Poll: Is Helen Slater still the definitive live action Supergirl?

Avengers, Batman, Superman, etc Discussion about comic mainstream movies and TV shows.

Is Helen Slater still the definitive live action Supergirl?

Poll ended at 3 years ago

Helen Slater
15
52%
Melissa Benoist
14
48%
 
Total votes: 29
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tallyho
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I can't see your image Deceiver

I had a look and you had some resizing code after the image so I edited that out and I can see her now in all her Sg glory
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tallyho wrote:
3 years ago
I can't see your image Deceiver
That's a shame. I can see it, so, I don't know what to do about it? I copied the image link from a site and put it between the image markers.
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I've edited your post since to remove the resizing code off the end and I can see her now - hopefully everyone else can also?
(apologies for editing your post I simply wanted to see if removing that sizing code worked)
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tallyho wrote:
3 years ago
I've edited your post since to remove the resizing code off the end and I can see her now - hopefully everyone else can also?
(apologies for editing your post I simply wanted to see if removing that sizing code worked)
I thank you for doing it. I'm not very online forum savvy...
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Maskripper wrote:
3 years ago
theScribbler wrote:
3 years ago
.....And they might just be thinking that way too, which is why the CW Supergirl show is ending.....
Actually the TV show is ending for one reason:
Melissa Benoist had enough of it (just like Stephen Amell did with Arrow)
I missed where Melissa said that. Still can't find it. Perhaps she said that to you exclusively?

Can find this tho.

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it's Dark Haired Women Activism!

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Cover your eyes! & ears!
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theScribbler wrote:
3 years ago
...
I missed where Melissa said that. Still can't find it. Perhaps she said that to you exclusively?
....
Haha.
Well, that's what I heard/read.
In the end it may be a combination of a lot of reasons incl. the ones mentioned in the video.
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Helen Slater as Supergirl is the reason I'm straight
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Supergirllegend wrote:
3 years ago
Helen Slater as Supergirl is the reason I'm straight
I, uh

I'm not sure it works like that, chief
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It was a joke
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totally agree that helen slater was born to play her in that movie.
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I saw the Supergirl cut that was released in Australia. It was better then the US cut!!
brdiy wrote:
3 years ago
For me, it was the look above all else. Whenever I imagine any situation with Supergirl in it, whether wholesome or not :evil: , it's the Helen Slater version that I think about. :tongue:
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brdiy wrote:
3 years ago
For me, it was the look above all else. Whenever I imagine any situation with Supergirl in it, whether wholesome or not :evil: , it's the Helen Slater version that I think about. :tongue:
I'm exactly the same. Maybe it has to do with the time you grew up in. For me it was in Dec 1993, I was 8 years old- it was such a random occurrence of me finding the film on television. I was immediately in love with Helen Slater. She was and still is for me the most beautiful woman ever in that role. I haven't even bothered with smallville or the supergirl tv series. Nothing can compare to the original. I am so grateful this film exists, no matter how much of a flop it was on release- I mean here we are in 2020 still raving about it!
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I am currently rewatching the Supergirl TV series, (still just on Season 1, lots to go) and since I've never posted in this thread, I wanted to throw in my two cents. I have to say that I believe Melissa Benoist embodied the character of Supergirl easily as much as Helen Slater did. They gave slightly different interpretations of the character, with Helen playing her a bit more naively than Melissa but both stressed the feeling of hope and strength as the primary aspects of the character that the early comics version of Supergirl displayed. (I won't get into the character's flaws that began with the New 52 and beyond where SG was written as a willful narcissistic brat!)

I also believe that the writers of both the tv show and the movie drastically impaired the potential of the Supergirl character yet both actresses powered through the material in ways that outshone the writing. Both actresses are beautiful in their own way. I think it's nasty to say that Benoist is "slightly better looking than your average checkout girl" while Slater is the embodiment of a holy goddess of beauty. Everyone looks at others through the prism of their own world view and honestly, it's hard to put a value on someone's beauty so I won't try. I feel that both actresses showed remarkable skill in their performances, especially considering the writing. (Benoist had a much harder row to hoe here considering she had six seasons that she had to work against with the writing getting worse and worse as time went on. She deserves some sort of award just for bearing up under that! Not to mention having to fight against lousier and lousier costumes and hairstyles!)

