So after watching Smallville's "Power"...

So after watching Smallville's "Power"...

Is Lana Lang now the "Power Girl" (ala Karen Starr) of the Smallville Continuity?

My first inclination was to say NO, they're not doing that, but the title of the episode keeps bringing me back to this conclusion.


Thoughts?

The episode overall I didn't hate, but I'm sick of the Lana will they won't they, established way back when. Once Lois came into the picture, I just wanted Clark to grow a pair and let go.

 

I asked this same question in the episode thread. I really don't know. Judging from the trailer for next week, it looks like she might lose her powers already, but that could just be a red herring.

 

I'm sorry to hear that; I hope you're okay.

 

Not until she sees the plastic surgeon. ( . )( . )

 

^Um... What?

^QFT

Although... I always felt bad for Karen aka PowerGirl, because she was always the one being objectified. Not Diana, or Babs.

I mean...Artists and the way they draw certain female characters aside, Karen's character is the only 'major' player I can think of where references to her bust size are an actual part of her character's concept and interactions with other characters. It's in dialogue for goodness sakes!

Example:

Wonder Woman (aka Diana Prince)
-Smoking Hot and Regal/Statuesque

Batgirl/Oracle (aka Barbara Gordon)
-Smoking Hot and Intelleigent/Brilliant

Power Girl (aka Karen Star)
-Smoking Hot and has Big Boobs/Massive Cleavage?

>Seriously? She leads the JSA for crying out Loud.

Why isn't that most people's first thought?

 

Superman (aka Kall-El, Clark Kent)
-Ripped and Moral/Iconic

Batman (aka Bruce Wayne)
-Ripped and Intelligent/Brilliant

Nightwing (aka Dick Grayson)
-Insanely Ripped and has A Six Pack/Super-ridiculously ripped Abs that show through his outfits with incredible detail?

I'm just saying...

 

But hasn't there already been a Kara? After all, Power Girl (aka Karen Starr) is the Earth-2 Kara/Supergirl.

It be a nice touch if Lana becomes the Insect Queen instead.

 

^I'm not sure I understand the point you're making.

I get the comparisons obviously, but have comic authors been making an issue of pointing out Dick Grayson's Abs and then having characters discuss it in dialogue? (Again this discussion is outside of the way artists draw the characters.)

I was trying to get at the fact that PowerGirl is objectified so much "outside of the comics" that the perception has worked its way into how new writers think about the character to such a degree that it's actually being written into her stories now.

 

Some women have very large boobs.

My sister in law has (had, she's in her late 50's now) a very similar body type to Power Girl, a comparatively slim and muscular physique along with triple D's. I've known several women like that over the years, unfortunately never having an opportunity to date one. And the reality is, sometimes people make comments. Comments from co-workers are considered harassment these days, but there are still jokes and cracks from friends and family and my S-I-L herself would joke more than anyone.

I'm not saying that the physiques on superheroes and heroines are remotely realistic, but Power Girl is actually (depending on the artist) probably closer to women I've seen in real life than most others, in particular I've seen Supergirl drawn really skinny, with silicon-looking boobs sticking out.

My daughter for the last few years goes to circus camp in the summer and I've gotten to know some male and female acrobats who are the instructors, and their physiques don't resemble any artist's rendition of a superhero I've seen. Any hero that get's around town swinging on a rope or a cable or a web isn't really properly proportioned IMHO. So just saying, it's all sexual aesthetic anyway.

 

I had a similar thought.

 

^I'm sensing some Smallville hate. (Which is fine I guess, as it's not what I would call a good series.)

And I'm not an Apologist for it or anything.

But it's not like it's Charmed or Andromeda or something. *shudders*

 

^ It's more Lana hate.

 

In my case it was more of just me being an asshole.

 

Your avatar reminded me that, when I saw the manga-ized DC Direct figures of Batgirl, Catwoman and Power Girl, Karen was the only one whose bust size was not dramatically enhanced. When even an anime-style figure of the character has nowhere else to go on that front--well, wow.

