you can assume from
like the Fox News meltdowns about it.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
That has been fun.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
That has been fun to I like, actually, it's funny.
I was thinking about this because I was just on
another prior to the show, other show I work on
The Arnold Girls on the Internet last week with bridget Todd,
and I did at one point it was relevant to
the story we were talking about. But I went on
a little bit of a ran about why I really
do not like the Iron Man movies and I don't
(04:03):
think they hold up.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
And I was like there was something watching.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
This movie and like walking out of it and being like, Oh,
we're in like a new era of like superhero movies,
and that I think makes me very happy. But the
main thing that I think I was really excited about
for this movie was the cast.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
I think they cast it phenomenally. Annie. You mentioned x
Men before two.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
Nicholas Holt, who is also in the X Men movies,
plays Lex Luthor in this He he was phenomenal.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
He might have been my favorite part of the movie.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
Honestly, he's such a phenomenal actor. But also they cast
Rachel Brosdahan as Leis Lane, and I love Rachel Brosihan.
I love marvelous missus masl I thought it was a
great TV show.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
I think she.
Speaker 3 (04:46):
Has a really magnetic screen presence, and I was like, Oh,
this is perfect. That is absolutely Lois Lane. This is
gonna be so good because, like I said, Lewis Lane
is one of my favorite DC characters. Not just like
I like this character, like she is if I was
to say, like my top five DC characters, she would
definitely be up there.
Speaker 4 (05:05):
Have you watched the old versions of Superman with Margaret Kidder?
Speaker 3 (05:09):
I watched the like the like the Christopher Eves, like
seventies ones when I was a kid.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
Yeah, I will be so real.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
I do not remember them as well, but I know
I watched them at one point.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
There were like bits and pieces. I love Mark Kidder.
Speaker 4 (05:23):
She was one of my favorites.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
Like she was just She's phenomenal.
Speaker 4 (05:27):
She was one of those that was unconventionally like not
what you would have expected to play the like that lady.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
But she was also really feisty.
Speaker 4 (05:35):
In that level of like being the journalist who was
in your face.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
So I just wondered if you had like, absolutely no,
that's something I'm gonna get into too.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
I think looking at this character, it's really interesting to
see how like consistently she's been written as being like
she's been played by some phenomenal actress that There have
been a couple of adaptations.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
Of her that I have not liked. But for the
most part, I think, like, I'm.
Speaker 3 (05:59):
Gonna get into the in a moment, but I think
like when it comes to specifically like the kind of
superhero girlfriend trope. She's one of the characters that she's
one of the few characters in that trope I will
really like go to bat for because yeah, it like
we're talking about comic books, we're talking about like nerd media,
nerd culture stuff, which I'm sure I'm preaching to the
(06:21):
choir here, but historically has not been the best towards
women in those stories and also historically has been very
like male character dominated. And I see a lot of
ways where you can write I mean not even it's
not even an imaginary question. There are plenty of instances
(06:42):
of characters that are written as just like the love
interest to the main male character, that are kind of
two dimensional, are very clearly like products of the male gays.
I think Lewis Lane has been at character that DC
has really stepped up and made her this really well
red character in her own right, because I would say,
(07:03):
I think the way that Lois Lane is portrayed is
the thing to me that makes her breaks a Superman story,
because she's like, she's literally like the foil him. She's
next on the call sheet, next important to him when
you're telling this story. So she also has to be
this really strong, compelling character, and I think this most
recent movie did a fantastic job of that. So pulling
(07:25):
back a little bit, taking a step back, I'm putting
my media studies professor had on.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
For a little bit because I think.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
In order to talk about this character, we need to
talk about the superhero genre as a whole, because.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
Back up for a sec.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
When you think about it, the whole concept of like
what we associate with the superhero genre, all of that
stems from Superman. Superman was created in like in nineteen
thirty eight, in the nineteen thirties, and this was the
first character that was like a superhero like. The superhero
genre did not exist before that, and it's called the
(08:00):
superhero genre is because he's Superman, like Superman came first.
Of course, when we're talking about fiction and literature, I'm
of the belief that everything is just a long running
cycle of fan fiction of other things.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
So of course there were things that inspired this beforehand.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
There were vigilante stories, There were you know, mythology and
fantasy and sci fi that this story pulled elements from.
But when we think about the idea of like a
superhero movie, or a superhero comic book. There's specific elements
you associate with that genre. It's like the costume, it
is the like secret identity, there's the super villain nemesis.
