2. Already mentioned above- but... I'm never quite sure on how we are supposed to view the Kents. Sometimes, it seems to me Jon is telling Clark that he needs to 'do the right thing' and not put himself before others. However, other times, it seems he's saying 'family comes first, and that needs to be protected above all else'. Now either of these two approaches works for me, but they are NOT synonymous. Again, you don't get to have it both ways.
I agree with almost everything you said here - except for wondering if Miles and whatever he is get it - cause I tend to just go with whatever I get from a show and not really care what the creators intended.
So I totally see this is dual conflicting views held by the Kents and real people do this all the time and it causes all sorts of cognitive dissonance that resonates when you think about the incredibly screwed up life Clark is destined to have - well it just makes sense in the, "Of course this fella is gonna have two identities that will conflict all the time and he is gonna run around in public wearing his underwear on the outside and stand for truth and justice and the American Way (which is so very vague) did you see what his daddy did to him??" kinda way.
As to Jon freaking about Clark being gay... I could pretty easily imagine him homophobic. Just a stereotype of a small town football 'good-ole-boy' who thought the scarecrow tradition was nifty.
But see - that is a stereotype and there is nothing in canon at all to suggest that Jon is homophobic. Of course, that does not mean he won't react negatively (but a lot of parents do have an initially adverse reaction just because the reality of their child's life is not meeting their fantasy - The Kents deal with this every day, though) - I just want people to realize that Farmer/Rural American does not automatically mean close-minded, white-sheet wearing, red-neck, illiterate bigot. Cause that is unfair. Of course sometimes someone like Jon is all these things - but usually there would be some kind of inkling before. And I watch him very carefully. Very very carefully. As in very carefully - I love BO DUKE! and I just don't see it. And I am an expert at spotting the scary RedNeck - it is a skill you *have* to have where I come from.
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I agree with almost everything you said here - except for wondering if Miles and whatever he is get it - cause I tend to just go with whatever I get from a show and not really care what the creators intended.
So I totally see this is dual conflicting views held by the Kents and real people do this all the time and it causes all sorts of cognitive dissonance that resonates when you think about the incredibly screwed up life Clark is destined to have - well it just makes sense in the, "Of course this fella is gonna have two identities that will conflict all the time and he is gonna run around in public wearing his underwear on the outside and stand for truth and justice and the American Way (which is so very vague) did you see what his daddy did to him??" kinda way.
As to Jon freaking about Clark being gay... I could pretty easily imagine him homophobic. Just a stereotype of a small town football 'good-ole-boy' who thought the scarecrow tradition was nifty.
But see - that is a stereotype and there is nothing in canon at all to suggest that Jon is homophobic. Of course, that does not mean he won't react negatively (but a lot of parents do have an initially adverse reaction just because the reality of their child's life is not meeting their fantasy - The Kents deal with this every day, though) - I just want people to realize that Farmer/Rural American does not automatically mean close-minded, white-sheet wearing, red-neck, illiterate bigot. Cause that is unfair. Of course sometimes someone like Jon is all these things - but usually there would be some kind of inkling before. And I watch him very carefully. Very very carefully. As in very carefully - I love BO DUKE! and I just don't see it. And I am an expert at spotting the scary RedNeck - it is a skill you *have* to have where I come from.