That said, I can't say that Slater is the definitive live action Supergirl. I think Benoist can more than hold her own as the character's paragon. Slater was powerful. Benoist was powerful. It's a draw in my book. Both did the character proud which is more than I can say for the writers.
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Wow, for some reason I never chimed in to this thread. I don't think I voted in the poll, either (a clear oversight), and yes, it's not very encouraging that there were only 29 votes overall - I guess a lot of others missed it too.

My official controversial opinion is that Laura Vandervoort is the best-looking of the three actresses who have played Kara. Simply compare her toned body in that tight Indigo costume, fighting with (or standing next to) Melissa Benoist in that particular Supergirl episode, as well as her cover-girl face, and you can see the difference. As gorgeous as she was in Smallville with those great abs, she would have been transcendent in a well-designed Supergirl outfit, and there would have been no debate.

But overall, the situation is that all three contributed to the character in different ways. Slater originated the role, and keeps playing Supergirl-related roles to this very day. Vandervoort kept the character alive in leaner superheroic times. And Melissa is now the one pretty much everyone under 45 (the largest consumers of superhero media) knows as the definitive portrayal, so she is still the current icon.

To draw a parallel: Helen is like Lynda Carter: the legacy. Laura is *somewhat* like Adrianne Palicki: the stopgap who looked good. And Melissa is like Gal Gadot: the current worldwide popular version. Yes,I know the analogies aren't exact but they're close enough.

But yes, I agree that Melissa brought such acting intensity and real levels of peril to the role (at least in the early seasons) that it overcame her 'dishwater' appearance.

I don't know if anyone else has commented on this phenomenon but me, but the Supergirl show clearly gave Melissa bright red lipstick and more beautiful face makeup whenever she was onscreen as Supergirl, as opposed to plain ol' Kara the reporter. Check it out and see for yourself - this remains fairly consistent throughout the show, even when it gets really bad and woke contentwise.

Since it's very doubtful that within that world, Kara would stop and apply lipstick and makeup as she was ripping her civilian clothes off to expose the costume, that means that the showrunners deliberately effected a subtle but perceptible **physical transformation** in the character (let's call it a slight sexual tumescence). However empowering their aims were, this was a clear, almost 'based' admission that a more attractive person is simply perceived as more powerful, confident and competent in society. And also an acknowledgement that Melissa needed that extra 'boost' to vault her into the level of beauty which Helen and Laura attained almost naturally. Nothing wrong with that - that's why we have civilization.

Here's hoping that the Sasha Calle Supergirl movie enters the dustbin with the Leslie Grace Batgirl movie, and that when Zaslav (or whoever is in charge of DC when this happens - they really need a Kevin Feige type to tie their films together) finally re-starts the Supergirl franchise, they'll cast a blonde actress who rises to the level of what these three previous ones have done. It'd be a shame to have to wait another entire generation.
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shevek wrote:
1 year ago

I don't know if anyone else has commented on this phenomenon but me, but the Supergirl show clearly gave Melissa bright red lipstick and more beautiful face makeup whenever she was onscreen as Supergirl, as opposed to plain ol' Kara the reporter. Check it out and see for yourself - this remains fairly consistent throughout the show, even when it gets really bad and woke contentwise.

