This article is written by a heavily massive supercorp shipper, if Supercorp isn’t your thing, I suggest you click out now. Yes, I will be biased. Also there are spoilers, you’ve been warned.
Who Is Supercorp?
Supercorp is a ship on the CW’s show Supergirl between Kara Danvers and Lena Luthor. They are everything and more.
What Is Supercorp?
Supercorp is everything….it is the air I breathe, the ground beneath my feet, the wind in my hair. I eat, sleep and breathe supercorp..
Okay, but seriously, Supercorp is a pairing seen as nothing more than “friends”, (though it seems to be MUCH more) Supercorp are soulmates, whether or not you want to believe they are romantically or platonically.
How Does Supercorp Constitute as Queerbait & Does It Actually Constitute As Queerbait?
Yes! It absolutely does constitutes as queerbait! 110%. There is so much I could say about Supercorp that makes it queerbait and that I will inevitably get into later on. Firstly, Supercorp is queerbait simply because of how the show places the two characters. You have Kara, the heroine, and you have Lena. the platonic not so platonic love interest. Kara’s secret is kept from Lena in order to protect her and so Lena sees Kara as nothing more than her best friend who she deeply desires to protect. In many instances, there’s moments where Lena would rather die than face the idea she could lose Kara. Lena’s fiercely over protective of Kara, more protective than one might see as girlfriend rather than a best friend, Lena’s brought her soup when she’s sick. When her boyfriend James was shot, her first instance upon arriving at the hospital was to hug Kara. Another instance is Lena literally BOUGHT Kara a company because it was about to be bought by a toxic, misogynistic man. I don’t know about you, but I don’t buy my friends a million dollar company just because it means something to them. Kara constantly fights and defends Lena. She refuses to see Lena as anything more than good, even when her own family and friends try to argue otherwise.
Another instance in season 5 is when Kara FLEW to Paris, Dublin and Milan to get all of Lena’s favorite things? (Uhm; hello; talk about food being a love language?) Who in the world flies to 3 different countries just to buy their best friend their favorite food?
Then we have the entire 100th episode. Where Kara tries to go back in time and fix the timeline where Lena doesn’t hate her for keeping the Supergirl secret for so long. In one time line, Kara reveals her secret from when they first meet, and they inevitably become a Super and a Luthor, paired together, Lena gets kidnapped and Kara reveals her secret to the world in order to protect Lena, unfortunately, that doesn’t last very long seeing as how all Kara’s loved ones are killed. In another scenario, Kara reveals her secret and Lena doesn’t react very kindly to it. She ends up leaving during the time the air is filled with kryptonite and unfortunately, Kara passes away. Without Lena there to build Kara the anti kryptonite suit, Kara would be dead, Lena inevitably saves Kara’s life. In another timeline, Kara reveals her secret to Lena and things start off rocky but then Lena comes through in the end, figuring out how to save their friend Sam Arias without kryptonite, unfortunately, Lena dies in that timeline. Lastly, Kara asks to see a timeline in which she never met Lena. In that timeline, Lena is evil. She lives up to the “Luthor name” and comes to be what everyone fears. Meeting Kara brought something good out of Lena.
What Is Queerbait Anyways?
Queerbaiting is a marketing technique for fiction and entertainment in which creators hint at, but then do not actually depict, same-sex romance or other LGBTQ representation.
What Constitutes Supercorp As Queerbait Exactly?
What specifically constitutes Supercorp as queerbait is how they play things out. The romantic lighting and music every time they’re together, the way they look at each other and the angles in which the frames are in. Kara flying to 3 places just to get Lena’s favorite food and comparing her and Lena to two canon ships on the show (Dansen and Brainia) Kara even didn’t want to go out on a date with someone because of how badly things ended with Lena (which wouldn’t happen if you’re JUST FRIENDS) The constant parallels between Supercorp and Clois as well as other CW canon ships (Such as WestAllen of The Flash and Olicity of Arrow.) (including the bridal carries, the way Lena is Lena Luthor and Lois is Lois Lane) Another thing is the color scheme. Kara and Lena are red and blue. Do you know who else is red and blue? Clark and Lois.
Who Gets To Decide What Is & Isn’t Queerbait?
Plain and simple, only LGBT+ fans get to decide if Supercorp is or isn’t queerbait. If you aren’t LGBT+, you do not get a say. Why? Because queerbait is specifically targeted at queer fans, if you’re not a queer fan, then you’re not actively seeking out LGBT+ rep on T.V and having to unfortunately face coming across certain shows with heavy queerbait.
Final Thoughts
My final thoughts are this. If you’re not going to make Supercorp canon, just say it. The show is ending in 2021 and you’ve been baiting your audience for 3 to 4 years now, it’s time to hang up the curtain and just say it. Either make it canon and have Kara and Lena become an item or say you’re never going to make them happen and quit baiting your audience. I’m sorry if that seems harsh and straight up, but it’s reality. Either make them canon or say they aren’t happening and leave Kara single. Don’t force her into a relationship where she didn’t want to be in the first place.
