Faulty reasoning signals

• Confirmation Bias - 17.1% (94 hits)
• Anchoring Bias - 15.2% (84 hits)
• Availability Heuristic - 22% (121 hits)
• Representativeness Heuristic - 18.7% (103 hits)
• Hindsight Bias - 8% (44 hits)
• Overconfidence Bias - 9.1% (50 hits)
• Framing Effect - 20% (110 hits)
• Loss Aversion - 6.4% (35 hits)
• Status Quo Bias - 0%
• Sunk Cost Effect - 0%
• Optimism Bias - 2.4% (13 hits)
• Pessimism Bias - 4.7% (26 hits)

Article text

'Supergirl' flop raises questions about superhero fatigue, sexism

Supergirl, the latest comic book adaptation from Warner Brothers and DC Studios, falling short of expectations its first week out, earning less than $50 million domestically so far, and now could potentially lose $100 million

according to Variety. The flop raising questions ahead of what's usually a summer blockbuster weekend. Can America not handle female superheroes, or is there something else going on?

>> Her performance in a vacuum is fantastic.

It's just unfortunate that the movie itself is a vacuum.

>> Coming after last year's reboot of Superman, Supergirl follows his lesser-known cousin Kara Zor-El, played by actress Milly Alcock.

>> My cousin and I have very different [music] ideas about what it means to be a hero.

>> The production and Alcock facing flak before its release, with some fans making fun of Alcock's appearance online. Even former Superman actor Dean Cain replying he laughed at the insults.

>> And there's been immense scrutiny, not about her ability to play the character or about her performance, but on her appearance, which simply doesn't happen in the same way for male actors in this space.

>> The actress telling Vanity Fair that her role in the Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon prepared her for some of the hate, saying quote, "Simply existing as a woman in that space is something that people comment on."

Adding quote, "We have become very comfortable having this weird ownership

of women's bodies." Those comments and the growing chorus of critics setting off a debate about misogyny in the current state of media.

decades since Xena: Warrior Princess.

But female heroes haven't quite slayed at the box office.

>> All of the stand-alone girl movies are not good and not well handled, and that's a real bummer.

>> With superhero movies dominating over the past two decades, there are really only two with heroine leads, Wonder Woman in 2017 and Captain Marvel in 2019 that were commercial hits.

But once Supergirl hit theaters, other narratives emerged.

It earned a rotten rating, slammed for its writing, with one popular reviewer calling Supergirl a quote "heroine rendered powerless by scriptonite."

And audiences generally haven't been gravitating to superhero films quite as much in recent years, no longer dominating the silver screen like they did just a few years ago when Avengers Endgame shattered records with a $1.2 billion global debut.

And Black Panther brought Marvel one of its best opening weekends ever.

>> This bends to dead.

>> Now the conversation is more about superhero fatigue than soaring successes.

successes. Last year only two superhero movies broke into the top 10 at the domestic box office, a big flip from just five years back when action flicks grabbed the top four spots including Black Widow which squeaked into the pandemic depressed leader board.

>> If the superhero genre is going to continue, it has to be better than this.

>> With some highly anticipated superhero releases on the horizon, time will tell

if a woman hero will swoop in and save the day.

Steve Patterson, NBC News, Hollywood.

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