Jessica Jones Light and Dark: Supergirl and Jessica

[Lamashtar]

Have there been any feminist analytic comparisons between Supergirl and Jessica Jones yet? They're coming out so close together and both are strongly about femininity and strength, it seems inevitable.

I am deliriously excited because it will be fascinating to watch the two splitting off into different directions: Supergirl as an icon to little girls, and Jessica, the vanguard of the darkest corner of the MCU so far.

 

[kedrell]

And in the middle will stand Agent Carter.

 

[Lamashtar]

And in the middle will stand Agent Carter.

Good point. Supergirl and Jess seemed more natural opposites, while Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel have the weight of representing the entire category of female heroes of their respective universes.

 

[famicommander]

Don't forget iZombie. Liv is a strong but flawed female protaganist in the vein of a Veronica Mars or Buffy Summers. The show gets very dark at times but still retains charm and wit.

 

[eddy]

Has there ever been this many action/hero shows headlined by females at the same time? The only thing I can think of is Buffy/Dark Angel/Alias. I think all 3 of those were on at the same time for a year or 2?

 

[Lamashtar]

Has there ever been this many action/hero shows headlined by females at the same time? The only thing I can think of is Buffy/Dark Angel/Alias. I think all 3 of those were on at the same time for a year or 2?

In movies, there was the period kicked off by Resident Evil (Milla Jovavich), Lara Croft (Angelina Jolie), and Kill Bill 1 and 2 (Uma Thurman). It ended with Ultraviolet (Milla Jovavich), Bloodrayne (Kristanna Loken), and Aeon Flux (Charlize Theron).

Supposedly, the Black Widow movie was in development at the time, and the series of flops killed it.

 

[kedrell]

^Underworld fit into that schlock as well.

 

[eddy]

I think more than anything Elektra probably killed the Black Widow movie

 

[Lamashtar]

I think more than anything Elektra probably killed the Black Widow movie

Ike Perlmutter certainly has his prejudices against female superhero movies, but this was another studio according to this article: http://spinoff.comicbookresources.c...widow-nearly-beat-iron-man-to-the-big-screen/

 

[eon001]

Was just thinking about this earlier to day. I'm glad were going to see some variety in our female super heroes. Jessica Jones might be too dark for some people, or a younger audience, so at least they can enjoy Supergirl. I plan on watching both.

 

[kedrell]

I doubt I'll be watching Supergirl if the pilot is indicative of how the show is going to be. I didn't care much for it at all beyond liking the actress they picked for the lead role.

 

[Lilbaz]

I doubt I'll be watching Supergirl if the pilot is indicative of how the show is going to be. I didn't care much for it at all beyond liking the actress they picked for the lead role.

Agreed, way to cliche'd for me. Jj looks the nuts though.

 

[kedrell]

I'll be sticking with JJ and AC when it comes to female lead comic book TV shows.

 

[Loki882]

The Jessica Jones/Supergirl compare/contrast gets tedious. They're completely different characters, with completely different backgrounds/viewpoints. Really the only thing that they have in common is that they're comic book characters.

It's like comparing Alien to Wall-E just because they're both technically sci-fi, it doesn't really work.

 

[kedrell]

So are Jessica Jones and Agent Carter but I find those both much more tolerable than Supergirl(again, based solely on my reaction to that poor pilot episode...the rest of the series might improve). If I had to boil it all down to what makes the first two work and the 3rd one not as much, it probably comes down to being able to sense that the showrunners TRUST that the characters they are using are good and interesting characters(I speak primarily of the lead characters here) who can carry a show. With Supergirl I didn't get that sense(even though as I said before that I think Benoist is the best thing the pilot had going for it) and it felt like they were trying too hard to use other things to prop up this girly superhero show(connections to Superman; the silly and seemingly guaranteed to be 'freak of the week' set up for super conflicts, etc.).

At least there's iZombie over on the DC side of things(which is excellent BTW). I keep forgetting that's a female lead comic book TV series as well.

 

[Blind_Lawyer]

I don't get making a comparison here.

The only thing more different than the characterizations of Supergirl and Jessica Jones, is the approach to making tv shows exemplified by Netflix and CBS.

I'd be pretty shocked to any similarities between the two.

 

[Pwoper Nereguar]

The only way they're really comparable is that they're both female, which is rather sexist in itself to only compare the two shows because they have female leads. To drop sexism, we should be comparing them against other shows of a similar style, regardless of gender.

I hear Supergirl is trying to hit people over the head with overly feminist connotations by constantly bringing up the fact she's a woman. Is this true? I don't want to rely on news articles, Facebook users, DC haters and huge fans. I love a female lead, but not for a lecture on how women are equal constantly. Unsure on watching it at the moment.

