Thing that is REAAAALLLLY bugging me about The Flash

[beatrice_otter]

Barry: gets powers: minor angst about danger, then: Awesome, new superhero!

Wally: gets powers: minor angst about danger, then: Awesome, new superhero!

Cisco: gets powers just like his evil twin from the alternate Earth: Awesome, new superhero!

Caitlynn: gets powers just like her evil twin from the alternate Earth: FUCK NO, POWERS MAKE YOU EVIL!

NOBODY else among the main characters has had a personality change due to their powers.  Nobody.  They are the same person, just faster/more psychic.  Why is it that the GIRL--the only female major character to get superpowers--is going to go psycho if she uses her powers?  We have spent SO MUCH TIME this season angsting about how POWER MAKES HER EVIL, SO SHE BETTER SUPPRESS HER POWER!  AND SHE CAN'T DO IT BY HERSELF, SHE NEEDS THE GUYS TO SUPPRESS HER POWER!

This show generally does a decent job with women, so this is such a slap in the face.

Comments

[dariaw]

This is a great point. And in some ways it would work better storywise to have Cisco be the dark side one too, so it makes no sense.

[beatrice_otter]

You could do it as "he's connecting on a psychic level with evil!Cisco," and since he's not the only superhero of color in the main cast, it would be less ooky than the one girl.

[monanotlisa]

Mmh, it's a male-fronted show though. :/ I've learned not to trust them.

[beatrice_otter]

Well, you can't trust any show. Supergirl, for example, I have to mute whenever Mon-El comes on screen. (Perhaps he has gotten better in the last few eps, but he started off generic fratboy douche and then they started trying to force it into a love interest, and he became possessive-fratboy-douche-boyfriend. The whole episode with Mr. Mxy, ugh.)

[lilacsigil]

Ugh. I quit The Flash very early because of the wretched treatment of poor Iris, but this kind of stuff is all over superhero comics and it really annoys me. Next stage: she embraces her power and suddenly has a sexy bad-girl makeover.

[muccamukk]

Ugh, I did same. Poor Iris deserved to be on a better show.

Next stage: she embraces her power and suddenly has a sexy bad-girl makeover.

She already has that damned messy roller curl hair that every woman on the CW has (except Alex Danvers). Sexy bad girl might be a step up.

[beatrice_otter]

We already know what the sexy-bad-girl makeover is going to look like, too.

[labingi]

I'm only familiar with this show because my son is obsessed with it, and I have very mixed feelings about that. On the plus side, it's more grown up than his usual fare, which gives me hope that he's growing up. :) And it does have some interesting plots and generally model heroic behavior. But, yeah, the presentation of women annoys me no end, right off the bat with standard trope that they're all 25, gorgeous, and always spend (I presume) 4 hours dressing and doing their hair/makeup regardless of how ingenious or career-oriented they are or how soon the world is going to end if people don't act fast.

My concerns for what my son is absorbing are echoed a little by an interchange we had about Ninjago: I asked him his favorite character. He replied... I have no recollection because frankly I couldn't care less. But, as is typical for him, it was the person he viewed as having the biggest superpowers. Then, I asked him who the nicest character was. "Prolly, Nya," he replied dismissively (in other words, the only girl). (On the up-side, if the girl is the superpowered lead, she's his favorite character, see Elsa, Rey....)

[beatrice_otter]

Well, how many shows are there on TV that show women who aren't 25, gorgeous, and perfectly coiffed? The actual plot lines (except for the depowering Caitlin plot line) are a notch or two better than you get on most shows.

Take Iris' current thing where she's going to be killed if they don't change the future. Much as Barry tries to make it all about his manpain, she keeps centering the story on her, and pointing out that it's not about him, it's about her. Which, the narrative doesn't always back her up, but it's still better than a lot of TV.