View Poll Results: Should the Clark Kent identity be confident or bumbling?

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  • Confident

    12 30.00%
  • Bumbling

    10 25.00%
  • Other

    18 45.00%
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  1. #16
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    I always thought the dynamic rested on the idea that Superman was bold, daring, and adventurous while Clark Kent was in most ways Superman's opposite, meek, kept to himself, and plain. I might not really call him bumbling, maybe just someone most would consider a sort of wall flower type. If Clark Kent is just Superman in different clothes then what's the point? Where's the fun in that?

    It's a shame most actors seem to hate playing the fool as Clark Kent because I think it sort of makes the Superman/Clark Kent dynamic and showed that at some point even in the life the world most powerful man he isn't always THE man. Even he's got bosses he has to answer to in Perry White and office bullies in Steve Lombard.
    Rules are for lesser men, Charlie - Grand Pa Joe ~ Willy Wonka & Chocolate Factory

  2. #17
    Astonishing Member Johnny Thunders!'s Avatar
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    It’s easy being Superman, being Clark Kent is the hard part!

  3. #18
    Fantastic Member Stick Figure's Avatar
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    One of the things I hate about the old 70’s movie is how idiotic Kent comes off. Working in the media, battling with the competition, competing with co workers, there’s no way a he could be timid. It’s too tough to succeed at a job being like that. And honestly, if I knew someone that bumbling, and timid, I’d flag him as being a threat to go nuts one day. I wouldn’t want to be around someone like that.

    Hopefully the secret identity doesn’t come back but if it does, he has to exude confidence and a mastery of his profession.

  4. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by Johnny Thunders! View Post
    It’s easy being Superman, being Clark Kent is the hard part!
    Indeed .
    Rules are for lesser men, Charlie - Grand Pa Joe ~ Willy Wonka & Chocolate Factory

  5. #20
    Ultimate Member Ascended's Avatar
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    Voted "other" for the Clark who is so average and mundane he's socially invisible. He's not the confident and disarmingly charming professional, nor the clutz who trips over his own desk at the office. People remember the rock stars of their profession, they remember the office clown. And Clark Kent, mild mannered reporter, shouldn't stick out in the mind. He should be forgotten as soon as the conversation ends. Clark's the guy who doesn't get invited out to the bar after work, not because he's disliked but because his co-workers forgot to tell him. He's not unlikeable, he's just.....unremarkable. Easy to overlook.

    It makes his writing a crystal clear view of events. There's no author presence in Kent's work; it's pure old school "these are the events that took place" reporting, with precise and inspired vocabulary, like every word is on a tight budget. In contrast, I think Lois' writing is always factual to a fault but full of personality and presence. Not bias or slant necessarily, but voice.
    "We all know the truth: more connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another, as if we were one single tribe."

    ~ Black Panther.

  6. #21
    The Man Who Cannot Die manwhohaseverything's Avatar
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    The identity that's meant to be a joke should be kept that way.It was modelled after a comedian. If there is no laughs the identity would be taken through the prism of realism. The glasses identity doesn't work in a realistic manner.If you remove the radical elements of Superman. You get a bland character that offers nothing.
    Quote Originally Posted by Johnny Thunders! View Post
    It’s easy being Superman, being Clark Kent is the hard part!
    Utter nonsense !fighting for yourself is easy.fighting for others is hard.Moreover,feeling empathy for clark Kent weak persona or finding him relatable is one thing.But ,being comfortable with weakness easy.Having the will power to acknowledge the weakness and get stronger is what true strength is and using that to protect those that need it.That's what superman is about.Being clark Kent ain't cool.I am not talking about him being a nerd.The guy literally was to weak too stand up for lois when she was in trouble.He needed superman to do that.
    Quote Originally Posted by Stick Figure View Post
    One of the things I hate about the old 70’s movie is how idiotic Kent comes off. Working in the media, battling with the competition, competing with co workers, there’s no way a he could be timid. It’s too tough to succeed at a job being like that. And honestly, if I knew someone that bumbling, and timid, I’d flag him as being a threat to go nuts one day. I wouldn’t want to be around someone like that.

