Over the past year, I have observed Smallville For the first time, and for the most part, the DC TV show's narrative stands the test of time when it comes to depicting Clark Kent's (Tom Welling) evolution into Superman – but Season 2, Episode 2, “Heat ” is an exception. For those who don't remember, the synopsis of the “Heat” episode is as follows: “A sexy new teacher (Krista Allen) uses the power of pheromones to convince Lex to marry her; Clark loses control over an alarming new power.” And the Smallville episode in which Clark Kent first discovers his heat vision powers.
Now I have to say, I guess Smallville's the use of Clark's heat vision as an analogue for puberty and his burgeoning sexuality is well done, even if it is a bit over the top. But the writers' ability to take something as fantastical as Superman being able to shoot heat lasers from his eyes and turn him into something incredibly human and relatable sums up what works. Smallville. I have no criticisms of this aspect of “Heat” and I think I would have enjoyed the episode much more if it weren’t for a specific plot that always took me out of the series.
Smallville Episode “Heat” Has a Seriously Problematic Clark Kent Plot
It has to do with Desirée Atkins, guest star Krista Allen
The trope of a teenager lusting after his teacher is not new. This has been done many times, even when “Heat” aired in 2002, and there's nothing wrong with the one-sided attraction. However, where Smallville crosses a line is when the episode shows Krista Allen's Desirée Atkins seducing Clark and trying to use her pheromones on him. This is Clark's teacher arriving at his house and trying to seduce her teenage student into doing her bidding. It's a major power imbalance, even if the series doesn't present it as such, and even taking into account Clark and Desirée's supernatural abilities.
It is later revealed that this is part of a pattern for Desirée, where she manipulates a man into marrying her and then, using her position as a high school teacher and her pheromones, exploits a teenager to kill her husband. so she can get his money. She is in no way portrayed as someone good or moral in the series, but Smallville never reveals the fact that Desirée sexually assaulted an underage Clark Kent. Furthermore, because Desirée's pheromones allow her to control the men she seduces, all of these men were assaulted because they were unable to give consent.
Smallville was made in a different time, and I admit that I can sometimes forget how bad the media was at portraying sexual assault and rape, and it was even worse when it came to assaults committed against boys and men. But I'm still perplexed why no one saw anything wrong with telling a story about how a teenager's teacher tries to sexually assault him.and everything is swept under the rug at the end of the episode. There's apparently no impact on Clark, despite how young he's supposed to be.
Tom Welling's real-life age doesn't excuse Smallville's problematic plot
The Clark Kent actor was 25 when he filmed 'Heat'
For the most part, the Smallville the cast was older than the characters they played, and Tom Welling himself was 10 years older than Clark Kent, 25 when he filmed “Heat”, which is set when Clark would have been around 15. Smallville, it was easy to tell that Welling was much older than the age of the character he was supposed to play. But I also noticed that Smallville takes advantage of Welling's age by putting Clark in situations that are unreasonable for a child to deal with, including in “Heat”.
An underage boy, even if he has the build of a 25-year-old man, has no power in the dynamic between Clark and Desirée.
I remember watching this episode and screaming at the screen that Clark was just a kid. I couldn't believe no one was worried about his teacher coming to him (that's if they believed him, which is a whole other matter).but was blamed by his best friend Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum) for what happened to Desirée. Lex was, of course, being manipulated by Desirée, but Clark is just a kid! An underage boy, even if he has the build of a 25-year-old man, has no power in the dynamic between Clark and Desirée.
The beginning of Smallville had some other problematic scenes
Clark Kent's first kisses were under the influence of kryptonite
Unfortunately, Smallville's Problematic stories don’t begin and end with “Heat” in Season 2. There are some occasions when kisses and more intimate acts are conducted under conditions of questionable consent. In Season 1, Episode 11, “Hug”, Kyle Tippet (Gregory Sporleder) demonstrates her powers of persuasion by making Chloe (Allison Mack) kiss Clark. Then, in Season 2 Episode 4, “Red,” Clark kisses Lana while under the control of red kryptonite. In both cases, at least one participant was under the influence of kryptonite.
I'd like to believe that if Smallville were made today, stories like “Heat” wouldn't get the green light.
These are just two examples from the first seasons of Smallvillebut there are many more scattered around, especially those dealing with red kryptonite. “Heat” is actually unique because Clark is not affected by the ability given to Desirée by kryptonite, but the power imbalance of Clark being his underage student and Desirée being his adult teacher is never really resolved with and is largely forgotten by the next episode.
As I said earlier, Smallville was made in a different time, long before attitudes and discussions about sexual assault, especially how it is portrayed in the media, changed. So the scenes from “Heat,” “Hug,” and “Red” aren’t necessarily surprising, even if they are shocking to watch now. I would like to believe that if Smallville was made today, stories like the one in “Heat” wouldn't be greenlit, or at least done with more thought and sensitivity, not just about how these events might affect the characters, but the audience as well.
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