Smallville: Juxtaposition and Character (Video Essay) 

BTW who dis making the video?...... I never heard her before I thought this was Alex's Chanel?

@@jibrael5705 I believe its his girlfriend

Berkin Celik yes 😭 I’m gonna be honest I cry at least once during every season. This show makes me angry. This show makes me cry. This show makes me hopeless. This show makes me hopeful. This show makes he happy. All the other live action Superman make me feel bored and sleepy. I LOVE SMALLVILLE. I literally have to rewatch it every year. I’m on the final season right now, and this is my third rewatch. So much time, effort, and love put into these characters. I listen to the theme song by Remy Zero ever day on my playlist.

Smallville is what makes me feel heartbroken. Lex can't be friends with Clark because he can't see past his own anger. And clark flips and turns on Lex just because of the way other people see him. Mainly, if the two were completely honest with each other and the Kents, Pete, and Clark would have just seen Lex as more than his father's actions, Lex and Clark would have resolved all their problems in 3 seasons. And the heartbreak is seeing Lex get so close to exposing clark. Every time he knows Clark's secret, he accepts and loves clark as his brother, but every time, Lex has his memories taken from him and he can never be happy. It's true tragedy.

7.5/10 in all honesty , but still a big part of my childhood

Finally someone mentioned that theme song is so memorable and I love it even have it as my ringtone that tells you how much I like it but sometimes you could get annoying but anyways I love the song do you always this sarcastic

*LET YOUR WARM HANDS BREAK RIGHT THROUGH*

i loved that theme song i thought it fit the character (superman) so well

SOMEBODY SAAAAAVVVEEE MEEEEEE! I DON'T CARE HOW YOU DO IT...JUST STAAYYYY....STAAAY.....COME ON! I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR YA!

*I feel my wings have broken* *In your hands* *I feel the words unspoken* *Inside* *When they pull you under* *And I would give you any thing you want* *You were all I wanted* *All my dreams are falling down* *Crawling round and round and round* *Somebody save me* *Let your warm hands break right through* *Somebody save me* *I don't care how you do it* *Just save, save* *Come on* *I've been waiting for you* *I see the world has folded in your heart* *I feel the waves crash down inside* *And they pull me under* *And I would give you anything you want* *You were all I wanted* *All my dreams have fallen down* Crawling round and round and round *Somebody save me* *Let your warm hands break right through* *Somebody save me* *I don't care how you do it* *Just save, save* *Come on* *I've been waiting for you* *All my dreams are on the ground* *Crawling' round and round and round* *Somebody save me* *Let your warm hands break right through* *Somebody save me* *I don't' care how you do it* *Just save me, save me* *I've made this whole world shine for you* *Just save, save* *Come on* *I'm still waiting for you*

Chad Boris smallville was full of amazing music from evanescence to sum41 to rascal flatts. It’s definitely a product of it’s time, and it wears that badge boldly in its music, and i love it even more for that.

It was sooo good. Rewatching it now I’m so moved by the score

John Cryer: Hold my kryptonite.

@@mayotango1317 he's good but doesnt Beat smallville Lex in my OPINION

Supergirl Lex is the best onscreen villain from the Luthor line. I adore his performance

@@darkstride_underscott8798 Yeah I have to admit I hated him so much for what he did to Red Daughter, I wanted her to live and her a Kara to have a kind of sister like relationship😥😥😥😥

Jon Cryer is meh.

Same, I used to think Superman was boring and lame before Smallville, but after watching the show I became a fan for life. I just love how Superman is a great person not because he has all the powers and is the "boy scout", he's that good of a person because he had a loving home and great parents. Makes me smile when I think about that and how Smallville really showed that part of the character.

Me too

Lana Lang wasn't a new character.

Agreed...

Danny Benhur agreed with everything except Lana Lang wasn’t new. She was in Superman 3 played by the same actress that plays Martha Kent in the show. And she as also in the animated show.

And Lana was in the comics. She's as original as they get.

I agree on everything but two things I loved Martha Kent but I feel like she could have been used way more they focused a lot on Jonathan and second I did not like Lana at all Louis was way better in my opinion

What was he like?

Well he isn’t as affectionate as meeting Kevin spacey. He’s kinda fridgid.

@@somerandolad He’s really nice and funny!

Drake Chandler I always found Season 4 highly disappointing, save for the first four episodes and the finale, which were artless. I still consider it the worst of the whole run because of its mishandled subplots, wonky character dynamics and the highest percentage of bad individual episodes of the run. But that's me.

