The Semiotics and Ideology of The Dark Knight Returns Part 2

Hello All, 

Since Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is set to premiere soon (or has already premiered IDK when you're reading this) and the massive internet discussions I've been having about the character has forced me to dig-up and old old graduate paper.  

I want to apologize for some of the content.  I wouldn't write a paper like this today but at the time I had like three 15+ page papers due that week so it was a bit rushed.  

I've added some silly photos to keep you awake while reading this piece of academia. 

Without further explanation, if you're having trouble sleeping please give part 2 a read. 

Batman knows what needs to be done to save Gotham from crime.   Batman is the truth.  Unlike Plato, who is forever searching for truth.  Batman’s actions show him as the anti-platonic character.  He believes he knows what’s best for the people of Gotham City.  He goes against what the politicians say and makes the decision to protect the people of Gotham from themselves.  When the nuclear winter happens and the people of Gotham City begin to riot Batman takes control of the disbanded mutant gang.  “Tonight we are the law.  Tonight I am the law” (Miller p.173).  He elects himself the lawmaker of Gotham, feeling he knows what is best for the people. 

Another example of Batman’s anti-platonic nature is how he would interrogate people he needed to get information from.  He carried one villain all the way to the top of skyscraper with the threat of dropping him if he didn’t give Batman the information he needed.  “It was tough work, carrying two hundred and twenty pounds of sociopath to the top of Gotham Towers the highest spot in the city.  The scream alone is worth it” (Miller p.68).  Plato would not consider this an appropriate way to gain information.  He feels that it is immoral to threaten to hurt someone just to get information about something you need.  Jay Gordon states that Plato “suggests that rhetoric can be a genuine techne provided the rhetor’s goal is conceived properly”  (Gordon p.153).  Batman’s goal is to gain information but Plato would not agree that this is a proper way of achieving that goal.  

The real reason they went non-toxic.

This is also highlighted in another interrogation Batman commits on a criminal whose arm is injured.  The criminal starts complain about the rights that he has and Batman responds by saying “You’ve got a piece of glass shoved into a major artery in your arm.  Right now you’re bleeding to death.  Right now I’m the only one in the world that can get you to a hospital in time” (Miller p.45).  Plato would be completely against the way this person is treated.  Batman does not allow the person to exercise his rights.  Batman works outside the law unlike Plato who demands that people do the right thing.   That type of treatment of a person is wrong, no matter what goal the interrogator might have.  

Batman uses his power over the mutant gang to take control of the situation and lead them in his crusade to save the people of Gotham City from themselves.  “Just his voice.  Just Him” (Miller p 174).  This would contradict Plato’s view on rhetoric.  Judith Ann Abrams surmizes “Plato believes that the speaker, audience and environment, subject matter, discourse, and underlying motivation all combine to create the stage for true rhetoric.  Plato concludes that without any one of these components, the art of rhetoric would be degraded to the art of flattery” (Abrams).  Plato believes that all these specific elements are needed to use rhetoric appropriately.  Batman proves Plato wrong with the speech he gives to the mutants who are about to join in on the riots happening in Gotham.  According to the character in the story Carrie Kelly, all it takes is his voice to rouse everyone into submission.  

Sorry, I got distracted while trying to find topical pictures. 

During Batman’s battle with Superman he says, “you gave them the power that should have been ours”  (Miller p.192).  Batman being the anti-platonic character he is, is working against the government laws and is fighting the system.  Superman is working with the government and doing what they ask of him.  “You always know just what to say.  ‘Yes’ you always say yes to anyone with a badge or a flag”  (Miller p.190).  This is what Batman says to Superman.  

Superman is representational of the American people.  Batman is telling America to stop saying yes to the government and start saying no.  It is time for the people to control their own lives instead of the government controlling it for them.  Bernard believs “the social, however, rests upon a vast array of artifacts, trivially material ones as well as signs, verbal and non-verbal” (Bernard p.47).  Superman is the symbol or “artifact” for the American people.  Just the insignia of the “S” on his costume is enough for people to recognize him.   He is also reflective of America because he is the most powerful being on earth.  This is expressed in Batman’s description of Superman.  “There’s just the sun and the sky and him, like he’s the only reason it’s all here”(Miller p.118).  Like many people in America, they believe that the United States is the only nation that means anything in the world.  Superman thinks that everything works so smoothly because he is there to make sure it does.  

