Politics & Supergirl

Comics have been one of the most political forms of media out there for decades, no reason why this show in bringing about what is happening around the world to do the same. It is about a contemporary women in the 21st century, politics will and should be a part of it. Not up front and center, but definitely a part of what goes on in Kara's life. She works for the government for crying out loud.

For those who say comic book based shows shouldn't be political have you watched Black Lightning? The opening scene of the first episode has Jefferson bailing his older daughter out of jail for protesting. Then he gets pulled over by the police with his two daughters in the car. He's in a suit on the way to a banquet in his honor it's pouring rain and the cop drags him out of his car and frisks him without cause. The type of thing that happened to Jefferson absolutely happens and so do things like the security guard grabbing Kara by the arm in For Good. I know they do because I've been in the car when friends are pulled over and asked to step out of the car when I'd bet the same cop wouldn't have pulled me over at all let alone asked me to step out of the car. I know these things happen because in this very forum I talked about a security guard grabbing me by the arm and calling me honey. The writers of these shows aren't making these things up to be "political" but drawing from real life experiences.

For those who think the TV shows should be an escape consider that not everyone has the ability to just escape, that's still a privilege. I remember in an interview Candace Patton(Iris West-Allen on Flash) talked about going to see Wonder Woman with Caity Lotz(Sara Lance on LoT). Candace said as they walked out the theater she told Caity that this must be what white men feel like all the time. So many women were inspired by that movie. In it's way Wonder Woman was "political" the difference is it was set in 1918 not 2018 so it looked different. Kara and Melissa herself inspire girls and women to stand up for ourselves and what we think is right. Truth, Justice, and the American way means different things to different people just because your version isn't being shown doesn't mean it's not someone else's. I like Kara's motto Hope, Help, and Compassion for all better anyway.

In closing Supergirl is about a young female alien refugee who works as a reporter and with a secret government agency and is living in what is suppose to represent a large city in 21st century United States of America. "Politics" is an inescapable reality for a being with that description.

We've discussed this quite a few times already. The consensus was that politics should be avoided entirely, since it's such a divisive issue in the US today (probably more so now than at any time I can ever recall).

If the writers wish to use "stories ripped from the headlines", my feeling is that they should do so in an apolitical manner. For example, if they want to have a school shooting take place at Ruby's school, then they should avoid getting into the ongoing political debate about guns all together. The message should be "if you see something, say something". I think we can all agree on that....

In fact, I wrote my own Supergirl school shooting story, and that's exactly what I did.
Here's a link to it on my Facebook page, should you care to read it:

http://www.facebook.com/stewart.tick/posts/1245576368907060?viewas=100000686899395

How much should Supergirl reflect contemporary politics?

Not very much or preferably not at all. Thing I find is the writers drop in Anti-Trump comments (see Supergirl's "who would vote for the other guy" in S2 E3 and Maggie's Father's comment about The Wall in S3 E3) when he doesn't even exist in Supergirl's Fictional World (albeit one similar to our own). I would definitely prefer if the writers kept their real world political views out of the scripts, it's not necessary in a fantasy show such as this. They seem to manage to keep Politics out of The Flash so they could do the same on Supergirl.


Kelly
"It is about a contemporary women in the 21st century, politics will and should be a part of it."

True, I actually thought it was a fantasy story about a girl from another planet who has these awesome powers that she uses to save and help people, defeat bad guys and girls, be an optimist who looks for everyone's Better Angels and someone who enjoys their job for the balance in her life, politics should have nothing to do with it.

"She works for the government for crying out loud."

I believe she actually works and gets paid as a journalist for a media company and then works as Supergirl with the D.E.O. to catch rogue aliens not espouse political views.

I guess we have a quite fundamentally different views on the show.

I will say in conclusion the best thing for me about Supergirl is when I get to watch Kara be a heroine, the worst thing is the Politics.

LOL, I can play that game.....

As Kara, yes she is a reporter.....as Supergirl she works for the DEO.

As Supergirl, yes she is an alien from another planet, as Kara she is a 21st Century woman in the US, that looks a lot like our US on earth, well except for the woman President of course.....



I for one like that this 21st Century woman through this fantasy world that she lives in is inspiring a lot of 21st Century young women who live in a world that doesn't quite have a handle on how to handle strong independent women of intellect and passion.......I'm glad that young women have someone like Supergirl/Kara and Melissa herself to watch and learn from.....politics will of course come into play in that lesson. So there is the choice of enjoying, agreeing or disagreeing and allowing people to glean from this show what they wish, or not enjoy it, wallow in what one does not agree with and take it personally and scream bloody murder that this or that doesn't belong on television.. (This last part is in no way a reply to your post Kiwi, just happened to piggy back on this post.... )

Avoid. There are reasons Superman after 60 years is still watchable, though the special effects are a bit less than modern.

I think several threads explore this, in which the opinion of most people here on this matter were given

To sort of take an old phrase...avoid like the plague.

Avoid. There are reasons Superman after 60 years is still watchable, though the special effects are a bit less than modern.

I assume the George Reeves show, which is indeed classic?

We've discussed this quite a few times already. The consensus was that politics should be avoided entirely, since it's such a divisive issue in the US today (probably more so now than at any time I can ever recall).

If the writers wish to use "stories ripped from the headlines", my feeling is that they should do so in an apolitical manner. For example, if they want to have a school shooting take place at Ruby's school, then they should avoid getting into the ongoing political debate about guns all together. The message should be "if you see something, say something". I think we can all agree on that....

