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As much as I enjoy the TV series “Supergirl,” there’s one thing I just can’t get past … the title.
It sounds so demeaning.
As played by Melissa Benoist, 28, the character has the same powers as her superhero cousin from the planet Krypton. And yet he is called Superman, not Superboy.
Speaking of which, how come we have BatMAN and Spider-MAN and yet it’s SuperGIRL? Especially when Spider-Man, now played by Tom Holland, 20, is a teenager in his latest big screen incarnation.
Comic book enthusiasts would argue, as some involved with this show have done, that the name Superwoman is already taken. She is a character who has appeared from time to time in the DC Universe under various guises. But in this age of reboots, surely altering things and renaming a character from the comics is allowed. I would argue that the producers of this CW series should take that step immediately.
In last Monday night’s episode, the President of the United States was played by Lynda Carter who starred as TV’s “Wonder Woman” in the 1970s. But now, 40 years later, the only female superhero on TV has “girl” rather than “woman” in her title. How is that progress?
I went back and watched the very first episode of “Supergirl” from last year and found the issue of the character’s title addressed when Supergirl’s alter ego, Kara Danvers, asks her media mogul boss, Cat Grant, if Superwoman wouldn’t be a more appropriate name. Cat, played by Calista Flockart, replies, “I stuck a label on this girl. I branded her … And what do you think is so bad about ‘girl’? I’m a girl. And your boss. And powerful and rich and hot and smart. So if you perceive Supergirl as anything less than excellent — isn’t the problem you?”
Well, maybe I am the problem because that excuse is not good enough for me. A full-grown female who realizes her potential and strength and embraces those qualities for good surely deserves to be called a woman and not be belittled with the title of girl. That’s just not … super.
