#supergirl meta

[bloodyshadow1]

it's really weird that they didn't make Supercorp a thing, I say this as someone who watched season 2 and then stopped after the comiccon incident. maybe they refused to make it canon in the show because it was a middle finger to the toxic supercorp fans, and there were a lot of them. I wouldnt' even mind since the second crossover event made me leave the supercorp fandom in disgust, you know whne many of them cheered when and alternate version of Jimmy, a black man, was murdered by Nazi green arrow, because the writers had him get together with Lena, it was bad. Maybe there are other reasons but it's still just strange when you make their relationship the heart of the show and don't have them get together..., it's just weird.

Once upon a time was weird like that, their show had Emma, Regina, and Henry, Emma's biological son and Regina's adopted son, not to mention the fairy tale bullshit that connects the two of them, only for them not to get together.

But with Supercorp, it was something that developed naturally, neither of them had any chemistry with the men the writers tried to pair them up with, and it was horrible writing when they were together. Yet Kara and Lena's 'friendship' kept getting center stage in the series.

season 2 lena was abducted by the daxamites because she was brilliant and had been tricked into bringing them to earth. She's going to be forced to marry Kara's boyfriend because of his mother wanting her as a daughter

season 3 a huge part of the season was Lena and supergirl's relationship breaking down, though she was still friendly with Kara. She bought Kara's job for her and despite Lena getting together with James, the writers never tried to develop that relationship.

season 4 Lena is again a huge part of the story since Lex is the real big bad of the season. The big reveal of Kara being Supergirl to Lena is what was supposed to propel the next season's plot. After she shoots him he makes sure to reveal that Kara danvers is supergirl because he knows that nothing would hurt Lena more. You know her completely platonic friend lying to her is what sets her off the deep end to become a villain.

season 5 their relationship is what drives the plot completely now since Lena is going full villain mode. The writing isn't good, but the writers also couldn't stop the two of them from having chemistry.

Hell, the writers had to be aware because the entire 100th episode was about Kara and Lena's relationship. The entire premise of the episode is Kara getting to see clips of what would have happened with her relationship with lena if she told her she was supergirl at different times or just stayed away from her. Almost every time Kara tells her, there's stress in the relationship and things get worse, but they're all about Lena, 5 separate timelines and Kara can't think of anything she would rather change with her life than try and make things wright with Lena. By the end, the episode is supposedly telling us that Lena is a lost cause, but I don't know it wasn't that good of an episode to begin with. It doesn't change that the writers decided to focus on their landmark episode to focus on Lena and Kara's relationship

By the end Lena realizes that she was tricked by lex and joins the good guys, Kara is pissed at her for what she's done, but they eventually can work together again. When lex sends Kara to the Phantom zone Lena is distraught, more than anyone else, even Alex who at least had Kelly for comfort

Season 6 is about getting Kara back and finishing the show. They kill off Kara's temp love interest and Lena is shown to be so desperate to save Kara that she's willing to go farther than Alex, her loving sister, to get her back. Even at the end of the series, the last scene of two characters on screen having a conversation of the series, is between the two of them at a lesbian wedding, where they're in tears talking about how much they mean to each other and hug.

it is bizarre that the writers didn't have the two of them get together given how much the series was driven by their relationship. Like I said, if it was a middle finger to toxic supercorp fans I would understand, but as an aspiring writer, not even a shipper, I feel insulted about how the supergirl writers just tossed aside the perfect natural relationship in the show.

I don't want to keep going much longer, but thematically Kara and Lena were one of the best relationships in the show. The actor's chemistry between the two of them was better than almost every relationship in the show, especially with any of either of their romantic partners. I dont' know, like I said I left the fandom pretty early and the shows been over for almost 3 years, but it still just baffles me.

[kitkatt0430]

So, my brain going off in random directions again. This time with Supergirl and the not particularly well handled Kara/Mon-el romance arc again.

And.

I think I'm on to something about how that ship could have been fixed to work better.

So, they don't hook up in S2. Mon-El has to unlearn bad behaviors in regards to misogyny and Kara has to unlearn her childhood prejudices about Daxamites. It's not easy for either one of them and they both screw up. Kara has to realize she's in the wrong about things and make those up to Mon-el, so it's not just Mon-El being shown to make apologies, grow, and change. They become friends by the end of S2 and have been demonstrated to have made each other better people for having forged that friendship.

Then, to avoid Mon-El having to leave the show, instead of his mom killing his dad and the atmosphere of Earth getting seeded with lead (there is a reason we don't want lead in our water!!! it's still dangerous to humans!!!), Mon-El and Kara save his dad, imprison his mother, and the Daxamites leave to go establish a new homeworld somewhere relatively nearish but not already populated by another species. Maybe leave behind a ship for Mon-el so he can join them later if he wishes, but ultimately his dad respects that Mon-el isn't ready to rejoin his people yet.

If there is to be any ship-teasing between Kara and Mon-el in this modified S2 then it doesn't happen until the big finale with the fight against Mon-El's mother. And both of them are taken aback by the realization there's sparkage there.

S3 is where the ship teasing would begin in earnest and culminating in the two of them getting together at mid-season. Having established a hard-won friendship, showing they're both able to bring out the best in each other without needing romantic motivation first, and giving Mon-El some better characterization than he got in S2 would have made an S3 romance between them way more believable than their weird on/off/on/but now i must go thing that we got in S2. And by bumping Kara/Mon-El down a season, that'd give Kara/James time to actually do their relationship justice before having them mutually break up to stay friends instead.

It'd also be interesting for Argo City to have eventually joined the Daxamite colony once it was revealed that Kara's mom was alive after all. It would have made for some fun background tension and even plots taking place entirely off Earth where Kara and Mon-El have to deal with the tension between the peoples of Krypton and Daxam trying to cohabit the same world. Delve into some of the backstory between both peoples - was Daxam originally a colony of Krypton that struck independence? That would certainly make for an interesting level of nuance in the struggle for creating a fair form of leadership for their now joint colony. Especially when the World Killer thing starts happening - if that was a cult that spanned both Krypton and Daxam but at first appears to be just a Kryptonian thing?

