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7 reasons why queer women should check out “Supergirl”

“If you perceive ‘Supergirl’ as anything less than excellent, isn’t the real problem you?”

Now, I wouldn’t go so far to say if you don’t like the new CBS show Supergirl that there’s a problem with you, necessarily. And while there are no openly queer female characters on the show just yet-nor public intention to add one in the immediate future-I do have a few reasons why you should give it a chance if you haven’t already. (And I’ll talk more about the above quote and its speaker, HBIC Cat Grant, in a bit.)

(Oh also, this is your warning, in case it wasn’t obvious, spoilers for the first two episodes of Supergirl ahead.)

You may know her as Sweet Marley Rose from the New New Directions on the later seasons of Glee, the girl with the killer voice, adorable hats, and slew of unfortunate storylines, or she may be a fresh new face to you, but either way, it’s a good face to know. Between PaleyFest and New York Comic Con, I watched the pilot three times before it aired, so I learned a few things right off the bat. And the first thing is, no matter who’s talking, keep tabs on Melissa Benoist’s face. She does more with a nose scrunch than most people do with an entire scene of dialogue. It’s fabulous. She takes the term “adorkable” to a whole new level. She may be married to her Glee on-screen occasional love interest, but she’s still worthy of some head-in-hands sighs and serious hair envy.

This show is campy and cheesy and it doesn’t take itself too seriously, which all add to the fun of the experience of watching it. But what it does take seriously is feminism. It doesn’t shy away from it or try to be subtle about it or try to trick people into thinking feminist things. It hits the nail on the head and oh what a beautiful sound it makes when it does.

To go back to the quote I opened this piece with, when Kara Danvers’ super ego is dubbed Supergirl by her boss and founder of the major media corporation CatCo, Kara storms into Cat Grant’s office and asks why it wasn’t Superwoman. She complains that “girl” is making her out to be less than she is. She actually literally uses the word “anti-feminist” when voicing her concerns. But Cat pushes back. Who cares about the word “girl?” She’s a girl, and she can’t be stopped. She says if you perceive “girl” as less than “woman” you’re not as feminist as you think. It was an eye-opening moment for Kara, and she walked away looking a little more empowered.

It actually reminded me a little of the Always “Like A Girl” campaign, which is aiming to remove the stigma of the term “girl” when it comes to phrases meant to be insulting like, “You throw like a girl” or “You hit like a girl,” implying girls are somehow less capable. At one point in the show, a man in charge of an anti-alien task force, Henshaw, is worried Kara won’t win against the Bad Guy of the Week, because he thinks she fights like a girl. And she does. She fights like Supergirl. And she wins.

But not the first time.

Besides not flying into the air perfectly on the first go, the first time Supergirl faces an alien with comparable strength to her own, she gets knocked down. Someone had to drop from a helicopter to save her. But guess who it was? It wasn’t Henshaw or Superman. It was her sister, Alex. In the second episode, Alex teaches her some fighting skills, because even though Kara’s strength and ability to fly and heat vision are all natural abilities, she doesn’t know how to use them all yet, not to fight. So her human sister teaches her moves and strategies for using her size and her speed to her advantage. It’s so full of the Girl Power the Spice Girls spread all over the ’90s, it makes me want to fly myself.

Supergirl may be fast enough to break the sound barrier, but she also breaks the superhero mold of her cousin before her (and some other superheroes of yore). She’s not tortured, or haunted, or a loner. She’s been through a decent amount for a 20-something alien on Earth, but she stays optimistic. Where heroes like Batman try fight the darkness, Kara seeks the light. Kara Danvers smiles so much and when she decided to put her powers to good use, she literally could not stop telling people. We’re two episodes in and she already has a band of misfits helping her out!

Also, having been older when she left, she actually remembers Krypton, and what life there was like. She’s a little more firmly rooted in her alien identity than her cousin, who came here as a baby, so is more of an Earthling with Kryptonian powers than a Kryptonian living on Earth.