Superman is the people’s reflection of this idea he has the power to do whatever he wants and chooses to follow his country.  Through this discourse Miller is pointing out how the American people say yes to the government, which they have the power to control.   Batman wants them to control themselves and say no to the government.  Plato does not believe it is possible for people to guide themselves in life and they need to follow and be led by someone or something.  

Uhh insert sarcastic comment here.

If Bruce Wayne never fell into that cave and encountered that bat when he was a child he would not have grown up to be Batman.  This relates to the idea of cause and effect or what is called ‘causal law.’  I.A. Ricahrs definition of causal law is “put very simply, a causal law may be taken as saying that, under certain conditions, of two events if one happens the other does”  (Richards p.1284).  Bruce Wayne would have never associated the bat as a sign of fear unless he had encountered it in a situation where he was scared.  

            Batman considers himself an answer to the problems in society that the politicians fail to address.  Throughout the story politicians keep passing the responsibility onto others about actions that need to be taken to help people.  When a reporter asks the president about his view on Batman, the president immediately shifts the responsibility.  “That’s a right big state all its own and it’s got its own solid, clear-headed governor, yes, it does”  (Miller p.108).  The governor says it is the mayor’s responsibility and the mayor says it is up to the police commissioner to determine what should be done with Batman.  “And so the Batman buck is passed”  (Miller p.108).  Since some of the voters like Batman and others dislike him trickery is used by politicians to avoid making a decision.   They do not want to receive any negative feedback on such a controversial person like Batman.  

            Word choice is emphasized throughout the graphic novel commenting on how politicians use words to persuade the Americans public.  “American tr—excuse me heroic American troops are now engaged in direct combat with soviet forces”  (Miller p.119).  This is an example of how politicians use specific words to invoke emotions from people.  When the president was broadcasting his announcement he was going to say Americans troops and changed it to heroic American troops because the implied meaning creates more sympathy for the people fighting.  It is a way for the politician to keep people from objecting to the fighting.  If they put their sympathy in the place of the soldiers than they cannot protest what is going on.  

The word heroic conjures the sympathy of the American people.  The sympathy they feel will keep them from protesting the fighting because they do not want to dishonor the heroic troops.  The word heroic works well with I. A. Richards and C.K. Ogden’s triangle (Richards & Ogden p1275).  The word “heroic American troops” is the symbol, because the word heroic and American is used the reference applied to that symbol is that American troops are doing a brave deed for their county.  That makes the referent heroic American troops fighting honorably for their county.  The symbol “heroic American troops” and the referent “American troops fighting honorably for their county” are not directly related.  That relation is done through the viewers’ brain.  When the president added the word heroic to statement he was making, the meaning of everything being said was shifted so he could manipulate and also get support from the American people.  

What does this conjure up?

Another attack on the nature of politics is said by Batman when he is throwing a gas pellet at a criminal.  “This stuff has a name that’s as long as your arm.  It was developed by the military during one of our more contemptible wars” (Miller p.49).  This is an example of how deadly weapons are developed during wartime.  It is attacking how technology can take huge strives when there is a war.  How the need to kill the enemy is so important.  

Through the use of semiotics and ideology the character of Batman is iconic in his anti-platonic features.  The bat is used in the story as a sign against those who prey on the weak and helpless.  Batman uses this sign to lead people to rise up and take control of their lives.  He doesn’t follow or do what he is told like his superhero counterpart Superman.  He believes the power belongs to everyone and should not be given away at any cost.  

The political discourse in the graphic novel points out issues concerning society as a whole.  The manipulation that is committed by politicians is addressed throughout the story.  Also shown is how politicians’ choice of terminology can affect a persons view on a subject manner.  The fear of a nuclear strike from an attacking country is something that plagues society today.  Superman symbolizing the American people and how the United States government controls its people is brought into focus. The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller has very explicit rhetorical and political messages that cannot be ignored. 

Is this really a surprise from a bunch of dudes that wear tights? I'm not judging and neither should you.

Works Cited 

I wish a picture of Danny Devito could be used in place of all Works Cited

Abrams, Judith Ann.  “Plato’s Rhetoric as Rendered by the Pentad.” Rhetoric Society 

Quarterly 11. 1 (1981) 24-28. EBSCO.

Bernard, Jeff.  “Inside/Outside, Ideology, and Culture.” Semiotica 148. 1-4 (2004) 47-68.

EBSCO.

Hofstra U Lib., Hempstead. 16 May 2006 <http://search.epnet.com>

Gordon, Jay.  “Techne and Technical Communication: Toward a Dialogue” Technical 

Communication Quarterly 11. 2 (2002) 147-164. EBSCO.