Give me the intrigue. :D

Anyway, canon Kara/Mon-El got strangled by the red string so badly, they never really had a chance to develop any real on screen chemistry. (Not helped by Kara and Lena making heart eyes at each other every chance they got.) But the ship could have been really interesting if it had been given a chance to really breathe and develop more naturally.

[meaningxmeaning]

This might seem odd, but I actually feel more comfortable when the superheroes are vigilantes in general, even though they're less accountable. I don't know if anyone else feels the same, but at least to me, heroes being private individuals divorces it from the real world implications of policing a bit more, and it takes it offscreen.

Even if said private vigilantes are funded by billionaires, they ultimately feel less like cops, which I think is key.

DEO: Department of Extra-normal Operations

This will be an essay that looks into the ethical problems of the DEO. For the purpose of this essay, I am not concerned about the showrunners reasons for their decisions for how the show presents the DEO. I care only about examining the worldbuilding and stories inherent within the world created. So let's dig into some philosophy and theory. Whee! [Minor spoilers]

To start, this department was first created within the Superman/Supergirl universe in order to analyze alien activities after Superman reveals himself on Earth. It's made in retaliation to the appearance of powerful aliens that those in power deem possible threats. Already, the DEO's beginnings are rooted not in true protection but in stopping and eradicating what those in power deem a threat. It's roots start with dubious ethics.

Let's examine it's history:

It was led by Hank Henshaw, who is vehemently anti-alien. Henshaw is also slated to have ties to Cadmus, which experimented on aliens and attempted several rather horrific and genocidal attacks on aliens. (Note that in Supergirl: Season 2, Kara and Lena thwart Cadmus' activities. Lena Luthor saves the day by modifying an alien killing virus to be harmless to all living creatures. Bits and pieces of the worldbuilding around Cadmus showed that the aliens experimented on came from DEO facilities.)

Henshaw dies when Jeremiah Danvers "kills" him when saving J'onn J'ozz, who then takes Henshaw's place until exposed. He recruits Alex sometime before his exposure (Season 1). After J'onn is exposed in Season 1, Lucy Lane takes control. Then after J'onn helps Supergirl defeat the murderous Kryptonian Non, J'onn received a presidential pardon and was reinstated as director. He kept Henshaw's guise for publicity sake.

The show makes it clear that J'onn choses to be the Director to change the DEO. Yet, what evidence is there that this actually happens?

So that's the basic history.

We have a clandestine agency that has unethical procedures that doesn't change under a new director.

The DEO picks up aliens and throws them in a cell to never be seen or heard from again. This would likely terrorize the alien neighborhoods. This is never truly address in any meaningful manner by the Superfriends or Kara.

In fact, if anything, the show positions the DEO as being Good if Alex, J'onn, or Lucy are in charge (Kara, ironically is not in charge of the DEO at any point). However, the DEO becomes Bad if Lex Luthor or Lauren Haley or the real Hank Henshaw are in charge.

This creates a rather large ethical problem.

First of all, the worldbuilding builds up the argument that certain people are good and certain people are bad. The person we see skirting between those two extremes, and living in a morally grey area the most, is Lena Luhor. For the purposes of this essay, I'll put a pin into Lena's characterization and focus only on the DEO.

Secondly, we are told again and again what Kara/Supergirl's ethics are: justice and truth. Yet when we examine Kara's actions within the context of her DEO Supergirl duties, we are confronted with the following:

She must hide her identity, even from her best friend Lena, and thus deceives regularly. Her reasons for not telling Lena are rooted in the pressure from those at the DEO to not tell Lena but also in Kara's intense fear of loss. However, Kara will demand truth from others despite her hypocritical actions. This doesn't seem to fit solidly in the "good" category.

Her "justice" is defeating criminals. Humans go to the police to eventually have a fair trial. However, aliens are not afforded that same right. Her justice for aliens becomes judge and jury. Since she professes to "not kill," she at least doesn't extend that to executioner. This again doesn't fit solidly in the "good" category.

Thus, by examining Kara/Supergirl's actions, we see a disconnect with what the show claims is "good:" truth and justice. Yet, there is no true justice for the aliens fought and captured; their rights are rescinded (if they had any at all).

This is why the show must tell us who is "good" and who is "bad," because people's actions do not fit the show's claims of what "goodness" is versus what "badness" is. Thus the worldbuilding ends up defining Kara's actions as always "good" even if those actions cause harm to those around her.

[Side note: This isn't to say that Kara is "bad." It is to say that the binary within the show's worldbuilding lacks nuance for the complexity within Kara's understanding of the world and how she acts within that understanding. This binary simply cannot allow for such a complex examination as there is no room for it.

Because of this binary, the show actually butchers Kara's character to make her past "not good" actions as somehow "right" and "good" in the end. We see this with how Kara's harmful actions toward Lena (the lying, duplicity, deception etc) is turned into "I did just one mistake" when it wasn't one mistake. It was years of harm, but because the show paints Kara as "good," Kara is not allowed growth.

This binary of good versus bad is already nonsensical in the worldbuilding since Lena Luthor's very existence throws this entire frame out the window. Her actions, always with the intention to do the least harm and try to improve the world, don't fit neatly into the binary. The story often punishes her for this. (She breaks the binary too much I suppose.)

Yet when other people's actions fail to fit neatly into the binary, the show whispers: "Hush, don't look or think, believe us when we say this person is good and this person is bad.']

To reiterate: It's okay to capture aliens and disappear them without any right to trial If the Superfriends are doing it. This good/bad definition collapses ethics into meaningless words since the activities and procedures of both the "good" people and "bad" people don't differ in terms of impact on alien communities. This lack of differentiation is why we must be told who is good. Otherwise, how would we know?

To dig a little deeper, in Season 4, when Kara is on the most wanted list, she learns very little about the true plight of aliens. During this time, the DEO becomes "bad" under the control of Lauren Haley. Lena Luthor and Alex Danvers, who are both working with the DEO still, also work against the DEO but only to clear Kara's name. So justice is done for Kara's sake but not for the other impacted alien communities.

Once Kara's reputation is restored and she's no longer deemed an "enemy of the state," Kara returns to working with the DEO, as it is now labeled as "good" again because Alex is back in charge.

