Supergirl and The CW: How a Lack of Representation Has Led to One of the Worst Cases of Queerbaiting in Modern Television
Disclaimer: This article is not written to supply hate towards those who disagree with the contents of this writing, it is simply a culmination of observations and opinions. All rights reserved to the authors of the provided links in this article.
Introduction
Television is a great source of media outlets for people looking to retreat to fantasy worlds or indulge in characters that they would otherwise not be exposed to. The CW is a network that has been around for 14 years and is known for shows like Riverdale, Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, the 100, Supernatural, and Supergirl. More recently, however, this network is getting attention for it’s potential queerbaiting on a show called Supergirl.
What is Queerbaiting
Queerbaiting is a practice used by television writers to draw attention from LGBTQ viewers with hints at a homosexual relationship but never following through with it. The CW is no stranger to this practice with its shows Supernatural and Riverdale. This practice becomes a problem because it is used to keep LGBTQ viewers involved with the show, but it means that the writers don’t actually have to represent the LGBTQ community. Which, of course, is unfair to the community and those viewers that hope to see themselves resembled on television. As stated earlier, television is a place for people to retreat to especially when the outside world is not ideal. In many cases, LGBTQ youth and other members feel insecure and unsafe in the real world, so they hope to see themselves in television in order to live through the shoes of someone else. Additionally, lack of representation only stimulates the heteronormativity of the modern world because without representation, the LGBTQ community feels as if they are not welcomed in society and should not be shown to the world. This is just a preview as to why Supergirl’s queerbaiting has become such a problem. Additionally, Supergirl makes matters worse by calling fans delusional for even thinking that they could be queerbaiting, when there have been multiple observations saying otherwise. Such comments make the viewers feel even angrier at the lack of representation and the media response.
Lack of representation in the Supergirl
Lack of representation is common in most television shows and the fight for representation has been ongoing for decades. The CW tends to represent straight cis white folks as their main characters. Up until recently with Black Lightning and Batwoman, the cast of CW shows seems like a tease to what representation could look like.
It has been shown that the CW can have a wide representation of diversity. Take a look at Legends of Tomorrow, for example, their cast has equal roles for a lesbian, two bisexuals, a gender-fluid pansexual, a queer man, and three people of color. The show is an example of just how diverse TV shows can be and should be. Of course, there could be more representation but that’s a conversation for another day.
Tokenism is the practice by television shows of only recruiting a small number of underrepresented group of people to give the illusion that they are creating a diverse cast. Supergirl has fallen victim to this practice. When it comes to African American representation, Supergirl likes to pretend that they are doing a good job with its characters Jimmy Olsen, Kelly Olsen, and J’onn J’onzz. Each of these characters have only been on screen together a few times, leaving them to be alone on screen surrounded by white characters. The show touched briefly on the hardships of black Americans with J’onn saying, “…And people in this world don’t have much tolerance for others who look different. I say that as an alien and as someone who’s worn the face of a black man for 15 years.” However, recently this representation has been sidelined with Kelly Olsen, the only black queer character, only getting about two lines per episode and no character development.
Additionally, the only transgender superhero in the show has been hiding for the entire season five of Supergirl. Nicole Maines, a revolutionary trans female plays one of televisions first openly transgender superheroes — Nia Nal. When introduced to the show, Nia was set up to become Kara Danvers’ mentee and potential sidekick. She was given a backstory and a trans identity. Moving into season five, however, she has been replaced by a man named William Dey and even lost her relationship with one of the characters, Brainy. Now, she is left with one or two scenes every couple of episodes and no character development.
Furthermore, the lack of Asian and Hispanic representation is saddening. The only Hispanic queer character was cut out of the show after a failure of an excuse for her leave. It’s surprising that they didn’t kill her off. As for Asian representation, I have yet to see any decent representation on Supergirl.
Finally, a show that is supposed to be about feminism and girl power has been doing a sad job at showing it. The second half of season five has given us several straight cis males at the forefront of recent episodes. Additionally, the lead female is being thrown into a ridiculous and potentially toxic relationship after being single for an entire season. (Because we can’t have a strong independent female lead, right?). This has caused a lot of backlash from fans of the show and requires a whole other article to just touch on that tragedy.
So, where does all this fit into queerbaiting? Well, the lack of representation shows that the CW is scared to take risks, even if it means becoming a revolutionary show and pleasing their fan base. If Supergirl cannot accurately and fairly represent people of color, females, and queer characters, then their ability to tell a compelling queer love story would be a massive failure.