In fact, I wrote my own Supergirl school shooting story, and that's exactly what I did.
Here's a link to it on my Facebook page, should you care to read it:

http://www.facebook.com/stewart.tick/posts/1245576368907060?viewas=100000686899395

And Stew if I did not comment on it, I must say the line could have been straddled, but wasn't.

"And Stew if I did not comment on it, I must say the line could have been straddled, but wasn't. "

Umm... not sure I know what you mean by "the line could have been straddled". But I do recall that you "liked" the story on my Facebook page!

Stew, by that I mean it could have gone after pro 2nd amendment groups or those who simply like the US Constitution and American sovereignty, which would be Hollywood's knee jerk triggered reaction to these mass shootings, but it did not. And yes I did very much like the story. But things have come up for me in the last few weeks, many of them not so good. I will leave it at that.

Short answer, not at all. Reason being is shows are a form of escape from reality for me. I don't need to be reminded of reality mid episode by a cheesy and contrived publi service announcement the writers slip in.

Comics have been one of the most political forms of media out there for decades, no reason why this show in bringing about what is happening around the world to do the same. It is about a contemporary women in the 21st century, politics will and should be a part of it. Not up front and center, but definitely a part of what goes on in Kara's life. She works for the government for crying out loud.

B I N G O

As Kelly stated, politics have always been involved in not just superhero shows/movies but, in almost all genres of the small and big screens because politics and television are both driven by social issues.

For example, throughout much of the 1950s-1960s, women in television were depicted as dutiful housewives/mothers while men were shown to be the omniscient breadwinners of the family. Until recently, minorities throughout most of television history were placed in lower-class, subservient roles and often tied to the criminal element of society. Christian values were and continue to be the backbone of many shows. Almost all superhero/action shows have the premise of a “good-guy versus bad-guy” scenario where weapons of some type are prevalent and war or battle is often thought of as the solution to the problem.

Every one of these concepts is a social issue and it reflected the societal views of the those making the creative decisions for that show. If a viewer happened to be an advocate of those beliefs or benefited from them, then that individual didn’t view it as a social issue until that belief was challenged by those who believed differently. When shows like “All in the Family”, “Mary Tyler Moore”and “The Cosby Show” illustrated a contrasting view of beliefs in the 70s and 80s, the term “political” suddenly emerged as a show descriptor. But in reality, maintaining a norm of stereotypical roles and values of one group in favor of other groups, even if not verbally asserted in dialogue, is just as much an inferred political statement as those labeled political because of role reversals or inserted dialogue.

So, the debate about whether a show is political isn’t really the question because a majority of the shows on television can arguably be labeled as political. The problem comes from when the show's writers are unable to insert the issues effectively into the story or dialogue so it doesn't offend a diverse audience. With Supergirl, the writing history leads me to believe that they have not reached this level of writing yet and so, I think they should keep the social issues on the outskirts of an episode.

"Almost all superhero/action shows have the premise of a “good-guy versus bad-guy” scenario where weapons of some type are prevalent and war or battle is often thought of as the solution to the problem. '

Yes, but when I was growing up, Supergirl comics were more of an exception to this rule. With Kara, the battle was often more intellectual, turning on outwitting the villains or applying some type of superior knowledge. Weapons and war or battle were usually much less a part of the action than they were with Batman or Green Arrow. Kara often saved the day by outwitting her opponents or applying some type of futuristic technology (sometimes by using the villains' technology against them somehow). And then there were the stories where Supergirl's opponent used "magic" rather than weapons or technology against her (Mr. Mxyzptlk comes immediately to mind). I always admired Kara for her superior intelligence and resourcefulness in the Action Comics stories. And I've tried to keep that element in place in my own Supergirl fan fiction stories.
Come to think of it, that's one of the reasons Supergirl was one of my favorite superheroes back then. She was the smart-girl hero who was also "cool" and popular (she always had close friends...) - as opposed to the usual Hollywood "nerd" or "geek" stereotypes (which were always a turn-off for me).

"And Stew if I did not comment on it, I must say the line could have been straddled, but wasn't. "

Umm... not sure I know what you mean by "the line could have been straddled". But I do recall that you "liked" the story on my Facebook page!

Comics have been one of the most political forms of media out there for decades, no reason why this show in bringing about what is happening around the world to do the same. It is about a contemporary women in the 21st century, politics will and should be a part of it. Not up front and center, but definitely a part of what goes on in Kara's life. She works for the government for crying out loud.

Well said.

"For example, throughout much of the 1950s-1960s, women in television were depicted as dutiful housewives/mothers while men were shown to be the omniscient breadwinners of the family. "

Sully, I think I would amend that to say that they "were usually depicted" in that manner. But there were exceptions, even then. For instance, one of my favorite sitcoms growing up (we just called them "comedies" back then was "Our Miss Brooks", in which Eve Arden played a sardonic single high-school English teacher. As it turned out, she was actually a sort of role model for me, since I later became a teacher myself (a science teacher - but still a teacher....
And I recently wrote a story in which Kara spends a week at Midvale High as a substitute teacher, and titled it "Our Miss Danvers"!

Here's a link to my story on my Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/stewart.tick/posts/1186738978124133?viewas=100000686899395

I just finished the season finally of Black Lightning and I feel it's my duty to post a trigger warning for my conservative friends on this site. Without spoiling anything I can say one of the villains says he want's to "make America great again" multiple times. There are also other lines that could be triggers.