Let's Talk About Superheroes! (Part 1)

So many superhero movies these days, eh? The heroes don't only dominate the big screen, actually; they have started taking over the small screen as well. As films like Captain America: Civil War and X-Men: Apocalypse are played in cinemas, TV shows like Arrow, The Flash and Supergirl are aired on TV every week. All of them are based on popular comic books and have so many devoted fans. No wonder they receive huge success and become more and more popular.

I saw Civil War and X-Men earlier this month. I've been watching The Flash and Supergirl too (I'm a bit slow at catching up with these shows, though). Here are some things that I've got to say about them.

 

I love these photos so much. They're the cutest superheroes ever. (The left picture is from fangirlish.com and the right one is from www.flickr.com)

THE FLASH SEASON 2

I really enjoyed the first season of The Flash, so I was really excited for the second season. The season finale of the second season has been aired but I haven't reached that episode yet. I'm on episode 18 now and so far the season has been entertaining. 

The Flash's main enemy this time is Zoom, an evil speedster who comes from Earth-2. Earth-2 is an alternate universe that gets connected to Barry's universe due to the black hole that was created at the end of season 1. Zoom wants to steal The Flash's speed, so he sends a bunch of metahumans from his Earth to Barry's to hunt and kill the guy. Zoom is not the only person from the other universe who comes to Barry's universe. We are introduced to Earth-2's Flash and Harrison Wells as well. While we get the evil Dr. Wells's doppelganger who looks exactly like the Dr. Wells that we know (and hate), we get a different Flash from Earth-2. It's not Barry Allen; his name is Jay Garrick. When the two first arrive in his universe, Barry finds it difficult to trust them even though his friends, Cisco, Caitlin, Joe and Iris, want to give them a chance. Apparently, after Wells's painful betrayal, Barry now has trust issues. We also get to see some familiar faces again this season, such as Eddie Thawne, Firestorm aka Ronnie Raymond, Linda Park, The Arrow aka Oliver Queen and his Team Arrow, The Trickster, Hartley Rathaway, etc. There are some new villains besides Zoom as well. The most memorable one is probably Killer Frost, Caitlin's evil doppelganger from Earth-2 whose superpower reminds me of Elsa from Frozen hahaha.

Killer Frost from Earth-2 (Source: thenerdsofcolor.org)

The story runs very smoothly this season. There are some shocking twists that I didn't see coming at all. It's a bit similar to season 1's storyline as it also involves an evil speedster and a betrayal from someone who is close to Barry, but somehow the repetition makes the story great. Even superheroes make the same mistake twice sometimes, eh? My favorite thing from the first season is how deep and emotional the story is, so I'm glad that they keep that in the second season. This makes me feel totally connected to the characters and love them even more. I cry a lot watching this show. It's kind of surprising because it's a superhero show, but I love it.

I'm also happy to see how the characters in the show, especially Barry and Iris, develop. In the era where every film-maker tries to turn supeheroes into dark characters, the show's creators make Barry different. Barry is a ray of sunshine who is warm, kind, pure-hearted and naive. He makes me believe in humanity hahaha. I also like how we can see Barry's struggles in becoming a superhero. As a young hero who doesn't have much experience, sometimes Barry makes mistakes, rushes things, makes the wrong decisions, loses control, fails, gets angry, gets betrayed in a way that has happened before, etc. I find this realistic and relatable. Young people like us still have so much to learn, right?

I once said that I really don't like Iris in season 1, but, you know what, she is one of my favorite characters in season 2. In season 1, she was just Barry's love interest to me. But now that she knows that Barry is The Flash and is in Team Flash, she is able to give more contributions and be a hero too. Besides that, I love her own arcs too, you know, the ones with her mom, Francine, and her brother, Wally (Yup, Wally West!). And also the way she deals with losing her fiance, Eddie. Those arcs show how strong and wise she is as a woman. I love it.

SUPERGIRL SEASON 1

I'm even slower when it comes to watching this one. The first season of this new series has been aired as well, but I'm only on episode 10 now. I really want to reach the crossover episode where The Flash visits Supergirl but it's so hard to find the time to watch. After work, all I want to do is just lay on my bed hahaha.

Supergirl follows the journey of Kara, Clark Kent's cousin from Krypton. When she was a teenager, Kara was sent to Earth to protect Clark, who was still a baby at that time. However, Kara arrived a few years late on Earth. When she arrived, Clark had grown up and become Superman and no longer needed her protection. So, Kara was adopted by the Danvers family and tried to live a normal life. However, as she grows older, she realizes that she has to embrace her true self and use her powers to help people.

I'm not very familiar with Supergirl or Superman history, but I think this series features some famous characters from the comic book like Maxwell Lord, James "Jimmy" Olsen and the Martian Manhunter aka J'onn J'onzz (I have no idea how to say that name correctly). It features some interesting villains like Livewire, a former radio presenter who accidentally gets the power of controlling electricity when Supergirl tries to save her. I haven't reached the episode where she first appears but there is Siobhan Smythe aka Silver Banshee in the first season, a supervillain who seems to be pretty famous among the comic book fans.

The most admirable thing from this show to me is how it depicts its female characters. All the women in this show have complex, interesting stories and characteristics. There is Kara/Supergirl, the lead of the show. I really love how she is portrayed in this show. She doesn't immediately become a great superhero like her cousin; she really starts from scratch. In this first season, we can see how Kara learns how to be great superhero, which involves making stupid mistakes, getting criticized, being underestimated, having anger management problems, etc. I especially love what they do with Kara's anger. It is rare to find a female character with this complexity. She is such a sweet and loving girl but she also contains this burning anger inside her. Yes, women are complex like that.