            Hofstra U Lib., Hempstead. 16 May 2006 <http://search.epnet.com>

Miller, Frank, Klaus Janson, and Lynn Varley. The Dark Knight Returns. New York: DC 

Comics, 2002.

Mowatt, Raoul V.  “Batman gathers fellow heroes to set things right in DK2” Chicago

Tribune (IL) 08/30/2002. (2002) EBSCO.

Hofstra U Lib., Hempstead. 16 May 2006 <http://search.epnet.com>

Noth, Winfried.  “Semiotics of Ideology.” Semiotica 148. 1-4 (2004) 11-21. EBSCO.

            Hofstra U Lib., Hempstead. 16 May 2006 <http://search.epnet.com>

Radford, Bill.  “Batman fans eager for return of the Dark Knight.” Gazette, The 

(Colorado Springs, CO) 12/06/2001. (2001) EBSCO.

Hofstra U Lib., Hempstead. 16 May 2006 <http://search.epnet.com>

Richards, I.A. “The Philosophy of Rhetoric.” The Rhetorical Tradition Readings from 

Classical Times to the Present Second Edition. Ed. Patricia Bizzell, and Bruce Herzberg, Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2001. 1281-1294.

Richards, I.A. and C.K. Ogden. “The Meaning of Meaning.” The Rhetorical Tradition 

Readings from Classical Times to the Present Second Edition. Ed. Patricia Bizzell, and Bruce Herzberg, Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2001. 1273-1280.

Thomas, Harry.  “The Dark Knight.” Rolling Stone 867 (2001) 98. EBSCO. 

Hofstra U Lib., Hempstead. 16 May 2006 <http://search.epnet.com>

Written by 

Joseph Ammendolea

Owner/President

“I Like To Play With Toys” Productions®

ILikeToPlayWithToysProductions@Yahoo.com

The Semiotics and Ideology of The Dark Knight Returns Part 1

Hello All, 

Since Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is set to premiere soon (or has already premiered IDK when you're reading this) and the massive internet discussions I've been having about the character has forced me to dig-up and old old graduate paper.  

I want to apologize for some of the content.  I wouldn't write a paper like this today but at the time I had like three 15+ page papers due that week so it was a bit rushed.  

I've added some silly photos to keep you awake while reading this piece of academia. 

Without further explanation, if you're having trouble sleeping please give it a read. 

            When studying semiotics and ideology it is important to understand how closely associated the two things are and what they mean.  Jeff Bernard states “sign work causes the transformation of an already socially given (signatum), mediated by a material antithesis (signans), to a social result, i.e. the sign itself” (Bernard p.47).  Signs have applied meanings based on what society mandates.  The meaning that certain signs have, come from the idea that is placed on it by society. 

            There is a debate about what comes first ideology or semiotics Winifired Noth says “if an ‘ideology’, in its broadest sense, is ‘a system of ideas’, semiotics, the study of sign systems, is predestined to make essential contributions to the study of ideologies”  (Noth p.11).  Semiotics is an important aspect in the study of ideology.  It is not possible to study ideology and how ideas come to being without understanding the signs that are involved in those ideas. 

             Eero Tarasti believes that semiotics comes before ideology “in the history of semiotics, the concept of ideology arises in many contexts.  Of course, its weight varies greatly with different scholars and periods”  (Tarasti p.23).  When studying semiotics it is very common for the idea of ideology to come into focus.  Whatever the case may be semiotics and ideology are very closely associated with one another.  Which makes analyzing the two separately difficult.  For the purpose of this paper is not important to determine which comes first. 

A quick Google search has provided me this picture of Eero Tarasti.  I;m not sure if he's the dude on the left or the right though.  

This paper will highlight the use of signs and political discourse in Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns.   It will show how Batman is an anti-platonic character through his actions and the use of semiotics.  The Dark Knight Returns It is a story about a retired vigilante known as Batman living in a city riddled with fear and crime.  Bill Radford describes it as “an aging Batman who returns from retirement to face a world filled with ineffectual politicians, murderous teen gangs, twisted villains from his past and a new police commissioner opposed to his style of vigilantism” (Radford).  The story is a commentary on American cities in the twentieth century. 

Watching the world around him Batman realizes that he alone has the power to change things for the better.  He returns to wage his “one-man war against crime” (Miller p.11).  Harry Thomas descibes the story as taking place “back in 1986 when Ronald Reagan was president, the Cold War was at full boil and comic-book artist Frank Miller wrote and drew a graphic novel called The Dark Knight Returns” (Thomas p.98).