That said, she is one of my favorite characters, because of her always and forever trying to figure herself out. I love her contradictions, like when one of the Crimson Fox twins mocked her outrage at men's attention to her attributes. CF pointed out that, this outrage aside, the woman has a giant cut-out 'window' on her uniform's chest area, basically crying out 'stare at me!'

Back to the original topic, Lana as PG might work, being as they never hook up once and for all (and it beats the creepy feelings Silver Age Kara seemed to have for Kal), but Clana must come to a decisive end. I really hope this is the writers faking us out and not a true backslide.

 

Both male and female superhero characters in comic books are presented as ideals. They are not intended to be realistic, it's part of who they are and it's not really discussed. If it was, wouldn't superheroines be inundated with requests to pose for Playboy, modelling contracts etc ?

Surely millions of teenage boys would have posters of Ms. Marvel, Wonder Woman, Power Girl and the like on their walls ?

Power Girl is the chief exception since she complains about how she is treated while wearing an outfit that doesn't exactly repel the eye.

She-Hulk seems to be quite proud of supposedly having the largest breasts in the Marvel Universe, but then she is occasionally written as if she realises she is a comic book character anyway.

 

Ah, such great words...

Adding to that, men don't complain about being objectified, Technobuilder. Nightwing is NEVER going to complain about all the women who keep staring and commenting on his super ripped abs.

I don't see why anyone complains about how these women are drawn. It's just a comicbook. They're supposed to be drawn super sexy and perfect. There was a whole big controversy over the cover of Heroes for Hire #13:

But it's mostly the women who complain about how women are drawn, but outrageous depictions of men go unscathed. Go figure.

 

I actually think they based this storyline on the Prometheus storyline from the Blue Beetle and Teen Titans comics of the 80s.

See Prometheus:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid_(DC_Comics)

 

That's because all violence towards men, especially sexual violence is fine. As is portraying them as sexual objects. It's true.

If you don't believe me, watch this very episode of Smallville and the orgasmic look on Tess Mercer's face as she beat a man to death.

Combine that with her less than subtle comments about men in previous episodes, too.

 

Although previously unfamiliar with her, I actually have come to quite like the character of Power Girl, partly because she's become aware of her physical effect on others. Isn't the tongue-in-cheek given origin of her cleavage window that she wanted to think up her own attention-drawing symbol differing from the 'S' shield, so that part of her costume was left open; then, she realized enemies would get distracted by her boobs and she didn't really need a symbol after all?

(That said, I hope they don't fit Lana into that role. Why is she back on Smallville anyway, really?)

Agreed entirely. It's a definite double standard. Perhaps knee-jerk subconscious (or not so subconscious) reaction to centuries of perceived and actual oppression by men?

And I'd add to the notion of men not minding being objectified that no man I've ever met has minded bragging about or exaggerating or allowing the size of his package to be exaggerated by others, myself included.

 

The only time the double standard really bugs me is with men's relative intelligence, particularly on sitcoms. I often wonder why the Jill Taylors and Deborah Romanos even married these guys, except maybe to have someone they could always feel superior to, which stank when guys did it, and stinks no less as payback. Even worse, it all gives a wrong image of these slackers. In RL, a guy who would do all those stupid thoughtless things is not an otherwise lovable lug--odds are he's a bank-account draining abuser. A glare and folded arms won't do much, then.

Again, though, brain-dead and overly-self-loving morons are who KS/PG is likely to fight, so her attributes are put to well-targeted use. I just thank God that they never had her hook up with her now-non-Cousin Kal, between COIE and IC. I wonder if they ever showed her showing up on Earth Post-Crisis, and then being disabused of her 'false' Krypton origin. Also, I can't imagine younger Kal quite holding her back the way Kal-L might have initially, so her 'tude might have needed some explanation.

Smallville is proving to be the great equalizer : any character of any gender can be weakened to the point of fan aggravation.