Since it's very doubtful that within that world, Kara would stop and apply lipstick and makeup as she was ripping her civilian clothes off to expose the costume, that means that the showrunners deliberately effected a subtle but perceptible **physical transformation** in the character (let's call it a slight sexual tumescence). However empowering their aims were, this was a clear, almost 'based' admission that a more attractive person is simply perceived as more powerful, confident and competent in society. And also an acknowledgement that Melissa needed that extra 'boost' to vault her into the level of beauty which Helen and Laura attained almost naturally. Nothing wrong with that - that's why we have civilization.
I don't agree with this analysis at all. Lipstick and makeup are worn to get the wearer noticed. That is the very last thing you want when you are effectively in disguise in your alter ego.

Logically therefore you don't have your alter ego character in makeup. You are very limited in the differences you can show - they have done away with the dark haired Linda Lee and the golden blonde SG of Slater, so you are just left with hair tied up or down, and glasses. Make up / little make up helps reinforce the difference. Nothing to do with acknowledgement that Melissa doesn't look the part. A pretty girl is a pretty girl with or without make up.
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shevek wrote:
1 year ago
I don't know if anyone else has commented on this phenomenon but me, but the Supergirl show clearly gave Melissa bright red lipstick and more beautiful face makeup whenever she was onscreen as Supergirl, as opposed to plain ol' Kara the reporter. Check it out and see for yourself - this remains fairly consistent throughout the show, even when it gets really bad and woke contentwise.
Her hair as Supergrl also gets a makeover whenever she transforms. She goes into the phone booth with a basic ponytail and split ends, then comes out salon perfect. (L'Oréal Krypton -- because she's worth it!)
Here's hoping that the Sasha Calle Supergirl movie enters the dustbin with the Leslie Grace Batgirl movie, ...
Rumour has it that Supergirl is likely to be cancelled as part of the recent purge. The fact that they're using The Flash movie as her launching pad probably doesn't help, given the negative attention its leading man has been getting.


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shevek wrote:
1 year ago

I don't know if anyone else has commented on this phenomenon but me, but the Supergirl show clearly gave Melissa bright red lipstick and more beautiful face makeup whenever she was onscreen as Supergirl, as opposed to plain ol' Kara the reporter. Check it out and see for yourself - this remains fairly consistent throughout the show, even when it gets really bad and woke contentwise.

Since it's very doubtful that within that world, Kara would stop and apply lipstick and makeup as she was ripping her civilian clothes off to expose the costume, that means that the showrunners deliberately effected a subtle but perceptible **physical transformation** in the character (let's call it a slight sexual tumescence). However empowering their aims were, this was a clear, almost 'based' admission that a more attractive person is simply perceived as more powerful, confident and competent in society. And also an acknowledgement that Melissa needed that extra 'boost' to vault her into the level of beauty which Helen and Laura attained almost naturally. Nothing wrong with that - that's why we have civilization.
The biggest thing was in the last season she had this bright red lipstick. When I first saw it, I went "OMG! She has hooker lipstick!" Pretty silly as they went from having Lena with the bright red lipstick, and Kara/Supergirl being more subdued, to the reverse!
I still wouldn't mind kissing either of those ladies though. They have such nice, kissable lips IMHO!

My 2 cents.
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DrDominator9 wrote:
1 year ago
I am currently rewatching the Supergirl TV series, (still just on Season 1, lots to go) and since I've never posted in this thread, I wanted to throw in my two cents. I have to say that I believe Melissa Benoist embodied the character of Supergirl easily as much as Helen Slater did. They gave slightly different interpretations of the character, with Helen playing her a bit more naively than Melissa but both stressed the feeling of hope and strength as the primary aspects of the character that the early comics version of Supergirl displayed. (I won't get into the character's flaws that began with the New 52 and beyond where SG was written as a willful narcissistic brat!)

I also believe that the writers of both the tv show and the movie drastically impaired the potential of the Supergirl character yet both actresses powered through the material in ways that outshone the writing. Both actresses are beautiful in their own way. I think it's nasty to say that Benoist is "slightly better looking than your average checkout girl" while Slater is the embodiment of a holy goddess of beauty. Everyone looks at others through the prism of their own world view and honestly, it's hard to put a value on someone's beauty so I won't try. I feel that both actresses showed remarkable skill in their performances, especially considering the writing. (Benoist had a much harder row to hoe here considering she had six seasons that she had to work against with the writing getting worse and worse as time went on. She deserves some sort of award just for bearing up under that! Not to mention having to fight against lousier and lousier costumes and hairstyles!)