(08:43):
All of these are things that come from Superman. So
because of that, Superman is sort of this model for
the superhero archetype as a whole. I would say, like
the kind of defining golden era of comic book ones
are really Superman and Captain America, like pretty much every
character since then is an iteration.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
Of those characters.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
You could also argue Superman is kind of the top
of that pyramid and then everything else came down. But
because of that, Leis Lane is kind of the de
facto model for what the like superhero love interest character is.
She's literally like the first lady of the superhero genre.
(09:26):
And as I said, this is not necessarily my favorite
arch type. A lot of times this type of character
is not written in a way that I really like
or feel like. It is written in a very male
gaze kind of way. There are you know, like if
you I'm thinking of other iconic kind of like the
superhero civilian girlfriends, So not like Catwoman or someone like
(09:48):
characters that are. They're civilians. They're not like the superpowered character,
so like Mary Jane Watson or if you're a Flash fan,
than like Iris Wes.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
Like all of these characters, a lot them. There have
been good iterations of them.
Speaker 3 (10:03):
I really liked the you know, the MCU Spider Man's
MJ Watson that they did, But they're not necessarily characters
that I would like be like, yeah, no.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
I love them. They're these well rounded characters.
Speaker 3 (10:14):
Like a lot of the ways they're portraying in a way
that's very misogynistic, and so you would assume because of this,
like lowis Lane's sort of being the first, she would
be like the epitome of a lot of these tropes.
She's also, you know, a character created in nineteen thirty eight,
not necessarily the best time for women, but that means
(10:35):
that I do think like she is one of the
characters of the strope that holds up the best and
there's a reason that she still is seen as this
very iconic character.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
Another just quick note.
Speaker 3 (10:44):
On like the whole the superhero girlfriend trope, DC is notorious,
especially for like killing off love interests a lot too.
If you know the term like fridging like that literally
comes from DC uh, because there.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
Was like a story I think.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
It was on like the seventies or eighties, but there's
little I think it was like a Green Lantern storyline,
one of the Green Lantern characters. There's literally a scene
where he comes home and he sees his like dead,
his girlfriend is killed, and they like shove her in
a fridge and he finds her there.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
So that's where you get the term fridging, which means
you know.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
Like writing off this female character for man pain, and
you know she doesn't really exist other than this object.
So again I was like, all this just to kind
of set the scene as to where we're coming from,
which I think is not what you would expect with
this character. So going back to Lois My Girl, I'm
(11:43):
gonna do a quick general biography of the character and
like some history of how she's been portrayed over time.
I would guess that most people that have consumed American
pop culture over the past seventy eighty years are at
least somewhat aware of Lois Lay. Like I said, Superman
Lois Lane like that is the first couple of the
(12:06):
superhero genre as a whole. They're both icons. If you
ask your average person, like what do you know about her?
There's probably two things they know. One she is Superman's girlfriend,
and then two she's a reporter. I would actually put
them in the order of number one she's a reporter.
Number two she's Superman's girlfriend. But like Clark Kent, Lois
(12:29):
Lane debuted in the first ever issue of Action Comics,
which is what the Superman comics were originally called, in
June nineteen thirty eight. This is a character that is
eighty seven years old. She is literally older than my grandmother.
And again, like I said, not necessarily the best time
to be a woman. But something that I found really
(12:50):
interesting was even in this early comic book era, like
the nineteen thirties nineteen forties, Lois was always portrayed as
super smart, a go getter, and very career oriented, which
was not common in that era.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
You know, this was the Great Depression where.
Speaker 3 (13:06):
A lot of more women where we're working outside of
the home because you know, you had to. And then
this was going into World War Two, where you know,
you get Rosie the Riveter and a lot of the
pushes for women to work to help the more effort.
So it wasn't like completely unheard of, but it still
was a time where, like the narrative was, your goal
(13:27):
as a woman is to settle down and get married,
have kids, work if you absolutely have to, but ultimately
the goal should be like your husband's providing for you.
So I think finding out that that this sort of
like career focused like part of her character has always
been there. That to me, whether or not the writers
were intending that to be the case, that to me
(13:47):
feels very radical because now now it's easy to sort
of we're on the flip side of it where there's
you know, there's like the girl Boss character trope, but
we're not talking about like Devil wears Parata type character here.
We're talking about like a young woman that is trying
to be successful, that is trying to get things done,
(14:09):
and that again, nineteen thirties, that was not like a
given that.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
That would be part of her character.
Speaker 3 (14:17):
Of course, she was not like the first, you know,
female character to have a personality in a job, but.
Speaker 1 (14:23):
So like the character herself.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
She was originally created by Joe Schuster and Jerry Siegel,
where the creators are Superman. She was based on this
fictional reporter named. This is the most nineteen thirties fictional
reporter name ever. Torchi Blaine is played by Glenda Ferrell
in a series of Warner Brothers films, and then she
(14:46):
also at one point she's played by a couple different actresses.
