I feel like I phrased this poorly, because Lee certainly isn't DISLOYAL. It's more that Kara's loyalty is blind. For most people. Once she's on your side, she's pretty much going to stay there, brief frustrations and disappointments aside.
I definitely think Kara's relationship to Lee has a lot to do with compartmentalization. And stubbornness. She wants an involvement in his life, whether or not it's deserved. She's willing to take what she can get, where Lee is a bit more discerning. (He thinks) he'd rather not have Kara than have a married-girlfriend/best friend.
I also suspect that a big component of this dynamic is Kara's forgiveness thing. Not that all of her issues are (well deserved) mommy-issues, but, I think because NO ONE is ever going to manage to hurt and betray Kara quite the way her mother did, she doesn't really need to hold grudges. On the other hand, Lee's method of self-protection seems to be more a tally of "hurts" vs. "helps" and sometimes the scale for Kara leans in the "hurt" direction.
Ugh. Such great characters. I feel like this conversation could go on for years!
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2011-03-27 07:27 pm (UTC)I definitely think Kara's relationship to Lee has a lot to do with compartmentalization. And stubbornness. She wants an involvement in his life, whether or not it's deserved. She's willing to take what she can get, where Lee is a bit more discerning. (He thinks) he'd rather not have Kara than have a married-girlfriend/best friend.
I also suspect that a big component of this dynamic is Kara's forgiveness thing. Not that all of her issues are (well deserved) mommy-issues, but, I think because NO ONE is ever going to manage to hurt and betray Kara quite the way her mother did, she doesn't really need to hold grudges. On the other hand, Lee's method of self-protection seems to be more a tally of "hurts" vs. "helps" and sometimes the scale for Kara leans in the "hurt" direction.
Ugh. Such great characters. I feel like this conversation could go on for years!