Va Without the Voom: The Awesomeness of Supergirl

 

Movies featuring female superheroes have had a lot of trouble at the box office.

With the exception of the first Wonder Woman movie (starring Gal Gadot), many of the others have ranged from barely adequate to disastrous.  This is only regarding the box office.  Many have been critical successes, earning considerable accolades from film critics.

Part of the problem comes from what I would call "male comic fans in theory." They're often men who are more familiar with superheroes via television, movies, toy figures, video games, and cosplay, 

Even some comic fans are fixated on one era of the superhero, rather than the totality of its presentation.   

Some are fixated on female characters whose physicality and sexual allure are emphasized.  Supergirl had only one such period, when she was drawn by Michael Turner in the 2000s.

For the most part, Supergirl has been portrayed as the girl next door. Starting in the 50s, she took on many aspects of the time she was written in, updating as the culture updated. I would say that Supergirl has had more revisions and changes than almost every other superhero.  And that's saying a lot.

Many of the "fans" who shout, "That is not Supergirl!" are rejecting other versions. 

Through all the changes, other than the Turner era, she's meant to be pretty but not Va-Va-Voom.  Her appeal is designed to be as much to young girls as to boys. Her problems in the 50s were typical of that time.  She was very caring and empathetic, liking boys but not overly obsessed with them.  

The movie version is based on the graphic novel Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow. This is a grittier version of Supergirl.  Unlike Superman, she witnessed the destruction of her home planet, Krypton, as a young girl.  The only part of Krypton to survive was Argo City, a domed city that was also eventually destroyed.  She survived aboard a rocket ship, heading to Earth, where she would be a protector of the infant Kal-El (Superman). She lost everyone she knew and loved, including her parents, and, through time anomalies, arrived on Earth after Kal-El had become a full-grown adult. Think carefully,  Someone who had been through this would be suffering from a lot of trauma and PTSD, wouldn't you think?  Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow is the story that most fully acknowledges this.

This Supergirl is traveling the cosmos, often seeking out worlds under a red sun, where she does not have her powers, where she is not invulnerable, where she can feel things. She can drink and get drunk.  She can feel pain.  Heck, she can even get hers pierced or a tattoo.*

She looks disheveled and not perfectly put together. 

This is the version that Milly Alcock has been hired to portray.  And by early critical accounts, she is outstanding in that role, a true highlight of the film.

Yet, the incel army continues to carp.

By any human standard of beauty, Milly Alcock is gorgeous.  It is to her amazing abilities that she can portray Kara (Supergirl) as she is meant to be in this story.  Someone in a lot of pain, trying to find the balance between the trauma she has gone through, and still trying to live up to the impossible standards of goodness and valor she sees in her cousin, Kal-El,

I am currently reading a collection of the earliest Supergirl stories, starting in the fifties.  I am also re-reading Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow.  And over the years, I have read everything in between.  Next to Superman, she is mt favorite DC superhero.

I am very much looking forward to seeing Supergirl in the theatres as soon as I can get out to it.

I wish a lot of people would see it.  I want to see more of director Jame Gunn's DCU.

But I am scared that the incels and comic snobs are going to win,  

So, if you are a moviegoer, if you like superheroes, if you saw Barbie, please come see this movie.

A failure here could cost us not just the DCU but female-empowerment movies in general. 

I hope to see you there!

 *Yes, some have harped at a picture of Milly Alcock as Supergirl wearing earrings.  It's true that normally Supergirl's skin would be impervious to piercing, but that's only under a yellow sun.  With a red sun, it is possible, and something I think Kara would want to do.  So there, you part-time fans/wankers!

This is a New Post

 

This is a new post.

We are still grieving the passing of Rose Aldridge, Alison's mother, Benjamin's precious Mema.

Outside of our family, her contributions to the community were considerable.  Working as an Editor and Columnist for the Blackshear Times, she was adept at straight news coverage and at writing humorous, relatable columns. She won many awards for her work.

She spent a decade working at Pierce County Schools, helping to highlight the significant achievements of a school system that was entering the ranks of the very best.

She did not keep her columns.  We have found only a couple of her many awards.

I did find out that prior years of The Blackshear Times have been collected and bound.  Her columns and news stories would be in those volumes.  I am going to try to look through them and see if I can compile them and share them in some way.  

I wish I had done this when she was physically with us. 

Sometimes the worries and stress of our lives, our busyness, both real and manufactured, interfere with our time to preserve the best of what we do.

I also have considerable genealogical and biographical information from my father, hundreds of pages. I was posting some of it here, under the title "Stories From a Stony Land."  

I haven't done that for a long time.

I need to get back to that.

The Strait Line may not be the perfect place to do it.  Nevertheless, it lasts a long time.  The computer uploads these blog posts to the cloud, and they are available for people to find and read.

The Strait Line is approaching 1.5 million views.  Not Amazon numbers, but not nothing either. 

My arthritis is better.  I can sit at the computer a little bit longer. So, I hope to write about the present, dream about the future, and preserve the past.  

The stories, the voice, and the compassion of those we loved need to be shared.

This is a new post. 

 A new post that is also a commitment to the old.  Because the old is important.  Not just to preserve, but to inspire and remember who we love and why we love them.

Bonded Forever: Benjamin and His Mema

 

There is the one.

Maybe not for every child.  But there certainly was for me.  There is that one grandparent you develop an exclusive, close bond with. It was certainly true for me. I was very close to my mother's mother, Grandma Martin. She passed from ovarian cancer when I was only 12, but there is hardly a day that goes by that I don't think of her.

The same is true for Benjamin.  He was bonded with his Mema, Rose.  I've seldom seen a closer, loving relationship than I have between these two.

It started very early. Both Alison and I worked, so Rose would pick up Benjamin from Daycare. They would spend quality time together, including reading, sharing the day's events, snacks, and, of course, Dumbo.  Benjamin wanted to see that movie again and again and again, and she would patiently watch with him, taking in his excitement at the train scenes.

They loved to go to the movies together.  Alison and I did not see many of the animated films aimed at children, as that was Mema's and Benjamin's thing. He would always get the kid's snack tray, which included popcorn, candy, and a drink.

One time, Benjamin was out with my parents and Mema.  They ate at a restaurant and then went to the movies.  They settled in, and Benjamin piped up, "Where's my poptorn?" Even though they were full, you never saw three grandparents get up so fast in your life, all wanting to get him his 'poptorn." Was he a bit spoiled?  Yes, but that is the job description of grandparents!

Year after year, birthday after birthday, they were always there. Together, always loving, always finding joy in each other.

As he grew older, their relationship only deepened.  She supported him in whatever he chose to do.  There was never judgment, never a cross word.  

As her health declined, he continued to be there for her, even on her last day in the hospital ICU.  He drove down from his new place in Warner Robins (Benjamin is a computer programmer for the Department of the Air Force), and they had a two-and-a-half-hour conversation. He sat next to her hospital bed and held her hand.

That night, she came home.  The last three months had been rough, but she was very happy to be at home, with friends, food, and Wheel of Fortune. After only two days, she passed Saturday morning.  

Benjamin was not there.  At least physically.  Their bond was there, and it will always be there. 

The bond is there.  Benjamin will never forget her.  There will not be many days when he does not remember her.  

My boy is an amazing man.  He is loving, supportive, and kind.  And I would love for Alsion and me to take full credit for that. But we can't.

It comes from them. The bond between a boy and his Mema.

A bond that will shine forever.