One of them is named Lola Lane, which is where
the name Lois Lane came from.
Speaker 1 (14:52):
I watched a.
Speaker 3 (14:53):
Couple of like short clips. It's very nineteen thirties.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
You know, fast.
Speaker 3 (14:59):
Talking, hot, you know, curl detective reporter kind of thing.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
But it was fun. It was fun.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
Lois Lane, the character is the daughter of Ella and
Sam Lane, the latter being a US Army general, and
Lois grew up being trained by her father in the
kind of typical military dad fashion. Her family moved around
a lot and a lot of adaptations. Her mom dies
when she's pretty young, so there's kind of this mirroring
(15:32):
of with Clark Kent's.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
Story where he grew up very like isolated.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
She had sort of a similar thing where she, you know,
felt kind of separate from the world around her.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
In most versions.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
She also has a sister named Lucy Lane, who had
originally appeared in the nineteen fifties.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
Apparently the lanes.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
When they were originally introduced, like in the first comics,
they were farmers like Clark Ken's parents.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
They changed just at some point.
Speaker 3 (16:00):
I would say, probably just because not that many people
grow up on farms these days, so you know, it
makes sense to not have both of your lead characters
grow up on farms. And then also, like I said,
her dad is this like major army general, which kind
of gives her the backstory of you know why she is,
(16:28):
why she's able to fight, you know why she's she
She kind of has all of this military backing and
training and stuff without actually having to have had a
military background.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
It it gets a nice cheat code for the character.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
As an adult, Lois is a reporter at the Daily Planet,
which is where she meets Clark Kent. And when she
and Clark are first introduced, they have a bit of
a rivalry. They're both like the hot, young new reporters
at the Planet, and they're both very obsessed with this
new Superman store that's been popping up. And over time,
(17:02):
of course, they become good friends and fall in love
and you know, become the iconic couple that they are today.
I mentioned earlier in the Golden Age comics in the
nineteen forties, Lois is written as being very smart and
very career oriented, and something I was kind of surprised
to find out was that during this era. In the
(17:23):
early comics, she is also written as being the only
character that suspects that Clark is Superman, and she helps
all these like Zany attempts to try and get him
to admit his secret identity.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
None of them work out. Of course, that was.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
Something that I honestly thought that was something that had
been added to a lot of like the later adaptations,
you know, maybe or earlier it wasn't. But no, that
is something that has always been a part of her character,
which makes sense because again she is a She is
an investigative reporters. She did at her job obviously, and
again depending on the adaptation you're reading, at some point
(17:56):
they start dating. Either Lowis figures out that Clark a
Superman or Clark tells her. I prefer the former, because, again,
brilliant investigative journalists, she knows what she's doing. Also, I
find that way funnier if she's like trying to get
him to I there's like a running joke and like
Superman media where She's always like jumping off of things
(18:17):
and like getting clarke to which I.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
I think that's great.
Speaker 3 (18:21):
I'm like, this goes. She's so determined to be like, no,
I'm getting the truth that I'm like, i will throw
myself off this building and just be like, let's see
what happens, which gets us into of course, especially in
earlier comics, there's a number of instances where Lois is
captured by like the villain of the week or Lex
Luthor or whatever evil bad guy blah blah blah, and
Superman asked to go in and save her. And this
(18:42):
is where you can be like, that's the misogyny. It's
the damsel in distress trope, which I will counter with
two things. One, I think, yes, this was a character
that you know again, it's the superhero girlfriend character. She,
especially when she was early introduced, plays that role. I'll
give DC credit where credit is due. They have definitely
(19:05):
done less of that over time, Like there's been less
of her being portrayed as the stan slone distress and
more is like her own character, capable of.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
Taking care of herself. Again, she has that military training.
Speaker 3 (19:17):
There are many many adaptations where she is you know
they she she knows how to handle a lot of weapons.
That that one of my favorite likes. Like DC cartoons,
there's a great scene where like she likes sneaks and
she's like in the She's she's like in some she's
(19:38):
like the White House or something, and she's like trying
to get somebody and she just like pulls out this
giant gun and I was like, I'm amazing.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
So yeah, again credit where creds?
Speaker 3 (19:48):
Do?
Speaker 1 (19:48):
I think DC has adapted over time.
Speaker 3 (19:50):
Also, again, look, most of these situations she needs to be.
Speaker 1 (19:56):
Safe fun from.
Speaker 3 (19:56):
It's not because she's helpless, but it's because she's doing
her job.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
She is a really good investigative reporter.
Speaker 3 (20:03):
She's a Pulitzer Prize winning investigative reporter.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
And look, if.
