A Tale of Two Trailers

Consider this the tale of two trailers. While I would hesitate to call them the best of trailers and the worst of trailers about female-centered projects, there’s no denying both their similarities and differences. One if the new film reboot of “Jem and the Holograms.” The other is the new TV reboot of “Supergirl.”

I’m going to let you watch both of them and then let’s chat, m’kay?

First, “Jem and the Holograms”


Now, “Supergirl.”


Right, so we’ll begin with “Jem and the Holograms.” That was truly not outrageous. In fact it was truly, truly, truly boring. That was “Josie and the Pussycats” meets “Hannah Montana.” If you want a more interesting all-girl band origin story, might I suggest “The Runaways?”

But then that’s what you get when 1) the female creators of the original story aren’t consulted (or even notified) that a franchise was being rebooted, and 2) you use all-male creatives behind the camera to tell a story about an all-girl experiences.

Think I’m kidding about that all-male thing? Nope. The film is directed by Jon M. Chu (previous credit: “G.I. Joe: Retaliation”), written by Ryan Landels (previous credit: “The LXD: The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers” – whatever that is) and executive produced by Scoot Braun (previous credit: “Justin Bieber's Believe”) and Jason Blum (previous credit: a shitton of horror movies). So a guy who has directed a dudebro action franchise, a guy who has written some show about dancers and producers whose expertise are Justin Bieber and horror. Sure, makes sense. Totally works for a female-driven movie about the outrageous adventures about a group of young women.

So then the result is a very bland, very generic, very uninspiring “A Star Is Born”-ish rehash with your standard-issue girl empowerment backstory. Be yourself! Get discovered on YouTube! Lots of hot-pink eye makeup! Blerg. Now I watched “Jem and the Holograms” as a kid because it’s what you did in the 80s. While I don’t have overly strong feelings about the cartoon series I do remember it has something both campy and refreshingly weird going on that made it stand out. She was truly outrageous. THAT WAS THE WHOLE DAMN POINT.

Moving right along. Now let’s talk about “Supergirl.” I’ve always had a soft spot for D.C. Comics’ Supers – both Man and Girl. I know it’s not cool, but Superman was my favorite superhero and I made my parents take me to Helen Slater’s “Supergirl” movie way back in the day. And I remember on the way out I accidentally knocked over one of the armrests and my dad said, “Whoa, Supergirl. Watch out for your powers.” It’s one of those small, precious childhood memories I keep locked away.

So at first glance, like the first 2 minutes of the new trailer I was annoyed. Like, is this just “The Devil Wears Prada” with a red cape? This is almost as bad as the SNL “Black Widow: Age of Me” parody trailer. Supergirl as a frazzled working gal in the big city rom-com. Are you serious? ARE YOU SERIOUS?

But then, then it got better. Like it’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s kind of awesome better. It helps that the show comes from a pedigree of people who make sense. Its producers are “Arrow” and “The Flash” creator Greg Berlanti and “Chuck” and “Glee” writer/producer Ali Adler. Folks with a pedigree in writing superheroes and shows with strong female characters. Also, isn’t it nice to see sweet, forgotten Marley Rose from “Glee” plays the Supergirl herself? It also helps that the show appears to have a sense of humor, both about itself and its stories. I’ve stuck it out through “Gotham” this past season, but damn if that show isn’t joyless. So a female-centric superhero story that’s unafraid to kick ass and crack a couple of jokes? Yeah, I’m definitely into that.

So there you have it. Now, granted, these are both based on just trailers. First impressions are just that. But it’s another reminder that not all female-fronted projects are created equal. Not even close.