Johnathon Haney For me It’s Season 7

Drake Chandler The season 4 finale is well-written and very enthralling, so I'm not surprised it persuaded you to watch the show. It's definitely one of the show's best episodes.

@@tornadochaser2457 It's a weird thing when you contrast Seasons 4 and 8. They have opposite problems in that Season 4 had a strong beginning and ending but a really messy middle whereas Season 8 had a weak beginning and ending with a solid middle story barring a few weird plot decisions.

Johnathon Haney *SPOILER ALERT* I really liked season 8 actually, I felt like it revitalised the show after it had become stale. I'd argue season 7 is a mess of storylines that don't amount to much - Kara losing her powers and memories is a prime example. The Veritas stuff was interesting, but things were getting repetitive with Lana and Lionel - Lionel's story had reverted back to "Can he be trusted or not?" again. It was intriguing to see the new Lana and her dynamic with Clark now that they were finally together, but their relationship had become so dragged out by that point. Season 8 injected some fresh blood into the show, even if it got rid of some great characters. Clark had finally made progress and began actively pursuing his destiny, taking charge and being more commanding instead of moping about Lana. The show became more fun, focusing on the adventurous side of being a superhero, as Clark actually became one with "The Red Blue Blur", and Davis' story was enticing due to the large stakes and tragic situation. Oliver was a fun addition due to his humour, and Tess was a great replacement for Lex, being compellingly dangerous in her own unique way. Lois and Clark's interactions, and the build-up to their inevitable destination was also a highlight, as their playful relationship was a wonderful replacement to the tiring Clark - Lana melodrama. The Metropolis sets were noticeably too small and fake looking, Doomsday should've been bigger, and the final fight was extremely anti-climatic, but I remember liking the rest for the most part. I think seasons 4 and 7 are the worst. In season 4, the witches stuff was weird and corny, I don't think Lionel's desire to be good made much sense, and the storyline with the Teagues didn't amount to enough. The fractured Lex - Clark relationship was well done though, Lois was a fun addition, making things more enjoyable with her humour and sass, and it was nice to see Chloe evolve from just pining over Clark to a truly loyal friend. It's telling that a lot of the things in that season were abandoned moving forward. All the show's mythology really had was meteors having effects in the town, and Kryptonian keys to things. They tried to create more in season 4 with witches and the Teagues, but it wasn't working out, so they started using the Superman mythology in season 5, to their benefit.

I am glad you got that from the show!

Same here

Exactly

Same

Because at its core Smallville stayed a superhero show. Any romance in it was a minor plot. But all the Arrowverse shows go from superhero show to bad romance dramas 3 seasons in.

@@Xehanort10 Slightly agree, But I also think the real factor was Clark always stayed the central character of Smallville from the pilot to the series finale and would never work without Clark. Where as on Arrow, Supergirl, and Flash in particular those shows supporting characters started to outshine the leads and you could do Arrow, Supergirl, and Flash without Oliver, Kara, or Barry if needed just using Team Arrow, Team Supergirl/The DEO and Team Starlabs (I mean remember the we are Flash crap).

The best part of the show was the Lex and Lionel father and son relationship.

😂😂😂

I wish more people would appreciate how damn good a lot of Smallville is!

@@HiTopFilms I grew up with that show. You should make more videos about it.

@@HiTopFilms honestly no, Smallville was not a very good show. Teenage drama, Doomsday and Bizarro were both bad portrayals, Doomsday's death was a joke, Clark never wore the suit.

@@tomdeblink6080 dude doomsday and Bizarro first of all Bizarro was not Bizarro he was some Proto version of him but he was not the actual Pizarro and Doomsday they were doing a different take on it they decide to do something different with him sometimes you have to do things different with adopting stuff and besides that probably wasn't like the official Doomsday you'd probably faced an alien creature similar to Doomsday but and listen who cares about the teenage drama in season 5 it doesn't bother me too much and besides if you get over it is a really good Superman show have you even watched it anyways spoiler alert when Jonathan Kent dies and the journey that Clark goes through the rest of the series I totally believe it and I totally believe the relationship between him and the Kents and also he did wear the Superman suit have you even seen the finale idiot and also the death of Doomsday already told you this this is a different version of Doomsday you got to except it and once you get over all the team drama it is a good Superman show and it is totally overrated would you take off all of that baggage it is an amazing Superman form of media and they should totally put it on the DC Universe streaming service all right we can all agree that the worst version of Superman in the movies is Henry Cavill and it's not Henry Cavill fault it's Zack Snyder's fault Superman should not have killed Zod or any of the other people he killed in the movie so yeah I only watch one episode of Superman the animated series and it's not by Jam or whatever what I'm trying to say is that live action TV wise Tom welling is probably the best and despite all Smallvile baggage it is an amazing Superman TV show and yeah if you could find any other negative reasons date the show and tell me and I will definitely find a way to make them not revelant so yeah deal with it and please give the show another chance it's an amazing Superman show that's all I have to say today bye

@@fishwrld Tom Welling was a great Superman I agree. Still it was a bad show imo. For the record Man of Steel and Batman v Super are both bad movies too.