Speaker 3 (20:07):
I I'm just saying, if I knew that I had
a bulletproof, super strong, flying alien boyfriend that would show
up and save me from whatever goofy situation I ended
up in, I would maybe take a couple more risks too,
maybe break into a couple of government buildings. I mean no,
I would never do that, but I get where she's
coming from. You know, it's more like you got to
(20:29):
use the tools that are in your arsenal right, And
that leads me to like one of my favorite things
about this character, which i've kind of gotten that again,
she's very very brash. She's very go go get it
get her. That's not a right go She's a go getter.
That's what I'm trying to say. She's a go getter,
get it, and she is a character that I think
(20:52):
like when she's written right, when she's written in a way.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
That like she has to.
Speaker 3 (20:58):
Be just like Batch, Loewe's and Clark are the iconic
couple that they are because they are both the characters
that will run into the burning building to save somebody.
The only difference is that Clark is fireproof, and I think,
like some of my favorite versions of Lewis Lane, which
timing to get into later, a lot of them really
(21:19):
mirror the way that Batman is written as a character,
which I think is really interesting because they're both these
characters that are they're like the humans, They're the non
superpowered characters in a world of superhuman beings. They're motivated
by this desire to help people and to create a
better world and to take down those in power, and
because of that, they are the people that will run
(21:40):
into the burning building and you know, use their brains
to take.
Speaker 1 (21:44):
Down the bad guy.
Speaker 3 (21:45):
Like there's a lot of Superman runs where like, yes,
I guess technically Superman is Lex Luthor's nemesis, Lois Lane
is really the one that he's facing down, like she's
the one who's gonna get him in the end.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
And also, yeah, again I think like she's a character.
Speaker 3 (22:04):
She's an investigative reporter, similar to the way that Batman,
Like my favorite versions of Batman are like when it's
really written as a detective story, my favorite Lewis Lane
arcs or when it's written as a detective story, so
it makes sense they're you know, my two favorite Clark
Kent love interests.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
Of course, what I didn't.
Speaker 4 (22:23):
Say that.
Speaker 3 (22:28):
There's some fun like love triangle stuff with the three
of them too, which I'm also you know what, I'm like,
this could be a challenger situation and anyways, not going
on that tangent. Anyways, Clearly I'm not the only one
too that thinks that she is this really interesting character
in her own regards, because there have been a number
(22:49):
of runs that have centered where Lewis Lane has been
like the cover character. She's been the she's been the
main character like over the years. The first was from
nineteen forty four and it was called another incredibly nineteen
forty four name Lois Lane, Girl Reporter. It's the same,
which is just I don't I'd just sit with that person.
(23:11):
But you know, I'm like, they gave her her own run.
That's who knows to that Girl Reporter. I don't know
about that.
Speaker 1 (23:19):
But you know they tried.
Speaker 3 (23:22):
There was another one later on, called Superman's Girlfriend Lois Lane,
which ran from the late fifties through the mid seventies, which, honestly,
I was like, that's a pretty long run for a
comic book series. I was like, okay, yeah, like and yeah,
this was the pre women's lib era, still starting with
Superman's Girlfriend, but you know, I guess it's a step
(23:44):
up from Girl Reporter. Maybe there have been a couple
more runs where she was at the helmet that for
the next couple decades. Most recently, in twenty nineteen, DC
published a twelve issue mini series called Lois Lane, written
by Gregor who is one of my favorite comical writers.
I love the series. It's really great, really leans into
(24:06):
it again that like it reads very similar to a
Batman comic.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
It is a detected story.
Speaker 3 (24:12):
Also, it does open the first couple issues are in Chicago.
Speaker 1 (24:17):
So there was a little bit of hometown bride there.
Speaker 3 (24:20):
That series also features Renee Montsoya, who is another one
of my favorite underrated DC characters. If you've seen Birds
of Prey, that's the Rosie Perez character and that she's iconic.
Speaker 1 (24:34):
I love her.
Speaker 3 (24:35):
She also like spends half the series flirting with Lois
and I'm like, this is you know what beautiful? A
big theme of that story too, is like in the background,
there's this whole thing about.
Speaker 4 (24:47):
How like.
Speaker 3 (24:49):
They there were like pictures leaked of her and Superman kissing,
and it's like the double standard of people being like, wow,
he would never do that. She's a married woman, but
also she's evil curve, how dare she? And like talking
about that kind of double standard and it's a It's
a good series you're checking out. Would recommend it again.
(25:10):
Love Greg Greca. He wrote one of my favorite uh
Batwoman runs. He writes a lot of really great queer stories,
which I also was shocked to find out that I,
you know, actually I don't know how I identifies I
just saw on his Wikipedia page that he is married
to a woman.