            The Dark Knight Returns dealt with the issues that surrounded 1980s America.  “A scorching condemnation of its times, Miller's Batman was rage incarnate, a half-nuts citizen-soldier who kicked Superman's ass for kissing up to Reagan” (Thomas p.98).  It was a politically charged graphic novel telling people to take control of their own destinies.  According to Raoul Mowatt “Miller took numerous jabs at pop and political culture of the time” (Mowatt).  The political discourse in the book creates Batman as being the anti-platonic character that expressed to people not to follow but to lead. 

With this image one could argue that Batman is the Charioteer in the Phadrus and thus the definition of a platonic persona leading people to their destiny and also completely ruining my argument but fuck you it was the mid 2000s and I was trying to get a grade, okay!!! 

            There are semiotics all throughout the graphic novel.  Commissioner Gordon describes what he sees when he looks at doorways in Gotham.  “Me, I can’t look at that doorway over there without thinking about the seventy-two corpses I’ve found in spots like that” (Miller p.58).  To him a doorway is no longer just a doorway.  He associates certain doorways with all the murder sites he has witnessed in his police career.  A doorway has a different meaning to him than it would for other people.  

When looking at the Batman’s alter ego Bruce Wayne he chose the icon of the bat because it is the creature he most fears.  He is placing his own meaning on the sign that others may not share.  The bat is described by Bruce Wayne as “Gliding with ancient grace unwilling to retreat” (Miller p.19).  When he sees a bat he thinks of it as a terrifying unyielding creature.  To him a bat represent something more then a nocturnal animal that flies.  “When you came for me in the cave I was just six years old” (Miller p.187).  He remembers an instance in his childhood when he first saw a bat and how much it terrified him. 

I am so fucking scared right now!

To him the bat is a sign, the animal is the signified, and the fear that is brought on in his mind when seeing a bat is the signifying.  “Eyes gleaming, untouched by love or joy or sorrow breath hot with the taste of fallen foes the stench of dead things, damned things”  (Miller p.19).  He talks about the bats breathe smelling like the things it had killed and eaten.  He refers to those things as damned just like the criminals that he hunts are damned.  “Surely the fiercest survivor glaring, hating claiming me as his own” (Miller p.19).  He embraces the fear he has of the bat and uses it as his symbol against criminals.  He wants the criminals to feel the same fear he felt when he first encountered the bat.  The fear from the bat is the meaning he assigns to it and wants criminals to associate with as well. 

The bat is to Bruce Wayne what Batman becomes to criminals.  Batman is a sign of fear against those who commit acts of injustice.  Commissioner Gordon describes just what Batman is a symbol for in the war against crime and why he supported him.  Gordon talks about Pearl Harbor to explain what Batman means to the people of Gotham and to himself.  “Hell, we were scared.  We didn’t even have an army.  So there we were, lying in bed pulling the sheets over our head and there was Roosevelt, on the radio, strong and sure, taking fear and turning it into a fighting spirit.  Almost over night we had our army”  (Miller p.36).  Gordon goes on to talk about how years later he heard rumors that Roosevelt new that Pearl Harbor was going to be attack and how he was so conflicted that the President would let so many innocent people die.  “It bounced back and forth in my head until I realized I couldn’t judge it.  It was too big.  He was to big”  (Miller 36). 

You can't get more badass than Barry Bostwick playing you in a movie.

This supports the claim that Batman is more then just a man in a costume but he is a symbol for all people to follow.  His presence is what inspires people to do the right thing.  Commissioner Gordon believes that Batman is the answer to the crime problem in Gotham City.  As Tarasti states “value is something that does not exist in an ‘absolute’ manner, but only as a part of structure, as does any sign or term” (Tarasti p.33).  The value that is put on a sign is not definite or permanent.  The people looking at that sign associate the respective meaning to it.  The value that is placed on Roosevelt and Batman is different for different people.  For Gordon, Batman is the structure for putting an end to the crime that consumes Gotham City.

Tarasti goes on to state that “values ‘rest’, so to speak, upon facts.  If there are two completely identical physical facts, such as two painting in an art exhibition, and if one of them is said to be of excellent quality, then the same must be said about the other” (Tarasti p.38).  Gordon believes that Roosevelt is a great man.  He sees Batman as someone who is identical to Roosevelt in what he is doing.  Therefore he is assigning the same value to Batman that everyone assigns to Roosevelt.  “What is involved is a logical relationship between values and facts” (Tarasti p.38).  Gordon is logically relating the two figures as something iconic and too large for him to try and control. 

