Saw your tags beneath Melissa's ipv video and I agree. She is also such a private person. She rarely posts personal things until and unless they mean a lot to her. But this is different and it must have taken a lot of courage to not just write but also make a video of this. Sometimes I wonder if playing Supergirl gave her that strength or did she mature into it and the answer is probably somewhere on the spectrum I think.
I think she rose to the occasion! And keeps rising.
Melissa has made known how deeply serious she is about being a role model as Supergirl and as an actress, that she really does it all for young girls, constantly thinking about the messages the show is giving.
And her care shows in the way she pushes past her fears time and again to use her platform. Melissa is already coming from a place of introversion and anxiety about the public eye, but she consistently makes this decision to open up because she thinks it’ll help others—in this moment, displaying a truly humbling level of bravery.
And as extraordinary as posting a video of herself walking through the painful details of everything she went through was, choosing to tell others close to her about her abuse and choosing to leave her abuser are decisions that 1 in 4 women will have to make.
And that’s to the heart of it, that as impossible as that seems—even for Supergirl—we are all capable of finding that strength.
Melissa laid out the reasons it felt impossible—wrong, even—to tell anyone, to leave him. Her love for him and wish to fix him, fear of the consequences he’d suffer, fear that she had closed herself off too fully to have anyone to turn to.
And then she does something important. She emphasizes how good both telling someone and leaving felt:
“It was the first moment I spoke about the abuse to anyone. I can’t describe the amount of relief and solace I felt.”
“[…] Recusing those habits and breaking that cycle was the most rewarding, empowering choice I have ever made for myself. I feel an enduring strength and self-assurance that has dug its roots deep within me.”
Mixed in with the hurt and the shame and the on-going healing is the feeling that this is just better. And that is a powerful argument, and likely the core of the message she was trying to send with this video.
Another powerful argument for opening up to your loved ones about the abuse you are experiencing is how well Melissa’s video was received, the impact it made. Her story spread like wildfire, and not driven by the horror she went through, but by the power she exudes.
Her strength is undeniable. And that’s why she is an example for what healthy bravery looks like: not isolating yourself to try to handle your hurt alone, but opening yourself up to others and letting them help you.
True strength doesn’t come from the sun, it comes from within and shines through when you make hard, life-changing choices, when you risk everything to make things better. And not just for the benefit of others, but for yourself.
For Melissa, this means honoring Supergirl’s values—Stronger Together, bravery when it’s difficult, especially when it’s difficult—but repeatedly challenging the perception that she is invulnerable.
Because here, vulnerability is strength.