Ironically, the only person in Kara's friendgroup that questions the DEO is Lena Luthor. (Who in Season 5 will have her 'villain arc' only to be redeemed to the good side again at the end of Season 5. She's the only character, who is labeled a villain at one point, that is allowed true redemption.)

We learn very little about what alien communities actually think about the DEO and about Supergirl in particular. The most we get is the Children of Liberty plot line of Season 4; however, this plot line doesn't ever give us a solid viewpoint from impacted alien communities. Instead, we are confronted with:

We are told what alien communities are like and how lacking in rights they are. Very little of this is shown directly outside of "criminal aliens." Or the brief glimpses within Manchester's arc. However, Manchester is viewed as 'in need of redemption' despite having very real grievances with the state of things. The show then tells us that Manchester is 'bad' and the 'good' J'onn and friends must stop him.

The second time we see alien daily lives is Nia's return to her hometown, which is attacked by supercharged humans. This blended town of aliens and humans serve as an outlier. Nia actually admits that the town is unique and not representative to most aliens' experiences. So again, we don't see a direct experience of alien life in National City or other major cities.

Aliens either have significant powers that humans can justifiably find scary or they are human-like with little to no powers. Both are treated the same for the sake of the Children of Liberty plot line, which serves as an immigrant allegory. @fazedlight and @sideguitars did excellent analysis on this and the problems of these allegories based on the worldbuilding and story itself. (Note: thank you to fazedlight for finding the post in question! Click here o read their analysis.)

This makes it easier for the show to pretend that the DEO is "good" when the Superfriends are in charge. Since we don't meet alien families harmed by the DEO's actions, we never truly get an alternate perspective. Even Lena Luthor's critique of DEO is spat upon by the story, where her alien friends fail to truly counter her valid points. Instead, it's presented in the good/bad binary, which erases all nuance and ethical considerations.

Let's also consider the start of the Supergirl career. Kara is captured by the DEO 12 years after her initial appearance on Earth. However, prior to this moment, we had learned that Kara had nearly been taken by the government -- specifically Henshaw's control of the DEO. Jeremiah Danvers agrees to work for the government in exchange for Kara's freedom from being a government asset.

However, her saving Alex's flight puts her in the crosshairs of DEO, and eventually she is captured. Upon which she learns J'onn is in charge (not the original Henshaw), and J'onn's goals are revealed. He allows Kara to fight her first alien fights as Supergirl. Here we see that J'onn's methods have not actually changed anything about the DEO. The alien fight results in that alien being captured. Supergirl/Kara never hears what happens to the alien she fought and captured. No thought is given to the rights of that alien or if a fair trial will be given. Instead, we are told the alien is a "criminal' as if that somehow justifies the brutal treatment.

After Alex reveals she's an agent with the DEO, Kara fully trusts the agency.

So Jeremiah gave up his life to make sure Kara wasn't being used by the government, only for Kara later on working for the DEO, which is part of the government. Thus Kara ends up used by the government after all. The irony here.

Kara's blind spot here is:

she's privileged. A white-passing, human-passing alien. It's easier for her to hide as a human and not be clocked as an alien. Also, she's white, so less likely to deal with the complications of racism. The most she has to deal with is sexism and the DEO's procedures. This means she doesn't experience the worst the DEO and the systems that uphold it dish out to aliens.

Kara hasn't really interacted with aliens outside her friend group. She's relatively sheltered since coming to Earth due to Kal placing her with the Danvers and having to hide herself. She has no real knowledge of how aliens survive on Earth. This means she has nothing in which to compare the DEO's claims.

She blindly trusts Alex when it comes to DEO.

We don't see Kara questioning what happens to aliens until Season 3 (if it happens in season 1, I apologize as that season is a bit hazy for me). Here Psi saves Kara's life during a perilous mission. Kara then asks about her accommodations and finds out she has no window in her cell. She then demands Psi be given a cell with a window.

However, notice who Kara takes with her on that Season 3 mission: LiveWire (human but due to an accident became Livewire, so she's not an alien but a meta-human) and Psi (who is labeled a meta-human). So the two incarcerated people that Kara chooses are meta-humans and not actual aliens.

So again, we never see Kara interact with aliens outside her friend group unless she is interrogating them. Once the DEO is done with interrogations and the case "closed," those aliens disappear into these windowless cells. Which, need I remind that solitary confinement is labeled as torture for a reason?

Yet that is where aliens that are dubbed "too dangerous" end up by those with power. No rights given; left trapped in solitary confinement with (likely) no windows to never see the light of day again. Of course, because we are told the "good" people do this, it is thus "okay," despite it not differing in methodology with what the "bad" people did.

2. DEO's procedures don't match law. This is especially true when alien amnesty is put into law.

DEO changes NOTHING about their procedures after alien amnesty is put into law. This means that although aliens now have a legal right to a trial, the DEO does not provide this for them. No captured alien is given this right.

This means the DEO doesn't operate within the law.

So if the DEO can disregard laws if they so desire, then what is to stop them from terrorizing any citizen regardless of whether that citizen or alien or human?

What exactly is the ethics of the DEO?

Is the ethics dependent on who is in charge? But if one compares the tenure of the directors: Henshaw, J'onn, Lucy, Alex, Lauren, and Lex -- we see no difference in how the DEO acts.

They all target aliens and give them no rights. The aliens vanish into the cells never to be seen again. This includes some meta-aliens.

Some will claim that while the Superfriends are in charge only criminal aliens are thrown into solitary cells with no hope of release.

But that begs the question: Why do the Superfriends get to be judge and jury and/or executioner? What makes their decisions good but Lauren Haley's or Lex's or the original Hank Henshaw's decisions bad?

Why do the Superfriends get to decide that criminals get no right to a fair trial? Why do they not interrogate what is causing the criminal behaviors in order to change the conditions to avoid aliens resorting to "criminality" as defined by them?

In the end, it does not matter why an alien or meta-human engages in what the state has deemed "criminal" behavior; the methods used in capture and the end result is the same regardless.

The families of captured aliens see the same results regardless of whether "good" people or "bad" people are in charge of the DEO.

