Once again, female superheros are under-rated and over-looked.

Supergirl is a relatively new television show on the CW network. It came out last year to relatively good reviews including a score of 78 on Metacritic. The description on their website describes the show:

Superman’s 24-year-old cousin Kara Zor-El/Kara Danvers (Melissa Benoist) has been working as Cat Grant’s (Calista Flockhart) assistant when a sudden calamity forces her to reveal her powers to the world including co-worker James Olsen (Mehcad Brooks), and former CIA agent Hank Henshaw (David Harewood), who works at the same company as Kara’s adopted sister Alexandra Danvers (Chyler Leigh).

However, looking closer, users give Supergirl a rating of only 5.4, with one reviewer on IMDB saying:

I know this is a rare female lead in a superhero show; but does female empowerment need to be referenced continually? Why can we not have a Ripley or a Sarah Connor where gender is secondary to a character fulfilling a role? 6/10

And another saying:

So this show is like an ongoing “the power of feminism” lecture. She’s a 20-something executive assistant with the emotional constitution of a pre-pubescent girl. Her school girl crush on “James” Olsen is, rather than “adorable” actually quite laughable. No chemistry between any of the characters and her colleagues who are supposed to be grown- ass professional men behave like submissive cheerleaders. Politically correct subtext throughout. Uninteresting and easily predictable story lines. I’d be SHOCKED if this show got picked up. I gave it a chance - 3 episodes. Really, it’s just the same garbage recycled week after week. 3/10

Apparently having feminism and diversity in male characters shoved in your face is a turn-off for some viewers. I found it rather interesting to note that most of the negative reviews came from men (or at least people with male-sounding names/handles). Although, there were a few women that did not see the appeal of a character like Kara:

Any normal mundane person is more heroic in their real life than Supergirl is in her own show. Look to Peggy Carter or Katniss Everdeen for your positive female role models. When life doesn’t give them what they want, they don’t rely on their male friends to make things better. They step up, take charge, not only make their own situation better, but make things better for everyone around them, especially the people who aren’t able to do so for themselves.

Apart from the critical public reviews, professional critics generally gave Supergirl high ratings. In fact, Rotten Tomatoes recieved 100% positive reviews on the Tomatometer. Oddly, however, they have yet to categorize the show as “Cerified Fresh” like every other highly rated show on RT. The screenshot below shows even lower percentages with the coveted Tomato Medal of Freshness next to them.

It just goes to show that even a show that struggles to break the mold, is still subject to the same scathing criticism of the public, meanwhile, professional critics have more of a tendency to understand the social and historical context in which a show like this is inserted into when crafting their reviews. Although, ultimately, it seems that bias still exists in both camps.

Sources: * http://www.metacritic.com/tv/supergirl-2015 * http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4016454/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1 * https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/supergirl/s02/