I don't care much ab the distinction, tbh. It lacks resonance either way, imo, and it's all just a plot vehicle towards the Doomsday set piece.
Interesting. You didn't even mention Doomsday initially. Seems like moving goal posts, and it's a stretch to reduce and write off all of that character development as plot contrivance given that it's something one could say about pretty much anything in a narrative where there is a cause and effect chain (e.g. Thanos' illogical motivation to save the universe the tragic fate of overpopulation and scarcity by killing instead of creating more resources is just a vehicle to create a crisis and get rid of some Avengers for a nostalgic finale). Doomsday may be the end, but that doesn't undermine the motivations and means of his creator, Lex, whose psychology and motivations were the focus of your previous faulty analysis.
Lex creates Doomsday not only to reflect his desire to place himself as the apotheosis of man — a man who can create life like a god and kill gods — but to ensure that he has an ideal example to prove to the public that such beings with supernatural powers are ultimately destructive and dangerous. It's even foreshadowed in Lex's discussion of his father's painting of an angel and demon: his savior is one that comes from hell beneath ("Ancient Kryptonian deformity.
The blood of my blood. Born to destroy you. Your Doomsday. Now God is good as dead."). In his arrogance, he believes that as Doomsday's creator he can have dominion over him and can plead insanity once the dust settles. It isn't far off from other incarnations who, in their zeal to defeat Superman, have created powerful beings like Nuclear Man and Bizarro.
Perhaps more importantly, Doomsday's role in the story isn't just about Lex. It's about humanity. Had Luthor succeeded in having either Superman kill Batman or Batman kill Superman, he would have undermined the public's faith in Superman as powerful and good. Lex's cynicism meant he believed Superman would break in the face of his mother's endangerment ("god is tribal") or die at the hands of the monsters he created (Batman or Doomsday). If Batman killed Superman, that would mean Superman chose to let his mother die. If Doomsday killed Superman without getting killed itself, then Superman isn't the savior humanity can rely on. What Lex didn't anticipate was that Superman would be able to collaborate with other heroes (and get his kryptonite!) and be willing to sacrifice himself to kill Doomsday, thus showing his love for humanity and his own humanity in a way that boosts their faith in him and inspires other metahumans to follow his example. That this is a mistake Luthor makes is important to the story and to revealing a key aspect of his character.
Like everything "deep" Snyder tries to do its just not well developed.
Nah. You might want to
check this out to see the extensive and cohesive development his character and this arc received in the film.
When did Lex ever try to present himself as a person looking out for the best interests of others? This would make sense if he was out running a political campaign, or acting philanthropic or literally doing anything in public.
You have got to be kidding. First of all, you seem to have misunderstood me. I didn't say that Lex ACTUALLY cared about others. I said he wanted to be perceived as caring about others. Second, almost everything Lex does in BvS relates to politics and philanthropy. His first two major sequences involve him trying to work within the socially acceptable confines of politics by pitching his deterrents to senators like June Finch. It's funny you mention philanthropy, because his next major scene is at his own fundraiser where he literally talks about philanthropy in public in a way that illuminates his motivations:
HOST: Philanthropist. Bibliophile. True friend of the library of Metropolis. Mr. Lex Luthor.
LEX: You're embarrassing me.
AUDIENCE: Speech. Speech.
LEX: Uh, blah blah blah. Open bar.... The word Philanthropist, comes from the Greek, meaning a lover of humanity. It was coined about, 2,500 years ago...Prometheus went with us, and he ruined Zeus' plan to destroy mankind and for that, he was given a thunderbolt. Chooo! Hm. That seems unfair. My father could not afford the books, so he had to root through the garbage for yesterday's newspaper...Books are knowledge, and knowledge is...And I am...No, what am I? The bitter sweet pain among man is having knowledge with no power. Because that is paradoxical.
So, Lex moves in circles with politicians and philanthropists to present himself in the public eye as someone looking out for humanity's best interests, protecting them from possible threats and empowering them with the knowledge or, better put, the truth that "power can[not] be innocent."
It might be worth everyone's time to
read this blog post reviewing the varied history of the Lex Luthor character, which elaborates on his motivations. In light of that history and the story of BvS itself, I feel it's fair to say that Eisenberg's Lex fits right in with the other Luthors — Luthors who have said things like the following:
I believe there’s something inherently dangerous when something real becomes mythic. Because when faced with a myth we can’t win. So the mythic must be exposed for what it is. So we can believe in ourselves. Because it’s only what’s in us…the drive to be mythic…that matters.
Those red eyes, I'm sure they look right through me, like I am nothing more than a nuisance. But when I see you? I see something no man can ever be. I see the end. The end of our potential. The end of our achievements. The end of our dreams. You are my nightmare.
And if that was his plan, why experiment on Zod's body?
Why release Doomsday?
See my post above to Nemeres.
It makes no sense because its by Zack Snyder.
See, that's a bias you need to watch out for.