I'm just using this picture in the hopes it increases my web traffic. 

Works Cited

I wish a picture of Danny Devito could be used in place of all Works Cited

Abrams, Judith Ann.  “Plato’s Rhetoric as Rendered by the Pentad.” Rhetoric Society

Quarterly 11. 1 (1981) 24-28. EBSCO.

Bernard, Jeff.  “Inside/Outside, Ideology, and Culture.” Semiotica 148. 1-4 (2004) 47-68.

EBSCO.

Hofstra U Lib., Hempstead. 16 May 2006 <http://search.epnet.com>

Gordon, Jay.  “Techne and Technical Communication: Toward a Dialogue” Technical

Communication Quarterly 11. 2 (2002) 147-164. EBSCO.

            Hofstra U Lib., Hempstead. 16 May 2006 <http://search.epnet.com>

Miller, Frank, Klaus Janson, and Lynn Varley. The Dark Knight Returns. New York: DC

Comics, 2002.

Mowatt, Raoul V.  “Batman gathers fellow heroes to set things right in DK2” Chicago

Tribune (IL) 08/30/2002. (2002) EBSCO.

Hofstra U Lib., Hempstead. 16 May 2006 <http://search.epnet.com>

Noth, Winfried.  “Semiotics of Ideology.” Semiotica 148. 1-4 (2004) 11-21. EBSCO.

            Hofstra U Lib., Hempstead. 16 May 2006 <http://search.epnet.com>

Radford, Bill.  “Batman fans eager for return of the Dark Knight.” Gazette, The

(Colorado Springs, CO) 12/06/2001. (2001) EBSCO.

Hofstra U Lib., Hempstead. 16 May 2006 <http://search.epnet.com>

Richards, I.A. “The Philosophy of Rhetoric.” The Rhetorical Tradition Readings from

Classical Times to the Present Second Edition. Ed. Patricia Bizzell, and Bruce Herzberg, Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2001. 1281-1294.

Richards, I.A. and C.K. Ogden. “The Meaning of Meaning.” The Rhetorical Tradition

Readings from Classical Times to the Present Second Edition. Ed. Patricia Bizzell, and Bruce Herzberg, Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2001. 1273-1280.

Thomas, Harry.  “The Dark Knight.” Rolling Stone 867 (2001) 98. EBSCO.

Hofstra U Lib., Hempstead. 16 May 2006 <http://search.epnet.com>

Written by 

Joseph Ammendolea

Owner/President

“I Like To Play With Toys” Productions®

ILikeToPlayWithToysProductions@Yahoo.com

New York Comic Con 2014 Panels

In all the hoopla going on the best audio we managed to capture was while covering some of the panels at New York Comic Con.

We proudly attended what was promoted as the last NYCC Legend of Korra panel and as the video will highlight the awesome vibe that was emanating from the crowd for one of the best animated shows on TV cough cough excuse me I mean the Internet.

We also were at the Batman stamp event. With all the hubabalooh behind it, you'd expect something spectacular but as you stand there watching the event your easily reminded it's stamps.

The Green/White/Red Ranger Jason David Frank had some cool stuff to to say at his panel and managed his fans with a jokester attitude that keeps the long winded ones inline but still has enough respect and love to let them get their point out.  At some points it was hard to figure who was the bigger fan of Jason David Frank, the people at the panel or Jason David Frank.

yeah, this sums him up

The Star Trek Equinox panel was perfect for the hardcore Star Trek fan.  I am a huge Star Trek fan and was totally lost about what they were talking about.  I felt like I walked in halfway on an epic tale that was close to being completed and no one in the room wanted to fill me in on what I had missed.

What is this about???

Then we met Kevin Smith and found out that he's totally bald.  He was actually super nice to all his fans and ignored the people rushing him away and took the time to pose for pictures and really talk with everyone there.  That doesn't mean that we at "I Like To Play With Toys" Productions® suddenly like him or anything we're just saying he was nice to HIS FANS.

Sexy, not. (As lame as any Kevin Smith joke).

We discovered that Robert Kirkman, the creator of The Walking Dead is a masochist and likes it.  I suppose that wasn't really a shock.

Kirkman pictured with Rock and Darryl. 

