James Olsen and Why he is a terrible character. (Anti James, in case it isn’t clear).
So I’ve been thinking a lot about James Olsen and the reasons why I don’t like him that have nothing to do with him getting in the way of Supercorp.
The truth is I haven’t liked James Olsen since the first episode. He isn’t James Olsen to me. I know I know they changed up the character and people often do this. But James Olsen is a canon and iconic nerd with a camera. To be honest if I didn’t know who the characters were already I’d have clocked Winn as James, Winn is more James Olsen than this James is.
I disliked him almost immediately, he was basically there for a fresh start but he also took it upon himself to keep an eye on Kara. I didn’t like the fact that he knew Kara’s secret, something she should have control over. Imagine if she had just out right told Winn who Clark was? (OK,she and James kind of did by accident while arguing but that’s beside the point).
James also instantly started flirting with Kara, probably not what Clark had in mind. Isn’t there a bro code? No sisters or only living relatives?
James and Winn both acted all put out when they realized that they both knew Kara’s secret, ‘you told him?!’ Well actually Kara told Winn, she didnt tell James. Neither one has the right to feel indignant here. Kara is allowed more than one person in the know and more than one friend.
James and Winn started a pointless rivalry over who was going to get with Kara, instead of just being the friends she needed. They both even said that Kara wouldn’t be into Adam since she wasn’t into either one of them!!
James didn’t believe that Kara could deal with issues on her own. He told her that even Clark couldn’t beat Reactron, therefore there is no way Kara could. He immediately called Clark when she was fighting him, granted he was worried, but it wasnt his place to decide Kara wasn’t capable. Especially when it turns out she was capable.
Then Lucy turned up, Kara discovers this by walking in on her and James. James it turns out hadn’t exactly fully broken up with Lucy. She spent time on her career while he neglected her in favor of being up Superman’s ass. She was understandably upset about this. But he decides they should give it another try! He completely forgets that he had been leading Kara on from the moment he set eyes on her. Now his ‘sort of ex’ turns up and Kara is a distant memory. Or is she? James decides that he is still going to give Kara longing looks, which isnt fair on either Kara or Lucy. Granted he doesn’t want to take Lucy to game night, but he does and he spends time bonding with Lucy right in front of Kara, no regard for her feelings, and he gives her longing looks all night.
James then starts neglecting Lucy in favor of running to Supergirls side whenever she needs him. Once again doing the same thing he did that caused Lucy to leave the first time. This eventually causes Lucy to leave again, and i dont blame her. Thankfully she doesnt hate Kara for it.
I think General Lane had it right ‘You’re a glorified paparazzi’ yes, he is. That is James’s strength and he should have stuck to it. ‘You surround yourself with special people but that doesnt make YOU special’. Yes, right again General lane. James does do this, he is always surrounded by Superheroes and seems to leech off of their fame.
Remember how into Kara James was? Up until he realized that she in fact not perfect! After the Red K incident, Kara went to see James and apologize and he didnt want anything to do with her. He realized she had faults, and women apparently cant have these, so he basically gets her to leave. Ill give him kudos for not getting with her when she came onto him at the club though.
When Barry Allen turned up James was once again instantly jealous, even though he was the one who had basically rejected Kara. Kara wasn’t even into Barry, she was just excited to have a new friend with Super powers. ‘Jealousy! Thy name is Olsen’ Yes Winn, you are absolutely right! She is allowed friends James!
Season 2 James isnt much better, he has less redeeming qualities. He is instantly jealous of Mon El. He tells Kara that Mon El isnt a hero, like he gets to make that decision. He basically decides to become a hero because everyone else around him was one, Clark and Kara were super heroes, Alex and Lucy worked for the DEO, Jonn was part of the DEO and has powers, Winn even got brought in to work for the DEO, oh and Mon El was instantly welcomed to be a hero and be at the DEO. I see James becoming a ‘hero’ because he was simply feeling left out. At one point he just turns up at the DEO to see Winn. How is he getting past security? Even Jonn tells him to leave and go back to being a photographer.
James talks Winn into basically stealing materials from the DEO to make him a suit, then he gets all pissed at Winn because Winn is taking his time and he does actually have a job! He doesn’t want James to get hurt with an uncompleted suit, but no, James is so demanding and yells at Winn! So desperate to be relevant.
He does in fact nearly get himself killed and Kara is understandably pissed! Yes its not up to Kara who gets to be a hero, James uses Mon El as an example here, The difference is though that Mon El had super powers and James had a tin suit and a black belt. James uses the fact that he ‘has a black belt’ as justification for him being a hero. Sorry, but who doesn’t have a back belt now? James doesnt even train, he just gets his suit and jumps straight in. Even Kara and Alex had to train! Remember how cocky Kara was and Alex kicked her ass? Alex wasnt even allowed out in the field until months of training! (Her words) But James apparently can just jump in with no issue. I really dont get why Alex didnt put a stop to this.
Anyone who says ‘well Batman, Green Arrow, White Canary etc’ can do it. Yeah but Batman was was trained by the League of Assassins, same as Sara. Oh and Oliver Queen trained and survived for years on a desert Island. He trains every day honing his skills. Do we ever see James train at all?
