Smallville Season 4: Expanding Your World View

The moral case for expanding your view of the world.

There's only so much that you can actually know.

No matter how much you have or experiences you're capable of, you're fundamentally limited in what you can do. In part because of all the limitations placed upon you. When you're born, you can't really do much of anything beyond cry when you're hungry or tired or in some kind of pain. Those are the only things you can actually feel at these times. At least as far as people can understand themselves. It's hard to get any kind of reasonable understanding of what you can know. Which is itself a kind of limitation of people. You can't really know the most important things about the earliest days of your own development. The limitations hardly end there. With every year that passes you learn more but you also understand that there are things you can't do. Places you can't go and powers you don't have, like the ability to fly or run at super sonic speeds. You learn that you're vulnerable to things, like sharp objects and fire and cold. Knowing these limitations about yourself can be crazy making, but it can also make you want to test your limits.

Previously in this space, we've explored the problem with trying to fit in with people around you, as well as what happens when you try to stand out. We've looked at how this can make you feel insane because some people can't do either. But the story doesn't necessarily end there. Going crazy can give you a reason to see the world differently. That there are ideas and concepts beyond your own understanding of the world, and that you can become more than what you are through this process. Consider new opportunities for growth, not limit yourself to the every day and the ordinary most people go through. But what happens to you when you do? Is it all good or all bad? Maybe somewhere in between?

“Clark, your mother tells me that... you can fly?”

“Kal-El can fly, Clark Kent is still earth bound.”

“How did that feel?”

“Amazing... and scary, because if I can do that maybe I'm capable of anything.”

Clark has found himself in this place at the beginning of season 4. Many of the experiences that he's had trying to fit in or stand out have given him new insight into himself and what he can do. Up until this point though, he's only focused on himself and what he's capable of. It's been all about him and the way he lives his life. However, he's not the only person in the world and the world is much bigger than his own small town. Other people have other experiences of the world and won't necessarily agree with the way he lives his life. They won't agree with his concept of right and wrong.

“It's just... I knew she'd be dating other people. But I just don't understand how you can think you can know someone so completely and then just all of the sudden...”

“You don't know even know what continent they're on.”

One way to deal with this is through the use of power. If you have enough of it, you can impose your ideas of morality on other people. You don't have to argue with people or disagree with them if you can overpower them and make people do what you want instead of choosing it for themselves. What's worse is that doing this can actually feel really good and want to do it more. Not just to individual people but to whole groups of people. The more power you have the easier it is to do something like that to others. You can stop people from doing the things they want and make people agree to your view, even if it's painful for them.

“Dad I know you don't agree with me. But sometimes taking responsibility means having faith in yourself to make the hard choices.”

“And it also means being willing to accept the consequences.”

“Every handshake, every hug, every time I'm out on that field I make a conscious decision to fall when those guys hit me so they don't get hurt. No matter how hard you try, you can't understand that. That's why it's my decision and not yours.”

Lex has come to this realization about himself. In becoming crazy and finding a way to force his father out of his life after so many years of living under him, Lex has realized his own power. That there really isn't anything stopping him from doing whatever he wants with what he has. It's hard to resist enjoying this in whatever way you feel like. Giving in to your every desire. Really the only thing that can stop you is the knowledge that more power exists out there. You're only capable of imposing your view on others if they can't somehow gain what you have or even more than what you're capable of doing.

“We all have a dark side Lex.”

“Yeah but I can feel mine creeping over the corners. Your friendship helps keep it in check. It reminds me that there are truly good people in the world. I'm not willing to give up on that.”

This is where the Countess Isabelle Theraux comes in. She has learned that there are forces with power beyond her own. The world is bigger than she thought it was and her desires can never be fully realized unless she can stop them from using it. As soon as she has this power, there's nothing that can stop her. However, she's not the only person who might want the power for themselves. So not only does she have to find a way to take it from someone more powerful than her but she has to keep other people from gaining it for their own purposes.

“Knowledge comes from finding answers, yes, but understanding what those answers mean is what brings wisdom. Men who didn't understand the difference have been the ruin of some of the world's greatest civilizations.”

