I watch a lot of TV. That's just a fact of life. Since I was a small child, I loved getting immersed in other people's worlds for an hour or so a day and then letting it go. It never occurred to me that the stories I was consuming would in part shape who I have become, and still continue to do so today.
As I grew older, I became more selective about what television shows I would dedicate time to, and what kind of stories I wanted to see. The first show that I chose to follow was Glee. Don't ask me why, because I'm not entirely sure myself. The point I want to bring up with mentioning Glee is that the creators and writers of the show focused on a lot of socially relevant issues and dealt with them in some way. Maybe it wasn't the best representation of people or high school or a glee club, but it made me want to learn more and watch more stories that were relevant to me.
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I also just heard a lot of music that I would never have known otherwise.
Throughout the years, my taste in television shows has changed a lot. I like a lot of crime dramas, like How to Get Away with Murder but I also enjoy what I call my trash shows, like Agents of Shield and iZombie. This is not to say those are not good shows. In terms of character development and gender dynamics, they're incredible. They're just not shows that I would have ever thought of myself as watching.
One show that I was hyped for since the moment it was announced, though, was Supergirl. I was excited for a show about a female superhero. This was (and still is) during the age where the only female in the Avengers was Black Widow. And nothing against her, but a lot of the time she doesn't strike me as a role model. I love that she stands her own ground and does not fill the role of damsel in distress most of the time, but Supergirl is in a completely different ballpark.
Kara Danvers, from the very beginning, exists in a female-dominated world. From her home planet, the only person she misses and constantly talks about is her mother. On Earth, her adoptive father gets kidnapped when she is young and she essentially grows up with her adoptive mother and sister. At work, she is the assistant to the founder and CEO of a respected worldwide media company: a powerful single woman.
There are, of course, small problems with the show, because no show is perfect. In the first season, Kara has exactly one friend outside her sister, and that's Winn. Played by (the amazing) Jeremy Jordan, Winn is one of Kara's coworkers and has the most obvious crush on her, in that way that she's the only one oblivious to it. James Olsen comes in and functions as Kara's friend, but she, in turn, has the biggest crush on him for the first season. The only real female friendship Kara has is with Lena Luthor, who comes in during the second season and who nobody trusts except for Kara, because she's a Luthor.
Of course, Supergirl comes on the heels of Agent Carter getting canceled and Jessica Jones coming out, and those two shoes have very different vibes. Supergirl is incredibly accessible to young girls without alienating them, and parents won't be angry at the content shown. It does a lot for female empowerment, showing Kara and her sister as powerful women who are in control of their lives and also very much allowed to have feelings and be sad and happy and be real women. Supergirl also shows that teamwork is essential and while a Kara can do a lot on her own, she can do a lot more with her friends and family by her side.
And while the show is by no means perfect, has maybe three main or secondary characters of color, and two queer characters, it's revolutionary in itself in the fact that it revolves around Kara Danvers and her development and power. Not around her sex life or love life or the usual narratives that we see more often. I mean, look at her costume! It's so functional, not sexualized at all!
It's why I want more shows like Supergirl. Just make her Latina next!