Speaker 1 (25:27):
So I was shocked that he's at least like maybe
he's a little who's to say he could be by
but uh, but I was.
Speaker 3 (25:32):
I was surprised with that because I was like, wait,
I feel like every single story I've read about you,
it's been incredibly gay.
Speaker 4 (25:37):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (25:37):
He also wrote the Old Guard movie. If you've seen that.
I love that movie. Oh yeah, we did a feature. Yes,
apparently the second one is out there too. I gotta
of course she is, of course, just so you know,
I did not know about that, but I'm obsessed. I like, see,
that's gonna be.
Speaker 3 (25:56):
I do regularly get Uma Thurman and Charlie's Throne mixed up, though.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
So that's gonna be How are you gonna do this?
Oh no, that'll be rough or amazing, one of the
two amazing, I know.
Speaker 3 (26:10):
I was like, I mean, I'm not gonna complain, and
they're both love the two loves of my life. But uh, anyway,
So anyways, back lois for the last couple of points
of her story. But yeah, back in the nineties, going
back a little bit, she and Clark get married.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
If you're familiar, it are all with the Superman comics
that I needs to There's a lot of ups and
downs there.
Speaker 3 (26:37):
Uh. And then in twenty fifteen, she and Clark have
a kid named John Kent who has been around for
a minute now. He was Superboy for a while and
then most recently he has taken over the Superman mantle
in some comic runs. I'm gonna stop there and not
get into it is this is where we get into
like it's comic books, there's no clear timeline territory. There
(27:00):
some runs that are out right now where Clark is
Superman and there's some where John is Superman.
Speaker 1 (27:06):
Is confusing.
Speaker 3 (27:07):
We don't have to care about consistency at this point.
But yeah, but John is at this point a pretty
established character. So Lois being a mom is also a
pretty established part of her character, which again props to DC.
I think they did a good job of having this
become part of her character. You know, the Superman series
(27:28):
as a whole, like family is very central to that,
But it didn't really do anything to like sideline her
character or take away any of that kind of like
power that she has, which I think that I think
like kudos to them for that that could have easily
been a chance for them to sort of sideline her,
and they decided not to do that. And you know,
(27:52):
you can have a It is the thing where it's
like you can have a character that is both you
know very much her own has her own agency, is
in charge of her own destiny, is doing all this
really bad stuff, is taken down bad guys.
Speaker 1 (28:11):
And she's a mom and she has a kid, and
that is part of her character too.
Speaker 3 (28:17):
Also John Kent famously the bisexual Superman with the male
of interest currently, So you know, if this woke Superman
is not enough for Republicans right now, quick side note
about that, I will say too, there's obviously a lot
of coverage of this movie talking about the fact that
some people are freaking out a little bit about you know,
(28:39):
they made Superman woke, a character that entire thing has
been protecting people and making the world a better place.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
Crazy.
Speaker 3 (28:47):
But I do think this movie, like I will say,
I went in a little bit skeptical. I was like, oh, sure, okay,
it's gonna have like some leftist themes.
Speaker 1 (28:54):
Short it does.
Speaker 3 (28:56):
It does. There's there's some fair there's some like allegor
in the movie that you're like, oh, okay, yeah, wow,
this is actually I get it kind of renewed my faith,
I think in the ability of superhero movies to not
just kind of obviously with every superhero movie there's an
element of like, yes, this reflects American militaryism, American exceptionalism,
(29:22):
but also there are a lot of beautiful things that
you can have in these narratives. And I think this
was really pulling back from a lot of the military
heavy elements and was taking a much more humanitarian approach,
and I thought that was fun.
Speaker 1 (29:34):
That is the sort of intro to Lois Lane, the
real hero of the story.
Speaker 3 (29:43):
You know, look, this is the fun thing too, is
because in the story you get like there's Superman.
Speaker 1 (29:50):
Superman's the main character.
Speaker 3 (29:51):
Clark Kent is the alter ego people know Clark Ken
is a different character in this universe. Clark Kent is
Loslaine's husband, like he is just she is. That is
her boy toy and like good for her, like he's
the trophy husband. I think that's beautiful.
Speaker 2 (30:09):
It's also fun too because she's she's sort of like
you said, the rival at first, but she's pitted as
like he knows she's on Oh yeah, and so he's
always trying to like and as the audience, we know it's,
you know, the same person she is on I think like.