    Hopefully the secret identity doesn’t come back but if it does, he has to exude confidence and a mastery of his profession.
    He doesn't need to battle competition through his mouth.He is Superman when he is writing articles.
    "I fight for those that can't fight for themselves".
    Moreover,succeeding in the job was never the objective.It was a way to keep the exploits of Superman the outlaw champion of the oppressed out of the media headline. He used to squash his own news.Superman was an urban myth who protected the weak.Clark Kent was an absurd Charlie chapplin-esque fourth wall acknowledging joke.The office setting was only serious when there was real statement to be made.Just because 70's movie is out dated doesn't mean the dynamic itself is.Chris nolan had batman and bruce wayne be radically different.

    I agree,It is better to get rid of the duality entirely like bendis did.I disagree with half Assing it with clark being confident.if there is no difference between clark and superman. Then what's the point of keeping the I'd. But,I have to say you remove complexities,layers from character and call him perfect or boyscout.How is that fair? People want cookie cutter good guy and then complain he is perfect.
    Last edited by manwhohaseverything; 12-03-2020 at 03:50 AM.

  7. #22
    Obsessed & Compelled Bored at 3:00AM's Avatar
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    I think you can do both, depending upon the story you're telling and the time period of Superman's life. Him acting like a boob while married to Lois is hilarious, for instance. With the current set up, I don't see how it works because the secret is out, but we're going to be getting a wide variety of different Superman comics at very different times of his life now, me thinks.

  8. #23
    Black Belt in Bad Ideas Robanker's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by manwhohaseverything View Post
    The identity that's meant to be a joke should be kept that way.It was modelled after a comedian. If there is no laughs the identity would be taken through the prism of realism. The glasses identity doesn't work in a realistic manner.If you remove the radical elements of Superman. You get a bland character that offers nothing.

    Utter nonsense !fighting for yourself is easy.fighting for others is hard.Moreover,feeling empathy for clark Kent weak persona or finding him relatable is one thing.But ,being comfortable with weakness easy.Having the will power to acknowledge the weakness and get stronger is what true strength is and using that to protect those that need it.That's what superman is about.Being clark Kent ain't cool.I am not talking about him being a nerd.
    It's pretty disgraceful to his adopted parents memory to run their name into the ground by making it synonymous with complete and utter incompetence. A Clark who wants everyone to think "what an absolute rube" when they hear "Kent" is pretty much a complete jackass. He becomes a flatter character by eliminating half of his actual character to try and strengthen the strongman. The duality adds to the character, not the reverse.

  9. #24
    Astonishing Member Johnny Thunders!'s Avatar
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    I have no problem with Clark being clumsy, nerdy, or awkward and I find it interesting that people despise him for those reasons . I think Superman challenges you to look deeper into what humanity is when he challenges you to accept him at his most flawed self.

  10. #25
    The Man Who Cannot Die manwhohaseverything's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Robanker View Post
    It's pretty disgraceful to his adopted parents memory to run their name into the ground by making it synonymous with complete and utter incompetence. A Clark who wants everyone to think "what an absolute rube" when they hear "Kent" is pretty much a complete jackass. He becomes a flatter character by eliminating half of his actual character to try and strengthen the strongman. The duality adds to the character, not the reverse.
    The story ain't about his adopted parents first of all.It's about the daring adventures of the one true champion of the oppressed.His adopted parents came later after superman.(Heck!i wouldn't even mind clark not having any.Go back to motocyclist origin).Moreover,Jonathan kent was the one who asked clark to hide his great strength because people will be afraid of him.He was the one who asked clark to play the fool(snyder movies did it).
    "You have to keep this side of yourself a secret"
    Clark kent nor superman does the things he does for name.It is not about "showing off or scoring touchdowns" like donner's jonathan kent said.(Because being superman is being a criminal.That's counter productive.don't you think?)Anyways,Superman is about doing the right thing.He is about true strength which is fighting for the weak.Clark is about Hidden truths.Behind the viel of mundanity,weakness,absurdity..etc lays the truth.And truth can be stranger than fiction sometimes.Superman is a Jackass.Only because lois was afraid of him in their first meeting.The corrupt structures and flawed people barely could tolerate his existence as they were afraid of him.
    Last edited by manwhohaseverything; 12-02-2020 at 10:59 PM.

