# Supergirl **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 27, 2015, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supergirl/735892 "2015-10-27T18:29:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2015, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supergirl/735892/41 "2015-10-28T13:28:47Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Not really. Superman for years fought villains who weren’t particularly super powered (e.g., the Toyman, the Prankster, Lex Luther, Brainiac, Terra Man). The key to writing a great Superman story is to have a _clever_ villain, something you rarely see these days. Anyone going up against Superman has to do it indirectly and in a way that doesn’t involve brute strength. You create a challenge by out-thinking him. Most of those stories weren’t great. Many of them weren’t even good. Even after 4+ decades of being a comics fan, dating back to when I was in my single digit years, I still and have always had a problem with a pair of glasses substituting for a secret identity, no matter how hard they try to explain the difference. Also, I have to agree with a poster above…why couldn’t she be more confident in her “normal” identity? ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2015, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supergirl/735892/42 "2015-10-28T13:57:28Z")
> [@D\_Odds](#): > > Even after 4+ decades of being a comics fan, dating back to when I was in my single digit years, I still and have always had a problem with a pair of glasses substituting for a secret identity, no matter how hard they try to explain the difference. Also, I have to agree with a poster above…why couldn’t she be more confident in her “normal” identity? For that matter, why does she (as Kara) wear glasses, anyway? She didn’t have a secret identity to protect before now, and she clearly didn’t need to wear 'em for her eyesight… ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Lowry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Sam\_Lowry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Lowry)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2015, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supergirl/735892/43 "2015-10-28T14:02:03Z")
> [@Helena330](#): > > I’ve never watched any of these shows or followed the Superman mythos which I think is an advantage. For some reason I decided to watch this. I guess I liked it. I’ll watch it again. What kind of bothered me is that I’ve seen Super Girl being held up as a role model for young girls, yet she can’t do amazing things unless she unleashes her super powers. When she’s herself she doesn’t have much self-esteem. What’s the message? You have to have super powers to be confident and do awesome things? One of the “awesome things” was putting an axe through a Bad Guy’s chest. I’m not sure how I feel about that, either. Well in the clunky exposition, she said something about choosing to work there because it’s a big media empire, and she thought it would be great working for the big powerful female media mogul, but found that she’s mainly stuck getting coffee. She sounded frustrated in her job, which isn’t unusual for a woman in her twenties. I’m guessing that will be part of her growth will be learning to be more strong in her civilian life as well as fighting as a superhero. If she’s still the frustrated assistant with no additional responsibilities by the end of the season, I’ll be surprised and disappointed. ---
**Author:** ![yellowjacketcoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4bbf92/32.png) [@yellowjacketcoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowjacketcoder)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2015, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supergirl/735892/44 "2015-10-28T14:23:27Z")
> [@Lightnin](#): > > For that matter, why does she (as Kara) wear glasses, anyway? She didn’t have a secret identity to protect before now, and she clearly didn’t need to wear 'em for her eyesight… There’s plenty of people that wear glasses for the look, not because they need the corrective function. ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2015, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supergirl/735892/45 "2015-10-28T15:26:38Z")
> [@Lightnin](#): > > For that matter, why does she (as Kara) wear glasses, anyway? She didn’t have a secret identity to protect before now, and she clearly didn’t need to wear 'em for her eyesight… No one ever recognizes me if I take off my glasses. It has always baffled me… ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2015, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supergirl/735892/46 "2015-10-28T15:34:18Z")
> [@Sam\_Lowry](#): > > Well in the clunky exposition, she said something about choosing to work there because it’s a big media empire, and she thought it would be great working for the big powerful female media mogul, but found that she’s mainly stuck getting coffee. She sounded frustrated in her job, which isn’t unusual for a woman in her twenties. I’m guessing that will be part of her growth will be learning to be more strong in her civilian life as well as fighting as a superhero. If she’s still the frustrated assistant with no additional responsibilities by the end of the season, I’ll be surprised and disappointed. She was already getting more assertive by the end of the episode in her dealings with bosslady. > [@LH75](#): > > No one ever recognizes me if I take off my glasses. It has always baffled me… Where’d The Champion go?’ ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2015, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supergirl/735892/47 "2015-10-28T15:59:58Z")
I enjoyed the show quite a bit. I’m wondering how well it did in the ratings. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2015, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supergirl/735892/48 "2015-10-28T16:07:41Z")
I thought the acting and particularly the dialogue were pretty bad. I may give it one more show to see if that was just growing pains. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2015, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supergirl/735892/49 "2015-10-28T16:12:03Z")
> [@D\_Odds](#): > > Also, I have to agree with a poster above…why couldn’t she be more confident in her “normal” identity? I’m a little surprised she isn’t more _patronizing_ in her normal identity. She has intact memories of the technological wonders of Krypton - almost everything about Earth must strike her as quaintly amusing. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2015, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supergirl/735892/50 "2015-10-28T16:12:49Z")
Kinda hate the sister and the “go make coffee” guy and his whole secret operation. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2015, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supergirl/735892/51 "2015-10-28T16:27:49Z")
