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Hi All,
I have been wondering how much the philosophy of Nietzsche actually influenced Smallville. After all, his book "Beyond Good and Evil" was Lionel's "Bible" to the end. Lionel even hid his last message to Clark behind that book.
It turned out that the origial authors of "Superman" Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster chose the name "Superman" due to Nietzsche's work. While I doubt that they actually read Nietzsche themselves Lionel's adherence to Nietzsche seems to indicated a stronger connection to Smallville than just because of Siegel and Shuster. Also, I think it would be a nice twist if Smallville finally closed the circle and provided a Superman world based on Nietzsche's philosophy.
So I have started to do a bit of research into Nietzsche. Those of you who watched Gene Roddenberry's "Andromeda" (a science fiction TV series http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andromeda_Ascendant) likely remember the "Nietzscheans", a species that origins in humankind but was genetically altered (improved in their opinion). The Nietzscheans base their life and philosophy on Nietzsche's ideal - at least as they interpret it. I wonder if Lionel Luthor could have been a Nietzschean - not genetically but in his goals ? What do you think?
Do you see other aspects of Nietzsche's work in Smallville? Here is a summary about one of Nietzsche's main social criticism: the master morality and the slave morality. According to him, both moral systems are evil and a Superman is someone who overcomes them. Can we see this in Smallville, too? Are there charactes that adhere to one moral system or the other? Or figth them inside themselves and in others? Is Clark maybe slowly developing into somebody who overcomes these moralities and only then he will be truely "Superman"?
It seems to me that Lionel Luthor used to follow the master morality. We see "evil Lex" in "Onyx" (season five) practically quoting it when describing his father's views. Jonathan Kent on the other hand seems an example of someone who believes in slave morality: his deep set predjudice to and hate of the "ruling class", his believe that it is best to do nothing. He seems to think that to be a meek and submissive farmer is the ultimate definition of good. What do you think?
What about the other characters? What about Clark? We see him critizising his father's way of thinking, especially in the first seasons after all.
I have been wondering how much the philosophy of Nietzsche actually influenced Smallville. After all, his book "Beyond Good and Evil" was Lionel's "Bible" to the end. Lionel even hid his last message to Clark behind that book.
It turned out that the origial authors of "Superman" Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster chose the name "Superman" due to Nietzsche's work. While I doubt that they actually read Nietzsche themselves Lionel's adherence to Nietzsche seems to indicated a stronger connection to Smallville than just because of Siegel and Shuster. Also, I think it would be a nice twist if Smallville finally closed the circle and provided a Superman world based on Nietzsche's philosophy.
So I have started to do a bit of research into Nietzsche. Those of you who watched Gene Roddenberry's "Andromeda" (a science fiction TV series http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andromeda_Ascendant) likely remember the "Nietzscheans", a species that origins in humankind but was genetically altered (improved in their opinion). The Nietzscheans base their life and philosophy on Nietzsche's ideal - at least as they interpret it. I wonder if Lionel Luthor could have been a Nietzschean - not genetically but in his goals ? What do you think?
Do you see other aspects of Nietzsche's work in Smallville? Here is a summary about one of Nietzsche's main social criticism: the master morality and the slave morality. According to him, both moral systems are evil and a Superman is someone who overcomes them. Can we see this in Smallville, too? Are there charactes that adhere to one moral system or the other? Or figth them inside themselves and in others? Is Clark maybe slowly developing into somebody who overcomes these moralities and only then he will be truely "Superman"?
In Ecce Homo Nietzsche called the establishment of moral systems based on a dichotomy of good and evil a "calamitous error",[108] and wished to initiate a re-evaluation of the values of the Judeo-Christian world.[109] He indicates his desire to bring about a new, more naturalistic source of value in the vital impulses of life itself.
In Beyond Good And Evil and On the Genealogy of Morality, Nietzsche's genealogical account of the development of master-slave morality occupies a central place.[110] He begins by examining dualistic morality and belief that there are good and evil forces in constant conflict with each other. For Nietzsche, aristocrats and other ruling castes of ancient civilizations held a form of dual preference for what they considered to be "good" and "evil." These were not moral laws per se, but values that coincided with their relationship to lower castes such as slaves.[111] Nietzsche therefore presents master-morality as the original system of morality—perhaps best associated with Homeric Greece. Here, value arises as a contrast between good and bad, or between 'life-affirming' and 'life-denying': wealth, strength, health, and power are good, while bad is associated with the poor, weak, sick, and pathetic, the sort of traits conventionally associated with slaves in ancient times.
