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ladybusiness2015-11-17 10:32 am
helloladies) wrote in ladybusiness2015-11-17 10:32 am
Guest Post: This sounds like a job for Supergirl
Today, we present a fantastic guest post about the newest "Super" show in town - Supergirl. Our guest poster, chaila, is a vidder, fangirl and heroine addict who has previously written posts for Lady Business about Wonder Woman, Sarah Connor and feminism in Pacific Rim. We love her words and are so excited to have her at the blog today.
Internet, like many of you, I have been waiting with bated breath for Supergirl, and now it's here and I'm so happy!
This is a squee post based on the first three episodes of Supergirl on CBS. It's probably risky to write a squee post after only three episodes of anything, but I'm going to do it anyway. Note that this is not a post about the ways it's not perfect, though of course it isn't. There has already been a lot of discussion about those things. This is a post about some of the choices the show is making and some of the things I appreciate the show trying to do. It's a post about the parts of Supergirl that make me really, really happy.
This post contains capslocks and gifs, because that is just how I feel about Supergirl!
Kara Danvers
The first and foremost reason I love Supergirl is, of course, Kara Danvers, aka Supergirl. When she wears glasses, she is Kara, assistant to a media CEO, Cat Grant (MORE ON HER LATER). When she takes the glasses off, she's Supergirl, superhero, crime-fighter and general saver of the planet. The glasses dichotomy is how superheroes work, and I'm fine with it.
Kara was sent to Earth from her home planet, Krypton, when it was destroyed. Her mission was to protect her cousin, Kal-El, aka Superman (no glasses) aka Clark Kent (glasses). Her ship got delayed and he beat her to Earth, so by the time she got there he was a full-fledged superhero who didn't need her help. So she got adopted by the human Danvers and hid her powers to try to have a "normal" life. Until the pilot, when she SAVES A PLANE FROM CRASHING WITH HER BARE HANDS, because her sister, Alex (MORE ON HER LATER), is on it. And then we're off to the superhero races, with Kara figuring out her powers, proving herself and punching big, bad guys in the face really, really hard. I love how the show just dove right in. Kara was flying 15 minutes into the pilot! The show gets a lot of mileage out of Kara wanting to be her own hero, separate from the more-famous Superman, while also effectively using a lot of the iconic Superman imagery for Kara.
There are so many reasons to love Kara! She's a young woman heroine. Not a girl, not a teenager, but a young woman. The show squarely defines her as a millennial. She's young, but she's an independent adult, trying to figure out how to use her powers and change her world. She took her day job because she thought working for a powerful woman who shapes the media would make an impact. In the pilot, she realizes her superhero powers are how she can make a difference. She's trying to define herself, both as Kara and as Supergirl. I think these are powerful themes for a young woman in particular, as she fights to make her own choices about herself and her life.
Kara is so genuine, despite the fact that she's living a double life. She's full of excitement, enthusiasm and joy. She's absolutely committed to helping others and to proving herself. She refuses to quit when she thinks there's a chance she can help someone. She trusts people. She tells her friends her identity and lets them help her. She's also completely adorkably awkward at times, in a way that isn't overdone. Largely due to the thoroughly charming performance of Melissa Benoist, I absolutely buy Kara as someone who occasionally just says facepalmy things.
A large part of the reason I love Supergirl is the visceral joy of seeing a female superhero in all the iconic power shots: bending steel, flying, punching bad guys, things exploding behind her, getting thrown down and getting back up. She breaks the sound barrier in episode 2! These are enduring power fantasies for a reason, and it's hugely powerful to me to see a woman in the role. This is one of the major reasons female-led superhero comics appeal to me, and it’s really thrilling to see it on screen.
I also love the physicality of Benoist's performance. Even as Kara, out of the costume, even when she's stumbling over words, she has a confident physical presence that I love. She swaggers, she's tall, she takes up space. The camera’s gaze is very neutral. Her work clothes are practical skirts, pants and button-downs, her superhero costume has long sleeves and tights. As Supergirl, she hits and gets hit. They haven't changed anything because of Kara's gender, in terms of the action and physical fighting inherent in the superhero genre. She punches and gets punched. Hard. But she gets up, she punches back, and she WINS.
AND LOOK AT THESE GUNS.
Alex Danvers
Alex is Kara's adoptive sister. Alex is human and Kara is Kryptonian, and they weren't sisters until Alex was already a teenager, but none of this matters: they think of and treat each other as sisters, and it's lovely. Alex is also an agent for the Department of Extranormal Operations (DEO), a government agency that handles alien threats. Thus, Alex works both with and sometimes against her alien sister. I have some mixed feelings about how they handle this balancing act, and how they handle some of the things Alex doesn't tell Kara. But in general, I love that they've made Alex so relevant to the entire show, and that Kara's most important relationship is with her sister. SISTERS!!!!
They end episode 3 talking about how Kara should be proud of herself and fighting over pot-stickers while a cover of Girls Just Wanna Have Fun plays. It sounds cheesy. It probably was cheesy. But it was completely delightful.
Alex is also brilliant and badass in her own right. She's an agent for a prestigious organization, and an engineer. She fights her own fights and defeats villains of her own. In episode 2, Alex and Kara fight in a training session with Kara's powers blocked, mainly to show Kara that she relies too much on brute strength, and that a fighter with superior technique--Alex--can easily beat her. So Alex becomes her trainer. How awesome?!?! They're both great characters and they have a great relationship, and it makes me so happy.
Double the Laura Benanti
Laura Benanti plays two recurring roles on the show. She plays Kara's Kryptonian mother, Alura, who was a judge who sent many criminals to Kryptonian prison. She also plays Astra, Alura's sexy evil twin, who got sent to Kryptonian prison for unknown reasons. They are both going to be important characters to Kara. (Almost everyone important on this show is a lady!)
