By Julia Conforti, staff writer
In late October, the CBS drama Supergirl aired after the hype that sparked a year prior to the pilot’s release. Supergirl is DC’s newest show to air on television following hits such as Arrow, Flash, and Gotham.
The show follows the story of Superman’s cousin Kara, who also escaped their home planet Krypton’s destruction. Kara was sent to Earth with the goal of protecting Superman as he grew up. However, due to an accident, Kara arrived late to our planet and her protection was no longer necessary.
Without much of a choice, Kara found an adoptive family, suppressed her powers, and found a day job at Catco Media which is owned by the ruthless Cat Grant.
For much of her life, Kara never used her powers but she always felt that she should help people just as Superman does. Though she simply focused on remaining hidden until her adoptive sister, Alex Danvers, boarded a plane which started to crash. The engines of said plane failed and Kara flew to her sister’s aid and saved the passengers of the airplane. Following that evening, Kara turned to her friends James Olsen and Winn Schott to make her into a hero. Cat Grant begins writing about Supergirl, effectively boosting her popularity.
Supergirl quickly finds that being a hero is nowhere as easy as it was for her cousin. Supergirl fights villains, her biological aunt, ghosts of her past, her own emotions, and most of all, misogyny.
Supergirl is a show that, without a doubt, focuses on female empowerment. Kara overcomes sexism in and out of the cape, Cat Grant is the walking editorial on misogyny in the media business, and Kara’s sister Alex gives plenty of girl pep talk which has managed to touch the viewer at times. Most of the characters are female, a majority of the male characters
are there to illustrate sexism. While some find that distasteful, Supergirl continues to have good ratings despite not maintaining all of their viewers. The pilot gained a crowd of 13 million viewers, though the weeks following saw a sharp decrease in audience. However, Supergirl has still maintained a considerable audience, about 6 million viewers.
People, even some strong feminists, feel as though the show forces feminist agendas down the throats of viewers. Critics of the show have complained about the underlying message of hate directed at males, particularly white males. This is very much a fair argument, though fans of Supergirl argue that people simply are not used to the majority (white males) being criticized for their actions and that is why they are so offended by Supergirl. Others complain that the show does not follow the comics, and it does not. However, this is somewhat of a flawed argument because these people usually watch CW’s Arrow and Flash and compare those two shows to Supergirl in an attempt to prove their opinions. Ex Glee star Melissa Benoist plays Supergirl with precision, capturing the dorky nature while still remaining a strong defender of her city and the angst which undoubtedly comes with being one of the last of her kind in a smooth and believable way. Benoist’s castmates all perform just as efficiently which helps with immersion superhero shows desperately need to be successful.
While Supergirl definitely is not for everybody, those who are seeking a weekly dose of female empowerment will definitely be interested. Some of the dialogue admittedly feels out of place, lacks fluidity, and is predictable, which also contributed to the drop in viewership. However, Supergirl has a 97 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes and has still been able to score more episodes. With the promise of a Flash and Supergirl crossover, viewership has picked up again. Hopefully writers of Supergirl will be able to keep those extra viewers.