Queerbaiting
Now, let’s get into the details of this so called “queerbaiting” that is presently being carried out by the writers of Supergirl. The source of this baiting comes from the two lead characters of the show Kara Danvers (Supergirl) and Lena Luthor. It all started back in Season 2 of the show. Lena Luthor was supposed to have a three-episode arc then leave. However, chemistry between the two actresses created a new and loved character for the show. This had been done before on Arrow when Felicity was supposed to be on the show for a couple episodes, but the chemistry between her and lead Oliver Queen (Green Arrow) ended up making her a main character and eventual love interest. Moreover, the chemistry between Lena and Kara started a huge fan base who call this ship of characters “SuperCorp.” Since then, SuperCorp has become one of the most trending topics surrounding Supergirl and was one of the top three most popular ships of 2019. What makes these two so “shippable” if they are supposed to just be close friends on the show? Let’s take a look at the top three examples of how Supergirl writers have been queerbaiting and expecting viewers to believe these characters are just friends.
1. The dialogue between the characters
Dialogue between any characters on any show is vital to understanding the relationship between characters. It gives us a way to relate to characters and helps us to follow a developing relationship in a show. If Supergirl wanted to create a great friendship between Lena and Kara, then their dialogue should mirror that. However, the dialogue between these two characters has left much to be discussed and portrays an underlying romantic interest between the two. In fact, the writers have to specifically write in the word “friendship” anytime Lena or Kara are talking about each other just to prove that the two are friends. If you take out the word friendship in some of their dialogues, it becomes extremely romantic. Here are some examples of this, taken from a Tumblr blog (lonelydiary):
- “I’ve never had someone like you before…”
- “I spelled it out to you over and over again, essentially begging you not to violate my trust, begging you not to prove that once again I was a fool. You reassured me, ad nauseum, that you would never lie to me, that you’d never hurt me. All the while, there wasn’t a single honest moment between us”
- “My double-identity blew it up with Lena. How am I supposed to date someone?”
2. The romantic undertones of scenes
Part of the queerbaiting with Kara and Lena has to do with the romantic undertones of the scenes between the two. For example, back in season two, Kara and Lena are sitting on a couch together and Kara mentions someone decorating her office with flowers. Lena makes a series of flirtatious faces before Kara finishes with “You didn’t have to do that.” Another example is the iconic fight scene between Kara and Lena in season five. It is a little more emotional than a fight would be between two best friends and resembles something more along the lines of a fight with a couple who is breaking up.
The music in the scenes between the two characters also has a romantic implication. There are two scenes in season five where this is evident. The first is when Kara stares fondly at Lena as she hovers outside her balcony and eventually makes eye contact with Lena before entering her apartment via said balcony. The second is when Kara and Lena are looking longingly at the same photo of one other while looking deeply saddened.
Finally, the looks given between Kara and Lena are sort of romantic if looked at in that way. They make flirtatious faces, stare at each other from a distance, and even bite their lips when talking to each other. Another incident of their looks is the amount of times Kara seems to stare down at Lena’s body when they are talking, or Lena is walking away. If you would like to see an example of this watch the 5x07 scene where Lena turns away from Kara to mess with one of the machines in the Fortress of Solitude and pay attention to Kara’s face.
3. The parallels to canon couples
The CW does have some pretty great canon couples and they seem to be inspiration for some of the scenes between Kara and Lena. A quick Google search will come up with lots of examples of parallels between SuperCorp and other canon relationships. However, let’s take a look at just a few:
Clark and Lois (Superman):
Also: Clark flies across the world for Lois and Kara does the same for Lena.
Barry and Iris (The Flash):
Oliver and Felicity (Arrow):
Carrying their loved ones:
Bonus: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5rAUn4oilo
Conclusion:
Whether intentional or not, it does appear that the Supergirl writers are queerbaiting with the relationship of Kara Danvers and Lena Luthor. In addition to that, they are also lacking representation with underrepresented communities. The hope for the show is that they will fix their mistakes and give viewers what they want in order to keep the show going. After all, by paralleling Kara and Lena with canon couples, giving them romantic looks and dialogue, and coating their scenes with romantic music, Supergirl is creating the basis of an amazing queer love story if they have the courage to move forward with it.