Speaker 3 (30:27):
Third dynamic works goes like he's intimidated by her because
she he knows that she is super smart. She can
figure him out. She is one of the few people
that can like take him down because she's that good
at what she does. I think, yeah, I'll pivot here
to like some of my favorite uh versions of her
and some like small kind of details about her. One
(30:51):
side note as a as a as a short girlie
I do appreciate and well, obviously she's next to Superman,
so she's always gonna look very short, but like a
win for just like short girls that don't shut up.
I diva love it, but.
Speaker 1 (31:14):
A couple are kind of like small pigs. Voter character
I got it. Multiple Pulitzer Prize winning reporter like that.
Speaker 3 (31:20):
Is inconsistently about her is like she is really really
good at her job. She like she is.
Speaker 4 (31:28):
You know.
Speaker 3 (31:29):
I talked a bit at the beginning about how part
of me, it's like the eco part of me that
wants to be like, yeah, it's the journalist characters that
are like saving the day. But like she really like
there's a reason Clark Kent is also a journalist, like
it was written because it was like supposed to be
any whatever.
Speaker 1 (31:43):
I'm not going to go on my.
Speaker 3 (31:46):
The pros and cons of the way that we talked
about journalists in our world today. But you know, going
back to that twenty nineteen run that I was talking
about with the lows Lane run that was We're in
like peak for Trump administration, it very much is like
inspired by that, affected by that It talks about the
mistrusted journalists at the time, and I think, like that
(32:06):
is something we're like, we're seeing this movie do really
well right now, and I think this character is like
having a rival, because yeah, like so much of the
marketing campaign was around the fact that like he's just
a nice guy and he wants to help people, which
is like a nice change from again years of just
superhero movies sort of being like and we are so
(32:29):
strong and bad and we can kill everybody, and we
have so much tree, we have so much trauma from
nine to eleven, and we're never gonna get over that
damn trauma. And what I was talking about the beginning,
I think like specifically having her be this like the
fact that she and Clark at least like in terms
(32:50):
of like intellect and like motivation, they're very similar characters. Again,
the main difference is he has superpowers, she doesn't. She
is justice like she is also fighting for justice. She
is also there's a kind of a bunch of DC
storylines because CC loves to do the thing where they're
like Superman lost his powers.
Speaker 1 (33:09):
Ah, and then I.
Speaker 3 (33:11):
Don't know, I'm of the belief that it's getting old
at this point, I'm done with those storylines. But every
time it happens, like she kind of steps up like
she again, she's got them.
Speaker 1 (33:22):
She has the sort of whether she wanted to or.
Speaker 3 (33:27):
Not, raised with the ROSCT training type thing because her
dad was this big military dude. She's like, she's the
person that will run into the burning building. She'll face
down like dictators. She she's gonna fight. I was thinking
about this recently too, where I was like, what, like,
(33:48):
is there a version of this character that is like
gender swapped, where we have like the girl is the
character with it, Because you know, you could point to
characters like wonder One and like Steve Trevor kind of
being the like you know, non superpowered love interest.
Speaker 1 (34:06):
I don't find him that interesting of a character, or like.
Speaker 3 (34:10):
Whatever the best one I was thinking of, or I
was like, actually, I think this algorithm make sense. Is
like if you've seen The Boys, like literally the main
character is Huey from The Boys, who I would argue
is like maybe the closest we have to like a
gender swat version of that, or like his girlfriend is
the really like she's the one with the superpower. She's
(34:31):
the one who is like this public face, and he's
the one who's kind of, you know, not necessarily liked
by Also, because that's another thing about her characters. She
makes a lot of enemies because again she's this.
Speaker 1 (34:43):
Hard, like.
Speaker 3 (34:46):
Really bad, you know reporter who's like she's gonna stop
in nothing.
Speaker 1 (34:51):
Love that for her.
Speaker 3 (34:52):
There's also a couple versions where like she gets superpower again, look,
super Branko makes it been around for forever, so like
every imaginable thing that could happen happens, she gets superpowers,
and some she becomes Superwoman alongside Clark. Personally, I those
are my I prefer the Again, I really like the
(35:14):
runs where I think like she's written like this like
detective character that also has more to do with the
fact that, like, those are the characters that I like more,
I think. But yeah, she you know, she also is
Superwoman sometimes like she is just she she takes over
the same.
Speaker 1 (35:30):
Role as Clark.
Speaker 4 (35:30):
All that.
Speaker 3 (35:41):
Ending on a couple just small, fun, fun facts about
the character. I'm wearing purple today and to record this,
and she is oftentimes wearing purple, which I always was
just like cool aesthetically, it looks beautiful. When I was
watching the the movie, the most recent that came out
with again friend of the show gar from It could
(36:04):
Happen Here, they pointed out like, oh, yeah, it's because Superman.
He's red and blue were his color, so it's a combination.
