‘Batwoman’ Becomes TV’s First Lesbian Superhero, and Fans Hate Her
The CW network premiered its latest superhero TV show Sunday night, “Batwoman,” joining other DC Comics superheroes “The Flash,” “Arrow,” and “Supergirl,” who each have successful TV shows on the channel.
Unlike the other DC superheroes who have TV shows on the CW, Batwoman is an open lesbian, which was likely a surprise to unsuspecting kids and parents who sat down to watch the show. Based on the response to the show on Twitter, however, Batwoman isn’t getting much love from fans.
The show follows the adventures of Kate Kane (Ruby Rose), who dons a bat-cowl to fight crime in Gotham after Batman disappears. Kane is a rebel with an attitude, as she dishes out sarcasm to everyone she meets. Unlike the bubbly optimism of Supergirl or the kind demeanor of Barry Allen’s Flash, Kate Kane is an unlikable person. While Batman was brooding and self-loathing, Batwoman loathes everyone else.
Rather than build a decent superhero mythos, the show seemed obsessed with highlighting Batwoman’s sexual orientation. Within the first ten minutes, Kate Kane is making out with her girlfriend (Meagan Tandy), which gets her kicked out of military academy. It highlights a theme the show focuses on, that members of the LGBTQ community are hated and discriminated against.
Greg Berlanti, an executive producer on the show and the other DC Comics shows on the CW, is a gay man who has said that he wants his shows to feature LGBTQ character in major roles.
The other DC Comics shows feature a number of gay characters in supporting roles, including Sara Lance/White Canary on “Legends of Tomorrow.” Batwoman, however, is the the first high-profile lesbian DC superhero to lead a show.
The show recently announced that it had cast MSNBC host Rachel Maddow, a self-professed liberal lesbian, in a role on the show. Just in case their LGBTQ agenda wasn’t totally made clear.
Entertainment Weekly trumpeted the importance of having a lesbian superhero.
The issues with the show aren’t just with its social agenda. While Ruby Rose isn’t a terrible actress, she doesn’t have the emotional depth to be very appealing in a lead role. She isn’t helped by a terrible script.
The show features little character development, and it isn’t very believable, even by comic book standards. With little training or preparation, Kate Kane is suddenly an incredible crime fighter. She finds Bruce Wayne’s Batcave within five minutes of snooping, and for some reason, he left his Batsuit and all his weapons on full display for anyone to wander in and take.
Using the “Bat” identity, Kate can easily beat up bad guys twice her size, and never gets injured. When she is hit in the face with a 2×4 and knocked unconscious, she doesn’t even get a bruise. It all feels forced and way too convenient.
Fans didn’t buy the show’s premise at all. On the Internet Movie Database (IMDB), the show has a 3.5 (out of 10) rating from viewers.
Ratings aren’t much better over at Rotten Tomatoes. As long as you’re talking about fans, anyway. Critics, as you might expect, love it. Only 15% of fans liked it, however.
Regardless, the show pulled in 1.8 million viewers for the premiere, a small but respectable audience, considering the CW Network doesn’t have the viewers of other networks. However, with the appeal of the “Batman” franchise and Ruby Rose being a fairly well-known actress, the CW and TV pundits were expecting better numbers. The show has been heavily promoted for months, especially to Batman fans at comic conventions.
In comparison, the show was the lowest-rated among the network shows in its time slot. NBC had over 16 million viewers for Sunday Night Football, CBS had 6.5 million viewers for “God Friended Me,” and ABC’s “Kids Say the Darndest Things” had 5.4 million viewers.
Batman and comic book fans weren’t exactly excited about the show to begin with. Sneak previews of the premiere episode at comic conventions this summer were met with a lukewarm response. Fans dismissed the show as cheesy and badly acted, and a sad Batman wannabe.
After the show’s premiere, many fans roasted the show on Twitter. Those who liked the show seemed focused on defending the genre’s first gay superhero, rather than commenting on the quality of the show.
Even those liking the idea of a lesbian superhero admitted the show wasn’t great.
The criticisms of the show weren’t just limited to the LGBTQ agenda it pushed. Some hated the departure it took from the comic book source material.
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