Alura is set up as Kara's inspiration. There are meaningful flashbacks about how inspiring Alura is to Kara, and there's an Alura hologram that gives Kara speeches about her bravery, which gives Kara confidence and resolve. This can be a little clunky, but it's pretty great to see this mother-daughter relationship given the same nostalgic treatment that fathers and sons typically get in superhero stories.
Astra, on the other hand, is Alura's evil twin, and the big bad villain of the season. In the pilot, she is referred to only as The General, which is AWESOME. We don't know much about her yet. Kara remembers her, and had a close relationship with her on Krypton as a child. Kara didn't know that Alura sent Astra to prison. We still don't know Astra's past crimes or current motivations, or what happened between the sisters. I have no idea where they'll go with all of this, but I'm interested to find out. Kryptonian matriarchy, woo!
Also, General Astra and Kara had a knock down, drag out fight in episode 2 where they kicked the crap out of each other, and it was pretty awesome.
Throwing each other through walls for FEMINISM!
Cat Grant
Cat Grant might be my favorite character on the show. She's Kara's boss, and the head of her own media company. Which she named Catco! CATCO. She named her company after herself. <3 She describes herself as "powerful and rich and hot and smart." She's cold and abrupt, and takes great pleasure from being in charge and ordering people around. She throws off lines like “I’m a writer. It’s like riding a bike or severe childhood trauma. You never really lose it.” She's both a powerful woman and the comic relief, and the strength of Calista Flockhart's performance absolutely makes this combination work.
Cat is important because her media company and newspaper, The Tribune, "brand" Kara as Supergirl and report on her activities. It's not a new take on the symbiotic relationship between superheroes and the press (see Superman and Lois Lane) but I really enjoy it. What I love about Cat is that on another show, she could easily be the evil lady boss, who didn't earn it and doesn't deserve it, and steps on everyone around her just because she can. But the show makes sure to establish that she has talent as a writer--her writing is called "beautiful" and "well-crafted"--and media CEO. The show establishes that she leads her own company because she worked her way up and earned it. She's prickly, but she is respected, exactly like a man would be.
Kara clearly respects Cat, despite Cat's dismissive attitude, because of Cat's talent and influence. They also have a really weird mentoring relationship, with slightly awkward scenes where Kara-as-Kara asks what advice Cat would give Supergirl, and then Kara-as-Supergirl takes that advice. In other words, even this relationship is relatively complex, and I'm excited to see where they go with it.
Additional random point of joy: Calista Flockhart is 50. Peter Facinelli, the actor who plays her apparent villain love interest, Max Lord, is 41. More awesome roles and romance for middle-aged women, always!
James Olsen
Jimmy Olsen, who now prefers to be called James, is a longstanding character from Superman comics. He's Superman's best friend. He's also always white. On Supergirl, he's racebent, played by Mehcad Brooks, and makes everyone weak in the knees from the sheer force of his charm. From the outset, James Olsen is set up as an integral character on the show, and as the romantic hero. He's a photographer for the Tribune, and because of his friendship with Clark, knows who Kara is from the beginning. He quickly becomes an important part of Kara's support network, serving as a connection to the absent Clark but also helping her to hone her powers and fight villains, and in general recognizing that she's amazing. He's brave, principled and loyal. In the third episode, human-powered James Olsen baits the evil villain and draws him off to fight in order to help Kara save people. He has an easy confidence, which is incredibly appealing.
Here he is in a henley. You're welcome.
Kara canonically has a crush on James by episode three, because he is canonically crushable. I ship this desperately. Of course, the show is already introducing the obligatory romantic obstacles and there will probably be at least two love triangles. We just met Lucy Lane, Lois's little sister and James's apparent love interest, and I'm curious to see how they'll use that character. Hopefully it will be as more than just an obstacle to Kara/James. Given how the show's treated the other women, I have hope.
In the meantime, James Olsen smiles a lot!
WE FEEL YOU, KARA.
In conclusion, Supergirl!
This show still has some rough edges, but I love and genuinely appreciate many of the choices it's making and what it is trying to be. Bring on more Supergirl!
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In sum: mutual SQQQUUUUUEEEEEEEEEEE! ;)
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ALL THE SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
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Maybe if I love this hard enough, they'll give us another Wonder Woman series. Maybe even based on, say, George Perez's WW from the 1980s, because that version of the origin story was AWESOME.
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JUST LIKE KARA!
<3
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(Awwww, but I love everything you say. Particularly about Cat beause that was so unexpected. I really thought - even after the Pilot - that she would be a better and less sexist version of Evil Boss Lady, but still basically the funny mean person at the top. But they are consistently complexifying her. It's not more important that AMAZING SISTERS but it is more unexpected? I mean, AMAZING SISTERS was pretty unexpected, lbr, but this I did not even dare to dream.)
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I agree that Cat was more unexpected. At first, I liked her as comic relief and as the idea of a powerful woman as Kara's boss? But they keep giving her little moments and more interesting characterization, which I really didn't expect. Best part: we don't have to choose between AMAZING SISTERS and CAT GRANT, we get BOTH. :D!
(Catco! CATCO).
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And I was all, "THAT IS 100% THIS SHOW, TAKING THE SISTER FLYING BEFORE TAKING THE LOVE INTEREST FLYING. BECAUSE SISTERS."
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I still want her to take James FLYYYYING though. All the flying!
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Also, we share a current fandom! And we both ship the ship! This pleases me. :D
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Aw yay, we do share a current fandom and a ship, this is like winning the fannish lottery. :D
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