That said, I can't say that Slater is the definitive live action Supergirl. I think Benoist can more than hold her own as the character's paragon. Slater was powerful. Benoist was powerful. It's a draw in my book. Both did the character proud which is more than I can say for the writers.
Impossible to definitively say what is ephemeral and what has staying power at this point, it is clearly too early to discern that, but I suspect Helen Slater's version will have a longer shelf life than Melissa Benoit's version. Helen Slater's version surely was not a box office success, but it had the advantage of being one of the few heroines out there in the 80's, so she stood out more, and remained more prominent and memorable in people's minds, Melissa's version was a failure for CBS, which demoted it to their CW brand where it languished in mediocrity for its entire run. Benoit's version is not as indelible in people's minds I think because you have such a superhero glut nowadays, harder to stand out and be seen as definitive in a crowded oversaturated field. I enjoyed Benoit's Supergirl, but someone on here made an interesting observation on here once, that Melissa is very pretty and attractive, but her attractiveness is more the girl next door, or the attractive babe at the cash register more than the glamorous superheroine bombshell she is supposed to be. I think there may be some truth in that.
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shevek wrote:
1 year ago
My official controversial opinion is that Laura Vandervoort is the best-looking of the three actresses who have played Kara. Simply compare her toned body in that tight Indigo costume, fighting with (or standing next to) Melissa Benoist in that particular Supergirl episode, as well as her cover-girl face, and you can see the difference. As gorgeous as she was in Smallville with those great abs, she would have been transcendent in a well-designed Supergirl outfit, and there would have been no debate.

Now that you've mentioned it, prime Laura V. was the hottest of the 3 SGs. Given a proper Supergirl uniform and she would have blown Helen and Melissa out of the water. Smallville just gave us enough of a teaser just to whet our appetite but didn't really go the distance. If only she had been given her own show.

Helen's appeal was her innocence (kinda like what Gal Gadot brought to the WW role). Then there's the superb costume that would always be ingrained in my memory long after memories of Melissa's TV Supergirl have been forgotten...
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I know I will probably sit on a very subjective point about this. I was following the TV shows from the pilot episode till season 3. Melissa has good-looking and did a good job, but her character is boring. You know almost everything about her since the first episodes. No curiosity about her inside, no surprise about her action or reaction. Like a puppet in the Supergirl suit. The first season is better than the later seasons.
I found Melissa's Supergirl pretty as she has a good face. As some says, as I said before, she is a next-door girl. Meanwhile, Helen's Supergirl is beautiful. Her voice, face and moving body with her waving cape, heir and skirt full of my mind and my heart.
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tallyho wrote:
1 year ago
shevek wrote:
1 year ago

the showrunners deliberately effected a subtle but perceptible **physical transformation** in the character
I don't agree with this analysis at all. Lipstick and makeup are worn to get the wearer noticed. That is the very last thing you want when you are effectively in disguise in your alter ego.
Tally, are you sure you didn't interpret my post to mean the *exact opposite* of what I intended it to mean?

Read closely: Kara in her civilian outfit looks plain, nerdy, almost disheveled a bit.
When she becomes Supergirl, suddenly she is wearing makeup and lipstick that she didn't before. And five_red has also pointed out that her hair
is suddenly salon perfect and billowy. Exactly how did all of that happen?

