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Why are people complaining about Mon-El?

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  • Why are people complaining about Mon-El?

    I'm getting my TV news mainly from TV Line and read a number of articles there. Almost every week they feature Supergirl either in an episode review or it's mentioned for the ratings.

    And people there are constantly complaining about Mon-El and how he's "propped up" and put "into the spotlight".

    I have to say I don't get this feeling at all. He's this season's recurring guest star and will probably be gone by the end of the season. He#s the designated love interest every CW show must have by formulaic definition.

    What do people here think about him and if you think he's overused can you explain why?

  • #2
    He's actually a series regular. And I don't know... I like Chris Wood, but I think what doesn't sit well with me with Mon-El is sometimes it feels like he's taking over Kara's show. I also feel like by giving her a "super" boyfriend, Kara's human/normal life - already suffering because CatCo just isn't the same anymore - is on the back burner.

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    • #3
      Originally posted by KSiteTV
      I also feel like by giving her a "super" boyfriend, Kara's human/normal life - already suffering because CatCo just isn't the same anymore - is on the back burner.
      But that isn't due to Mon-El in my opinion. It's because Cat is gone (due to Calista's depature) while at the same time moving Winn to the DEO and James becoming Guardian. They basically abandoned CatCo as a set with all these simultaneous moves.

      It doesn't help though that they ended the Kara-James relationship at the start of the season, too.

      By now I feel like Mehcad is in the same unfortunate position that Sam Jones III was 13 years ago: They just don't know how to incorporate him into stories. The hacker sidekick role with exposition speak is filled by Chloe / Winn and a new romantic entanglement is nowhere in sight. Is it coincedence that they're both black. Probably, but unfortunate nonetheless.

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      • #4
        Some fans don't like him because they are Kara/Jimmy shippers, while others don't like him becase of the way the character is portrayed. And while the character has grown somewhat, he was quite unlikeable at first.

        For me the main issue is exactly the fact that he's a love interest 99% of the time. I just can't find myself remotely interested in a character whose presence on the show is limited to teenage romance and angst. Mon-El does have an interesting backstory, but they remember to drop the odd breadcrumb about it every 4-5 episodes. Hell, they didn't even bother to explain why he shares the same family name with Kara.

        By the way, Maggie Sawyer is another character who suffers from this issue. And it's exactly why a character like Lena Luthor intrigues me more than both of them combined.

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        • #5
          I like Mon-El a lot. I don't like all of the forced drama. This show has all of the subtlety of a sledgehammer. But the actor, in my opinion, has done as good a job as possible with subpar material.

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          • #6
            Originally posted by KSiteTV
            He's actually a series regular. And I don't know... I like Chris Wood, but I think what doesn't sit well with me with Mon-El is sometimes it feels like he's taking over Kara's show. I also feel like by giving her a "super" boyfriend, Kara's human/normal life - already suffering because CatCo just isn't the same anymore - is on the back burner.
            That's a feeling I often get with the Arrowverse shows. Annoyingly, I often feel this is the case with the shows original characters. Like the writers are more interested in writing about them.

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            • #7
              Originally posted by DJ Doena
              But that isn't due to Mon-El in my opinion. It's because Cat is gone (due to Calista's depature) while at the same time moving Winn to the DEO and James becoming Guardian. They basically abandoned CatCo as a set with all these simultaneous moves.

              It doesn't help though that they ended the Kara-James relationship at the start of the season, too.

              By now I feel like Mehcad is in the same unfortunate position that Sam Jones III was 13 years ago: They just don't know how to incorporate him into stories. The hacker sidekick role with exposition speak is filled by Chloe / Winn and a new romantic entanglement is nowhere in sight. Is it coincedence that they're both black. Probably, but unfortunate nonetheless.
              That is indeed unfortunate. They have tried to do something with him, with the whole Guardian thing, but that's not working either. The motivation was terrible. And I'm not too thrilled with how he aquired the suit: Jimmy (a black guy) had to ask Winn (a white guy) to make the suit for him. And, when he wears it, he requires Winn to tell him what to do. Meanwhile, Ray Palmer (a white guy) was allowed to create his (more advanced) Atom suit by himself. Okay, certain details on the Guardian suit might've been too complicated (ex. the fold out shield) for the average person to create. But, Jimmy is the acting CEO of a billion dollar corporation. He should be able to aquire such equipment elsewhere.

