"Daddy, why is Lex Luthor a bad person?"

[NewJeffCT]

That was a question my 3 year old daughter asked me several weeks back.

First, she asked me, “Daddy, why does Lex Luthor want to hurt Superman?” and I said, “Because Lex Luthor is a bad person.”

Then she asked, “Daddy, why is Lex Luthor a bad person?”

All kinds of things flashed through my head, but I could not think of a good answer, so I responded, “Because when he was little, he didn't listen to his Mommy and Daddy, so he became a bad person.”

That got me a few laughs when I told the story at a friend's child's birthday party recently, but I know it is not a good answer for the long-term.

What should I say? Why does somebody become bad, and how can I explain it to a 3 year old?

[JVS]

1. Because he isn't a fucking dumbass

[Broken_Hero]

2. I think your answer was pretty good

and I would have said the same thing to my kid, at that age...and this is fro m a big superman fan...:) I hope you both enjoyed the movie...:) We had a lot of kids asking similiar questions during the movie, when I went(my three times)...especially when Lex and crew was kicking the snot out of superman...one of the kids, two rows behind me asked loudly..."Why are they doing that to superman mommy?" To which the mother replied "be quiet! Smack smack!"....:)

[Dukkha]

3. the TV show Smallville has a good take on it

They start out as best friends. The real bad guy was his father Lionel Luthor who manipulates his son to be like him. Lex Luthor ultimately betrays Clark Kent by conspiring to learn his secret so he can exploit it for wealth & power and take full control of Luthercorp and destroy his Father.

[Broken_Hero]

4. I agree....

the whole creation story for both Clark, and Lex is very good in Smallville...I like the take on their relationship, and background, but I'm in the minority of superman fans on that aspect. Most superman fans I know of online, dislike Smallville greatly...but, to each their own...:)

on edit: The addition of Lionel Luthor(John Glover) was an excellent idea, I do love the banter between Lionel/Lex...very insightful discourse...:)

[WCGreen]

5. That was actually how they spun it out back in the '60's

in the Superboy comic...

Only I believe Luther was an orphan...

[Broken_Hero]

16. and Lex got into a chemical explosion

and blamed superboy for not saving him fast enough...explosion caused Lex's baldness....:)

[Rob H.]

6. Michael Rosenbaum is excellent as Lex

It's been interesting to watch Lex's evolution from a basically decent but sometimes misguided person to the evil Lex that everyone knows from the comic books. I like that the shifts have been subtle and evolving over the course of the past five season rather than just, boom, one day he's suddenly evil.

[Broken_Hero]

17. Yes, I like that aspect a lot

and its more indepth, but with Smallville they have countless shows to push the growth along...I was really impressed with the show, I only watched a few episodes, and then started getting seasons with they dropped to 20 bucks a pop...and after getting season I and II, I was hooked badly...:)

I also like the Corporate Lex aspect...in the movies, Lex is the evil, conniving genius....which is okay, but I think its been played out, and in the current comics, and go back a bit in comics, its been Corporate Lex, with Lex Corp...

I sort of see C. Lex as an evil Bruce Wayne...:)

[Cathyclysmic]

7. Watch "Smallville" with her.

:D

Lex is bad because his father Lionel is a power-mad, uncaring, smug corporate raider.

[Benfea]

8. There's an easier answer for kids: he's selfish

Long, long ago, Lex Luthor was presented as an evil mad scientist. Some time ago (I think during the Reagan years), the writers changed him into the worst villain imaginable: a soulless, extremely wealthy business executive.

Why is Luthor evil? Because like all too many powerful executives in the real world, he places more value on his own wealth and power than on other people's lives.

[The2ndWheel]

9. Equal and opposite reaction

If there is a super good guy, there must then be a super bad guy. An early physics lesson for the youngster.

[ForrestGump]

10. Because he's bald

Bald people are evil.



:scared:

[baldguy]

21. HEY!

[lumberjack_jeff]

23. Hey! Some of us are just ill-tempered. n/t

[baldguy]

24. .

[Hand]

11. Insh'Allah... nt

[sakabatou]

12. Wasn't there an old, old , old comic

where Superman made Lex bald and that's why he became evil?

[Cathyclysmic]

15. Yes. It was an old Superboy comic.

Lex caught his hair on fire while doing a lab experiment, and Superboy blew it out with his super breath.

On Smallville, Kal-El's arrival in Smallville during a meteor shower is what causes Lex's baldness (he is hit with meteor fragments and fire).

[Broken_Hero]

18. and its hinted at

that Lex might have some minor power due to his hair loss in Smallville...because of all the kryptonite mutants and what not, and I beleive there were a few episodes where Lex dwelled on his apparent luck in surviving situations he should have died in, and I believe he has some weird blood cell count, that cannot be answered for, but causes him no illness.

[Cathyclysmic]

19. When in fact that it was Clark rescuing him all along.

:D

[Broken_Hero]

20. yes, most of the time it was clark...but

season III ending had Lex being poisoned and he survived that, and Lionel made mention of that in Seasn IV opener....its a little give and take with that aspect...:) Lex should have died, but he didn't...

btw, Rosenbaum is a great Lex...I think the top two talents on the show are Glover, and Rosenbaum...:)

[Rob H.]

25. If I remember correctly (and I hope I do)

After Lex is poisoned and survives he undergoes a bunch of tests and the doctors tell him that for reasons they can't figure out he has some sort of enhanced healing ability that they've never seen before. Lex reveals (at some point, maybe in a different episode) that since the day of the meteor strike--he and Lionel just happened to be in Smallville--he's never been sick. A meteor strike in the cornfield Lex ran into flattened all the corn and knocked him unconscious. He had a full head of bright red hair when he got knocked out, but when he woke up his hair had fallen out and it just never grew back.

Yes, I am a dork. :P

Smallville: Season 5 is out on DVD today! I'm picking it up this afternoon. :)

[lildreamer316]

13. Good one!!!

I am gonna steal that one, thanks.

[Radical Activist]

14. His parents abused him as a child.

That's usually the answer.

[Generic Brad]

22. Because he's a Neocon?

They're all bad people in my estimation.