Smallville Nostalgia

Sure, nostalgia speaks to a large extent. Yesterday, it was Sunday, a time that for us 90’s kids (note: you’re not a 90’s kid, you’re a 30-year-old adult type shi) used to mean good old programming of foreign series on a channel called Star.

If DC is not renowned once for its cinematic adaptations, it’s not renowned a hundred times for its TV adaptations, especially when they were undertaken by the former WB, now CW. But there’s a sweet, cheesy American charm in these shows that exerts a magnetic attraction. Maybe because they offer mindless fun from the top shelf, maybe because we don’t need to take everything seriously, maybe because not all superhero series need to be Daredevil, maybe because we need new narratives.

What’s certain is that Warner deserves a huge bravo for not laughing off Alfred Gough and Miles Millar when they pitched the idea for a coming-of-age series about Superman and instead generously gave us, in my calm opinion, one of the purest masterpieces of mass television of the 2000s. It’s cheesy, it’s cliché-ridden, it has everything to ensure a good time without overstimulating your brain.

Not all series need to be complex, just as not all video games need to be difficult. Clichés have become clichés for very specific reasons. That’s why I admire DC/Warner series like Smallville or later The Flash. We need non-pretentious shows, perhaps childish, that simply aim to entertain.

The downside of DC is that so far, it only invests in this television-wise. Just like Marvel, either from the Netflixverse or now on Disney+, in serious series or over-the-top comedies. I’m not saying any of these are bad, I’m saying there’s no variety in the approach. It’s either one or the other.

In all seriousness, I think the only series that tried to create such a unique golden mean—and to some extent succeeded—was Gotham.

Anyway, the MCU seems to be slowly finding its way after the disoriented post-Infinity phase (and they better because they’re preparing to welcome X-Men and Fantastic Four, and if they mess it up, the curse of Brahmaputra will fall upon them). I’ve been praying daily for years for God to enlighten DC to finally figure out what exactly it wants to do. The only sure thing is that the superhero genre needs a bit more pluralism, experimentation, and artistry. It’s not just one thing. Let’s not allow it to become just one thing.

That’s all. Watch Smallville, those of you who haven’t seen it or have fallen into the pit of nostalgia after this post. I will be waiting for some streaming platform to finally include it so I can give it the rewatch it deserves.

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