While alien amnesty is in law, the DEO, who is under Superfriend control at the time, does not alter their procedures to give the aliens they capture any rights. We never see the aliens or meta-humans captured ever given a fair trial. Nor do we see any programs to reform "criminals" or give them any chance at parole or redemption.

The only method for dealing with aliens and meta-humans uses a carceral prison system that is based in solitary confinement torture. Even the interrogation procedures used have elements of torture to them. In fact, many of the "interrogation" procedures use leading questions to entrap and force a confession under duress. None of these methods are conducive toward reform or fixing a system that deprives those captured of all rights.

Alternate systems for dealing with criminals are never explored. We never see transformative or restorative justice utilized. Both systems would require extensive dialogue with the communities harmed by the "criminals," and if there is one thing the DEO fail at consistently is dialogue with the impacted communities. Instead, their approach is top down, where their ideas of what is right and best is pushed down upon the communities they claim to serve.

Part of this lies with the fact the Superfriends can't engage in dialogue as long as they adhere to the oppressive methodology and practices of the DEO. Reform has failed to alter the ethical violations within the DEO. Alex Vidale wrote an excellent book called The End of Policing, which digs into the attempted reforms for police and how they have consistently failed. Vidale writes:

“At root, they [reformers] fail to appreciate that the basic nature of the law and the police, since its earliest origins, is to be a tool for managing inequality and maintaining the status quo. Police reforms that fail to directly address this reality are doomed to reproduce it.”

The DEO at its root was created to manage the inequality inherent between human rights and the lack of any rights for aliens. It was also created to control aliens and maintain a human status quo. The Superfriends attempt at reform fails to address this reality, and thus were doomed to repeat it.

Vidale continues:

“Police argue that residents in high-crime communities often demand police action. What is left out is that these communities also ask for better schools, parks, libraries, and jobs, but these services are rarely provided.”

Services to better the conditions of so-called "high-crime" communities are not shown to be rendered in the Supergirl world, while the Superfriends are in control of the DEO. It is not more policing that is needed, but more services which do not get provided for most of the show's story and worldbuilding. Thus, the communities that struggle with survival, who often must resort to "illegal" or "criminal" ways end up with only punitive measures that continue the cycle.

It's only in Season 6 when the Superfriends are no longer with the DEO that we start to see them engage in dialogue with the community in general (Kelly's arcs in particular touch on this for the lower income area that she tries to help, which is shown to be a mixture of nonwhite humans and some aliens).

If J'onn and others truly are seeking to reform the DEO, then that requires them to be in dialogue with the affected communities and to put forth new procedures that provide rights to those impacted. This is never done.

3. The DEO suffers no consequences for its actions.

The "Bad things" that happen under the "Bad" directors -- original Henshaw, Lauren Haley, Lex -- aren't ever addressed. Nothing really changes; instead the "Good" guys get back in control and things continue.

Was any reparations made for those harmed by the bad actors? Are the families impacted ever given compensation? We see some aliens rescued from Cadmus in Season 2 and Lex's Power Plant in Season 4, but what of the families of those murdered by Lex and Henshaw? The show fails to address this.

Instead, we are told that the "good" people are now in charge again and only "criminals" are being taken and incarcerated with no rights.

The concept of "criminality" depends entirely on who is in a position of power to dictate what constitutes "criminal" acts. One of the biggest problems with "criminality" as a concept is that it fails to interrogate the why these behaviors happen. What led to the "criminal act?" Are the people engaging in the act just "bad" people?

Often when basic needs are not being met, people may engage in acts of desperation to meet those needs. These actions may fall under what that society deems as "criminal." However, if the people's needs were met, then they wouldn't need to engage in desperate acts to meet their needs.

Another reason for "criminal" behavior stems from people who lack rights in a society. The oppressed will often fight against their oppressors using a mixture of methods (sometimes nonviolent, sometimes violent) in order to win their rights and transform society for the better. Until they win that fight, their actions are labeled as "criminal" by those in power.

Some rarer individuals may engage in acts of harm because they enjoy it such as Lex. However, this is actually very rare. Property crime and burglary is far, far more common. Yet, even those engaging in horrific violent crimes are still afforded a fair trial. Something aliens in the Supergirl universe are never given.

There's quite a few scenes where the aliens fought by Supergirl are engaging in robberies/burglaries or other property crimes. Those that seek to violently mass murder is actually rarer, and often the big villain of the season. At no point does anyone in the show reckon with the reasons someone may choose to engage in "criminal" behavior. Instead, all "criminals" are painted as "bad" regardless.

J'onn professes to be "reforming" the DEO to stop its reign of terror among alien communities. Yet, the most crucial components in changing an oppressive system? We don't really see him utilize them until Season 4, but by then the DEO is in the hands of Alex, who continues the procedures put into place by J'onn,

Paulo Freire writes in Pedagogy of the Oppressed concerning the "radical" as in the person seeking to end an oppressive system:

"The radical, committed to [human] liberation, does not become the prisoner of a 'circle of certainty' within which reality is also imprisoned. On the contrary, the more radical the person is, the more fully he or she enters into reality so that, knowing it better, he or she can transform it. This individual is not afraid to confront, to listen, to see the world unveiled. This person is not afraid to meet the people or to enter into a dialogue with them."

J'onn recognizes that the DEO's methods are wrong and unethical. When he takes over and poses as Henshaw, he wishes to transform the system. Except, this is where he fails, because he justifies his changes by claiming that now the DEO only locks away forever criminal aliens.

No thought is given as to why these aliens are making these decisions. What pushed them to rob a store? What pushed them to attack? Did they feel like they had no other choice? Was there no opportunities other than to rob for what they needed? Or to fight against a system that they deem is harming them and their communities?

These questions are not analyzed at all by J'onn or the Superfriends. They do not listen to those most impacted by the DEO. The only time we see J'onn seem to listen is when he is trying to work with Manchester in Season 4, but that results in Manchester being presented as bad in the end, while J'onn is shown to be good. Where he tried to redeem Manchester.

Yet Manchester had valid points about the treatment of aliens. His methodology in fighting back against what he saw as oppressive system is problematic, but he listens far more than Kara and the Superfriends to those being harmed by the systems that created the DEO.

