I too figured I would avoid this in this thread. However it's a writing element.
Mjölnir;26743115 said:
I'm breaking my word now, but such speed doesn't really matter that much since people that are stressed out and in danger tend to not have very reliable senses. Most normal people would question themselves if they actually saw what they think they saw.
Yes people question their perspectives on things, people question their memories on things even more, especially under duress, that's a sound hypothetical. That being said:
If I saw an alien wearing jordans, fall from the sky, do a three point landing, grab his crotch like michael jackson then leap back up into the sky again. I would probably question it.
Until I looked over to my buddy standing right next to me and he "corroborates" the story, on the spot. I still doubt him so I ask the young lady next to him, same deal, same exact explanation, than I ask this same ladies mother, same deal same exact explanation, I make my way down a highway's worth of people pulled over on the side of the road....see where I'm going with this?
Now, take what ever conclusion you want to draw from this. Whatever the logical answer would be and apply it to a singular individual. What are the chances Clark thinks this might go down this way? If you say more than 50% than what we have here is sound character plotting.
ps. Clark isn't exactly flying under the radar in smallville as it stands, pretty sure people are ready to believe a heavily corroborated story about him. Pretty sure even Jon won't be able to pay off that many indifferent bystanders. One's who I should mention aren't just hearing it from their fat son whom himself was indeed saved.
Let's put it this way. If a handful of people out in the hicks, somewhere in the US, started claiming that they saw a school kid do something supernatural, would you believe them or just dismiss them as delusional or crazy?
Kansas isn't the
hicks, sorry. Not all places are based on cartoons and caricature. Pretty sure even Goyer understands this.
But let's explore this. How long do you propose it would take for a lois lane type to get out there and investigate for herself especially if the town makes a mockery/spectacle/divine something of it. Imagine it happened right now in our current world. Pretty sure it would be easy to figure out a young clark if you were actually looking. All you need do is ask for birth papers than cross reference them with medical records and blood samples during that period. Then again, it is a hick town so who knows.
The internet was around when that incident happened right? Pretty sure it would spread. Not as fast as Miley twerking mind you.
I suppose the kents could just move. Land is land after all(have fun dealing with the internet though).
And as for the instinct to save your loved ones I'd say yes, that falls on Goyer and not the viewer. Especially since he's writing what many claim should be the ultimate hero, he's not writing one of us normal people who would still save our loved ones in a heartbeat if we could.
Saving a loved one vs doing what you believe is right for the greater good is a very easy choice for "the ultimate hero" as you put it.
However, in this situation we aren't dealing with the ultimate hero, we are dealing with a young adolescent. As dramatized earlier in the same scene.
So you are wrong on two fronts.
1. Superman would save 8 billion people and their future kids over saving his girlfriend or daddy cause he isn't selfish.
2. This isn't even that guy yet. For everyone that "claims" superman is the ultimate hero, how many of these same people believe that of Clark Kent at 17?
I think this is a matter of a differing opinion on plot points. Sucks for people like me to see other people who simply disagree claiming it to be a failure of writing. It implies the argument has been won, when clearly it's an open debate at best.