Lois & Clark Nfic Archive Interview with NearlyNoelNeil
| Interviews by Fans | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Lois & Clark Nfic Archive Interview with NearlyNoelNeil (Sherry Murphy) |
| Interviewer: | |
| Interviewee: | NearlyNoelNeil |
| Date(s): | early 2000s |
| Medium: | online |
| Fandom(s): | Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman |
| External Links: | Lois & Clark, Archived version |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
NearlyNoelNeil was interviewed for the Lois & Clark Nfic Archive.
See that site for others in this series.
The introduction:
This week's interviewee is a New York City FoLC and a long-standing Superman fan, whose screen-name on the message boards (NearlyNoelNeil) is a tribute to a past screen Lois Lane. When time permits, she's an enthusiastic commenter on works in progress - and if you're ever sensible enough to send her a work in progress to read on one of her many business trips, you may get rewarded with wonderful feedback emails. She knows what she likes in fanfic, and is liberal with praise when she gets it; equally, she has good suggestions when she'd like to see the author do something just a little bit different. She's also a BIG fan of one of fandom's longest-standing and most talented fanfic writers, which definitely reveals her good sense!
Some Excerpts
How long have you been a FoLC? In '93, when I read that ABC was creating a new Superman with an emphasis on the relationship between Lois and Clark, I announced to my husband that we had to watch it together, and we did. I'm not much of a TV watcher, so to commit to a show for four years is extraordinary. But the Superman myth has always been important to me (see my nick). As I've often explained, I grew up on a steady diet of serial reruns with George Reeves and Noel Neill (occasionally Phyllis Coates) and I thought that Noel Neill as Lois Lane was just a great role model: Not silly, not shy, not ineffective-empowered, feminine and with the universe's strongest man wrapped around her pinky!
What drew you to Lois and Clark?Certainly the relationship hooked me; although, at the risk of inviting FOLC-ire, I think the writers did more harm to the character of Lois Lane than good. (Not that the comics writers did better.) More than that though, I thought the producers paid homage to the myth spectacularly. In a cynical world, it's the idea of Superman that counts. At times they made winking reference to Superman lore, and then they added the new twist of making Lois an active participant in the evolution of Superman. That was way cool. While I disliked some of the characterization, I love a good formula execution (Boy meets girl, Girl thinks boy is somebody else, Boy loses girl, Conflict A plot, Boy and girl dance, Girl gets boy, Kiss.) When you're constrained like that, you have to get really really creative with execution. So Superman is just that old Hollywood formula on a larger scale.
Additionally, I think that John Shea is a superb actor and really enjoyed his screen time in season one. Dean Cain gave our hero a sincerity that was lacking in the big-picture treatment of Superman, even if, at the time, his acting was the weakest of the bunch. On the other hand, he made me believe that Superman could be from Kansas. The supporting cast was, especially Lane Smith, divine. I love the updated Perry White! Like most of America, my husband was willing to sit by me to simply watch Teri Hatcher and what she was wearing. Eventually, he took to passing by only during the opening credits to see her descend the slide, but that's another story. <g>
What are your favourite sites for reading fanfic? That's changed over time. I used to be an active participant in folcdom, a regular beta reader and even IRC'd when I could, but real life drastically altered for me courtesy of Sept. 11, and normalcy has been tough to come by. I travel a lot, so the listserv didn't work for me. Today, I read the new L&C fic boards (thanks Annette!), Zoomway's boards and scan the archive for oldies but goodies. I pretty much stop in on weekends only, but occasionally very early in the morning.