Then we have James being instantly against Lena. No evidence against her, just her name and the fact that she is related to Lex. He is so prejudice against her, he even vows to prove to Kara that she is guilty, even though she isnt and he doesnt get to prove this.
James is left in charge of Cat Co? Such a dumb story line, What does a photo journalist know about running a multi media empire? Honestly Kara as Cat’s assistant would know more about it that James!
When Lena saves Cat Co, James is surprised she turns up and is staying there. What did he think was going to happen? She would pay millions of dollars for a company and not care about what was going on? ‘Thanks for saving us, i was thinking of setting up weekly meetings and carrying on running Cat Co the way i want to’. Yeah, Lena kind of shot that down didn’t she?! ‘Ill be here everyday’ ‘We dont even have an office for you?’ Well she is entitled to your office now James, but she didn’t take it did she?. Yes Lena set up meetings without telling James, which she probably shouldn’t have, but maybe she wanted to see what was going on without his influence? Even whens she asked why Kara kept running off on the first day James was rude to her and said ‘She’s a reporter its what she does!’.
Then suddenly we have an awkward flirtation. We have that awkward kiss, then James and his creepy hand on Lena’s bare shoulder. Even she looks uncomfortable and squirms out of his grasp. He looks surprised and a little miffed she isnt allowing this. She calls Kara and James ex and he allows her to believe that, this simply isnt true. They had one date at Kara’s loft, then Mon El turned up and Kara forgot she ever liked James.
James had the gall to tell Lena he knew her better than her own best friend does! I mean What the actual f**k?!! Lena steps down when she is under suspicion, somethng James cant bring himself to do later when he is involved with he COL.
James reveals himself as Guardian, no regard for how this will effect Lena in anyway as his boss and girlfriend. He has zero respect for her as his boss. She tells him to stay the hell away from the Children of Liberty and to do the interview with Ben Lockwood. He completely disregards her and goes off to meet with some random member of an Anti Alien Nazi group. he even told her that her opinion didnt matter. No, sorry James but yes it does! If i was Lena id have sacked his ass!
Lena still saves his ass from going to prison for a long time, all the while he insists he can handle it on his own, how? I want to know how he thought he could do that? In fact he doesn’t actually do anything to fix the issue. He then throws it in Lena’s face when she tells him not to go back out as Guardian because he will be arrested. Something he doesn’t care about because he is so desperate to be relevant and involved. He throws the fact she worries to much and he sorted the DA problem out, forcing her to be like ‘For Gods sake! I did that you moron!’ (i know she didnt say this). He even has the gall to be pissed she saved his ass and he isnt in prison. She tells him she loves him and throws it in her face!
He decided the Children of Liberty decided to be given a voice for some bizarre reason?! He actually thought that by listening to them he could get to know them and change the minds. What a pig headed and dumb thing to think! Good intentions or not that was incredibly nieve and stupid.
He nearly killed Kara by blowing her up, something that could have been avoided altogether if he had just listened to everyone around him and stopped being friends with COL. But no, he knew best?
Lately, he told Lena he supported her, but he clearly didn’t since he looked awkward as hell when he was sat up in bed with her asleep beside him. She gave him opportunity to tell her how he felt but instead of talking to her, he placated her and went back to bed with her!
Last episode, he told Lena their relationship was basically over if she went ahead and took the government contact. Simply because he didn’t agree he was willing to end them. It’s not like she was about to so something evil! But she has to live up to his impossible standards. The poor girl can’t win. I’d of ended it with him to. Again, James’s opinion on these things aren’t really relevant, he can disagree yes, he can have an opinion. But anything he says doesn’t matter, he isn’t part of the DEO, he isn’t a member of the government. He isn’t even Guardian anymore because he’s not allowed to be. All he is is a CEO of a magazine. He doesn’t get a say. This is very like when he gave up on Kara for a while when she suddenly had faults and she wasn’t what he envisioned. Same as Lucy, she doesn’t give him the power and eveything he wants and suddenly it’s over.
James should have continued to be a photographer and stuck to that. He’s at his best when taking pictures. He believes he deserves to be a hero, it’s ‘his calling’. No it isn’t, do you think it would be his ‘calling’ if he wasnt associated with actual heroes? Of course not. All I see a jealous, immature guy who sees those around him being heroes and being relevant to the defence of the world and he feels the need to be part of it. He could have been a different type of hero with his camera. Once he got some authority he suddenly became even more arrogant and had a sense of self entitliment. He dated his boss and suddenly thought he didn’t have to listen to her. He could act on his own accord. Not one thought to what Cat Co’s CEO’S affiliation with an Anti Alien Terrorist Group would do his girlfriends reputation. Poor Lena who has gone out of her way to distance herself from anti alien sentiment, James used her company for his own self gain. Then he got pissed at her when she tried to protect him, all the while thinking of him, maybe she was thinking of protecting her company to. He doesn’t think of her even once. He actually pushes her so far she had to pull rank on him. Something he still had the arrogance to ignore. It’s all about James and what James wants.
James is a fool who thinks he should be a hero. He wants women to be exactly what he expects them to be. If they do things he doesn’t approve of he suddenly loses interest .
James should either leave, go back to Metropolis or go back to being the photographer he should be.
FYI, James does have good qualities, but they doesn’t outweigh his bad ones.
gracieabrams
germansingergirl
ellievsbear
kianamaiart
origamiaround
