Feminist ‘Supergirl’ TV Show Brutally Mocked After ‘Awful’ Clip Emerges: ‘This Has to Be a Joke’

Social media users roundly mocked the “Supergirl” TV series after the feminist show released a clip this week debuting some less than impressive CGI graphics.

The footage was shared Monday to the show’s official Twitter account to promote a new episode available on an app for The CW, the network which airs the DC Comics series.

this is from the same episode pic.twitter.com/iy6D2ybxDH

— Sadie 🐒 (@deadsadie) October 30, 2019

Viewers were underwhelmed.

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Commenters blasted the “awful” special effects and hamfisted acting displayed on the show, which is in its fifth season.

 

“Is this a Disney channel original movie?” tweeted one Twitter user.

“This has to be some kind of joke,” said another.

Others likened the video to a “really cool student project.”

That would be an insult to ps2 graphics.

— Cody (@omegabluebomber) October 30, 2019

Many compared the show’s special effects – unfavorably – to the kids’ classic “Power Rangers,” which debuted nearly 30 years ago.

I’ve honestly seen better CGI in porn parodies bruh

— GOAT’s Burner (@4th_Burner) October 30, 2019

Some users tried to be more constructive with their criticism:

Just for example, roughen edges, wipe transition, glow, curves, levels, lens flair from video copilot, radiowaves, advanced lightning, fractal noise, masks, Advanced wire removal, video copilot's saber.. Just to name a few 😂😂😂😂.. Just didn't want to sound rude or sarcastic 😂

— I'm a very distinguished thinker! (@AlexAKABatman) October 28, 2019

While the overwhelming majority of comments were scathingly critical, there were a few defenders.

“To all the people moaning about the CGI. Supergirl is on a small network, so their budget isn’t big anyway, but atm all the shows are putting extra money into Crisis. So it’s actually amazing what they’re doing. If you can’t accept that then don’t watch it, simple,” tweeted one user, whose comment received more than 400 “likes.”

“A Smart Feminist Series”

Since debuting in 2015, “Supergirl” has been a critical success, a fact that’s puzzled some social media observers.

that's because they have their own agenda, look how poorly the chappelle special got rated by staff vs. the people.

— Rowdy Joe (@Rowdy_Joe) October 30, 2019

The show’s first two seasons scored 92 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, a site that aggregates professional critics’ reviews.

While “Supergirl’s” ratings dipped slightly in seasons 3 and 4, it still holds a respectable 81 percent on Rotten Tomatoes for the current season.

Meanwhile, critics have applauded the series for its consciously feminist perspective.

Washington Post reporter Alyssa Rosenberg, who writes “about the intersection of culture and politics,” has chronicled the “guidelines” the show’s creators put in place to “accomplish the series’ feminist goals.”

“Whether you think it’s true or not, I think it is much harder to be a woman in the world,” Sarah Schechter, one of “Supergirl’s” executive producers, told The Post in 2015. “And I think that is an opportunity for us in terms of drama and the depth of character and relationships. Supergirl has a really tough job, and I think that her gender is a part of it, and hopefully we’ll someday live in a world where it’s not.”

Also in 2015, film and television critic Matt Zoller Seitz declared “Supergirl” is  “a Smart, Feminist Series (and That’s Why Some People Won’t Watch It).”

https://twitter.com/ChromeSSB/status/1189557073639555073?s=20

“[T]his is a feminist series that’s aware of the cultural and political implications of everything it’s showing us, whether it’s Kara taking issue with a prototype of a costume with a bared midriff or defeating a brawny, hateful, openly sexist foe by, essentially, destroying his symbolic phallus,” Seitz averred.

“Supergirl” isn’t the only feminist super-heroine to face backlash from audiences

Both skeptics and advocates of feminism have at times criticized the depiction of Captain Marvel, a Marvel comics super-heroine played by actress Brie Larson.

2019’s “Captain Marvel,” the first female-led film in the blockbuster Marvel Cinematic Universe, has been cheered in some corners as a crowning achievement for women’s empowerment. Larson, an outspoken advocate for feminism and diversity, has been held up as a sort of feminist icon.

But some say Larson’s Captain Marvel is a superficial portrayal of feminist ideology.

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Journalist Cathy Young said earlier this year that the character “was pandering to the currently trendy brand of faux feminism.”

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