This week two hilarious and amazing videos of media starring powerful super-women hit the internet. They were both fairly similar. I loved both of them. One of them was a joke.
SNL had Scarlett Johansson on the show and created the “oh my god it’s so funny and so real it hurts” fake trailer for a Black Widow movie. It’s so spot on it’s scary. It opens with epic manly voiceover and the all-too-real question “Does Marvel not know now to make a girl superhero movie?” Cue the Sex & the City style shots of Black Widow in New York having trouble with heels and working her shitty job in a trendy media office (because that’s what women do). There’s hilarious romcom elements like her girl talking with Thor and Cap and trying to find the man who’s really worthy of her attention. It’s goofy and hilarious and perfectly encapsulates all the clichés of “women’s stories” that are shoved down our throats by media producers who have apparently never met a woman.
That was still fresh on my mind when I watched the trailer for Supergirl, and the similarities are a little spooky. Kara Zor-El works in a trendy media office where she uses her superpowers to sense when her mean boss is coming. She gets asked out on a date by a cute guy, and clearly has a crush on another cute guy. And oh yeah. She has fucking superpowers. In so many ways, this preview hits all the same clichés as SNL’s Black Widow. There’s romcom music and a trendy media job and an overemphasis on romance and an entirely unrealistic “New York” apartment. And most worrying of all, there’s Supergirl hiding her powers and maybe not believing in who she is. But then, the preview also literally addresses all of this criticism at once.
When Supergirl goes public and gets her name, our undercover heroine questions it. Why Supergirl and not at least Superwoman? And her boss gives her a magical and thorough dressing down of the issue. “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 real problem you?”
Standing ovation. Well said. That quote gets at the heart of what I love about this trailer. I’m a 90s girl. I grew up with Girl Power and the sort of bubbly, adorable, empowering feminism that Supergirl just might be trying to bring back.
The trailer has gotten criticism for being too girly, but really I could criticize almost every other superhero trailer ever for being too stereotypically manly. Real life men have about as much to do with the brooding, testosterone soaked world of the Batman v Superman trailer as real life women have to do with the overly emotional, impeccably groomed world of the Supergirl trailer. We don’t actually expect our superhero media to reflect real life or real gender roles, so why start now?
Supergirl might be girly, but she also came off as funny, accessible, and powerful. And frankly I’m excited for children of all genders to see that strong and brave doesn’t have to be male, but also that girliness doesn’t have to be weak.
That’s real life. People are complex. This week I both ate a pan of brownies while on my period and got an awesome promotion at work. I can be stereotypically feminine and also a powerful, smart, well rounded person who knows more about Star Wars than 90% of the population. Maybe. Just maybe. We’re about to get a superhero who can do the same. I’ve got my fingers crossed and can’t wait to find out.
Nerd Academy 
