Lois Lane: Hero or Zero?

Dear readers, today I'm going to do something a little different. Though there are many brilliant monologues to deconstruct and think about, I was reading some other movie blogs when I discovered this piece by Monica Bartyzel:  Amy Adams thinks Lois Lane is a powerful character.


Now, I wholeheartedly believe that Amy Adams can play any part she wants. She's a wonderful actress, really one of the most versatile and talented, as The Fighter completely convinced me of.  But what struck me was the debate over whether Lois Lane is a powerful woman character.


I'm no die-hard fan of the Superman franchise. I admit to enjoying the 1990s Superman television show Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman where Teri Hatcher played a tough, successful Lois Lane, but I don't know all the movies. However, I have seen the cartoons. Thus, my understanding of Lois Lane in the context of the entire franchise is limited, but from what I've seen and from what Amy Adam's said, I have no doubt that the Lois Lane that will be portrayed in the new Superman movie will be a strong, tough woman.


Here's Adams take, in case you skipped over it in the link:
"I think the role of women in society constantly changes, and what I love about Lois Lane is that she's been very consistently strong, successful, independent. I'm very attracted to that. It was a time when women were really -- I don't want to make some grand statement because I know it will come across as a grand statement -- but [women were often limited by society then and] what I loved about her was that she was able to be smartand be feminine and I think that that's something I know I'm going to teach my daughter -- that you don't have to be a man to be powerful. You can be a powerful woman."


Now, I consider Lois to be a timeless character. She's definitely a role model for any young girl.  There's nothing wrong with wanting marriage or a career or both. Not at all. I think we can all agree with Adams in that sense.


But let's step back and consider what Bartyzel says. She indicates that "one can't help but wish that she'd find a radioactive spider or some other scientific anomaly that would give her the strength to save herself."  We all know that Superman has to save the day for Lois Lane. There would be no good romance story without it. I had never considered the fact that maybe Lois Lane could be Superwoman or something. Why don't we see female characters portrayed more often as superheroes? 


I know that there's Wonder Woman and Catwoman, but Hollywood seems to continuously ignore the female superhero. Maybe people feel uncomfortable around such a "masculine" woman. Nonetheless, if we really want to get past this whole men ruling the world thing (which has gone on for far to long, might I add) maybe some female superheroes are the way to go. Women can save the day too, and do so often on a DAILY basis.


So what do you all think? Is Lois Lane all that she's cracked up to be, or is it all a complete lie? What about female superheroes? Are there any that I forgot or should know about? Should we create them or are superheroes ridiculous?


Thoughts?