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People don't like to be singled out.
It's an incredibly uncomfortable feeling for other people to point out how different you are and the ways in which you don't seem like the rest of them. Being treated as if you're different makes you feel bad. Largely because you don't like to think of yourself as strange or outside the normal ideas of what people think. You want people to see you as one of them. Part of the crowd like everybody else. There's a powerful feeling in the idea that other people want to be around you and do things with you. When they don't, you end up spending a lot of time alone. Something that feels even worse over time the more you spend time alone.
As a result, it feels better to try and be with other people. To give people the sense that they don't have any reason to think you should be singled out in any way. Find ways to blend in and make yourself almost unrecognizable from anyone else. Especially because those who are different become much easier to spot. So does what happens to them when you do. They get left out and you can see how that goes wrong. They become what you don't want to be. Nowhere is this more obvious than in high school. Becoming part of the in crowd is never more important than in high school. So how do people actually do it? When everyone is so worried about fitting in, how do you know when you're doing it correctly?
“Clark, I know you're upset but it's normal.”
“Normal? How about this? Is this normal? I didn't dive in after Lex's car, it hit me at 60 miles an hour. Does that sound normal to you? I'd give anything to be normal.”
This is where Clark is at the beginning of his journey on Smallville. He is different from other people. Having been born on a different planet, there really isn't any way to see himself as the same. Clark can do things that other people can't. He can see it even if other people can't. However, because he is different, he can't always do the things other people do. Maybe he wants to but he can't. What he is capable of has made it harder for him to do the ordinary things like go on play dates with kids when he was a young child. That gets in the way of his ability to make friends all that much harder. He's had to deal with this problem his whole life.
Except that he looks like everyone else. He grew up on a planet where you can't see any difference between him and other people. To the outside world, he seems normal. Someone who isn't special, has nothing more than an ordinary life. At least for a young man living on a farm in the middle of Kansas. So the fact that he isn't doing everything that the people around him are makes him different. People aren't entirely sure how to handle him. Which makes it easier for them to simply stay away. If he's not working towards getting involved with other people, why put in the effort to try and get to know him?
“Look, I know this has gotta be really hard for ya son, but you just gotta hang in there like we promised.”
“I'm sick of hanging in there. All I want to do is go through high school without being a total loser.”
High school has so many ways for people to get involved with others. There are clubs and sports teams and all kinds of activities where you're forced to spend time around other people. It's hard to not find a way to make some kind of connection at least. Yet there are people who can't even do that. They can't make the kind of friends that other people do. Either because they don't want to or because something about them stands out. If only you could see beyond the superficial differences of people and their attitude, maybe you'd find a reason to connect. Almost like having x-ray vision or something.
“I understand what it's like to be... hidden from the world.”
Instead we look at the outside and do everything we can to look like other people. We wear the same jersey or outfit. We try and enjoy the same movies and television shows or at the very least go to the same events such as football games or parties. All with the intent of trying to fit in. To make yourself less special and just your average, every day person. Some people will even go so far as to change not just their clothes or their hairstyle, but their entire appearance. If they don't like a blemish or their weight, they will do everything they can to remove their imperfections and get much thinner so that they don't stand out any more than anyone else.
“I'm giving you a chance to be a part of something special. A part of history. Now I've seen you stare at your father's picture in that trophy case. Don't tell me you don't want to be a part of this. Why don't you suit up? Look at Ross here, he doesn't have a lick of natural talent but he's got a truckload of heart.”
Which is what so many of Clark's classmates are dealing with in season 1. Greg Arkin for instance has been living outside the normal thanks to his obsession with bugs. Yet he's able to transform himself and go from a pimple faced loser into a good looking, confident guy. Jodie Meville similarly is dealing with the fact that she is overweight. Her body doesn't look like everyone else. So she has to find a way to become more like everyone else by losing weight. The problem with both of them is that the way they go about it ultimately causes them nothing but pain.