So J'onn and the other Superfriends are failing to engage in dialogue with those harmed by the DEO. They fail to unveil what is truly horrifying with the DEO: incarcerating aliens in solitary confinement with no fair trial and no hope of ever seeing the light of day again.

The justification that because they are "criminals" this is somehow okay erases all the contributing factors that may make up the circumstances that lead to the "criminal" behavior. Nothing is truly done to remedy the situations that may drive someone to what the state labels as "criminal" behavior. It also unveils a horrible truth. Any alien (or meta-human or even human) can be marked an "enemy of the state" and thus a "criminal," where all rights they had prior be rescinded. We see this happen to Supergirl in Season 4. The only reason she isn't locked away in a cell with no windows is because Alex and Lena don't allow it. Unlike most aliens the DEO fights to find and capture, Kara has people fighting for her. But what about every other alien? Who is actually fighting for them?

J'onn's attempt to reform the DEO falls into the biggest trap for all radical liberators: it is all too easy to become complicit with the system at be and justify this than it is to actually change it from within.

As Paulo Freire puts so succinctly:

“Oppression is domesticating. The gravest obstacle to the achievement of liberation is that oppressive reality absorbs those within it, and thereby acts to submerge human beings' consciousness.”

Thus the DEO fails to be reformed. It's reign of terror in alien communities is not truly diminished. Nor does those fighting to "reform" the DEO engage in any dialogue with those communities to determine their needs or ways to improve conditions to decrease the need to resort to "criminal" activities.

In the end, the DEO stays an oppressive, clandestine agency that has no transparency, answers to apparently no one, takes away the rights of those they catch, and disregards laws as they please.

What the Superfriends have failed to learn and understand is that oppression cannot be defeated by reforming the system that causes the oppression. In other words, liberation cannot be achieved be reform alone.

This is why the destruction of the DEO in Season 6 is perhaps the best result at least within the rules of the Supergirl world. The Superfriends could not reform it from the inside, and by trying to do so, they ended up complicit to a harmful system. As long as they were tied to the DEO, the Superfriends would never be able to live out justice and uplift the rights of aliens and humans alike.

ADDENDUM: However, the Superfriends decision to go full vigilante is a whole other can of worms. They do attempt to be transparent in their actions for the communities they serve, but is there a way for people to hold them accountable? That isn't fully addressed. However, that would require a full essay, and this essay is only about the DEO.

[karaspal]

three times kara told nia “you have me”. each time, a different part of kara’s identity.

first time, it was kara zor-el, because she wanted to assure nia that she’s not alone. that someone understood her. kara allowed nia to see her true, full self. she trusted her friend and wanted to make her feel less alone.

second time, it was her friend kara danvers who assured her she’d always be there for her when she needed someone to lean on. nia was grieving and having that support from a friend was really important.

third time, it was her crime-fighting partner supergirl. for the first time in her superhero career, dreamer was faced with a problem she couldn’t tackle on her own. it was important for her to know that she didn’t have to, that she’ll always have someone to stand with her against injustice.

i’m so grateful for their friendship on the show and it’s a shame they didn’t develop them even further. they truly brought out the best in each other.

[fae-morrigan]

Superfam and Found Family: What it Means to Choose

I have seen a lot of my beloved mutuals talk about adoption as a theme in the superfam, and thats true, thats very much a thing, but thats more a subsection of the larger idea with the superfamily: You get to choose your family, and define your relationship to them.

Clark and Kon come to mind. They've been discussed a lot lately, huh? Namely people saying Clark does not treat Kon well. This is false, by the way, they get along great.

But let's sort of dig into the actual story told by their relationship here: Kon was created by Lex without Clark's consent. Clark had no say in how part of his DNA would be used to create a new life.

(This is coincidentally why it irks me that certain fans will act like Clark is a monster for even HYPOTHETICALLY not wanting a relationship with Kon. Guys, you sound like pro-lifers. Lets watch it!)

Despite this, Clark accepts Kon with open arms. Now, as myself and others have pointed out, Kon's technically... he's not a clone, he's a test tube baby. Technically, biologically, he's Clark & Lex's son. D.. diversity win...?

But thats not how Clark and Kon choose to define their relationship. They instead decide, hey, we were raised by the same people, we're brothers.

Kon is not an outsider to the Superfam, even as he is an outsider to this world- He is welcomed with open arms once it is clear he needs a home. And with Clark and Kon, they get to choose how they define their relationship, not Lex, not anyone else.

Then, John Henry and Nat. John Henry is not Natasha's father, but their relationship is very complex and often veers into that territory, for the simple reason that he shows up for her in that capacity when Natasha's own father fails her.

Even while their relationship has its ups and downs (read 52 guys for THEM), they manage to forge a relationship based on mutual respect, enough to the point where during Steelworks, she is not just his niece, but his partner in building a better tomorrow. It is a fatherly/daughterly relationship built on mutual respect largely independent of their blood relation, built on the security that Clay failed to provide Natasha with.

Of course, to talk about adoption, Clois adopting the twins. I think Phillip Kennedy Johnson handles the topic of adoption EXPERTLY with Otho-Ra and Osul-Ra, specifically as a metaphor for transracial/transethnic adoption.

Clark's relationship with the twins is built throughout the Warworld saga, and does not start... great (they discuss looting his corpse lol), and often they. But Clark understands that the kids are traumatized, and seeks to guide them to a better situation.

Now I would be irresponsible to not mention that, during this time, Clark is still struggling with Jon's age up. He mumbles, disoriented during their first meeting, that the kids are the same age as his son (no they are not). In a less tightly written book by a worse writer, it'd be a thing where Clark completely uncritically finds 'replacement kids' in the twins... Which is NOT what happens here, because PKJ is the GOAT.

In the end, his relationship with the twins is built not only independently of his struggles with Jon, but the way he connects with them helps Clark realize that whats done is done. They need him to be Clark, not a man hanging onto the past he will never get back. To move forward, they must do it together, it won't work if the twins remain on Warworld and he remains mentally in Hamilton. Its why it is SUPER important, also, that in the end, Clark doesn't ask them to come with him- rather, they ask to go with Clark.

