After watching Shattered, I've been looking back at the seasons of Smallville and how Clark was driven to be a hero, and Lex was driven to be a villian. The irony is not that friends became enemies, but that their fathers were like an inverse of each other and the failings of the other father, created them.
Take Lex, a young man troubled by a father constantly instilling him with distrust and tests to prime him as a CEO figure. Lionel was full of distrust, leaving a void of friendship and family that Lex searched out for and found Clark.
On the other hand, Clark is filled with the family values that Jonathan and Martha instilled in him, but became very distrusting of others in the name of protecting his secret. In this sense, Jonathan is the inverse of Lionel - mostly filled with love and family values, but has a distrusting and paranoid side.
At any point in the entire series where Clark and Lex would converge into a good friendship, neither fully evil nor fully heroic, their fathers almost always result in forging the wedge between them. How many times have you said, "If Clark only told Lex the truth, he could have saved their friendship and brought Lex into the light" and then watched Clark not help Lex due to guidance by Jonathan. Or the reverse, Lex having the capability to do something good, but being selfish in his quest for power, like Lionel.
Whenever Lional acts friendly towards Clark, his distrust (inspired by Jonathan) usually drives him to be more heroic and find out what's going on. Whenever Jonathan acts un-friendly towards Lex, his void of family drives him to be hurt and vengeful, taking him down the path of evil. In the end, Clark strives for good, but often ends up hurting others (e.g. Lana), and Lex does the same (e.g. striving to protect america), but hurting others through his evil means.
So, I submit to you, the great irony in Smallville is how the legacy of a good family can inadvertantly create a villian, and the legacy of an evil family can inadvertantly create a hero, and the ultimate balance between the two.
P.S. Of course at this point, the series has advanced to the point where the characters on the verge of becoming a fully fledged hero or villian. The last glimmers of anything else are quickly vanishing (e.g. the scenes in Nemesis between Clark and Lex).
Take Lex, a young man troubled by a father constantly instilling him with distrust and tests to prime him as a CEO figure. Lionel was full of distrust, leaving a void of friendship and family that Lex searched out for and found Clark.
On the other hand, Clark is filled with the family values that Jonathan and Martha instilled in him, but became very distrusting of others in the name of protecting his secret. In this sense, Jonathan is the inverse of Lionel - mostly filled with love and family values, but has a distrusting and paranoid side.
At any point in the entire series where Clark and Lex would converge into a good friendship, neither fully evil nor fully heroic, their fathers almost always result in forging the wedge between them. How many times have you said, "If Clark only told Lex the truth, he could have saved their friendship and brought Lex into the light" and then watched Clark not help Lex due to guidance by Jonathan. Or the reverse, Lex having the capability to do something good, but being selfish in his quest for power, like Lionel.
Whenever Lional acts friendly towards Clark, his distrust (inspired by Jonathan) usually drives him to be more heroic and find out what's going on. Whenever Jonathan acts un-friendly towards Lex, his void of family drives him to be hurt and vengeful, taking him down the path of evil. In the end, Clark strives for good, but often ends up hurting others (e.g. Lana), and Lex does the same (e.g. striving to protect america), but hurting others through his evil means.
So, I submit to you, the great irony in Smallville is how the legacy of a good family can inadvertantly create a villian, and the legacy of an evil family can inadvertantly create a hero, and the ultimate balance between the two.
P.S. Of course at this point, the series has advanced to the point where the characters on the verge of becoming a fully fledged hero or villian. The last glimmers of anything else are quickly vanishing (e.g. the scenes in Nemesis between Clark and Lex).
