SUPERMAN'S LEGACY - IN NAME ONLY

He may be fighting for Truth, Justice, and the American Way in other TV dimensions, but in Earth Prime-Time, Superman has been dead since the early 1960's. (I've stated this often enough in the past, but this being a blog and not a web site, it's not as easy to find such info listed.)

After Superman died, Lois Lane probably discovered that her suspicions about the connection between Superman and Clark Kent proved true. And from there, all of their secrets, both Clark's and Kal-El's, were revealed (most likely after Clark's apartment was searched.)

Once the world learned the true nature of Clark Kent, supposedly just a mild-mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper, about how he always risked his life for theirs and ultimately sacrificing his life to save two men (even if they were low-life villains Ray Luca and his flunky Paulie), I would think people would want to pay tribute to Clark as well as to Superman.

That would be my splainin for the Kent Foundation seen in Jerry Orbach's last episode of 'Law & Order: Trial By Jury'. And I think ordinary people would honor his memory on a more personal level - by naming their children after him - with "Clark" or "Kent". Perhaps even a "Kal-El". (Well, Nicolas Cage did just that in the Trueniverse!)

Given that reasoning, I can't see how the Clarke Family in the Washington, D.C., area could have resisted naming their son Kent. When we met Kent Clarke in the most recent episode of 'Lie To Me' ("Saved"), he was suffering from a neurological disorder. And he was harboring a dark secret that involved his sister Ilene, a paramedic being investigated by Dr. Cal (NOT Kal!) Lightman.

Ilene Clark, Dr. Lightman, Kent Clarke

There were no snide jokes about the Superman mythos - comic books, movies, TV shows - at all. And I would have expected that at least Loker would have made a crack about that name if Superman was fictitious in that world. So at least we were spared from disabling any Zonks.

Since no one felt the need to mention the meaning behind Kent Clarke's name, it just stands to reason that people named after the alias of the late Superman were a common occurrence in Toobworld.

SHOWS CITED:

'The Adventures Of Superman'

'Crime Story'

'Law & Order: Trial By Jury'

'Lie To Me'

BCnU!

ADDENDUM: Currently I'm watching the latest episode of 'Bones' and this theory could also be applied to a member of the staff at the Jeffersonian Institute - Dr. Clark Edison......