(Sidenote: The twins lost not only their parents on warworld, but an older brother, too. Clark isn't the only one who finds a healing way forward via the Ra-El relationships, but that's gonna be another post!) And their hero names, Red Son and Starchild, are from their original culture (the Phaelosians), a culture that was systematically robbed from them when Warworld trafficked them into service. Rather than forcing them to conform to the house of El and their legacy, they help the kids reconnect.

These are his children. They found each other in the scariest place in the universe, and together, they find a way past the things they've both suffered through.

I'm afraid I don't know much about Kara (kara mutuals, reading recs appreciated! i've only ever read WOT and a few issues of the most recent Supergirl run) but I do know that her relationship to Clark is inherently different than it was supposed to be, and she has to roll with it and redefine it accordingly. She was supposed to be older than him, be able to take care of him, but by the time she actually finds him, he's the one doing that for her.

(I dont really have a panel here I fear, so look at the pretty art from Woman of Tomorrow. If someone wants to say more on Kara, you're welcome to hijack my post for a bit!)

Kenan is an example of this theme going kind of sideways and being examined from another angle- He's forced to choose between his two found families, and with either choice, he stands to lose something. Either his connection to Superman, or his connection to home:

Kenan already has a messy relationship with family, considering the soap opera level drama his parents inflict on him in his solo. Now, separated from his culture by circumstances he can't control, Kenan's relationship with the Superfam is forced by circumstance, even as it isn't unwanted. He's forced to make the most of what he has.

Then you have Clark and Jon, where the 'and define your relationship to them' part of my thematic statement REALLY becomes important.

I've seen it argued many times that giving Jon the Superman mantle weakens the theme of found family, but I'd argue it strengthens it, because Jon not having a choice in becoming Superman is EXPLICITLY framed as a bad thing.

Jon's not ready to be Superman. He doesn't even really WANT to be superman. But because of the circumstances of his birth, the world, and his father, push him into it. Clark never asked Jon to be Superman, during the Son-of-kal-el + Warworld era. He assumed he would be.

It tarnishes Clark & Jon's relationship, actively preventing Jon from connecting with his father and the WORLD fully in the way they both want. This is a key theme of Superman: Son of Kal El, from the very moment of Jon's actual birth:

All throughout post-age up Jon is the idea that Jon is just as burdened by the expectations placed upon him by his blood as he is comforted by what the mantle represents.

(I know I use this panel like every analysis but its a GOOD PANEL, SHUT UP) And there's of course the fact that... y'know. Well. Y'know.

Y'KNOW.

I think there's a potentially strong story in either Jon walking away from the mantle entirely, or redefining it to be his own. But first, he's going to have to suffer for the fact he wasn't ready for what many people call his DESTINY, including his abuser.

And where does this leave Jon and Clark?

Here.

The last note before Absolute Power of these two is this bittersweet moment where Jon still isn't fully heard. Where he still doesn't get a full say in what he and Clark's relationship will be. And judging by THIS interview from Mark Waid, this particular idea is about to finally come home to roost:

Lastly, there's of course the Most Found Family Thing Of All that i basically see NO one talk about: The fact that the Irons and the Kents just. Share all their big life events with each other. They're literally not related to each other by blood at all, but throughout PKJ's Action Comics, they ARE family!

Teamwork makes the dreamwork guys!

The superfamily is a wonderfully diverse cluster of relationships and examinations of the way family finds each other. Even moreso than the Batfam, which is often defined by their father-son relationship with Bruce in fanon, the Superfam displays a wide array of the various ways non-nuclear families can build each other.

This is all to say you guys should read PKJ's action comics run. It rules.

(This is also to say Superman 2016 sucks ass.)

[jesncin]

I shared one of your posts with a friend and we started talking about the Fortress of Solitude... She brought up that the Fortress used to be a shrine to Kryptonian culture but it mostly gets used as a way to get exposition/plot devices. Do y'all have any thoughts about it?

I would agree with your friend! It's one of the many consequences of Superman's immigrant allegory getting lost over time/generally being inconsistent. I love the idea of the Fortress of Solitude being this isolated space for Clark to connect with his lost culture, detached from Earth influence. It's an archive- the last remnants of an extinct culture protected by the last of its kind.

I think something important is this idea that an archive is never a substitute for lived experience in a culture. Yes, Clark can study Kryptonian culture and language(s?!) as much as he can, but that's not the same as growing up among Kryptonians on Krypton, where that culture is passed down to you in context of the world around it. Nuances like cultural mannerisms or jokes don't always get recorded in a historical archive.

I thoroughly disagree with takes on Superman that don't consider that diaspora distance he has from his Kryptonian culture- treating it like the Fortress' archive is more than enough to just "install acting and speaking like a Kryptonian" into Clark's character. As if that's how it is for diasporic people when we read historical archives of our culture. It adds a dimension to Clark's prevailing themes of loneliness- that he can be surrounded by the last records of Kryptonian culture and still feel so lonely.

[markedbyindecision]

PREV TAGS GOD YEAH

But look, when you have more power than any human army on Earth, you have to be better than this.

[auberge13]

I want to talk about one of my favorite little comic details.

The first picture is Supergirl (2016) issue #33. The second is Superman (2018) issue #14. They are both depicting the same moment- when Jon Kent first pitches the idea for the United Planets- but they go about it in very different ways. When I was discussing these panels, a friend of mine suggested that these are showing the different ways Kara and Clark see Jon at this moment, so let's take a look.

In Kara's pov, Jon is confident in his suggestion. "I" is bolded in the lettering which emphasizes his certainty in his idea, and he is drawn clearly more sure of himself than in the Superman panel. His suggestion may be a little overly-casual, but he's still young, and in the Supergirl panel it's easier to read it as a clear, effective way to get his point across quickly. Kara sees Jon as mature and self-possessed here.

Meanwhile, in Clark's pov, Jon seems more unsure. "Think" is bolded, which conveys that Jon is uncertain in this suggestion- he thinks he knows but he may be wrong. In the first panel he's drawn smaller and standing behind Clark, and even as he is saying his idea he looks like he doesn't know exactly where he's going with this. In this framing, it almost seems like Jon is being completely serious with his suggestion of a "time-out" with no further idea beyond this, like he's playing tag on the playground. That's the heart of Clark's pov here- Jon seems childish.

