I (heart) the anti-hero

Hello, my name is Scully. I watch the WB. Ok, admitting it is half the battle, no? Not only do I watch the WB, I watch Smallville, which isn't really lauded for its narrative prowess. And yes, I watch it for the Handsome. But not the Handsome you would think, for I find the actor who plays Clark Kent to be far too pretty for his own good. No, my deepest, darkest secret is that I watch the show for Lex Luthor. The villain. Granted in this show he isn't so much the villain, as the morally, ethically grey character. The Anti-Hero.

So what makes a nice girl like me interested in complex, doomed character? First, many kudos must go to the actor that portrays Lex Luthor, Michael Rosenbaum. He does great things with the material he is given and makes the character believable and intriguing. But my interest goes deeper than just an attractive, talented actor. So, what about the power-obsessed, conflicted millionaire do I find alluring? Anyone vaguely familiar with the Superman story knows that Lex Luthor is bad news. He will someday become a megalomaniac destroyer that Superman has to keep in check. The result is inevitable, so why do I hold out hope for the future? Is it the erroneous belief that people can be changed by others? Is it a blind optimism? Perhaps it is just a well-develop attraction to the arch-typal Bad Boy. Or finally, perhaps it is his Porsche. I could be just that shallow.