Seriously screw all the “Henry is wooden” people. No… He’s not. He’s stoic. They are not the same thing. Some people are not in your face explosive forces. Some people are quiet and stoic and they don’t say a ton but what they do say has meaning if you take the time to listen. That is Clark Kent to me. A little shy. A little quiet. Fairly stoic. And that’s OK. He’s a GREAT Clark Kent. The best thing about this scene too is that you see him ::almost:: come out of his shell after hearing Lois’s words. But he can’t. Because he’s in a staff meeting so he has to just…keep it in. Let her do the talking for him.
i think some miss the point that clark not talking is a Big Fucking Part of the narrative of bvs. the big question of the movie, or statement really, is : must there be a superman. finch gives us the answer: there already is. And the narrative never allows clark to answer that question himself. It puts the various answers to that question/statement in everyone else’s mouths.
Must there Be A Superman?
Finch: There already is, but we as a people need to know how far he’s willing to take this mantle. We literally need to hear him say he’s here for good to clear shit up for all of us who are freaking out.
Bruce: There already is and he’s gonna fucking turn bad, so fuck him.
Lois: There already is and the world is hurting him bc of bullshit reasons and I need to stop that from happening.
Perry: There already is, so what? WHERE’S MY SPORTS PAGE, CLARK?
Lex: There already is and there shouldn’t be.
Martha: There already is and there doesn’t have to be.
and there are the extremes of love and hate for superman within the movie as well, with the most glaring being the statue with the false god sprayed on it (a monument that ends up being totally destroyed bc this movie is lovely i hate it)
clark is visibly surprised and shaken by lois pursuing the bullet lead. but he respects her position in the planet and keeps quiet about it even though he’s clearly worried. it’s this silence (and confidence in lois) that actually protects lois in the end. her pursuit of bullet lead keeps her out of the capitol building when it’s blown up!
and that scene really encapsulates how bvs uses stoic clark as part of the narrative (and the scene RIGHT before too, with martha where she gives that great speech and clark DOESN’T SAY A WORD and lets his actions speak for him). everything with finch and lex up to this point in the movie, has been about unraveling the truth about superman’s intentions and getting answers him. this was the one chance for him to speak and the narrative literally silences him.
when it’s most important that bruce listen, clark is literally hit with sound waves to distort his perception and don’t allow him to speak.
and when it comes to the showdown, clark is so frustrated with bruce’s diversion tactics that he fights back and it only makes bruce fight harder. sure he could’ve said my mom. but this is after two hours of the narrative denying clark his voice. he has to choose his words carefully. he has to make sure that his last words MEAN enough to bruce. martha could be any woman, any girl, any age, but they’re the most important words, not just plot wise but thematically. it’s the first time clark has shouted out loud (the other two times? when he kills zod and when he is killed by zodoomsday). those four words saved the damn world.