Of course, it makes sense that Clark would see Jon this way at this point. Just three weeks ago for Clark Jon was 11. Clark hasn't had the time to get used to the change, and certainly not enough time to accept it. At the same time, Kara is more removed from the situation- she cares about Jon but not with the same intensity and proximity that Lois and Clark do- and while she is surprised when she first sees older Jon, she's able to quickly put whatever feelings she has about it aside and focus on her mission. Which makes perfect sense! She's learning the truth of what destroyed Krypton, that's massive for her! She's too busy to have feelings about Jon, whereas this is the biggest thing happening in Clark's life right now.

Kara's lack of emotional bias here implies that her pov of the moment is the more accurate one. This is supported by the fact that, based on what we've learned throughout this book, Jon would not be timid about this suggestion. During this arc, we see Jon gain a very personal understanding of the dangers that come when people don't engage in honest, open, effective communication and don't listen to each other.

(Superman (2018) issues #8 #9 and #10 respectively)

It makes him angry! And now he's taking his chance to do something about it! He knows this is a good idea. The Jon we've seen in books before this and the Jon we'll see after would not be unsure about this suggestion, which makes Clark's way of seeing the scene even sadder. After missing so many years of his son's life he can't bring himself to really see the young man in front of him doing something extraordinary.

[suzukiblu]

I really need more fun Kryptonian biology to mess with in fic but I'm short on ideas right now.

Common-seeming fanons I've seen and liked:

purring

happiness = literal floating

either intersex or just sexes/genders that don't translate into standard "human" versions

inhumanly bright eyes

Also I still really love the whole "Kryptonians psychically soulbond with just literally anyone they love" thing, though alas that is not a thing I see on the reg. ALAS.

Anyway all of these are fun but I need mooooore and I also need to make them all Kon's problem. Like, just all of them. Possibly also Match's. Meanwhile Kara facepalms in the background and Clark gets reamed by Karen over how he didn't think to give his teenage clones sex ed. CLARK WHY THEY'RE LITERALLY YOUR CLONES.

Clark: technically Match is Kon's clone--

Karen: Go talk to your kids about sex.

Clark: I would rather go to the Phantom Zone, thanks.

And Jon probably got The Talk from Ultraman, the poor bastard. Ughhhhh.

[artbyblastweave]

A few days ago I watched my adventures with superman

And while I am very much not a superman expert (the sum of my knowledge of DC is from disconnected facts learned from the internet, a few cartoons and the cw arrowverse up until like season 4 of the flash and everything that happened in that year) but I find it interesting how they shifted a lot of characters into staying in the same roles but being very different characters

Or maybe I just don't know anything and stuff like the current supergirl plot is from the comics

Yesno. Supergirl flat-out filling the Peridot role outright I believe is a novel development, but if I recall correctly, they played the Kryptonian-Chauvanist angle during the nu52 setting reboot (which I did not read) and the idea of a brainwashed Supergirl acting as the enforcer for an alien empire was the premise of Superman/Batman: Apocalypse (with Darkseid as the one holding the leash instead of Braniac.) Supergirl as a character is like maybe one step down from Hawkman and Hawkwoman in terms of number of competing origins and convoluted publication histories so there could be any number of other spins on her character floating around out there that I'm not aware of. So it goes

[lena-in-a-red-dress]

Been thinking about Lena after she kills Lex, and like... sure, fandom and Lena herself like to think that she's a stone cold manipulator, able to con anyone into thinking she doesn't have a heart, but Sam and Kara both know that she's literally mush on the inside. Which implies to me that Lena wears her emotions on her sleeve.

Which in turn implies that she would have been physically unable to hide the fallout of her decision to kill Lex and the truth that's revealed to her in doing so.

Which gives me the idea that Lena wasn't this cold hearted bitch leading Kara on for months over that summer, but rather that simply-- no one was there to see her falling apart.

It's not that hard to rationalize. Kara avoids her, because every time they're together she knows she needs to tell Lena but can't bring herself to do so. Lena lets her, because she can hardly stand the sight of Kara anyway. And the other superfriends, well... Kara was her main point of contact with them anyway. If Kara is avoiding her, there's little reason to expect the others might be filling in.

It all makes me very angry on Lena's behalf. She would have been read like an open book if anyone had given half a shit about her, but instead she was left to fester and stew in her own anger and hurt and misgivings until she got to her boiling point and had forsaken all human connection.

And for those who argue maybe the shock of learning Kara's secret in the way she did was enough to literally shut off her emotionality so that she didn't/couldn't show her true feelings-- if that were the case it STILL would have been noticeable. Kara would have noticed the sudden change from "mush on the inside" to "I am totally closed off to you."

So either way you look at it-- the superfriends and Kara in particular did Lena dirty and this is a hill I'm willing to die on.

[kitkatt0430]

☕️ on Supergirl!!

(Perusing my tea shelf, what shall I choose for Supergirl... ^_^ )

Okay, so the Cult of Rao was a plot line that I don't really feel got utilized to it's full potential. It touched on big topics like cultural appropriation and the way cult leaders pick and choose the bits of religion they like to create their new and 'correct' religious way. But because it focused so hard on the cult gone wrong aspect, I think it failed as a criticism of cultural appropriation.

Rao was both the star around which Krypton revolved and the deity which Kryptonians worshiped. True worshipers of Rao were known as Raoists in the comics and it would have informed a not insignificant about of the culture Kara was raised in before Krypton was destroyed. Thus it would have to be very upsetting for her to see the religion of her childhood have the trappings slapped on top of a cult that was very... Christian underneath the Kryptonian veneer.

This was an opportunity to Kara to open up about her own feelings about her people's religion and faith. Was it an open religion to all beings, Kryptonian or otherwise? Was it a Kryptonian and Daxamite only thing, largely closed to other species? We don't really get a lot about Kara talking about her Kryptonian heritage in terms of cultural practices - most of it has to do with her family specifically. Which is fair, she was very young when her world died and would have known her family's practices fairly well, but not necessarily the parts of her world's culture her parents chose not to embrace or regional variations... she was geared towards following her father into the physical sciences, after all. She wasn't going into anthropology or religious studies. And having this cult showing up could make her uncomfortable with herself too over just the sheer amount of Kryptonian culture that she's simply incapable of keeping alive on her own.