I wholeheartedly agree.

Arachni-Notion So do I. I love that show and to me, it’s my definitive Superman.

Arachni-Notion same. Smallville Superman sucks

For me it's smallville and the animated Superman show. I watched both shows at the same time and thought they completed each other

Lois and Clark Superman and the original films.

@@xyoungdipsetx not really Smallville identifies what makes Superman a great character, next to Superman TAS

Bruh what did he say?

that's so cool. what did he say?

Thank You 😊

Lex was always good. The bias we have when we watch the show is the same bias Clark has. Clark sees Lex as inherently evil and we as the audience think the same thing. But Lex was truly good. He just had bad luck.

Really? Coincidentally I just started watching the show yesterday, and when I saw there were 10 seasons I was worried that it would gradually get worse.

@@bluefire9147 some parts will annoy you for sure but somehow it might keep you watching, what do you think of it now?

Tabari Butler I stopped after season 3. I’m more of a monster by the week kind of person. Good show, though

@@bluefire9147 by monster of the week do you mean like some kind of thriller type of stuff?

Tabari Butler I mean like every episode is self contained, where the hero has to deal with a new threat each week

But,the problem is,snyderfans will never ever listen to Alex.

Great video! As someone who is a huge Superman fan, I still haven't watched Smallville. Your insights have intrigued me.... I would love if you were to continue the topic of juxtaposition in order to create meaning. As Andrew Sarris says, "Hitchcock understands, as his detractors do not, the crucial function of counterpoint in the cinema. You cannot commit a murder in a haunted house or dark alley, and make a meaningful statement to the audience."

You should definitely check out the show, especially season 1-3, as well as 5, all great character stuff. I was thinking about doing a video about the obsession Batman has with the Joker and vice versa. About how their contrasting ideologies end up attracting them, almost like a love story. Thanks so much for watching!

This show made me love Superman. But I don't read many comics or even watch the other shows or movies, I just love the idea that Superman is so good because of his parents. Is not about the superpowers or how he is going to save the day, I love Superman because he's just that good because he grow up in a loving home with amazing parents, that's just a really nice message the show send.

@@ThePunisherSpider I love it too

So how does the CW super heroes do for you?

Myles Schutte most comic books are soap operas with superpowers

@Christopher Marlowe they run for a lot longer than that

Exactly.

I'm glad you enjoyed the video. Smallville is severely underrated, and when we get around to it, we would love to make more videos about it!

We love Smallville, we'll take any opportunity we get to remind people that it's great. Thanks for watching :)

harshita gupta How can I forget a series that, at its best, makes me believe the Superman story again?

Not me it’s on Hulu

Thank You! I know, Smallville get's so overshadowed by all the superhero shows these days, but it's still one of the best.

Thank you!

Any idea of where i could find that background music?

@@davidnolde4598 in case you haven't researched it by now, during the scene in the barn it was playing My Immortal by Evanescence.

​@@Gengh13 Yeah! Actually I meant the music that is played at Lionel's funeral but thanks for the help anyway👍

thank you!

Kurt Bertrand Mine too...that episode devastated me.

Smallville was ahead of its time. This show with a 13 episode season would have been amazing. Even with 10 seasons. I've always wanted to do a rewatch of the entire series to do a "must-watch" list of how to rewatch the entire show, skipping episodes that are just filler.

Lana should have also left the show for good at the end of Season 3. She was the worst character in it.

@@ThePunisherSpider I'm sure there are essential episode lists out there already. Not that you still couldn't do that, might be yours is a bit different. Might look for one myself and give that a watch.

@@Xehanort10 Haha, that is true. Though I can't see Chloe the same anymore knowing what Allison Mack was up to in real life. Yikes.

@@gslinger19 Years ago I used to have a crush on Allison Mack. Not anymore after hearing about her luring innocent women into a rapist cult and branding them.