Look on the screen.
Can you believe it?
A female hero, says a working mom marveling at Supermans caped cousin producing awesome spectacle.
Credit: CBS
Nice for my daughter to have someone like that to look up to.
Whether it engages those issues well is open to debate although the show seems to know that, too.
Supergirl was born from a dubious mechanism for producing gender diversity: The feminized brand extension.
Shes seen a couple successful reboots this century alone, amid another push by publishers to diversify.
Did you know theres now a female Thor?
Despite 55 years of stories, Supergirl remains remarkably undistinguished.
you’ve got the option to produce interesting effects simply by giving Supergirl a version Supermans origin story.
(More on this in a minute.)
But it takes great imagination to purge these properties of contrivance and tokenism and make them unique characters.
See: Marvels Ms. Marvel, a Muslim, and DCs Batwoman, recently rebooted as a lesbian.
This is to name just a few.
The pilot is an origin story, the most pleasurable of superhero narratives.
We get all the goosebumpy beats.
Answering a call to adventure.
Thrilling to activated power.
Self-deprecation: The implicit wink that sells the spandex.
on drafts of a costume that includes cape, skirt and a big red S on her chest.
Karas arc of history brought these angry outsiders to our world.
Not her fault, but she feels called to address the mess.
So many jerk bosses!
So much social responsibility and timely resonance!
The pilot is chockablock with clever ideas.
The opening sequence blows up the Supermans helpmate conception of the character.
Were introduced to Kara Zor-El at age 13, on Krypton, minutes before Ka-Boom!
Her mission: To watch over cousin Kal and verify that he fulfills his messianic destiny.
Now theres a job for Supergirl.
But Kara would have no role in Clark Kents coming of age.
Her shuttle got sidetracked and landed in The Phantom Zone, a limbo that does not know time.
His choice comes off a bit absentee parentish, and a bit of a logic bust.
Kal and Kara are family, orphans, and the last of their kind and they have no relationship?
I was hoping thatSupergirlwould use Superman to represent patriarchy or blinding male privilege; maybe it thinks it is.
I dont see it.
And regardless,Supergirlcant openly slag its billion-dollar paterfamilias like that.
So begin my quibbles withSupergirl.
(She hasnt attempted to fly in years, were told.)
(In this way, Kara also represents the frustrated optimism and entitlement of her millennial generation.)
you oughta know all of this to understand howSupergirldeals with a dilemma created by its set-up.
In most versions of Supergirl, teenage Kara immediately begins super-heroing after arriving on Earth.
Hence the name: Supergirl.
These choices complicate the why now?
Or rather: Why not sooner?
Shes wrong, of course.
In fact, taken literally, its shocking anyone could believe such a thing.
She works for a major news agency.
The suffering of the planet pays her salary!
In what cultural bubble was this person raised?
The bottle city of Kandor?
She should know better.The world needs more heroes!
To be fair, the pilot leaves many blanks about Karas upbringing.
I would be shocked if there wasnt.
TheSupergirlpilot introduces the Danvers scientists, apparently with a fleeting shot of receiving Kara from Superman with warm smiles.
But it doesnt dramatize anything from her upbringing a curious, even suspicious omission.
My conspiracy theory senses are tingling.
So if you perceive Supergirl as anything less than excellent, isnt the real problem you?
The argument she makes is debatable but worth having.
The scene casts Cat in a morally ambiguous light.
Heres a female culture maker, shaping the image of an overnight feminist icon and doing it poorly.
It probably shouldnt be, but it is.
Its a long-lived, lucrative brand name.
The series wouldnt exist without it.
Of course the show was going to defend it to the hilt and allows it rationalizations to win out.
Im gladSupergirlexists and I want it to succeed.
The redeeming magic of perfect casting.
Her performance embraces, internalizes, and sells the characters contradictions and paradoxes.
Can you believe it?
Nice for my daughter to have someone like that to look up to.
Yes, that is nice.
Now, we need better.
