The CW, home to Supergirl, The Flash, Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow, has released the first photo of Ruby Rose as Kate Kane, AKA Batwoman, and it’s wild.
The casting of Rose was announced back in August to a mixed reception, and we won’t really know how suited she is to the role until we see her act, but the costume looks great, and it’s a big departure from anything else we’ve seen her do.
Check out the long red hair that matches the bat symbol on her chest – perfect! I’m also loving the red accents on her arms, belt, shoes and cape. The costume was designed by four-time Oscar winner Colleen Atwood, who also designed the costumes for Supergirl, The Flash the Green Arrow.
Rose’s first appearance in the DC universe will take place on December 9 as part of the crossover event between Supergirl, The Flash, Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow, and we can expect to see Batwoman in her own show sometime next year.
The photo was released the day after the publication of a study on the importance of representation in superhero and sci-fi movies and television confirmed what women have been saying for years: representation matters.
The study, called ‘Superpowering Girls‘, was conducted by the Women’s Media Center and BBC America, and involved surveying both girls and boys in the 10-19 age bracket.
The study found that 63% of girls felt that there were not enough role models of their gender in the media, that 65% felt there were not enough relatable female characters, and 65% also felt there were not enough strong female characters in the media they consume.
In addition to 88% of girls wanting to see more female superheroes, 74% of girls wanted superheroes who looked like them, with the number going up to 83% for African American girls and 74% for Latina girls.
Unsurprisingly, Wonder Woman ranked #1 amongst girls, and Black Panther ranked #2 amongst African American respondents regardless of gender.
The study also examined the ‘confidence gap’, and researchers found that teenage girls are less likely to be confident and brave, and more likely to feel like they aren’t listened to.
90% of girls said that female superheroes are positive role models for them, which makes sense given how ubiquitous superhero movies are and how popular they are with boys in that age group. Girls also said that their favourite female superheroes made them feel strong, brave, confident and inspired, and 58% said that female superheroes and sci-fi leads make them feel like they can achieve anything they put their mind to.
It’s great to have statistics that confirm what people have been saying for years: representation matters, especially with younger audiences. In our society, where the media we consume takes up so much of our time and attention, the worldview that the media is reflecting back at us is incredibly important.
If young girls only see women as damsels in distress, they’re going to start believing that women aren’t capable of much from a young age. Movies like Wonder Woman help challenge these notions, but they’re still few and far between. Captain Marvel’s release next year will also be a win, but that’s still just two female-led superhero films out of dozens that have been released in the past decade.
The majority of positive female representation in the two major superhero universes has been on television – Agent Carter, Supergirl, and Jessica Jones are three that come to mind in addition to Batwoman, which is currently in development.
I suspect this is because TV shows aren’t as big of a gamble as movies, mostly they don’t require the same huge budgets for production and marketing as blockbuster movies do. Even with these three female-led shows, all of the protagonists are white, so racial diversity is still quite thin on the ground.
The survey also looked at responses to the newest Doctor on Doctor Who, Jodie Whittaker (which makes sense when you remember the survey was done in conjunction with BBC America). 81% of girls agreed that seeing a female Doctor makes them feel like they can become anything they want.
Ruby Rose playing Batwoman means that the DC TV shows now include a lesbian superhero and a trans superhero, so fingers crossed it’s only a matter of time until we see improved representation on the big screen.
We know representation is important, and Hollywood is slowly realising that. Hopefully they hurry up and realise just how important it is, because we’re in desperate need of some more badass and more diverse superheroes on our screens.