Arrow And The Flash

Many people want to be a hero to someone or themselves, either by using the law rightfully or going above the law. Through character and plot, the television superhero shows Arrow and the Flash influence adolescent viewers and their behavior in society. These television (TV) shows can be positive and negative influences on a young viewer’s life who want to become their own superhero. The alternative universe displays influences of our own reality as the women are treated differently and men of color are pushed to the sidelines while the male protagonists achieve their own goals for their city throughout the television shows. The way these characters are depicted in the TV shows affects the way young viewers think of themselves, how they choose
Barry Allen, from the TV show The Flash, gains the superhuman ability of extraordinary speed that he utilizes to solve a crime, unlike the Arrow that trains to be great at archery. In the episode “Power Outage”, Barry loses his power of speed and can stop another superhuman from terrorizing the city with the help of his team, Cisco and Caitlin (“Power Outage” The Flash), proving that viewers do not need superhuman abilities to solve their problems the right way with the law. The Flash is viewed as an invincible hero and nothing can harm him, a stereotype most commonly found in superheroes. However, Barry is often seeking the advice of his mentor, Harrison Wells, and his adoptive father and police detective, Joe West, that “reminds [the viewers] that heroes are not born but made, and like the rest of us require nurturing and guidance,” (Rubin 416), proving that young viewers are able to overcome obstacles by through the guidance of these heroes. Young male viewers are “attracted to characters by physical strength, violence, activity, and supernatural powers” (Anderson 110) such as Oliver and Barry which leads viewers to want to attain those qualities. Heroism provides adolescents with a solution to solve their problems and realizing that asking for help is not a moment of
“Superhero representation have expanded to consider whether creator and audience demographics are representative, and which superheroes are privileged or marginalized in media” (Kirkpatrick et al 122). John Diggle, an African American man on the show Arrow, is Oliver’s sidekick and bodyguard ready whenever Oliver needs him. John is a respectable military man proving that men of color can be respected by others but when John has the opportunity to settle his vendetta with his brother’s killer, Oliver makes an executive decision to help Laurel instead (“Home Invasion” Arrow). Which gives young viewers of color the pretense that their opinions and cause does not matter to the majority. However, John serves as a “social symbols that represent the intersection of race, science, speculative fiction, black culture, and … as ideological place-holders for … expressions of black racial identity and black futurism” (Nama 136). In the Flash, Cisco Ramon is a Hispanic inventor and successful scientist which brings diversity to the show and recognizes that people of color and of Hispanic backgrounds are intelligent and can offer insights in scientific communities. However, Cisco is always a source of concern to Barry, since his character is depicted as sensitive and weak when put on the