Supergirl Producers Respond To Miley Cyrus Criticism

Miley Cyrus recently had a few not-so-nice things to say about Supergirl.

In an interview with Variety, Cyrus was asked about the issue of gender inequality, specifically women, in Hollywood.

She responded by saying it’s still problem using Supergirl as an example,”…there’s a show called “Supergirl.” I think having a show with a gender attached to it is weird,” she said. “One, it’s a woman on that f***ing billboard — it’s not a little girl. Two, what if you’re a little boy who wants to be a girl so bad that this makes you feel bad? I think having a title like “Supergirl” doesn’t give the power that people think it does.”

Today at a press screening, Supergirl’s executive producer Andrew Kreisberg responded to Miley Cyrus’ comments:

“It’s based on a pre-existing property that’s called Supergirl, so we never had any intention of calling it something other than that,” said Kreisberg. “I think we worked hard, especially in the early part of season 1 to address the discrepancy. We actually had a scene about Kara herself lamenting, ‘Why aren’t I called Superwoman?’ and had Cat with her great rejoinder about how the word ‘girl’ in and of itself is not offensive. We continue to be proud of this show, we continue to be proud of Melissa and the character she represents and the hero that she represents. We stand by the show.”

Kreisberg went on to say that Kara Danvers is a hero just like everyone else in The CW’s Flarrowverse and how that makes Supergirl a strong female figure:

“For us, the strongest feminist thing about this show is Kara herself, and just as a character, what Kara does week in and week out, and the challenges she’s presented with and how she overcomes them both physically and emotionally, that, to me, is the biggest statement toward having a powerful female on television, is by not talking about it, but actually showing a powerful female on television.”

Supergirl is currently the only female-led superhero series on television, breaking out of the more commonly seen landscape of white male superheroes. And even though Kara is technically a woman (that anyone can clearly deduce) she represents a popular comic book property with a very long history and mythos with “girl” in the title.

Supergirl airs on Monday evenings at 8 pm on The CW.