The Supergirl upfront has garnered strong reactions online, not all of it positive.
Here’s a response to its critics…
Its fair to saytheSupergirltrailer has attracted a lot of praise.
Its also attracted a lot of criticism.
But how valid are those criticisms?
What I do know is that some of the things people are saying about it dont seem fair.
So heres the thing.
Which brings me to my next point.
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People are saying this like its a bad thing.
If its a rom-com, its a rom-com about falling in love with yourself.
The point to remember is that riffing on existing tropes isnt inherently bad.
Im not sayingSupergirlwill definitely be the nextBuffy, but the potential is definitely there.
It isnt automatically bad that it looks familiar.
And the thing about superheroes is that romance is baked into their DNA.
Peter Parkers numerous romantic foils are almost as popular as he is.
Of course not, because their personalities arent a function of their gender thats just how they are.
This version of Kara Zor-El quite clearly draws parallels with the Clark Kent/Superman dynamic.
Admittedly, Karas personality might just not be to your taste and in that case, fair enough.
The problem is one of variety, or rather the lack thereof.
If youre after a confident and super-capable badass, youve got your Batman and your Iron Man.
If you want a morally certain boy scout youve got Superman and Captain America.
If you want a hero with a dark side youve got The Punisher or Wolverine.
No-one complains that Hawkeye isnt a geek or Wolverine is a killer because there are other options out there.
So if your disappointment withSupergirlis that you wanted something else entirely, thats fair enough.
PerhapsAKA Jessica Joneswill scratch your itch.
But does that matter?
This sounds like a complaint about tone.
But stop and consider whether this complaint makes sense.
Yes, there are moments where it seems to be a little naive, or optimistic, or chirpy.
Wheres the rule that says it cant be?
The thing we all need to realise is that not every superhero show is aimed at us.
You might exclusively like grim, serious, realist superhero television.
If you want a darker superheroine show, the chance will hopefully come around.
That doesnt mean this one is bad.
It means its aimed at an audience that doesnt include you.
If youve never seen it, it was great fun.
But on a week-by-week basis, it was genuinely fun to watch, and remains so.
ItsSupergirl.Its supposed to be aimed at teenage girls.
Its worth hanging on to that perspective for the next time this complaint bubbles up.
Well, that remains to be seen.
We still dont know whether its actually any good or not.
For all we know it might be braindead, cliched rubbish on a weekly basis.
But the point is that the show shouldnt be criticised for what its attempting to be.
Personally, Im going to give it a go.
