No, it isn't. They didn't make Superman "weak," they correctly portrayed him as a person who is humble about himself and always builds other people up. Anyone who thinks humility is weakness has no comprehension of what strength means. Strength is something you use to lift up others, not yourself. Superman has always understood that even if some of his "fans" do not.
Unfortunately, they absolutely did make Superman weak. There's a line between humble and weak, and they crossed it numerous times. Superman is the top dog. The hero of heroes. Superman is Kara's hero. But the sole purpose of having Superman on Supergirl was to get his ass beat in a terrible effort to make Kara look strong, which ironically made her look weak.
Superman wasn't humble--the writers took every opportunity to make Kara appear stronger in every little thing, physically and mentally. He lost every fight he was in, not just to Kara, but to every Joe Schmoe.
Superman is supposed to be inspirational. You can lift others up without being their punching bag. This version is not humble, he's weak in every way.
Superman is a leader, the first to take the punishment, and while he's humble enough to be grateful for help, he's protective enough to make sure he will be the one to take on the big bad. Superman would never need Kara to give him a pep talk. He would never say something so incredibly stupid like, "the world doesn't need a Superman when it has Supergirl."
Superman is the guy people turn to for guidance and leadership, and the Superman so far in the Arrowverse has been a weak sidekick.
And yes, you see the difference in the Routh version in COIE. The best thing they can do is use the COIE to power Superman up and actually strengthen the character.
Also, strength might be something to lift others up with, but you lift someone else up by empowering/sympathizing with their decision (e.g. "you're the strongest person I know for being able to make that decision, your parents would be proud of you"), not comparing their decision to something you may or may not have done ("I wouldn't have been able to make that decision"). The former is being supportive and sympathetic, while the latter is actually being a bit self-absorbed during another's time of need.
Exactly. They didn't just have Superman there to support Kara, which could absolutely be done without making the character look so weak. But the writers made a conscious choice to portray this version as a submissive to Kara, someone who will take out advertisements to say "Supergirl is better than me."
I thought Superman's initial appearance was near perfect. Kara and Superman helped each other out, Superman was still her hero and mentor, and was not weakened just to make Supergirl look good. On the contrary, each had something to do, and they played well off each other. It was the subsequent appearances that the writers decided to engage in character assassination for the sake of their agenda.
It was a big turn off to the series, and I really hope they use the new series to make Superman stronger.
Anyway, we already know the title of the 5x14 (the Bodyguard) and its synopsisis (Lex charges Supergirl to protect Andrea Rojas : as Lena will be again stuck in her labo, she shouldn't cross Supergirl/Kara's way -> it would have been interesting to see her post Kara's speech's reaction!
The fact that it took Kara this long to realize that she is not responsible for Lena's actions says a lot, but better late than never. It's time Lena is treated like a full blown villain. With her memories in tact, she absolutely is.
I think it's very, very silly to define "maybe slightly less strong than Supergirl" as "weak." Being a very close second to the most powerful person on the planet is hardly "weak."
And the writers should have been secure enough in Supergirl to accept her as a very close second, rather than weaken their strongest character. But Superman hasn't been portrayed as a very close second. He has been portrayed as both physically AND mentally weak. He went from mentor to submissive in one episode, and that's not Superman.
Besides, that perception is based on exactly two things that I'm aware of, the episode where Supergirl beat the mind-controlled Superman in a fight -- which makes perfect sense because she had DEO combat training and he was self-taught -- and the bit in Crisis where she held out maybe 10 seconds longer than he did in heat-visioning the Quantum Tower -- which also makes perfect sense because he was only recently back from Argo and thus didn't have as much yellow-sun energy stored in his cells as she did. So it doesn't hold up to analysis at all.
Superman would have been someone who fought Zod before, fought Doomsday, fought Mongul, and all of them are well trained. And he has known J'onn for years, as well as Batman. Themyscera exists on this universe which might also mean he knows Wonder Woman--he is far more than self taught, and given Superman's years of experience, Kara training for a year is hardly going to equalize that.
Regarding the 10 seconds longer, they chose not to explain that and took yet another opportunity for Superman to say, "hey! You are so much better than me!" again.
Not to mention that, hey, it's not his show. Of course the lead character is going to be more effective than the guest star -- come on. Naturally Superman will be more effective on the show where he's the star, because this is television.
That means very little in the context of the Arrowverse. Superman would have been perfect as a mentor that occasionally visits and helps out when things are big. Good writing will have Superman more powerful, as he should be, without weakening Kara. As others have suggested, he can lift Kara up without being put down himself. Why write a story where Superman is a) weak enough to be mind controlled, and b) fight Kara? The only reason they did that was to make Kara stronger, which is obviously not going over well. They had a chance to give Superman an out too--he is naturally trained to hold back and didn't fight the same way he would had he been himself. But they chose not to do that.
Look at Superman's very first appearance--THAT is the situation where your fact pattern worked perfectly.
Not saying anything about a showcase role, it's just that it shows the writers CAN write an authoritative, assertive and confident version of Superman, but deliberately choose to make Hoechlin's Superman weaker in these characteristics. I understand that it's SG's show and I WANT them to make SG effective, but the way to do that is not to make SM weaker, but to make both of them stronger.
Exactly. You can't make Supergirl strong by making Superman weak. They took away so many of Clark's best qualities. He is the hero of heroes. He would be her hero, not the other way around. He is the one people turn to for advice, like she did in the first season. If there is something that requires him to help, it would have to be big enough so that there is plenty for both to do, without making one of them look weak.
And I still reject your perception of him as "weak." I don't see that at all. You don't have to be "authoritative and assertive" to be strong. Strength can be gentle and relaxed and unassuming. Real strength has nothing to prove.
Except here, he has never shown any strength. Being a doormat is not strength, and that's all he has been so far. He even lost that fight to himself which had nothing to do with Kara. In a situation like Crisis, Superman would take the lead--he wouldn't just follow. He would inspire. Again, I point to Routh's authoritativeness compared to Hoeschlin needing to be talked off the ledge by Supergirl.
Ultimately, unless they change Tyler's version, it won't work. Hopefully, in universe, they can say the COIE powered him up a lot, and the writers will understand and hear all the complaints about how he has been portrayed so far and respond.
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