Slave-morality, in contrast, comes about as a reaction to master-morality. Here, value emerges from the contrast between good and evil: good being associated with other-worldliness, charity, piety, restraint, meekness, and submission; evil seen as worldly, cruel, selfish, wealthy, and aggressive. Slave morality is pessimistic and fearful, values for them serve only to ease the existence for those who suffer from the very same thing. Nietzsche associates slave-morality with the Jewish and Christian traditions. Nietzsche sees slave-morality born out of the ressentiment of slaves. It works to overcome the slave's own sense of inferiority before the (better-off) masters. It does so by making out slave weakness to be a matter of choice, by, e.g., relabeling it as "meekness."
Nietzsche sees the slave-morality as a source of the nihilism that has overtaken Europe. In his eyes, modern Europe and Christianity, exists in a hypocritical state due to a tension between master and slave morality, both values contradictorily determining, to varying degrees, the values of most Europeans (who are motley). At the core of this problem, Nietzsche attacks egalitarianism for equaling these two values and thus endangering the best specimens of humanity.[112] Nietzsche calls for exceptional people to no longer be ashamed of their uniqueness in the face of a supposed morality-for-all, which he deems to be harmful to the flourishing of exceptional people. However, Nietzsche cautions that morality, per se, is not bad; it is good for the masses, and should be left to them. Exceptional people, on the other hand, should follow their own "inner law." A favorite motto of Nietzsche, taken from Pindar, reads: "Become what you are."
In Beyond Good And Evil and On the Genealogy of Morality, Nietzsche's genealogical account of the development of master-slave morality occupies a central place.[110] He begins by examining dualistic morality and belief that there are good and evil forces in constant conflict with each other. For Nietzsche, aristocrats and other ruling castes of ancient civilizations held a form of dual preference for what they considered to be "good" and "evil." These were not moral laws per se, but values that coincided with their relationship to lower castes such as slaves.[111] Nietzsche therefore presents master-morality as the original system of morality—perhaps best associated with Homeric Greece. Here, value arises as a contrast between good and bad, or between 'life-affirming' and 'life-denying': wealth, strength, health, and power are good, while bad is associated with the poor, weak, sick, and pathetic, the sort of traits conventionally associated with slaves in ancient times.
Slave-morality, in contrast, comes about as a reaction to master-morality. Here, value emerges from the contrast between good and evil: good being associated with other-worldliness, charity, piety, restraint, meekness, and submission; evil seen as worldly, cruel, selfish, wealthy, and aggressive. Slave morality is pessimistic and fearful, values for them serve only to ease the existence for those who suffer from the very same thing. Nietzsche associates slave-morality with the Jewish and Christian traditions. Nietzsche sees slave-morality born out of the ressentiment of slaves. It works to overcome the slave's own sense of inferiority before the (better-off) masters. It does so by making out slave weakness to be a matter of choice, by, e.g., relabeling it as "meekness."
Nietzsche sees the slave-morality as a source of the nihilism that has overtaken Europe. In his eyes, modern Europe and Christianity, exists in a hypocritical state due to a tension between master and slave morality, both values contradictorily determining, to varying degrees, the values of most Europeans (who are motley). At the core of this problem, Nietzsche attacks egalitarianism for equaling these two values and thus endangering the best specimens of humanity.[112] Nietzsche calls for exceptional people to no longer be ashamed of their uniqueness in the face of a supposed morality-for-all, which he deems to be harmful to the flourishing of exceptional people. However, Nietzsche cautions that morality, per se, is not bad; it is good for the masses, and should be left to them. Exceptional people, on the other hand, should follow their own "inner law." A favorite motto of Nietzsche, taken from Pindar, reads: "Become what you are."
What about the other characters? What about Clark? We see him critizising his father's way of thinking, especially in the first seasons after all.