Webtoon Spotlight

Random Spotlight #2: Arrowverse Hot Takes part 1

Spoiler Warning for all the Arrowverse

Look I'm a huge superhero fan, I love both dc and marvel and religiously talk about them at boredom to most of my friends. However, I think the place where the war between the two companies is bloodiest is easily in the media department. The MCU pretty much brought superhero movies into the golden age, and the DC has been trying to play catch up in any way possible, including TV. While the MCU continued in the form of various networks, Dc decided to make their shared universe to compete, and that was in the form of the Arrowverse.

Now I'll be honest; I like to consider myself a fan of the arrowverse, in the way that I look at the good stuff and bad stuff any show that I like. And with its breakout show Arrow coming to the end I want to give a major spotlight of the beautiful mess that is this franchise and how certain characters need better treatment. And before I get into the specifics of this study, I feel as though I want to get two things out of the way: the Pros, the Cons and the Bats.

The Pros: Yes, I do think the arrowverse has redeemable qualities. I think that it has very high ambitions that sometimes playoff spectacularly. With so many long-running shows many and I do mean many interesting and original scenarios have been thrown at our main characters and have lead to many downright amazing episodes. Kapishon(Arrow 5,17) Enter Flashtime(Flash, 4, 15) and O Brother, Where Art Thou? (Supergirl 4,15) are some of the best episodes of their respective shows and are honestly really intriguing.

To add to this ambition when a show has a good season, it can be fucking good when it tries to be. Arrow season 1,2, and five have rarely been topped with only the early seasons of Flash measuring of it. Plus on top of that, we even got many original characters as well. John Diggle, Sara Lance, the Legend are all originals, and I can't say I don't enjoy their addition to such a big universe though this is pretty much where my compliments end as this ambition is a double-edged sword.

The Cons: This main problem can pretty much be summed up in a good analogy I made. I would rather have a perfectly well-cooked meal that fills me up just enough rather than a series of uncooked appetizers. Having 23 episodes over seven months is incredibly exhausting to even think about, and it doesn't help that pointless filler, drama, and characters severely hinder the overall experience. The absolute worst examples are Flash season 3-5 where Barry a scientist that pretty much moves and thinks  faster than a space shuttle gets jobbed in almost every encounter he's been in. Plus he also has his screen time chopped up between characters who often serve as a way to pointless draw things out even further. Or how the shows sometimes really don't like the mythos of their respective shows in the sacrifice for some originality (i.e., Oliver 4 season long Green arrow and the absence of Rogues on the Flash.) I'm not saying that the arrowverse trinity shouldn't have teams, but I also don't think they need five other people who are just as powerful as them while also having a former team member lists be 20 members long.

The reason why the Marvel Netflix shows are often more highly regarded is that they're short 13 episode miniseries that explore an often well defined main character with a very self-contained main cast and villain. Granted streaming could also be taken into account, but I've watched Cloak and dagger, and I can certainly say I never felt bored. Having more time to prepare these seasons would clean their act up. Also on a lighter note, the Cw, in general, has never dealt with social-political issues in a very good way and I honestly find it insulting in their approach of said issues. Supergirl's concept of a wall keeping the Mexicans out in a world where aliens existed for years is ridiculous. And while yes gun control is also another very important American issue it has no right being in superhero shows that will most likely have entire fight scenes displaying such violence on screen.

I'm not saying that these issues aren't necessary or shouldn't be talked on TV about before, but if they are going to then they need to do it in a way that is relevant and fits the show. And there are many examples that work in the superhero genre. All the marvel Netflix shows dealt with themes of religion, Ptsd, how the country treats veterans etc. as well but never to a degree that slowed down the story. Even Freeform handled these issues with real grace in the from of Cloak and dagger and Bold type. Hell, Static shock (a kids show in the 2000's) tackled the problems of bullying, homelessness, race and gun control better than any of the arrowverse shows with maybe only Black lighting coming close in the arrow verses favor. I don't want to spend more time on this, but I hope you understand the point.

The Bats: Besides Arrow's up and coming cancellation and the Crisis, I think the biggest news of the arrowverse is Batwoman. I wanted to say this now since right now I have less than an hour of pride month left, but I hate this trailer. From the advertising alone, it honestly seems like the only marketing point for this show is that it's about a main character who is a woman and lesbian. It feels like it's relying on a character trait rather than a complete character in it of itself which disgusts me.

To get the elephant out of the room, I do think that representation in all forms is a great thing. However, I don't believe for even a moment that the introduction of representation and social issues should be a get out of jail free card for it immediately being an awesome woke show. By that logic, I should be grilling the Cw about how they never decided to posted the black lighting premiere trailer on their youtube channel. Or how when it comes to my stories I don't want people to read my story the Paladin not because it's about a strong independent asexual black woman who doesn't want any man. I want people to read and judge a book about a broken character leaping through the trials and tribulations put on by her actions as she tries to find herself again. So at the end of the day, I feel like the most morally just thing one should do is simply judge Batwoman and other shows with representation like this on the merits of the quality and the "character" represented. And boy howdy is it absolute trash.

My feelings on a Batwoman show were always mixed. I was largely uninterested about the character and the thought of a show based on her, and when I saw that Batman and his mythos was on earth one, I was kind of miffed. The entire point of the Arrowverse was that Arrow was the first real vigilante of his kind so it makes complete sense that he would be like the Iron man to be the start of a new age. Adding Batman in there to me ruins the myth of Arrow being the first of his kind. I know wildcat also existed but he protected the slums of Star city not the entire place. The Jsa shouldn't count because they were a covert military force. Besides that  feelings of indifference turned to anger when I saw the trailer, though.

The Batwoman trailer is a pathetic cringefest that is trying to think that is so different and out there because the main character is a women that it makes it even more pathetic. Everything feels bland and uninteresting from the lighting, the city, and even the villains. Also, our "main hero" has no interesting or likable qualities to her. I don't know much of Ruby Rose, but she honestly delivers a bland portrayal of a super egotistical badass rebel who doesn't take orders from anyone. Granted I don't think even Tara strong could say these lines without cringing. And of course, her two infamous lines make me want to sink in the corner of my room and set the world on fire because it blatantly is an insult to everything that Batman represents and has done.

Batman at the core of his character is a humanitarian who trained every day of his life to be the best he can be to make sure that no one ever has to suffer the same fate his family did. Implying you can do his job better because you're a woman destroys the facade of you is empowering because you have to belittle him to make yourself look superior unjustly. I also find it funny that you steal all of this gear form his base and still act all high and mighty like your doing this yourself. Which works if he were her comic book counterpart who was inspired by Batman and used her own gear to carry on his legacy in her way and I find that much more empowering than this.

The beauty of Terry Mcginnis from Batman Beyond was that it was never about him being better than Batman but only carrying the legacy in a new way for a new world.

Overall I just wanted to say that all in all this is a terrible way to introduce one of the most popular and sometimes most mishandled LGBT superheroes in fiction. The CW is giving me no hope that he will be even remotely good and I certainly will be only watching it see how it comes crashing down once it hits the air. But overall thank you for reading, and I hope I wasn't too disrespectful overall. Your welcome to debate with me on any front I made in this chapter but until then let's see where the spotlight takes us to next.