User:Bignole/Lex Luthor

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Smallville character
Lex Luthor
Location: Smallville
Notable relatives: Lionel Luthor
Creators: Character
Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster
Developed for Television
Alfred Gough & Miles Millar
First appearance: "Pilot"
Portrayed by: Michael Rosenbaum

Contents

[edit] Appearances

[edit] Television

Michael Rosenbaum portrays Lex Luthor, the son of billionaire Lionel Luthor, who is sent to Smallville to run the local fertilizer plant. After Clark saves his life, the two become quick friends.[1] Lex tries to be a hero, but his motives are usually driven by curiosity for the unexplained, like the day Clark rescued him from drowning. He is searching for that unconditional love, something his mother had for him before her death.[2] As the series unfolds, Lex becomes involved with various women, all of which ends in disaster. He started a relationship with Victoria Hardwick, who was attempting to use him so that she and her father could buyout LuthorCorp.[3] Lex’s lifestyle of bedding women and then leaving them the next day would catch up to him when one of the women he had previously slept with attempts to kill him.[4] Since season two, Lex has been married three times. First, he married Desiree Atkins, who used her meteor-created powers to seduce Lex into marriage so that she could steal his money.[5] Later that season, Lex met and courted [#Dr. Helen Bryce|Dr. Helen Bryce]] who would try and kill him on her honeymoon for reasons unknown.[6] In season six, Lex married Lana Lang after deceiving her into believing that she was pregnant with his child. Upon learning the truth, Lana faked her own death and attempted to pin the murder on Lex.[7]

Over the course of seven seasons—beginning on the day Clark rescued him from drowning—Lex has been trying to uncover the secrets that Clark keeps. In season one, Lex hires Roger Nixon, a reporter for The Inquisitor, to discover how he survived the automobile accident where Clark saved him from drowning.[8] All the evidence points to Clark having been hit by Lex’s car, but Lex refuses to believe that is what happened and so Nixon attempts to expose Clark to everyone.[9] Lex ultimately kills Nixon before the reporter can kill Jonathan Kent.[10] Lex also enlisted the help of Dr. Hamilton around the same time he hired Nixon; Hamilton was commissioned to study the effects of the meteor rocks. Dr. Hamilton found an octagonal disc, with unknown symbols imprinted on the disc’s surface.[11] The disc is eventually stolen by Nixon.[12] When Clark discovers the Kawatche Caves, in season two, under a LuthorCorp construction site, Lex opts to become the curator of the caves, to preserve them, after he notices symbols on the cave walls that match the symbols on the disc, as well as an octagonal shape in the wall of the cave that would fit the disc perfectly.[13] His interest grows more and more when he finds Clark constantly in the caves, and later with a piece of paper that appears to indicate that Clark has deciphered the language on the cave walls – although, Clark denies being able to read the language.[14] Lex’s company, LexCorp, eventually loses the Kawatche caves to his father Lionel, who has also developed an interest in the caves and the octagonal disc.[citation needed] Lex’s curiosity into the symbols, and Clark, leads to a blowout between the two. When Lionel gives Clark a key to a room in the Luthor Mansion where Lex has been collecting information on Clark and his family, Clark informs Lex that their friendship “is over”.[15]

Lex’s attention turns toward finding three ancient stones, which contain the same symbols as those in the cave and on the disc.[16] He fails to find all three stones, but suspects that Clark did, and used them to find the treasure of knowledge they were supposed to have led to.[17] His curiosity into the symbols, which he believes to be alien in nature, results in him being possessed by the spirit of the Kryptonian criminal Zod for a short period.[18] Eventually, Lex discovers that the symbols are connected to a secret organization, known as Veritas, which his father was a part of. The Veritas members learned than an alien visitor, “The Traveler”, would arrive in Smallville during the meteor shower of 1989. He also discovers that the Veritas members knew of a means to control the Traveler; so Lex sets out to find the device.[19] The device, an orb he finds in the mantle above a fireplace in the Luthor Mansion,[20] leads Lex to the Fortress of Solitude, where he is confronted by Clark. Lex uses the orb to bring down the Fortress around Clark and himself.[21]

[edit] Literature

[edit] Novels

[edit] Comic books

[edit] Casting

Smallville's Lex Luthor was not supposed to be a precursor to the more comedic role performed by Gene Hackman; he was meant to be likeable and vulnerable.[2] The role was hard to cast, as no one could agree on who they liked for the role. Gough and Millar wanted to cast a comedian for the series, on the belief that comedians always want to "please and be loved at the same time."[22] Michael Rosenbaum auditioned for Lex Luthor twice. Feeling he didn't take his first audition seriously, Rosenbaum outlined a two-and-a-half-page scene, indicating all the places to be funny, charismatic, or menacing.[2] His audition went so well that everyone agreed he was "the guy".[22]