              I don't know, sometimes it feels like, in their attempt to come across as progressive, the Arrowverse actually ends up becoming the opposite. Anyone else ever get this feeling?

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              • #8
                Originally posted by jon-el87
                I don't know, sometimes it feels like, in their attempt to come across as progressive, the Arrowverse actually ends up becoming the opposite. Anyone else ever get this feeling?
                And they do it in such dumb ways. When Kara returned from her rescue the TV was running and the announcer was saying something about Supergirl being a "feminist superhero". And I just sat there and groaned. Didn't they learn their lesson from the first few episodes of the show?

                And in what way is Supergirl a "feminist" hero? Because she is a female? She's actually a bad example. Why can she be a superpowered being in the first place? Because she has a steel vagina*? No, because she's Kryptonian and thus by definition on Earth far more stronger than any Human male could ever be. It has nothing to do with her genitals but her genetic origin.

                BTW: Was Clark ever called a "meninst superhero"?

                For me, a good "feminist" show simply makes their female characters able and competent without putting them in the "damsel in distress" role. When Chloe endorsed Paul Chan in the first season Smallville episode Drone over Clark because she felt that Paul was more qualified (which he was) that was a strong character moment right there. And it had nothing to do with the genders of either character.

                When Lois was introduced she was able to keep up with Clark against the bad guy of the episode (Gone, Facade). Even though she needed Clark's help it was never a "Please Superman rescue me!" situation.


                *Melissa had a sign on the women's march telling us that.

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                • #9
                  Supergirl can be a feminist superhero, but it should be done naturally. They should be showing us feminism in a natural light, not telling us about it. Show, don't preach. Example: The DC bombshells run where they didn't preach about it and instead just did their thing. It was a bunch of beautiful, sexy ladies kicking Nazi butt and it was great!

                  The first season of Supergirl suffered because the writers didn't seem able of grasping this simple fact. So as an result there was a lot of Hallmark preaching and it came off defensive-sounding like they weren't sure of their own message.

                  To get back on topic... Mon-El. I didn't like him at first because he just seemed to be nothing but a hedonistic *******. That type of guy always comes off as really immature to me, you know? But he definitely did mature a lot down the road... once he realized there was more to life than partying.
                  I don't mind the character so much anymore... but the shipping aspect does annoy me greatly. I'm of the mind that Kara shouldn't be with anybody right now.

                  Of course... my boyfriend's a Jimmy/Kara shipper and thinks that Mon-el should be killed by the end of the season. heh.

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                  • #10
                    I like Mon-El I just think that all the relationships are stupid. I watch for superhero action I don't watch for relationships.

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Aurora Moon
                      Supergirl can be a feminist superhero, but it should be done naturally. They should be showing us feminism in a natural light, not telling us about it. Show, don't preach. Example: The DC bombshells run where they didn't preach about it and instead just did their thing. It was a bunch of beautiful, sexy ladies kicking Nazi butt and it was great!

                      The first season of Supergirl suffered because the writers didn't seem able of grasping this simple fact. So as an result there was a lot of Hallmark preaching and it came off defensive-sounding like they weren't sure of their own message.

                      To get back on topic... Mon-El. I didn't like him at first because he just seemed to be nothing but a hedonistic *******. That type of guy always comes off as really immature to me, you know? But he definitely did mature a lot down the road... once he realized there was more to life than partying.
                      I don't mind the character so much anymore... but the shipping aspect does annoy me greatly. I'm of the mind that Kara shouldn't be with anybody right now.

                      Of course... my boyfriend's a Jimmy/Kara shipper and thinks that Mon-el should be killed by the end of the season. heh.
                      So, pretty much, they introduced him as a bad boy and it's up to Kara to change him.
                      Last edited by jon-el87; 03-01-2017, 01:19 PM.