  11. #26
    Black Belt in Bad Ideas Robanker's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by manwhohaseverything View Post
    The story ain't about his adopted parents first of all.It's about the daring adventures of the one tre champion of the oppressed.His adopted parents came later after superman.(Heck!i wouldn't even mind clark not having any.Go back to motocyclist origin).Moreover,Jonathan kent was the one who asked clark to hide his great strength because people will be afraid of him.He was the one who asked clark to play the fool.Clark kent nor superman does the things he does for name.(Because being superman is being a criminal.That's counter productive.don't you think?)Anyways,Superman is about doing the right thing.He is about true strength which fighting for the weak.Clark is about Hidden truths.Behind the viel of mundanity,weakness,absurdity..etc lies the truth.And truth can be stranger than fiction sometimes.Superman is a Jackass.Only because lois was afraid of him in their first meeting.The corrupt structures and flawed people barely could tolerate his existence as they were afraid of him.
    I must have missed the issue where Jonathan said "and in hiding your great gifts, make sure the entire world things Martha and I raised the world's biggest buffoon." There's a pretty big difference in "the world will fear your powers, try to blend in" and "make sure you run my name into the ground with ridicule."

    And no, it's not about his parents, but it's about a man of two worlds. Having him treat one like a playground that he thinks is foolish is pretty much saying that stupid argument Bill spouts in Kill Bill Part 2 is correct. To be honest, I get the feeling you agree with it, and while you're welcome to your opinion, you're likely alone in holding it in these parts.

  12. #27
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    Having Clark be "confident" defeats the original, and still superior, purpose of the character.

    While the bumbler is too extreme nowadays, I'll gladly take that over the John Byrne idea of Clark.

  13. #28
    Moderator Frontier's Avatar
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    I think it's kind of boring if public Clark is too "normal," so I appreciate some affectation to distinguish him from Superman, although I'm not so much expecting him to be buffoonish so much as dorky, overly happy, and unassuming.

  14. #29
    The Man Who Cannot Die manwhohaseverything's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Robanker View Post
    I must have missed the issue where Jonathan said "and in hiding your great gifts, make sure the entire world things Martha and I raised the world's biggest buffoon." There's a pretty big difference in "the world will fear your powers, try to blend in" and "make sure you run my name into the ground with ridicule."

    And no, it's not about his parents, but it's about a man of two worlds. Having him treat one like a playground that he thinks is foolish is pretty much saying that stupid argument Bill spouts in Kill Bill Part 2 is correct. To be honest, I get the feeling you agree with it, and while you're welcome to your opinion, you're likely alone in holding it in these parts.
    As if kent or el or any of the names ever mattered.Actions matter,not names.Clark is honoring his parents by doing what they raised him to be and his own instincts allowed him to do.If the world laughs at a clumsy man exposing the corrupt that only shows their ficklness.If the world can't see a clumsy man as superman then that's their ficklness.That fickless needs to change.It requires clark being clumsy and buffoon like.Behind every laughing clown there is a crying man.Those opinions about his name don't matter."You are ruining the family name" Is a nonesensical argument.He knew what he was getting himself into when he started being a vigilante.Moreover,i don't think ma or pa would agree with clark being superman in the first place or his modus operandi or his tactics.They can disagree.But,he has to do what he thinks is right.Protecting the weak is what they raised him to be.If the name becomes a cover ,so be it.Why?there are bigger things in life,people are suffering.If he worries about stupid labels put on him and the value of those label than real ideals.He ain't superman.Point blank.

    The two worlds thing is not about their names.It's about legacy.Kal was never krypton's legacy in my mind.It was always the fortress.Kal was just the stepping stone.Moreover,ma and pa's legacy is not clark kent.It has always been the aftermaths of superman's actions as an agent of transformation.All the good he accomplishes.Superman or real clark kent is just a stepping stone.I know,i might be alone. I don't care.Never did.Never will.
    Last edited by manwhohaseverything; 12-02-2020 at 10:32 PM.

  15. #30
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    I go with both, not at the same time obviously. It depends on context and as long as bumbling doesn't equate to making him look dumb and stupid.

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