She can leap the tallest glass ceiling in a single bound

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 31/10/2015 (3658 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Kara Danvers (a.k.a. Kara Zor-El from the planet Krypton) knows she possesses superpowers on Earth, like her more famous cousin Superman. She just chooses not to use them, deciding that “the best thing (she) can do is fit in.” That seems like an odd choice for someone who can fly.

Still, considering the gender-freighted debate that’s swirling round Kara’s superhero cred, her reluctance is understandable. The new Supergirl television series (Global, Monday, 7 p.m.) may be an endearingly dorky show with a likeable heroine, but it’s battling some hostile backlash. Let’s hope one of Kara’s superpowers is the ability to withstand sniping.

Freaked-out fanboys have complained that Supergirl is an “atrocity,” a “gender studies essay,” a pandering piece of propaganda that has been hijacked by special interests. Why does the show keep harping on the F-word? (“Feminism,” that is.)

Some feminist commentators, meanwhile, find Supergirl too girlie, too much a plucky-gal-in-the-big-city set-up. Kara (Glee’s Melissa Benoist) is stuck in a latte-fetching job with a media-conglomerate hell-boss. She’s clumsy and tongue-tied around cute boys. The scene in which she plans her superhero outfit with her BFF is a changing-room montage. Is Kara starring in a lame rom-com or saving the world?

The Internet name-calling has intensified in the last week, but the arguments have been going on since last May, when CBS released a six-minute “first look” at the show. At that time, Washington Post culture commentator Alyssa Rosenberg talked about what she called “the superheroine scarcity problem.”

Basically, this is the issue: There are so few females in capes that when one appears, she is inevitably loaded down with expectations. The feminists and antifeminists, the hardcore nerds and occasional dabblers all have something to say. Our lady hero will be considered too dark or too sunny. She will be seen as a blatant feminazi mouthpiece or an insufficiently positive role model for young girls. If she wears stiletto boots, she’ll be deemed slutty or ineffectual, and if she wears a sensible heel she’ll be decried as non-canon. As Rosenberg points out, the writers, directors and actors will be blamed for the choices they do make, plus all the choices they don’t make.

With all this baggage, it’s a wonder Supergirl can fly at all.

So, yes, the pilot spends some time on girl issues. As the first female-led DC comic TV series in 40 years, Supergirl can’t just dive into fighting evil without starting some kind of dialogue with the massive, overwhelmingly male superhero tradition that surrounds it. And it does this in a peppy, positive way.

Kara is aware that we all know Superman’s story but don’t really know hers. She’s in the tricky position of building on that Man of Steel — uh, Person of Steel — legacy while simultaneously trying to differentiate herself. And it will take more than a kicky skirt.

Kara’s emotional kryptonite is her tendency to be apologetic and self-deprecating. This is a young woman who would rather fit in than fly, after all. Her path to world-saving involves overcoming nay-sayers — her earthly sister, the head of the shadowy Department of Extranormal Operations, even a skeptical public. But she spends even more energy tackling her own self-doubt and second-guessing.

Some haters have complained about this Oprah-style focus on self-esteem. It’s a theme, fellas, and manly superheroes have themes as well, except they usually involve daddy issues, anger management and a lot of brooding over nocturnal skylines.

And really, who can blame Kara for having confidence problems? If her adopted hometown of National City is anything like our world, then female superheroes are constantly being sexed up with provocative back-arching poses and skimpy metal bikinis. Studios are churning out endless sequels and reboots and reiterations of male superheroes; they’re even considering making Green Lantern 2 (!). Meanwhile, Black Widow — played by Scarlett Johansson — can’t get her own damn movie.

Considering that people have been talking about her, tussling over her and forecasting her failure for six months before the show even debuted, you can see why Supergirl frets about how to present herself. She tinkers with her blue-and-red outfit, trying to get it right. (“I’m not flying around saving people in this,” Kara says of a crop top and hot pants number. “I wouldn’t wear it to the beach.”) She has issues with the name that gets pinned on her by her media conglomerate boss. Shouldn’t she be called Superwoman?

By the end of the pilot, the adorably earnest, eager, scrappy Supergirl is ready to take on supervillains. She’ll also need to fight the superheroine scarcity problem, though, with its heavy expectations and exacting judgments about everything she does and doesn’t do.

Let’s hope with all the pop-culture weight she’s carrying, Supergirl can still soar.

alison.gillmor@freepress.mb.ca