Even people like Kyle Tippet and Earl are trying to deal with the fact that they don't fit in with other people. He's become different, not because he was born that way but through circumstances beyond his control. It makes him want to do whatever he has to in order to fix himself. To turn him back from a strange person to a regular one. Kyle Tippet on the other hand sees his ability as a curse. While not something that will necessarily hurt him, he doesn't like what having the powers he has allows him to do. He would rather live in the woods and avoid the rest of the world.
“Some people aren't meant for a normal life.”
Those who think of themselves as different and find that exciting, like Phelan, Coach Arnold and Harry, will use this to justify what they are doing. In Phelan's case it's his knowledge that he's the good guy, regardless of whether that's true or not, and he's therefore justified in doing whatever he has to in order to maintain power. Including exploiting Clark and his abilities for what he sees as the greater good. Despite the fact that he has to harm others in order to do it. His special status gives him a right to hurt people. Coach Arnold feels very much the same. His legacy is worth hurting people over. Harry meanwhile feels as though his ability to create a legacy has been taken from him, justifying the murder of those who took it from him.
“Just because you win doesn't make you right.”
Clark is someone who understands this fact better than most. He's maybe the only person who can see it from both sides, whether it's the idea of wanting to be normal or using what was given to him in order to stand out. Unlike either group those, he doesn't see just one side. Clark has wanted to use his powers to make himself look special to others. Hoping that it will make people like him and give him the validation that he's better. At the same time, he knows that doing this might cause him more problems than he's worth.
“You go through life with a gift you have to keep a secret, you see everyone around you being normal you get jealous. You just want to be somebody else.”
So he hides himself away from the world as much as possible. Keeping some of the most important aspects of his life quiet, just so he can seem like everybody else. This causes problems for him too though, for the people in his life. Chloe and Pete and Lana want to get to know Clark in a really deep and meaningful way. But because of Clark's circumstances, being from another planet and the powers that gives him, he can't be as open as he wants to be. His friends can't know everything about him and so he is always on the outside with them. Even within his closest friends, Clark doesn't entirely fit in when it comes right down to it.
Of course, the person Clark can trust the least with parts of himself is Lex. The money and power of the Luthor name and legacy mean that if he knew certain things about Clark, it would likely end badly. Although Clark doesn't want to believe it at first, over the course of time he realizes that not everything about Lex is what it seems. He has his secrets and he's willing to do what other people won't in order to discover the secrets of others. Which makes it all the more important that Clark keep things from him, much as he might not want to.
“I joined the football team, not a cult.”
The one thing that seems to define Lex more than anything is that he tends to stand out. He exists apart from other people, partly because of his father and the life he was born into, but also because it gives him power over those around him. Especially in a town like Smallville where so few people can actually measure up to who he is and what he's after. Despite living in a small town where most of the world doesn't bother to go, Lex stands out due to his power and influence. While this seems like completely a good thing, it also leads to being easily singled out. Either because of something he did or because of how his father might have acted.
Which is part of what makes Roger Nixon so interesting and why Lex works with him. Lex feels like an outsider who doesn't really fit in anywhere. He wants to feel as if he's not the only one who might feel this way. Lex wants to know that there are people who are just as unique and who stand out just like he does. It's part of his longing for a way to fit in. If you can find those people, maybe you can become part of a tribe. Roger and his investigation of Clark presents him with that possibility. Although the problem is how Roger wants to go about it. He wants to expose Clark and all the aspects of him which make him different. Despite the fact that Clark himself wants to remain hidden.
“Maybe being normal won't be so bad. I mean it works for you and mom.”
Lex on the other hand wants to protect those who might be different like him. This brings him into conflict with not only Clark but Roger as well. Roger's willingness to go to any lengths to get what he wants doesn't sit well with Lex. This makes Roger even more unique than either of them. That makes him and his goals incredibly dangerous to everyone around him.
Standing out clearly has its downsides for people. If you're not careful it can be even worse than fitting in.
But we'll get into that in more depth when we dive into season 2.
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