Written by

Joseph Ammendolea

“I Like To Play With Toys” Productions®

ILikeToPlayWithToysProductions@Yahoo.com

The Real Lex Luthor

Bryan Cranston’s recently been cast to play Superman’s arch enemy Lex Luthor in the upcoming Batman/Superman film.  I’ve decided to take this opportunity to define who Lex Luthor is and how wrong everyone else is about their thoughts on the character.  That’s right, I’m always right, and you’re always wrong.

Film

Pre-Crisis Lex Luthor is an evil mad scientist devoted to destroying Superman because he’s evil.  This version of Lex was portrayed by Gene Hackman in the Christopher Reeves’ Superman.  What the audience got was Gene Hackman doing his typical bad-guy persona with the name of Lex Luthor.  It was amusing and silly but not really scary.  Kevin Spacey used this same acting choice in the Superman Returns reboot of the series.  What Spacey portrayed was his bad guy/angry guy persona of a dude who’s named Lex Luthor. 

Cranston gained tons of acting cred after his phenomenal stint in Breaking Bad.  He went from family man to bad man in 5 seasons.  He also shaved his head.  That’s what really got Cranston the part.  He played a bad guy who shaved his head.  If Cranston played a bad man with a full head of hair he would have been the next villain in Mission Impossible. 

I’m not saying Cranston can’t pull off the character of Lex but there is a very good chance he’ll follow his movie predecessors and just be Bryan Cranston as Evil Walter White as Lex Luthor.  Can Cranston understand the differences between evil genius and bad guy?  Does he understand who Pre-Crisis Superman is versus Post Crisis Superman thus Pre-Crisis Luthor versus Post Crisis Luthor.

TV

The small screen was more influenced by Post Crisis Superman.  Specifically the John Byrne Man of Steel revamp of the character (more specifically Marv Wolman came up with the Lex corporate angle).  In this version Superman is an evil corporate tycoon, a formidable villain in the 1980s.  This corporate villain was memorably performed by John Shea in Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.  He set the bar for how an evil corporate executive could go toe to toe with the Man of Steel.  He didn’t even have to shave his head to do it.

Clancy Brown perfected the corporate tycoon in Superman: The Animated series.  Even when Luthor spun off into more evil genius Super Villainy in Justice League and Justice League Unlimited he still retained his corporate roots.  In fact he was still running LexCorp when the Justice League took him down.  Brown played the super evil genius consistently and business minded throughout his run as the character.  In the last episode of JLU the character even makes a statement he needed to change into his power suit which was just one of the suits he always wore.  Not some big mechanical gizmo or some weird spandex number.  Luthor’s power suit was what he wore to the office to crush men in the boardroom.  Luthor’s power came from buying, selling, and controlling people.  Luthor hates Superman because he cannot buy, sell, and thus ultimately control Superman.

Michael Rosenbaum played a young Lex Luthor for 7 seasons in Smallville.  The audience witnesses the transformation of a nice young man into an evil sociopath.  Rosenbaum sites John Shea as his main inspiration for his take on the character.  In spite of the shows script/story failings Rosenbaum played the character to utter perfection.  The last episode cameo by Lex, where his memory was completely erased, was a disservice to 7 years of some stellar character development.  Thus all the experiences Lex endured were for nothing.  His destiny to become evil was not because of his experiences in Smallville.  It was 7 years of wasted characterization.  Throughout the show Luthor’s obsession for control dominates his choices.  This need for control corrodes his soul until there is nothing left but evil. 

Control and power are Lex’s motivation.  He fights Superman for control of mankind.  Luthor’s perspective is that Superman is dangerous because he cannot be controlled.  Even Luthor must appear to adhere to society’s laws. Superman is so powerful that he could do what he wants without consequences.  That is a man that must be kept in check.  Therefore Lex sets out to keep Superman honest by being his parallel.  It’s the only way he can control Superman and ensure the world isn’t enslaved. Luthor is the hero, he’s the one willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to his life, reputation and social status to ensure people never follow Superman blindly.  If Cranston understands his character’s motivation, he’ll do well.  If he phones in something similar to John Travolta’s performance in The Punisher he’s fail.   

Written by

Joseph Ammendolea

Owner/President

“I Like To Play With Toys” Productions®

ILikeToPlayWithToysProductions@Yahoo.com

UPDATE

Since this article was written it was announced that Jessie Eisenberg has been cast to play Lex Luthor.  Just replace everything I said about Bryan Cranston with Eisenberg and Mark Zuckerberg.