by Vi Burgess, executive editor
“Some of us try hard to make the world a better place than it was when we found it. I know that’s what I try to do. I won’t always be successful. But that’s life. I’m Supergirl. This is my life … and y’know what? I’m pretty happy with it. (For now at least.)”—Kara Zor-El, Supergirl
A spinoff of Superman, “Supergirl” is focused on Superman’s cousin, named Kara Zor-El, played by Melissa Benoist. DC decided to revisit the same Superman plot and characterization—a superhero coming into their powers and saving the city, but having personal crises about how they’ll be accepted, or how they’ll have to hide who they truly are, from their friends and family. Basically, it’s Superman, regurgitated; Kara even wears glasses to hide at her job as an assistant to an editor (bc glasses are a greaat desguise). Also, it kind of destroys the premise of Superman; the show presents her as a long-lost cousin who arrived on Earth much later than her cousin, Clark Kent.
Aside from Superman itself, though, “Supergirl” just doesn’t cut it. The characters feel flat and fit too cleanly into stereotypes, like the female K-9 boss (Calista Flockhart), or the hunky love interest and cute, dorky best friend who’s also in love with her. Supergirl herself is like a surface-level vision of what society thinks a female hero should be—naive, blond, and occasionally finds her backbone. The plots are subpar and basically the same for every episode—Supergirl is going around saving people, has a crisis with a villain, wins eventually, and gains acceptance/development on her little romantic subplot.
On top of the failure of the screenwriting, the effects are mediocre—not good, not bad. I suppose the makeup artists are to be commended for their work in making the character look like a traditional American girl-next-door and making the guys look as appealing as possible, but they do nothing spectacular. Likewise, the CGI is rather obvious in the flying scenes, where Supergirl looks like a messy cutout cliche against the also-animated city skyscrape.
If the show has one good trait, it would be the way it addresses sexism in the workplace. While the woman in charge is admittedly very stereotypical, in recent episodes she has shown a side beyond just an uncaring boss—she is also a sensitive, caring mother balancing both a demanding job and a gifted child, and she gives Kara advice on how to achieve the myth of “having it all”.
I had high hopes for this TV series. With the high that most superhero movies seem to be riding (admittedly they’re all Marvel productions), somehow I got my hopes up that this show would feature a strong female character that didn’t feel like a cookie-cutter version of the last overly sexualized female hero. Sadly, “Supergirl” just falls flat.