The United States has a history of commodifying cultures that aren't heavily Christian the way main stream US culture is. We treat Native American dress as a costume appropriate for Halloween parties, ignore the cultural impacts of minorities where they can't be whitewashed (Elvis stealing the music - and dance style - of Black America and getting famous off it is a great example), the treatment of other nations food staples as 'weird and exotic'... the trivialization of some non-Christian religions while others are demonized.

The Cult of Rao could have been an excellent opportunity to say something meaningful about cultural and religious appropriation, to really hammer home how much it harmed Kara as this ongoing plot beyond just a handful of episodes tied to the World Killer arc. To show that it wasn't harmful just because it became an excuse for these people to do violence, but because the religion of Rao was being treated as a fad. Her people's cultural identity watered down, turning her people's spiritual practices into the next yoga obsession, stripped of all history or understanding of the significance behind the practices save for what makes it more catchy to the people appropriating it.

[invisible-pink-toast]

k so why did the advertising in the flash movie heavily focus on kara when she was barely in the movie only to die??

i was bombarded with advertisements for the flash when it was coming out - and it was almost all barry running and kara showing up in her suit and using her heat vision. i can't even remember if the other timeline barry or batman show up in the ads (either batman version).

i had no desire to watch the movie, but thought it was great that supergirl was back on the big screen in such a major movie. and having her be so different to previous version was so cool - she's latino! she's more masc looking!

anyway it was my dad's birthday and he wanted to watch the flash but i cannot believe how disappointed i was with kara's treatment?

not kara herself - sasha did an amazing job (especially considering), sad but interesting backstory, intriguing character, she's badass and conflicted and has a cool suit.

but she only shows up like over an hour and a half into the movie!? she has what, maybe 15 lines? if i'm being generous. in her first fight she decimates her captors despite being seriously depleted - in her second (and last) fight she's kicking zod's ass only to have him Suddenly Win. for plot reasons. and brutally murder her on screen.

zod stabs kara with some deus ex machina weapon that he's apparently saved until now and it just makes her completely helpless. and then she's stabbed again by some experimental tech and has her blood drained. and then she dies.

despite being... kryptonian. like was it a kryptonite weapon? that wasn't made clear. she survived decades in captivity surrounded by kryptonite but This Weapon is what gets her. despite the sun. idk.

And if that wasn't insulting enough - she dies again. and again. and again. because barry 2.0 can't accept her death and keeps going back in time to change it. there's a montage of kara dying. in different ways. sometimes not even with the stabbing thing? she's just suddenly outmatched?? barry gets stabbed by the kryptonian weapons and just keeps going.

og batman dies twice - being blown up and then dying in the arms of his friend. he gets his moment, he gets his last lines. kara never gets that. kara always dies alone, her body lying on the ground in display of barry's "failure".

and then she's not mentioned again?? because the movie doesn't think she matters at all! only in relation to barry's story!

it's such a textbook example of the 'women in refrigerators' trope and it's so fucking annoying that this trope is still used, especially in superhero media! so incredibly sexist and ridiculous - poor writing and poor character treatment.

i have very little faith that the dc movies could do any justice to kara after this, but saying that they Are going to make a supergirl movie and not even telling sasha if she's going to be cast in it or not like how dirty can you do this poor actor who quite frankly was already the best part of your basic movie?

[wolfienation]

until i see the full season i won't be jumping to character assassination conclusions. 2 episodes isn't enough to claim total destruction. by the end of ep 8, all these earlier actions could have entirely different meanings so, i withhold judgement.

[forkaround]

This post by @heretherebedork got me wondering about why commentary doesn't work. This isn't just a BL thing but a universal writing thing. I think since 2016 this making commentary thing has increased in all media over all. A lot of that has to do with evolving political landscape of the world in both good and bad directions. But nothing I can say or do about that. What I am interested in is why sometimes it works and other times it doesn't.

It works in Gotham Knights, Agents of Shield, even Cutie Pie to a degree and then there are shows built upon the political landscape like The Eclipse and Not Me. It doesn't work in Supergirl, Doctor Who (13th Doctor's run), and just about most shows that try.

For me the ages of the characters on Gotham Knights, Legacies, The Eclipse, Cutie Pie make it work. With GK and LGS, they are American teens and irl a lot of Gen Z are like that and so it becomes about reflecting real life. For comparison, when TVD came out the cultural consciousness made it possible to succeed in a way it won't today. Same with Twilight. Cutie Pie and The Eclipse has the PC built into them with the gay marriage and anti-authoritarian thing respectively. Same for Not Me.

But if you look at Supergirl, it came from the comics, comic have been PC or ahead of their time a lot of the times, but as a show it's 'lessons' fall flat. Compare the Alien Immigrants storyline in Supergirl with a similar but better anti-inhuman one from Agents of Shield. The difference is when Supergirl did it, it was a one season and done thing. Whereas Agents of Shield built it up slowly over the course of multiple seasons. AoS also gave multiple opposing views on it from members of the team. Supergirl had all it's main cast agree that it's bad to treat alien's badly. Some of it is baked into the character dynamics from the get go. The Supergirl team leaders were Hank, an alien himself and Alex, Supergirl's sister. While AoS's team leader was Coulson someone with experience in spy work and someone who understands people.

On the BL side, like I said the ones that do it well get away with it because of the basic premise. The ones that fail like War of Y, which I would argue didn't fail completely, Step by Step, which has the Supergirl problem, do so because of weak writing. With WoY, given the subtitles and overall quality I didn't expect much. The Commentary has stilted dialogue but so does the rest of the show. Same with House of Stars. It fails but doesn't stand out as egregious.

To Conclude: Some advice as an author,

if you are going to include PC into your story either bake it into the premise or don't make it stand out.

Also it's always good to have opposing views, good and bad. Try to make things as round and without edges as possible.

The characters should be talking to each other, not to the audience. or worse, at the audience.

Don't rely on woke points to propel your story.

It's a story, a narrative first, commentary second.

[karaspal]

it’s always “hands on hips in the name of justice” and never “another woman’s hands on kara’s hips in the name of lesbianism”