[edit] Character development

  • Rosenbaum believes that Lex tries to be a hero in season one, but the character shows signs of having to fight "ambiguity" and stay on the straight path.[23]
  • Lex’s primary motive for his "shady" actions is pure curiosity, specifically beginning from the moment he and Clark meet after Lex hits Clark with his Porsche. Clark always appearing when something stranger happens in Smallville does nothing but fuel Lex’s curiosity. Rosenbaum believes that Lex’s only sees two options: "For Lex, it’s either take a nice ride to Metropolis and work with his dad, or find out what’s going on with this strong, strange fellow, Clark Kent."[23]
  • Rosenbaum feels that Lex is also searching for that "unconditional love". The actor likens this feeling to one that everyone can relate to, but that Lex fails to achieve with not only the women he develops relationships with, but also with his own father. Rosenbaum and Annette O’Toole agree that the only person that could give Lex that love is his mother, who died when he was a child. Whenever they have scenes together, O’Toole and Rosenbaum try and hint around the idea that Martha wants to provide that love for Lex, because she recognizes that he needs it, and that Lex really wants her to provide it as well.[23]
  • Rosenbaum likes the chances he gets to show Lex’s evil side, even if it is only for a few seconds. Specifically, he relishes the chance to "go overboard", like he did in "Hug" where he pulls out a machine gun and shoots everything in sight. To the actor, this gives the audience a glimpse into who Lex will be.[23]
  • The tension filled relationship with his father comes to a crossing in the season one finale, when Lex is left with the decision to either help his father remove the structural beam that has fallen on him, or let him die. Rosenbaum wants the audience to see that Lex was really contemplating what his life would be like if Lionel was no longer around.
"I think the thing that separates a murderer from a regular person who’s sane is that one moment of decision. Murderers can make the decision to commit that act and kill, which most people probably never have to face. You or I have never been pushed that far, and in comparison to Lex’s life, our lives haven’t been that traumatic. For that moment in the library, Les forgot who he was. That’s the way I played it, and that’s the way I wanted it to come across. And it’s those decisions that you make that make you realize that there’s such a fine line between rational and irrational. When you’re driving down the road, your day’s just gone to hell, and you’re really upset for a moment you just want to jerk the wheel off the road. Most people just think that for a second then let it go, but at the moment when you think it, are you really contemplating it? Would you really do that? Most people wouldn’t, but when he sees his father lying there, it’s one of those moments where Lex is like that driver."
—Michael Rosenbaum on Lex’s final scene in season one.[23]
  • Rosenbaum realizes that the friendship between Lex and Clark is destined to fail, but that Clark’s friendship truly is important to Lex early in the series.[23]

[edit] Awards

[edit] References

  1. ^ Simpson, Paul, (Season 1 Companion), pp.20–23
  2. ^ a b c Simpson, Paul, (Season 1 Companion), pp.120–123
  3. ^ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Leech_ep
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  11. ^ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Obscure_ep
  12. ^ "Tempest". Philip Levens, Alfred Gough (writers) & Greg Beeman (director). Smallville. The WB. 2002-05-21. No. 21, season 1. 42 minutes in.
  13. ^ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Skinwalker
  14. ^ "Rosetta". Al Gough, Miles Millar (writers) & James Marshall (director). Smallville. The WB. 2003-02-25. No. 17, season 2. 42 minutes in.
  15. ^ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Covenant_ep
  16. ^ "Crusade". Alfred Gough, Miles Millar (writers) & Greg Beeman (director). Smallville. The WB. 2004-09-22. No. 1, season 4. 42 minutes in.
  17. ^ "Arrival". Todd Slavkin, Darren Swimmer(writers) & James Marshall (director). Smallville. The WB. 2005-09-29. No. 1, season 5. 42 minutes in.
  18. ^ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Vessel_ep
  19. ^ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Veritas_ep
  20. ^ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Quest_ep
  21. ^ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Arctic_ep
  22. ^ a b Simpson, Paul (2004). Smallville: The Official Companion Season 1. London: Titan Books, 8–17. ISBN 1840237955. 
  23. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, Paul, (Season 1 Companion), pp.120-123

[edit] External links