And I was like that that makes sense. I never
realized that, but yeah, so thank you shout out to
Garret for informing me of that, which I also thinks cute.
It's like she's again this kind of mirror of his character,
(36:26):
something that kind of going back to how things that
were originally written in a way that maybe was dipping
its toes into misogyny that I think has been kind
of revamped in a way that I don't hate. She
has sort like throughout all of the comics has never
been able to spell like she like that is a
like running joke about the fact that she's this like
(36:47):
really really successful reporter and she like kind of small.
There have been some interpretations where it's like, oh, like
maybe she's like dyslasic or something. But it's like at
the point where I and this is me being too
like projecting a little bit I as somebody who also
so cannot spell. For sure. I do have a running
theory that a lot of the best writers that I
know are terrible at spelling things correctly. So I was like,
(37:08):
you know what, maybe this just odds to my thing
that I need to remind myself so I feel better
about the fact that I can't spell either. But yeah,
but it's like, you know, it's a fun little thing
about her. I love this character, my personal favorite adaptation
of the character, and I really love the racial Brad's Hand.
Speaker 1 (37:25):
Movie ab version. This most recent movie I think we.
Speaker 3 (37:28):
Brought up before the show I told you both the
watch My Adventures with Superman, really good cartoon show that's
on HBO.
Speaker 1 (37:35):
Max really cute.
Speaker 3 (37:37):
That version of Blowislaine, by the way, also is Korean American, which.
Speaker 1 (37:42):
Is really cool.
Speaker 3 (37:43):
She's also like the way that she's portraying the show.
That was like that show really was like the thing
that got me to be like, oh wait, yeah, no,
I love this character. She's so funny in that she
like they make her kind of a top boy too.
She's got like a short haircut.
Speaker 1 (37:55):
Like I liked it. I was like, you know what
it was? It was a cool she was she was fun.
Speaker 3 (38:02):
Like I said, I grew up watching a lot of
the cartoons, so like the Superman animated series version of
her is always gonna be like my image in my head.
Speaker 4 (38:08):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (38:10):
The Christopherrees movies. Love that one.
Speaker 3 (38:14):
I'll admit I did as a as a former c
W enjoyer slash, I still think, I I I have
a lot I love the c W. I'll be I
think it's like it is like that to me, It's
like this is it's keeping the spirit of camp alive.
But I like the Superman of lowis c W show
the actors who plays her in that she's phenomenal. It's
(38:35):
the guy from teen Wolf who plays Superman, and he
is also just like that was another version where I
think I watched it and I was like, oh yeah,
like Superman is fun when he's just like a nice
goofy guy.
Speaker 4 (38:48):
Uh So is that the one that gets crossed over
into because I watched a lot of.
Speaker 1 (38:57):
And I love I love across that world. You're gonna
gonna give me, it's gonna get me.
Speaker 3 (39:02):
But it's so funny because I know if like my uh,
because I've just been watching some like like the Instagram
algorithm is like picked on. They were like, You've been
watching a bunch of stuff about like Superman lately and
it keeps showing me clips from like the CW crossover
shows and like I loved Supergirl back in there too,
and that that was a great show.
Speaker 1 (39:21):
Oh my god, what an era? What an era?
Speaker 4 (39:24):
That Lois Lane. I don't know her name, hypodist, but
she was a dead ringer for Margaret Kidder to me, like, wow,
she is like her doubleganger and the way she acted
the only few things again it was in the Crossover,
but her like she was the main wise character for
both all three of them, because it was the Arrow. Yes,
I watched for a while the Arrow Flash and Superman
(39:46):
like she was trying to and Supergirl, all four of
them more there she was giving them each advice, and
it was all the most sane sound advice that they
had like to listen to, and I was like, okay.
Speaker 1 (39:55):
Exactly, okay, this is what we go back to.
Speaker 3 (39:59):
I think, honestly, like my favorite I keep saying my
favorite versions of her, which when I think she and
like Batman Bruce Wayne when they're Britten as very similar characters,
were like they're the voice of reason. Yeh, she's the strategist.
She know, like, she's smart, she's there's a reason she
is good at what she does. There's a reason that
she's the one taking down dictators, taking down these like
(40:20):
Lex Luthor type characters just as much as Clark is. Yeah,
and yeah, that's again I think that is something that
I think I really love about her character. I think
I want to see more. It would be nice if
like we could get this kind of standard for the
(40:42):
way that these like love interest characters are written, because again,
I don't think it's a given. I think a lot
of times like and again, like going back to I
mentioned like Iris West is one of the characters where
like she's not necessarily always written as like super three dimensional.
I think like the Flash TV showed it a pretty
good job of.
