Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu (R) star in a scene from Elementary Photo: IC

While CBS's Supergirl, starring Melissa Benoist, is set to premiere later this year, Japanese TV station NHK is currently promoting one of their new shows as the "female version" of Hanzawa Naoki, a 2013 TV series about a banker trying to make his way up the corporate ladder.  

"Female versions" of popular franchises are also on the way as Sony Pictures is currently producing a female-led 21 Jump Street as well as casting an all-female team for the new Ghostbusters reboot. This is not to mention Marvel's A-Force comic series, which features a team of heroines that the comic giant is calling "a brand new team with very different power sets, identities and ideologies."

Is a female Superman or a lady Hulk going to impress audiences or are they going to be disliked or ignored?

Not a fan



"They're only filling in for a few issues until we get the normal Avengers back," many Marvel fans responded to the announcement of A-Force. Super heroines are not a new concept in the realm of comics. Both Marvel and DC have created plenty of super-powered female characters in the past. However, apart from their tights and sexy bodies, the attention given to these characters pales in comparison to male super heroes.  

The only heroine in The Avengers movies barely gets any respect. Even actors Chris Evans and Jeremy Renner, who play Captain America and Hawkeye respectively, joked in an interview with Digital Spy that Black Widow is a "slut" and "a complete whore."

Looking at all those blockbusters and films that were huge box office successes, women roles in most of them were regulated to girlfriends or wives or in some better cases an intelligent scientist or advisor who is clever and beautiful, but overall does not make big difference to the storyline.

Since the limited number of movies that are allowed to be imported to China every year are mostly popcorn movies that largely include superheroes, action and lots of guns, this disparity seems even more pronounced for Chinese audiences. Fast and Furious 7, San Andreas, Kingsman: The Secret Service, Chappie and so on are typical movies that Chinese audiences have come to expect. Whereas movies leading to best actress Oscar nominations rarely make an appearance in Chinese cinemas.

What about female audiences? Do they find a powerful super woman more appealing than a handsome and intelligent gentleman? The answer, quite possibly, may be no. 

The popularity of Fifty Shades of Grey, Twilight and the numerous popular South Korean dramas in China offer a hint. No matter how independent or beautiful or rich a woman is, it is never a bad idea if there is a charming and smart man on hand to "help."

Stuck in the past



Changing female representation has always been a field of study where scholars may argue how it reflects the improvement of women's social position over the past few decades.

 Although it's certain that women are no longer all housewives whose happiness is founded on their husband and kids, the number of leading roles in movies for women is still unable to compete with those for men.

The situation in American television series seems to be better. Strong female protagonists in Elementary, Nikita and Madam Secretary show that US TV has gone one step further than the film industry. 

However, in Asian countries like China, Japan or South Korea, it is exactly the opposite. Television dramas are filled with the same traditional Asian family dynamics that audiences could find in shows made decades ago. Since shows on TV are generally made for a generation older than most movie audiences, the stories and ideology seen on TV series are decades behind domestic films.

On the one hand, the discussion about feminism on social media is still a hot topic as young Chinese women actively take part in talks about all kinds of issues such as the Spring Festival Gala and the comments by Evans and Renner about Black Widow.

On the other hand, female representation in Chinese TV shows has not changed much over the last three decades. In the 1980s and 1990s, TV shows were portraying an image of the perfect wife who has dedicated herself to her family.

Even now that we've entered the 21st century, the message is exactly the same: Women need to be good wives. Even if they are treated terribly by their parents-in-law and even if their husband is having an affair, it just means that they are not trying hard enough.

 Sure many characters temporarily leave home to work hard to become a successful businesswoman to make their ex-husbands and parents-in-law regret underestimating them. But, in the end and without exception, these good wives return to their families where they "belong." Countless Chinese TV series, including the recent Tiger Mom, as well as Good Wife end up this way.

Even Wu Zetian, the only female emperor in the entire history of China and a woman who was believed ruthless enough to kill her own son for political gain, was depicted in the popular TV drama Saga of Wu Zetian as doing everything for the love of a man. In the end the biggest attention the show received was over actress Fang Bingbing's cleavage.

If classics were remade in China in which women replaced the male roles, it's not difficult to imagine the results. First, there would definitely be romance: The lead character does something for a man or family instead of some other motivation. Second, she needs to be good-looking. Finally, she struggles, not with the darkness in human nature, but with relationships or her sentimental nature. In short, these remakes would just turn into a new type of "chick flick."

Some say these female-oriented remakes suggest there will be more top roles available for actresses, while others see it purely a result of an industry running out of creativity. In the end we may just have to wait and see the results to decide which is the right answer.