What's your preferred version of Cat Grant?

[Tzigone]

I know I asked this about Poison Ivy a while ago, and so I thought I'd give Cat Grant a try. Even if she is just a supporting character.

She has had varying characterizations in different eras and mediums. She's been on Supergirl and Lois & Clark: TNAOS. She's been more and less sexpot. Had several different journalism-related jobs. She had a son, of course, that she his father had custody of (as a side note, I noticed some contradictory indications as to whether or not they were ever married). And Adam wasn't the sweetest and most considerate of kids, and then he was murdered. A different son in Supergirl tv series. Her personality has, of course, varied from era to era and writer to writer, like most characters.

What do you think should be? How should she connect to the starring characters? Should she work at the Daily Planet or somewhere else or move from the DP to somewhere else? Is there any lover you liked? Do you like her as mother? Do you think her son should die, if she has one? Etc.

[Kuwagaton]

I prefer her to be an honest take on a realistic and likable person. I think the idea that characters try to uh... drag her through the mud based on things she may have done should be used to show the ugly side of those characters. I'm avoiding the particular phrase but I think you get it.

Adam being killed is a very jarring development, but works because it separates her more deeply from Lana and Lois. People hit all sorts of low blows like bringing up Adam, and she deals. She doesn't get the respect she deserves and she just figures she's gotta be stronger because of it. Perry is my favorite supporting character and I love her crossroad when he was just like "hey, you're better than this."

Maybe it would be cool if she became a supporting character for Lois, as writers hopefully aren't going to put Clark between them any time soon

[Jon Clark]

I prefer the original comics version. Cat as a nice person with a bit of a past. Not the man-hungry version on Lois & Clark, but someone whose road to the Planet may have been connected to her sex life. Cat wouldn't have intentionally slept her way to the top, but the people she dated either gave her access to things she could publish or else pulled strings for her unasked. She dated A-list celebrities because she liked them as people and everything else was a fringe benefit. The exception would be her relationship with the criminal Mr. Edge who she started dating due to his sexual harassment (to keep her job) and kept dating at the end to gather information for an expose.

She's a second rate Lois Lane. She knows now her rise to the top wasn't as much for her talents outside the bedroom, but now that she is at the top she wants to show she has the reporting skills to deserve her place. She is not a threat to the Lois-Clark marriage, but she does have an attraction to Clark along with having dated him back when Lois still viewed Clark as "a non-Superman friend". So Lois wavers between resenting Cat for her past and begrudgingly admiring her drive & skill.

Cat isn't an airhead, but is nowhere near the media mogul that is on Supergirl. She might understand the business stuff but would never want to run her own magazine/media empire. Be head writer, sure. But not all the editing, layouts, dealing with stockholders, etc;

[seismic-2]

I was not a fan of Nu 52, but I nevertheless liked its portrayal of Cat Grant when she quit the Daily Planet to team with Clark on a hard news / celebrity gossip Podcast that was her own idea. We saw that she soon enough began wearing drug store-brand perfume rather than her usual fragrance, drank convenience-store coffee rather than her usual Starbucks' latte, and went without her usual manicure, so she was actually struggling financially but was still driven to stick with her vision, because she believed in herself - and in Clark. I would like to see that Cat again.

[Tzigone]

Thanks, everyone, for contributing, and I hope more do so as well.

The reason I asked this one is because Cat is one of those characters that isn't firm in my mind. I've enjoyed some versions and disliked others, but there's little that is Cat Grant to me, or that I think is a foundational aspect of her character. I'd hoped by seeing the opinions of others, a particular version (whether previously existing or not) might resonate with me. I have similarly difficult time nailing down a version of Lucy Lane, which I discussed before (can't recall if I gave her her own thread, though).

It is interesting to see that three fairly different interpretations put forth. Hoping more people contribute so I can see if opinions are that variable or if there's any kind of consensus.

[Sam]

Calista Flockhart. Loved her Cat Grant. Hope she makes a return trip to Supergirl at some point.