Speaker 1 (40:58):
Like making her. Yeah, I love her. Oh yeah, oh yeah, no, no, no, no,
shade to her.
Speaker 3 (41:03):
I love her in the Flash TV show, like I
think there is I think, like to me, Lo has
kind of created this blueprint for how you can do that,
and I I think that's great.
Speaker 4 (41:14):
Yeah, I like that. They are all trouble makers. You're right,
They're like they're the one that like starts up a
little bit of chaos so we can see the potential,
but they get the story.
Speaker 3 (41:24):
Again, she's the one jumping off of the building. I
love when somebody like made a montage of just all
of the like clips of her jumping off of things, and.
Speaker 1 (41:32):
I'm like, Diva, She's everything. I love it.
Speaker 3 (41:38):
It's so good.
Speaker 1 (41:41):
Well, we have loved this conversation, Joe. This is so fun.
Speaker 3 (41:47):
And of course, yeah, anytime you know, my favorite thing
to talk about.
Speaker 1 (41:54):
I have learned a lot.
Speaker 2 (41:55):
I will now I'm like, I want to go back
and watch some things enjoy the character more too.
Speaker 1 (42:02):
So thank you, thank you, thank you, of course, yeah,
both of you.
Speaker 3 (42:05):
Nita watched My Adventures with Superman, by the way, and
let me know your thoughts because you're actually a quick
tangent too. Because you talked about the Uh, there has
kind of been this consistent like she's had all these
different adaptations, there been certain things that have like tied
the character together. She's been very assertive, very wise, like
I think My Adventures Superman, because it's also a younger
version of the character.
Speaker 1 (42:26):
Has a bit of a fresh take.
Speaker 3 (42:28):
She's still the same, like, you know, very assertive, can
I get what she wants?
Speaker 1 (42:35):
Very smart, very bright character.
Speaker 3 (42:37):
But like, I really liked that series specifically because I
think it did a good job of having a fresh
take on the character and still keeping all the things
that make her like who she is and make me
love her. So, yeah, that's my plug watch that show.
I think the third season is supposed to come out soonish,
so that.
Speaker 1 (42:55):
Was definitely the one I was thinking of. I remember
you had mentioned the Yeah, also I did.
Speaker 3 (43:00):
I brought up The Boys before Jack Quaye does voice
Superman in that, and I honestly.
Speaker 1 (43:07):
I watched this show before I watched The Boys, So
it was very jarring then being like, wait, no, I
know your voice, but like not like that.
Speaker 2 (43:14):
Yeah, yeah, I'm sure, Oh, very different characters. Oh yeah, well,
thank you. You're welcome back anytime. We have so many
nerdy topics to cover, so many, so many. Well in
the meantime, where can the good listeners find you?
Speaker 3 (43:35):
Yeah, you can find me on Instagram slash Twitter that
I never check anymore, but you can find me at
pat not Pratt that is Patt n ot pr at t.
You can also check out some other stuff that I
(43:55):
do on the show Afterlives that is out now season two.
Speaker 1 (44:01):
It's all about marsh P. Johnson.
Speaker 3 (44:03):
Our sixth episode actually dropped today when we're recording this,
so it'll it'll be out by the time you're listening.
But you should definitely check that out, especially if you're
interested in like queer history and you know, sort of tying,
you're interested in all of the like messed up stuff
that is happening right now and kind of looking at
(44:23):
how we got here and how like our ancestors got
through also terrible stuff that happened in the past. Would
definitely check out that show. You can also listen to
There Are No Girls on the Internet, which I work
on occasionally guest host. If you listen to our episode
from last Friday, you can hear my brief rant about
why I can't stand iron Man and I do. I
(44:47):
do partially blame the Iron Man movies for Elon Musk
being this prominent and the news cycle, but you know,
just a teaser.
Speaker 2 (44:57):
Yeah, yes, well, listeners, please go check all of that
stuff out if you haven't already, and thank you again Joey.
Speaker 1 (45:06):
Can't wait till next time, of course.
Speaker 3 (45:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (45:09):
If you would like to contact us you can. Our
email is Hello at stuff Whenever Told You dot Com.
You can find us on Blue Sky. I'm also a
podcast or on Instagram and TikTok at stuff When Never
Told You for us on YouTube, and we have a
book we can get where we get her books. Thanks
as always to our super produced Christine Neert Inxtective Crust
Maya and your contributor Joey.
Speaker 1 (45:25):
Thank you and thanks to you for listening Stuff I
Never Told You Protection by Heart Radio. For more podcasts
from my heart Radio, you
Speaker 2 (45:30):
Can check out the heart Radio app Apple Podcast wherever
you listen to your favorite shows.
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