# Supergirl



## SeverinR (Dec 29, 2015)

(Supergirl pilot aired last night.)

Just watched Supergirl. Interesting twist.  
 First negitives: 1.As soon as she saves a airliner, she rushes out to tell a man*. Superman tells no one, Super girl can't keep a secret and has to her secret to a man.
 2. Superman doesn't fall for several sequels, Supergirl falls within days of beginning her rescues.
 3. Superman doesn't have doubts, Supergirl is over emotional, filled with doubt, and gives up with her first set back, her adopted sister has to talk her into giving ...it another try, with help of a video from her mother.
 *. The man becomes her computer hacker geek to locate her rescues.
 **, The government has a secret agency against all aliens, that doesn't trust super girl, but reluctantly "lets" her fight the first villian.
 Undecided on the first episode, but will probably watch next week. It is on same time as Gotham. I will still watch Gotham.
 I see too many troupes stereotypes.

I did forget to mention the premise of the show.
Cousin to Superman, she was sent to "babysit" Superman while he grew up, but her ship was blown of course and she arrived 28 yrs later(Still as a 13 yr old girl). Superman is a world hero, so she grows up hiding her powers.
Her life occupation, babysitting superman is ruined, so she is totally lost with what to do with her life.  

But, I watched all of it, when I could have turned to a rerun of Gotham.  A lot of annoying sexist aspects to the show, but it was entertaining.


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## Devor (Dec 29, 2015)

I had some of the same thoughts for the first episode.  Some of it is not about being sexist, but in trying to make the show better and different overall.  That becomes apparent the longer you watch the show.  Her sister, the government agency, the friends - they start to make the show stand out apart from Superman.

If you listen to some of the commentary by the makers of Arrow and Flash, they say it's bad for the show to keep the secret identity away from the other main characters because it limits what you can do.  It's better that she tells a lot of people early on, and that others find out.

The only thing that seriously hurts the show, I feel, are the _constant_ references to Superman.  By the end of the winter finale, it becomes clear that the show is going to be nothing like Superman.  But they don't do a good job of breaking that connection early on.  Some of the early episodes are a little obsessive about Superman.

I feel the show has improved a lot over the season.  And it definitely has its stand out moments.  But yeah, I know what you mean in those first few episodes.  The whole, _she's not as good as Superman, and I can't stop thinking about that_​.


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## SeverinR (Dec 29, 2015)

The first thoughts were that it was sexist, but stepping back I could see that they were establishing a whole team aspect rather then a lone ranger superhero.

Many times I thought they were going to bring superman in. I would have stopped watching right then.

The problem with superman was they made him so powerful, nothing was a challenge. They had to create something to be his weakness.  Supergirl has earthly girl attitude problems, trying to find a "good man to date", the emotional problems where supergirl needs her BFF to make her feel better.

The "untrusting" government agency felt a little to much like Arrow. In Arrow the police are always searching for Arrow because he is a vigilante, in Supergirl the government agency doesn't trust Supergirl and even takes her down to show her they can.

I think if you don't compare Superman with Supergirl it will be better. But it is tough not to compare when they mention him so much in the pilot.

I think a "Super" person would be more likely to out themselves to someone that knows another Super, rather then just a friend. I think in reality, Supergirl would have secretly "outed" herself to Jim (Jimmy Olsen).

Troupes:
Angry boss: never satisfied with the character, always looking for reasons to complain.
There are two: Her boss at her place of employment and the government official in charge of the anti-alien squad. (Don't remember what they're called.

Jimmy Olsan: Mentor

The friend(don't remember his name) she told she was supergirl: the sidekick and computer geek, never seen as anything more then a friend even though he doesn't hide the fact that he wants to be more.

Her Earth sister; her BFF, confidant, the person she shares her emotional side with, but she is quirky and doesn't react like Supergirl wants.

Arch-villain: Has plans that Supergirl always gets in the way of, but Supergirls heritage is hated by the arch-villain. So they will go out of their way to plot Supergirls destruction.

It is a lot of typical comic book themes, but they do make it interesting.  As I said, in this time slot, Gotham will win out, but it doesn't seem to bad a show from the first episode.  Come on, a well established comic book prequel, with all the "stars" of Batman before they were "famous" versus an untried commodity of "Supergirl"?
Bruce, Selena, Mr. Cobblepot, Det. Gordon, and all the others will win out.


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## Legendary Sidekick (Dec 29, 2015)

I didn't think of it as sexist so much as sexism is an unavoidable reality, and you even have women being awful to other women (such as Livewire's radio commentary).

I just saw the mid-season finale last night. Yeah, I do hope there will be less references to "him."


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## Devor (Dec 29, 2015)

SeverinR said:


> Angry boss: never satisfied with the character, always looking for reasons to complain.
> There are two: Her boss at her place of employment and the government official in charge of the anti-alien squad. (Don't remember what they're called.



Both of those characters completely shed that trope by the winter finale.  What they do with the government agency guy is the biggest shock of the series so far.  Also, the sister is more of a mentor than Jimmy Olsen, which makes it kind of interesting because they're so familiar with each other which isn't something you usually see with a mentor.  That computer nerd friend is totally friendzoned.

I wouldn't consider the show a novelty. I don't watch Gotham so I can't make that comparison - there were too many shows in our list that season.  I'm kind of surprised that CBS would pit Supergirl against Gotham - geesh, whatever happened to counter-programming? - but we watch it on CBS.com anyways.


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## Legendary Sidekick (Dec 29, 2015)

I also think the supporting cast is not of flat characters (flat = unchanging). You see a gradual change during the fall episodes and the mid-season finale clarifies a few things.

I never got into Gotham. I think Supergirl has more to offer (me). You have a female lead who's not hyper-sexualized. Television has a hard time doing that. Yes, she is very cute, but I mean the show is truer to old-school Superman wholesomeness than any of the recent Superman movies. (I hated Supes knocking up Lois Lane, and Lois is so quick to replace him that her husband doesn't realize the little boy is Superman's son and not his. Really?) I feel like Kara's inability to hide herself well is a smart approach. She really isn't good at lying. Her response to her boss asking, "What planet are you from?" is pretty funny. That adds to the wholesomeness and also differentiates her from Superman.

As much as I think the comparison was overdone, the other extreme would have been worse. You really can't be Supergirl in a world where Superman exists and not be compared. I think the creators see sexism as a real world issue, and so it drives part of the plot. I'm fine with that, since the show comes off as positive and not preachy.

By the way, I don't think all shows need to be wholesome or that sexy female leads are a bad thing. I watch Blindspot too, and my wife prefers Blindspot over Supergirl. I just think the "wholesome" direction works best for the Superman universe, and I think Supergirl pulled off a 21st-century twist without compromising that.




About Gotham, I'm fine with dark, but a lot of the shows I like are dark. Person of Interest (when does season 5 start, dammit?) and Blindspot are my favorite "dark" shows. I like a mix, so Supergirl is my bright and colorful show.


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