Don't mess with angry Kara (Source: ww.ign.com)

And then there are other female characters: Cat Grant, Kara's boss who is mean, wise, annoying and smart at the same time; Alex Danvers, Kara's sister (not her biological sister) who works for an institution that deals with aliens and helps Kara do her superhero works; Lucy Lane, James Olsen's girlfriend and Lois Lane's sister who works in the military; and Astra, Kara's aunt who used to be very close to Kara but has to become her enemy due to her violent ways in fighting for what she believes in. So the hero, the villain, the mentor... they all are women here. I think it is very cool. My favorite is Cat Grant; she is just awesome and delivers some great quotes!

I originally wanted to write short pieces for all the four films/tv shows that I mentioned above, but they got longer than I intended hahaha. So I think I'll split this post into two parts. Part 2 is coming soon!

My Visit to Big Bad Wolf Books Indonesia

My first blog post as a 24-year-old woman! I suddenly feel old because 24 means you are not in the early 20s anymore; you have entered the mid 20s! You are an adult! It is still weird, you know, to see myself as the adult one, especially when I am at work. I spent years being a student but now I am not a student anymore; I am the teacher now, the adult one who leads, makes decisions, gives examples, etc. It is certainly not easy to adapt with the new situation but I am working on it. I still have much to learn.

Anyways, my birthday happens to be the last working day of last week because the following four days were public holidays. So, I had dinner with my family after work that day and went out with my friends on the next day. My friends and I went to the Big Bad Wolf Books Indonesia. It is a massive book exhibition that is held at ICE (Indonesia Convention Exhibition) in BSD City, Tangerang. There, books from various genres are sold with insanely low prices. To illustrate, imported novels normally cost Rp. 150.000,00 - Rp. 250.000,00, but during the exhibition, you can get 3-5 novels with that amount of money because one novel only costs Rp. 45.000,00 - Rp. 60.000,00. Yeah, that is a great offer. The exhibition has been going on since April 30th and was originally scheduled to close on May 8th. However, due to people's' high enthusiasm in visiting the event, the committee decided to extend it until today. You do not need to buy tickets to come to the exhibition.

Books everywhere

I went there with my friends on May the 5th, the first day of the long weekend. One of my friends and I arrived there at lunch time and we were shocked by the super long queue that awaited outside the venue. It took around 30-40 minutes, I guess, before we finally got inside Hall 10, the venue. Inside the hall, all that I could see were people and books. The books were set on huge tables and were grouped into some genres (romance, fiction, cookery, music, biography, etc). It was pretty hard to find the books that you want because they do not separate them based on their authors. It was hard to move around the hall too because there were just so many people there. There were people lining up in front of the cashier, people looking for books, people looking for their friends... And then we had to wait for about an hour before we could finally pay for the books and leave the hall. So, it was pretty crazy and tiring, but, hey, we got great books with cheap prices!

Lia, Nofi and me. After queueing, book hunting and queueing again, we could finally bring our books home!

I did not plan to go crazy and spend all of my money there, so I politely bought three books. And I got one bonus book from my friends! Here are the books that I got from Big Bad Wolf Books Indonesia.

1. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Well, you all know what this book is about, right? So I think I do not have to say anything about the story haha. I have always wanted to read this book and the rest of the series, but since I started watching the movie adaptations first, I decided to finish the movies before I start reading the books. Now that I have seen all of the movies, I think it is time for me to read the books. I found a copy of The Hunger Games, the first one in the series, as soon as I entered the exhibition hall. According to my friend Lia, the one that I bought has the UK cover. I really like the cover because it is so bright (the background is electric pink while the writings and the mockingjay logo are electric green). The price for this book is Rp. 60.000,00. I was tempted to buy the second and the third books as well, but decided to try one first haha.

2. One Day by David Nicholls

I first heard about this book when the movie adaptation came out. I have not seen the full movie, but I heard it received mixed reviews. Despite the mixed reviews, I find the premise of the story interesting. The story tells what happens to two friends, Emma and Dex, on every July 15 for the twenty years that follow their first meeting. It must be interesting to check on these two characters every year and see how much things change. And they have a complicated relationship that is in between love and friendship, which I find TOTALLY relatable hahaha. So, yeah, I am excited to read this book. Like The Hunger Games, One Day costs Rp. 60.000,00.

3. Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin

Once in a while I like to read light, fun stories just to ease my brain. That is why I bought Something Borrowed. It seems like a nice rom-com story. It is about a woman who has always held herself back, which makes her miss so many opportunities in her life (ehm so relatable ehm). But everything changes when she decides to confess her feelings to the man she loves, who is her best friend's fiance. I got a copy of the book that has the movie cover (Yeah, it has been adapted into a movie. I think every book has a movie adaptation now, eh?). This one is a little cheaper than the other two books; it only costs Rp. 45.000,00.

4. Bonus: Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Well, I did not buy this book at the exhibition. My friends who went there with me, Nofi and Lia, gave the book to me as a birthday present. It is a perfect present because I am a huge Star Wars fan and my birthday is on Star Wars Day (May the fourth be with you!). It is a novelization of the sevent movie. Well, I have seen the movie and have known the story, but I am intrigued to find out how the movie scenes are turned into words in this book.

I am so excited to read all the books above, but I want to finish reading The Book Thief first. I think I would not need to go to the bookstore for the next few months because I still have four books waiting for me haha. Thank you, Big Bad Wolf Books Indonesia! I hope the event will be a annual one so I can come and buy cheap books every year haha.