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Wednesday, Dec. 18
The Indiana Daily Student

weekend

“Supergirl” is still learning to fly

Grade: B

I’m glad “Supergirl” exists. We need more awesome female superheroes in popular culture. The pilot of “Supergirl” shows the series has potential, but, like its protagonist, it is still growing into its role.

“Supergirl” is about Superman’s cousin, Kara Zor-El, who lives under the human name of Kara Danvers. At the beginning of the pilot she keeps her powers hidden and works as an assistant to media mogul Cat Grant. However, her desire to help others and an incident in which she has to use her powers to save her adopted human sister eventually lead her to become the superhero known as Supergirl.

Melissa Benoist plays Kara, and I enjoyed her performance. She manages to be both charmingly over-emotional and competent. Sometimes she can be a little too flustered, but her charisma carries her through some of her weaker moments.

“Supergirl” has a lighter tone than the only recent live action superhero TV show I have watched: “Marvel’s Daredevil.” Kara’s boss has some sharp one-liners, and there is a sunniness that was lacking in the Hell’s Kitchen Daredevil inhabited. However, “Supergirl” does share one feature with “Marvel’s Daredevil,” which is that you root for a superhero more when they get beaten down.

It can be uncomfortable to watch a sexist villain hit Kara during a fight sequence, but he hits her just as hard as any other supervillain would hit a male superhero. Kara’s eventual victory against her chauvinistic alien foe was more satisfying because of the obstacles she had to face.

It doesn’t take much more than seeing a badass woman beating the crap out of a bigoted man for the situation to be enjoyable.

“Supergirl” can be a little too on the nose about the responsibility it feels. One such moment was when an extra said, “Can you believe it? A female hero!” But then that extra talked about how much Supergirl’s existence would mean to her daughter.

The other big character in this episode from the comics is James “Jimmy” Olsen. He’s been commonly portrayed as a young photographer who idolizes Superman, but this version of Olsen is more experienced and has been touted as a potential love interest for Kara. Olsen is likeable, but his reinvention is not as vivid as the one Geoff Johns gave Alfred in “Batman: Earth One.”

“Supergirl” is not perfect. The special effects need some work, and I hope Kara becomes less flustered over time. But the last twist left me wanting more, and I am excited to see what the writers have in store for Kara.

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