Male superheroes are everywhere these days between movies and television – Batman, Superman, Iron Man, Ant Man, Captain America and Thor – but CBS is wading into the mix and gambling on Supergirl.
Stokes Piercy, assistant teaching professor of communication at Wake Forest University, can discuss why Supergirl has a chance for success on the small screen and why the American public can’t get enough of super heroes. Supergirl features 24-year-old Kara Zor-El, a cousin of Superman’s, who was sent away from Krypton and must learn to embrace her powers after previously hiding them.
“Is television a better medium for developing compelling female super heroes? The answer is yes, absolutely,” Piercy says. “The tendency of the superhero film is to compress the story for the sake of the spectacle. Television, by contrast, tells long and intertwined stories, and, as a result, characters are more complex and nuanced.”
Piercy teaches a wide range of film production courses as well as writing and critical studies courses. His interest in the history and development of American graphic novels, particularly in their depiction and representation of gender, power and justice, translates to the pop culture aspects of comic books, super heroes and related movies.
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