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                      • #12
                        yep, which is pretty cliched and stupid in itself. real relationships don't work that way. You cannot change a "bad boy" or a "bad girl" with the power of love.

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                        • #13
                          Originally posted by costas22
                          Some fans don't like him because they are Kara/Jimmy shippers, while others don't like him becase of the way the character is portrayed. And while the character has grown somewhat, he was quite unlikeable at first.

                          For me the main issue is exactly the fact that he's a love interest 99% of the time. I just can't find myself remotely interested in a character whose presence on the show is limited to teenage romance and angst. Mon-El does have an interesting backstory, but they remember to drop the odd breadcrumb about it every 4-5 episodes. Hell, they didn't even bother to explain why he shares the same family name with Kara.
                          There is obviously a broader story arc to Mon-El than "love interest 99 % of the time", which is Mon-El probably being the crown prince of Daxam whom the mysterious aliens are chasing maybe because of something the Daxamites did to them in the past, or at least that is my interpretation.

                          As for the excessive focus on love interests, Supergirl seems to target a female teenage audience and that is something they like to see. As a comics fan though, my biggest complaint is that Mon-El's powers have been downgraded. He should be a match to Superman, but they can't depict him like that without overshadowing Kara. In fact, we barely see Mon-El using superhuman abilities, which is disappointing for a Daxamite living on Earth.
                          Last edited by Mbruno; 03-03-2017, 12:25 PM.

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                          • #14
                            Originally posted by KSiteTV
                            He's actually a series regular. And I don't know... I like Chris Wood, but I think what doesn't sit well with me with Mon-El is sometimes it feels like he's taking over Kara's show. I also feel like by giving her a "super" boyfriend, Kara's human/normal life - already suffering because CatCo just isn't the same anymore - is on the back burner.
                            this thread is kind of old but I will reply since I just caught up on the show. I dont see Mon-el taking over anything, not back then, not now. I did an experiment, I watched those Karamel videos, there is one that compiles every single scene both of them have together in the show from 2x01 to 3x07, plus some scenes of them talking to other people about each other, and its only 70 minutes long and since he is mainly a Love Interest, he doesnt have that much more airtime on his own, so maybe an extra 20 minutes at most, he is in 90 minutes in 29 episodes (22 from season 2 and 7 from season 3), so 29x42 min (average episode lenght) is 1,218 screen time minutes, out of which, Mon el and his relationship with Kara takes all of 7% of the show since he appeared, how is he taking over?? not in time at least, maybe in spotlight? nope, he is rather useless, since he is severely powered down (in the comics he is up there with Superman and SUpergirl) and dumbed down (he just jumps or runs at baddies, without thinking, even Guardian looks way more competent than him). How about in story focus? save the Daxam invation, which as a plot point could have been a Thanagarian invation, only took 3 episodes, plus a few scenes more.

                            I think they should power him up like in the comics, make his contributions more valuable but have him do hero stuff off screen so Kara doesnt loose the spotlight "Hey, where´s Mon-el? we could really use his help" "he is helping with a landslide in Guatemala" and he can show up at times and actually be helpful, not just a punching bag who isnt even that effective in distracting the main villains, Supergirl still ends up defeating them all on her own.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by Mbruno
                              As for the excessive focus on love interests, Supergirl seems to target a female teenage audience and that is something they like to see. As a comics fan though, my biggest complaint is that Mon-El's powers have been downgraded. He should be a match to Superman, but they can't depict him like that without overshadowing Kara. In fact, we barely see Mon-El using superhuman abilities, which is disappointing for a Daxamite living on Earth.
                              I agree 100% Mon el needs to be powered up, you dont even need good writers, decent writers can have a powerful character not overshadow the main character, its all about comming up with excuses of why that hero cant save the day, or increase the threat level to a point the main hero cant handle it on her own so she needs powerful back up, they seemed to do fine with Superman for 2 episodes. Powering him down and dumbing him down is just lazy writing, come up with a good subplot to have him not be around as much, or why he needs years and years on earth to accumulate power to supergirl´s level and we can see him as his strenght increases, we can even see him deal with that, dealing with having the same potential but being still far from her; but this random depowering is awful.

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