Since Kara is not going to stop and do all of those things while ripping open her blouse, essentially what the CW show did was have Supergirl
undergo a MAGICAL GIRL TRANSFORMATION. And, as Danorian indicated, this kept occurring until the very end of the series!
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Not fair! We didn't get a chance to expand her peril scenes to truley and correctly cancel Supergirl!
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ksire_99 wrote:
1 year ago
Not fair! We didn't get a chance to expand her peril scenes to truley and correctly cancel Supergirl!
Actually, ksire, those expanded peril scenes in both the movie version and the TV show version were expanded and masterfully rendered into exquisite set pieces by our good friend Abductorenmadrid. You must have seen them, yes?
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No Shevek, my disagreement was in your conclusion that it was a tacit acknowledgement that Melissa didn't look good enough.
Everyone can see those things happening but I disputed your end hypothesis. It's just a part of contrasting the character not a comment on the actors appearance or that you need make up to be seen as powerful and competent

In my SG stories I have it that Kryptonians can control their bodies at a cellular/micro-cellular level so she could change her hair/ eye colour with an act of will and that would apply to her lips or cheek being redder. So my girl can transform instantly from blonde, blue eyed to dark haired, brown eyed and that at least provides an explanation as to how she can change. (No matter how implausible, lol ! (hey she can fly with no means of propulsion, lol))
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I do miss not voting in this poll. I think my choice is no real secret. To this day I still think of Helen Slater as, "THE" preeminent Supergirl that all others will forever be compared. They did so many things right in the casting of Helen that is why I believe she really did portray Kara Zor-El from the comics. Helen was 19 years-old, with a fresh face, and minimal acting experience. She brought a sense of wonder, innocence, and genuine excitement which were key to the role.

No stupid outfits or social justice platitudes. Helen had a graceful presence and pure girlish charm. From the blonde hair to her blue eyes Helen held your attention as the girl of steel. She wore the formfitting bodysuit, short red skirt (NOT around her knees or up around her rear), the knee-high boots, and cape. Helen portrayed Kara who dressed like a girl. Kara was a girl who, like the majority of girls her age, wanted to dress like a girl. AND, the one time a couple of sewer rats tried to assail her modesty, she handled them firmly and succinctly. A beautiful girl, dressed like a female, and can readily handle an attempted assault on her dignity....Supergirl.

I forever thank Alexander Salkind and his son, Ilya for having the presence of mind to hire young beautiful Helen Slater.

Oh, one caveat. If there had been another Supergirl casting, I think we all benefited from seeing Melanie Dunne cast as Kara Zor-El. IMHO
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tallyho wrote:
1 year ago
No Shevek, my disagreement was in your conclusion that it was a tacit acknowledgement that Melissa didn't look good enough.
Everyone can see those things happening but I disputed your end hypothesis. It's just a part of contrasting the character not a comment on the actors appearance or that you need make up to be seen as powerful and competent

In my SG stories I have it that Kryptonians can control their bodies at a cellular/micro-cellular level so she could change her hair/ eye colour with an act of will and that would apply to her lips or cheek being redder. So my girl can transform instantly from blonde, blue eyed to dark haired, brown eyed and that at least provides an explanation as to how she can change. (No matter how implausible, lol ! (hey she can fly with no means of propulsion, lol))
Fair enough, but I'll guess we'll have to disagree. As far as Kryptonians altering their own cellular structure such as their facial appearance, that's great fan-fiction, but it's not DC canon, whether in the comics or the movies. See this wiki here for the lack of such powers. https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Kryptonians
"Altered physiology", by the way, which is only an auxiliary power listed way at the bottom, is not the same thing as altering one's appearance.

In fact, in the comics, especially in books like Legion of Super Heroes, other alien races were created that *could* do so, such as the Durlans, who did wind up in the Supergirl show (remember when a Durlan masqueraded as US President).

I'll have to stick to my guns and interpret the sudden appearance of makeup and lipstick on Supergirl as just something that the showrunners thought was necessary to distinguish her alter ego a bit more, and make her a bit more visually appealing during her action scenes, and they just did it without really thinking through how it would actually physically occur within that universe. It just simply happened, time and time again.
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No I just made it up in my stories to offer some kind of explanation for the instantaneous transformation as shown in the movie
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