 

[kedrell]

The only way they're really comparable is that they're both female, which is rather sexist in itself to only compare the two shows because they have female leads. To drop sexism, we should be comparing them against other shows of a similar style, regardless of gender.

We're doing that too. This show(JJ) can't seem to get brought up without some call back to DD season 1. But denying the female lead character aspect to me seems like just sticking our heads in the sand to appease the gods of political correctness. It's a legit angle which is why it's being discussed. In fact it bothers me more that Agent Carter isn't remaining in the conversation...simply because she's only a comic book character but not an actual superhero. She's only got the 1st successful female lead comic book TV show since Linda Carter's Wonder Woman...that's all.

I hear Supergirl is trying to hit people over the head with overly feminist connotations by constantly bringing up the fact she's a woman. Is this true? I don't want to rely on news articles, Facebook users, DC haters and huge fans. I love a female lead, but not for a lecture on how women are equal constantly. Unsure on watching it at the moment.

Well I've only seen the pilot but it does rather cram such things into it in a rather hamfisted(for my tastes anyway) manner. Yes, AC also dealt with sexism but that's a period piece which gives it a whole other flavor entirely. Supergirl is set in the modern day. Sexism may still exist but it's not even remotely as overt by comparison.

 

[Raiden]

We're doing that too. This show(JJ) can't seem to get brought up without some call back to DD season 1. But denying the female lead character aspect to me seems like just sticking our heads in the sand to appease the gods of political correctness. It's a legit angle which is why it's being discussed. In fact it bothers me more that Agent Carter isn't remaining in the conversation...simply because she's only a comic book character but not an actual superhero. She's only got the 1st successful female lead comic book TV show since Linda Carter's Wonder Woman...that's all.



Well I've only seen the pilot but it does rather cram such things into it in a rather hamfisted(for my tastes anyway) manner. Yes, AC also dealt with sexism but that's a period piece which gives it a whole other flavor entirely. Supergirl is set in the modern day. Sexism may still exist but it's not even remotely as overt by comparison.

Supergirl is more like the Devil Wears Prada than Agent Carter imo. She even has a wicked female boss.

 

[Infinight888]

Well I've only seen the pilot but it does rather cram such things into it in a rather hamfisted(for my tastes anyway) manner. Yes, AC also dealt with sexism but that's a period piece which gives it a whole other flavor entirely. Supergirl is set in the modern day. Sexism may still exist but it's not even remotely as overt by comparison.

I actually think it's kind of funny. Agent Carter is a series taking place during a time period when women faced serious discrimination for their gender, and the series actually showed what that discrimination looked like.

Supergirl is a show where highly-successful women complain about how hard life is because they're female, despite there being absolutely nothing in the show to suggest that's the case, and argue over stupid things like using the word "girl" as opposed to "woman".

In a way, Supergirl embodies everything wrong with the modern feminist movement.

 

[Pwoper Nereguar]

I actually think it's kind of funny. Agent Carter is a series taking place during a time period when women faced serious discrimination for their gender, and the series actually showed what that discrimination looked like.

Supergirl is a show where highly-successful women complain about how hard life is because they're female, despite there being absolutely nothing in the show to suggest that's the case, and argue over stupid things like using the word "girl" as opposed to "woman".

In a way, Supergirl embodies everything wrong with the modern feminist movement.

The perfect embodiment of everything wrong with modern day feminism is Tumblr. It actually made me become an anti feminist until I left the place and realised that it isn't as bad as I had been lead to believe :P

 

[haephestus]

Has there ever been this many action/hero shows headlined by females at the same time? The only thing I can think of is Buffy/Dark Angel/Alias. I think all 3 of those were on at the same time for a year or 2?

Were Xena: Warrior Princess, Charmed, Nikita, Cleopatra 2525, Veronica Mars, Sheena, Queen of Swords, VIP and She Spies also around at that time?

I can't recall which were mid to late nineties shows (although I know Xena premiered in 1995 and finished in 2001) and which were early to mid noughties shows.

As for Supergirl vs. Jessica Jones vs. Agent Carter vs. iZombie - I don't really care! I'm just happy that there are multiple shows with female heroes as the lead character. And I expect to enjoy all of them in different ways.

 

[flickchick85]

Were Xena: Warrior Princess, Charmed, Nikita, Cleopatra 2525, Veronica Mars, Sheena, Queen of Swords, VIP and She Spies also around at that time?

I can't recall which were mid to late nineties shows (although I know Xena premiered in 1995 and finished in 2001) and which were early to mid noughties shows.

Veronica Mars and Nikita (the CW version) were later than those others, and they were never on at the same time (VM ended in '07, Nikita started in 2010). La Femme Nikita was a late-90's show.