For the past few days, instead of stressing about the upcoming excruciating midterm week, I did what our average slovenly college student would do: I binge watched Netflix. Surfing through the myriad of "Sci-fi and Fantasy" dramas, I halted at the sight of "Supergirl" congested among the contemporary hits like Arrow, the Flash and Daredevil. "Let's give this a try," I said to myself. That, of course, turned into an obsession which then resulted in me watching the entire first season in two days, whilst my homework lay aside waiting for me to pay attention to it.
Kara Danvers aka "Supergirl" (she is Superman's cousin) with her red cape, donning a giant "S" on her chest soaring through the sky is also our average geek doing a day-time job of an assistant for a media mogul, Kat Grant. Grant holds the reigns of a multi-million dollar media powerhouse that forms and shapes the public's perceptions of superheroes and supervillians in National City. Lucky for Supergirl, Grant immediately forms a connection with her, and also becomes somewhat of a guide and inspiration for Kara the 'assistant' and Kara the 'Supergirl' alike.
One might question why it is important to explain the dynamic between Grant and Supergirl, and the answer is simple. It is rare enough to have a series on a national platform whereby the concentration of power and heroism is concentrated in women, but to have the two most pioneering characters in the series not rip each other out in their pursuit to one-up each other is a gem in itself.
When Supergirl's abilities as a savior are doubted by National City amid her continuous efforts to be a heroine, Kat Grant remarks, "Women have to work twice as hard as men to achieve what they take for granted."
We have been so accustomed to see the man be the "savior" that the very notion of female hero, or heroine, seems like a farce. But it was not only the fact that it was "Supergirl" and not "Superman" that had me glued to the screen, rather it was the minor remarks made by characters that made the feminist geek in me happy. For example, one of the characters Maxwell Lord, a multibillionaire glib antihero, referred to God as "She". The President of the country in the series is a woman as well. These, of course, are minor idiosyncrasies. But they are also a comment, and a divergence from the male-centric nature of the society we live in. In order to understand why such remarks make a difference, we ought to question the very nature of our perceptions.
Supergirl was almost like an escape for me - an escape from reality. An escape where a morally stooped, misogynist, fear-mongering monster is not running (and being severely supported) for the position of the most powerful hu-man in the world.
(While writing this article all I could think about was our golden-boy Trump's face pivoting around me in circles saying "I grab them by their p****". Alas! I'm not Supergirl (not in the literal sense anyways), or else I would have vaporized him in the blink of an eye. But, I'm a girl nonetheless. Hence, I consider it my utmost responsibility to urge all the girls out there (and guys too) to make a sagacious use of the power they have -- the power to vote.)
Don't forget, Election day is November 8. Vote and make your share of a change!