> [@AtomicDog](#): > > Um, isn’t your handle “BigGIRL”? > > Of course, I’m not a dog either, but you know what I mean. No, not really. I am not a TV show touting my feminist outlook. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2015, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supergirl/735892/52 "2015-10-28T16:31:41Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > Speaking of the geeky IT friend (whose name, IMDB tells me, is Winn Schott–God help us). The writers are either randomly picking out names from Super-history or they have an agenda for later on. Winslow Schott is the real name of a Superman villain called the Toyman, whose weapons and schemes all have a toy-related theme. Win Schott on the show is apparently a kind of IT/electronics genius. Hmmm… ETA: I also find it interesting that the Toyman has also been mentioned in this thread and nobody has explicitly posted about making the connection between “Win Schott” and the Toyman before me. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Lowry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Sam\_Lowry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Lowry)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2015, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supergirl/735892/53 "2015-10-28T16:38:51Z")
> [@gytalf2000](#): > > I enjoyed the show quite a bit. I’m wondering how well it did in the ratings. It did great in the ratings, here’s an article about it: [TV Ratings: CBS’ ‘Supergirl’ Soars on Premiere Night as Fall’s Biggest Debut](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/tv-ratings-cbs-supergirl-soars-834627) Ratings will likely drop as the show goes on, but it’s definitely off to a good start, will at least last for the season and likely/hopefully longer. ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2015, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supergirl/735892/54 "2015-10-28T16:55:59Z")
> [@Sam\_Lowry](#): > > It did great in the ratings, here’s an article about it: [TV Ratings: CBS’ ‘Supergirl’ Soars on Premiere Night as Fall’s Biggest Debut](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/tv-ratings-cbs-supergirl-soars-834627) > > Ratings will likely drop as the show goes on, but it’s definitely off to a good start, will at least last for the season and likely/hopefully longer. Good to know! Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2015, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supergirl/735892/55 "2015-10-28T17:05:55Z")
I was really pissed off with what they did to Jimmy Olsen. Look, I get that things have to change for the modern era, but there’s decades and decades of comics that give Jimmy a particular look, and this show just pisses all over that to make it seem more “hip” and “edgy.” Well, that’s bullshit. Tradition means something. History means something. And Jimmy Olson _wears a fucking bowtie!_ Mehcad Brooks was good casting, though. Also (and more seriously) it bothered me that she just didn’t use her powers for ten years, and it bothered me more that she was apparently browbeat into it by her sister. I get that they wanted to have a reason for her to start her superheroing career as young woman, and not a thirteen year old, but there’s a mechanism for explaining already in the Superman mythos: Kryptonian physiology works like a solar battery, and it takes time to charge it up to superhuman levels - say, about ten years or so, and the pilot opens when she’s just starting to hit real super powers. Saving the plane isn’t the first time she’s flown in a few years, it’s the first she’s flown, ever. The first time she stops a bullet, it’s a lot scarier, because she doesn’t know for sure if she’s that strong yet. It also gives them a mechanism to gradually salt more abilities in as necessary, instead of throwing them all at the audience at once. The fact that her first enemy was Vartox the Destroyer actually gives me a lot of hope, because that’s both a deep, and deeply ironic, continuity cut. [This is Vartox in the comics.](http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/marvel_dc/images/e/ef/Superman_v.1_281.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20081230023122) If he looks a little familiar, it’s because he’s modeled on [this guy](http://cdn.entertainmentfuse.com/media/2015/01/Sean-Connery-Zardoz.jpg). Yes, that’s Sean Connery.\* Sean Connery and misogyny already go together like vodka and vermouth, but that particular character is from the film _Zardoz_, which famously features a giant floating stone head that vomits guns on people while shouting “The penis is evil!” What I’m saying is, if you want a minor character for Supergirl to fight that’s already dripping\*\* with gender politics, Vartox is a fantastic choice. \*Or, possibly, Frank Zappa. \*\*Ew. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2015, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supergirl/735892/56 "2015-10-28T17:14:28Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > The writers are either randomly picking out names from Super-history or they have an agenda for later on. Winslow Schott is the real name of a Superman villain called the Toyman, whose weapons and schemes all have a toy-related theme. Win Schott on the show is apparently a kind of IT/electronics genius. Hmmm… I actually knew that, but I was trying to avoid mentioning potential spoilers. 🙂 For much the same reason, I didn’t say anything about the name Hank Henshaw apart from it also being a comic book name. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2015, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supergirl/735892/57 "2015-10-28T17:28:27Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > I actually knew that, but I was trying to avoid mentioning potential spoilers. 🙂 For much the same reason, I didn’t say anything about the name Hank Henshaw apart from it also being a comic book name. I’m embarassed to say, at the beginning of the episode, there’s a line about Cat Grant not wanting to be sat next to Bill O’Reilly again. My first thought was, “Which comic character is that?” :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2015, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supergirl/735892/58 "2015-10-28T18:26:15Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > I’m embarassed to say, at the beginning of the episode, there’s a line about Cat Grant not wanting to be sat next to Bill O’Reilly again. My first thought was, “Which comic character is that?” > > :smack: Blowhard sounds like a pretty good Villain of the Week. ---
**Author:** ![yellowjacketcoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4bbf92/32.png) [@yellowjacketcoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowjacketcoder)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2015, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supergirl/735892/59 "2015-10-28T18:29:14Z")
> [@gytalf2000](#): > > I enjoyed the show quite a bit. I’m wondering how well it did in the ratings. Apparently got 13 million viewers to be the top show of the night. Of course, I’m only getting that from a blurb on the TV I happened to see at lunch, so YMMV ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2015, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supergirl/735892/60 "2015-10-28T18:40:08Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Saving the plane isn’t the first time she’s flown in a few years, it’s the first she’s flown, ever. No, I seem to recall her telling her sister that she hasn’t flown in a number of years.\* So, she was out of practice, and in addition, exerting herself with the weight of several hundred tons of airplane on her back. - I didn’t record it, so I’m just going from memory. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supergirl/735892.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supergirl/735892.md?page=4)