Plus the show is funny. It’s more similar in tone to The Flash than it is Gotham, the early seasons of Arrow, or even Supernatural. (Full disclosure: I’ve only seen a handful of episodes of Supernatural, but it was my impression that it was a Dark show with funny elements, whereas Supergirl feels like a funny show that can be Serious when it wants to be.)

Not to mention, she NEEDS a team. As I touched upon before, she kinda sucks at being a hero at first! And she knows it! But she gets knocked down, and she gets up again. And it’s a beautiful thing.

Though there are no queer women ON the show yet, there is one at the helm. Like Melissa Beniost, Ali Adler comes from a Glee background, and Adler also co-created The New Normal with Ryan Murphy before co-creating and writing Supergirl.

Being part of the LGBTQ+ community herself (she has two children with actress Sara Gilbert and is engaged to writer/producer Liz Brixius), I have hope that if Supergirl gets picked up for more episodes and seasons, Ali will make sure a queer woman gets written onto the show at some point.

For those of you who, like me, have been mourning the loss of Lexie Grey for the past three years, have no fear: Chyler Leigh is here! Chyler plays aforementioned badass big sister, Alex Danvers, the biological daughter of the human family that took Kara in when she landed on Earth. Alex starts out seeming like just your run-of-the-mill supportive-but-protective big sister, which was cool enough, but she ends up being even more badass than that. She’s gorgeous, she’s smart, she’s fierce. And she’s alive, which is more than we can say for the last person who had the same face.

When superstar Laura Benanti showed up as Kara’s mother in the opening scene of Supergirl, I found myself already hoping for plenty of flashbacks-what a waste it would have been to only use a Broadway legend and TV veteran so sparingly! Luckily, based on a twist or two I won’t reveal (I’ve spoiled enough), it looks like we’ll see more of her than I thought we would. (Bonus: Between her and Melissa Benoist, we’ve got the makings of a Supergirl Musical Episode.)

Also recently announced to join the cast is Emma Caulfield, who I’m sure I don’t have to tell you played Anya on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Emma will also be returning to Once Upon A Time this season-double the vengeance demon, double the fun!

Other upcoming guest stars will include True Blood alum Brit Morgan, Unforgettable‘s Tawny Cypress, and Jenna Dewan-Tatum, who is slotted to play Lucy Lane, Louis Lane’s sister.

Last, but the opposite of least, is probably the reason I’m so drawn to superhero-related shows (and probably you are too): Learning new things about yourself, finding out you’re different than the people around you, keeping it a secret until you don’t, grappling with your identity-those things can be applied to brand new superheroes and also queer people.

I wrote a little bit about how having powers can often be directly compared to queerness when I wrote about Frozen, but I don’t think a show or movie has made as direct as a comparison as Supergirl did in the pilot.

Here is dialogue taken directly from the episode:

Kara Danvers: There’s something about me that for most of my life, I’ve run from it. But last night, I embraced who I am and I don’t want to stop.

Winn Schott: Oh, my God, you’re a lesbian.

Unfortunately, Winn goes on to prove that he Loses, because he thinks that her being a lesbian is the only explanation for why she’s not into him (he also later says something about her looking cute without her glasses so he’s officially on my Go Away list), and even MORE unfortunately, she says she’s NOT gay, BUT, it was still a nice nod to the fact that coming out as a superhero isn’t unlike coming out as queer. It can be scary, it can be exciting, but it can also be dangerous, depending on the situation. I would also like to note that Kara didn’t do that thing sometimes people do in real life or on other shows where they’re like “OH GOD EW NO WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT?!” Her reaction was more like, “What? No? Please let me finish what I was trying to say and stop making this about you.” But sweeter because she’s the cutest.

Another way Supergirl’s “coming out” has been a little like real life coming is in how she’s not good at it right away. She doesn’t know all the right things to say or do, but she’s learning. She doesn’t want to be compared to her super predecessor, just like you might not want to be constantly held up to the standards of a gay cousin or sibling or even Ellen. You just want to be you, you just have to figure out how to be this shiny new version of yourself.

Anyway, all that to say this: Give Supergirl a chance. Much like its title character, it’s going to stumble a few times before it can fly, but I have a feeling it will be worth standing behind in the end.

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