SUPERGIRL: THE BEGINNING OF THE END?
In the 2015 Pilot episode of Supergirl, it is very possible that viewers had just unknowingly witnessed the beginning of the end of one of the great travesties in the media that we consume today. In this episode we have witnessed a shift from a male dominated superhero genre over all forms of media, to a much more even platform where both men and women superheroes are given an even playing ground. While it may not be an immediate shift, this signals the beginning of a trend where women superheroes get more and more notice in the media we consume.
In 2008 the world of media changed drastically, in that year, the blockbuster superhero film became a reality with the release of Iron Man. There had been successful superhero movies and franchises before then, but that movie launched the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), one of the most profitable franchises of all time. And in 2013 Man of Steel arrived in theaters, which launched the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) of films, DC comics rival to the MCU. Since the inception of both franchise though, there has not been a single movie with a woman in the lead. While Marvel has strong female characters such as Black Widow and Scarlet Witch, neither has gotten there own solo film. In the DCEU, there has not even been a single mention of a female superhero. But then there came Supergirl, Kara Zor-El, who ignited a flame under the executives who have pushed male superheroes towards the public for 8 years now. This enforcement of norms had become a commonplace to the American public. When someone would hear, “There’s a new superhero movie/show coming out!” one could easily assume that said new superhero was a male, but it’s not that simple anymore.
When I initially heard that there was going to be a Supergirl TV show coming out, I was surprised. I had never heard of this character before, and the fact that there was going to be a lead character with super powers that wasn’t a man was very surprising to me. It was all that I had ever known, a new superhero gets a show or a movie, it’s going to be a man, it was just all that I had ever known. When I watched the show though, everything changed. Kara was a legitimately strong character who didn’t need a male counterpart to carry a scene. She was a character that I could actually see performing acts that no normal human could achieve, she was confident and everything that I had seen her male superhero counterparts before her be. While some may not have seen Kara as impressive as her cousin Superman, such as the comic relief of the show Winn when he said, “A plane saving lady? How is the world supposed to take her seriously if she can’t even come up with a suit? What… Metropolis gets him and what does National City get? Some rookie superhero?” what Winn fails to realize is not only that Kara is just as powerful as Superman, but Supergirl has even larger ramifications for places other than National City. She is the living embodiment of a cultural transmission, she is the face that will usher in a new generation of more well balanced superheroes gender wise.
The superhero world has already seen a shift in the spectrum since October 26, 2015. Since the first episode of Supergirl happened we have seen the women of the superhero world gain much more recognition. Already we have had a Captain Marvel movie announced for 2019 starring Brie Larson as the titular character, Black Widow and Scarlet Witch have both been rumored to be getting their own solo films and that is only in the MCU. In the DCEU we saw Lois Lane take a central role in this years Batman V. Superman, we saw Wonder Woman being a badass in that same movie for the first time ever on the big screen, Amber Heard will be starring as Mera in the upcoming Aquaman and Justice League movies and Harley Quinn will be getting her own movie. This is so significant to our modern day society because it gives girls a better role model to look up to than ever before. The whole reason that Superman was created was to show the average everyday man, aka Superman’s alias Clark Kent, that they truly can be something better than what they are. It gave the boys of several generations something to aspire to be, but because comic books have always been tailored towards men rather than women, these women have never had their inspiration. That is up until Kara Zor-El crashed onto Earth, because ever since she did, there has been an incredible increase in powerful, kind and caring women to look up to.
There were thousands of little girls whose lives were changed last year when they flipped to CBS at 7 o’clock on October 26 to see Supergirl flying across the screen to save a plane full of people from crashing to the ground. And next June when a small girl walks into a movie theater and sees a poster with Gal Gadot wearing her Wonder Women costume, she will never be the same. Supergirl has marked an incredible shift in our society from an very male-centric group of role models, to a group that is slowly but surely evening out to have fair representation from both groups. Supergirl was the start of a revolution, and I think that maybe the opening lines of the series may not have told the entire truth. When Kara says, “My name is Kara Zor-El. 24 years ago, my planet, Krypton, was in serious peril. My cousin Kal-El, was sent to a planet called Earth for his own safety and protection. You may know his story. The story you don’t know is that I was sent to protect him.” I think she may sell herself short. She may not have just been sent her to protect Kal, she may have been sent here to save us.