When you do have power beyond other people though, you might come up against those who have similar or equal power to your own. At the very least it's possible that they will know how to use what they have better than you can. Though they might not be as powerful, they might have more skills in one particular area... like speed. You can be stronger but they can be faster and escape before you can stop them.

This is something that Clark learns through people like Bart Allen. Not only does he have more speed than Clark so he can escape almost any consequences, but he can use this ability to maintain his own view of the world. More than that, he isn't someone from Smallville. He didn't get his powers from the meteor rocks or anything Clark might understand as the way the world works. Clark can no longer limit himself to thinking only about his small town life and only caring about what happens within the place he calls home.

“Look, I'm not running away Clark, I'm running towards something. I'm going to have everything I've ever dreamed of, one way or another. I thought you and I were the same but I was wrong. You are nothing like me.”

Coming to terms with this really begins when Clark meets Lois though. She's a big city girl with big city ideas about the world and her place in it. Lois has actually seen the world and knows who she is, or at least thinks she does. Clark can't keep her from thinking the way she does or acting the way she wants. He also can't use his power to force her to believe what he wants her to because he doesn't want to use his power on her. She gives him a perspective on the world that's bigger than he has experienced up until this point.

“You shouldn't wound what you can't kill.”

Lionel has a similar shift in perspective from who he used to be and into who he becomes. Largely because his world view has been expanded through circumstances beyond his control. The body switch with Clark gives him a better understanding of himself, even if he doesn't necessarily remember what happened. Prior to this shift he was a vengeful man with the money and power to impose his ideas of the world on people. Yet as a result of his transformation, he learns the horror of what he's done and the trappings of power.

“You're living on borrowed time Lex, stop trying to borrow more.”

He tries to change and become a better person. To use his more limited abilities after his fall from grace to try and make the world see that it can improve itself. At the end of the day though, Lionel reverts back to old patterns as a way of protecting himself and other people around him. Using power for what you could argue are good reasons but doing it in underhanded and harmful ways, destroying Genevieve and others who want to take power for themselves.

“The only challenge to a father's will is a mother's love.”

Part of the benefit of having someone like Lois or Bart in your life is how it challenges you and your ideas of who you are and what you ultimately want. It's one thing to have a safe and easy place to build up your sense of self and come to terms with wanting to know where you fit in. On the other hand, when you can learn from different perspectives and test them against those who might know more than you.

“Wow, superhero and journalist... what are the odds?”

That way you can figure out just how strongly you feel about particular issues or problems. If it turns out that the people who challenge you have a better sense of things, you can learn why you're wrong and how you can make yourself better. Especially if you want to gain the power of someone else so you can do more with it. Or learn how to properly develop your skills as a way of challenging a stronger opponent.

“Embracing your abilities and flaunting them are two different things.”

Maybe the most important reason for being able to challenge someone with more power is because not everyone who wants to gain power is doing it for the right reasons. Some of them just like the idea of hurting people. Either because they were mistreated by someone with more power or because they believe it's a good idea to force people to do what they want. People can't always be trusted to do the right thing according to some perspectives on the world. They have to be forced into it and it's easier to do that with power. It doesn't really matter who gets hurt in the process.

“Where'd you get this?”

“I got it for you Clark, it doesn't matter where I got it.”

“Yes, it does Bart. You haven't been listening to anything I've said, you can't go around stealing whatever you want.”

“Why not?”

“Because there are laws.”

“For normal people. Dude why do you treat your abilities like they're a curse? They're not man, they're a gift. I'm going to use them.”

“I'm not saying you shouldn't. Just use them to help people not hurt them.”

Which is why you need people who are willing to stand up for the less fortunate. The people who will be harmed by those with the power to use it against them. Sadly, there aren't that many people out there who would be willing to actually stand up to people. Not only because they don't have nearly enough power, but also due to their own desire for power.

“I do know what it's like to love someone whose calling is greater than your own.”

It's a delicate balance to strike but we'll get deeper into that when we explore season 5.

Smallville is available on Max and Hulu in the United States and Amazon Prime.