Critical Investigation: Research
Plan
Media
text: Marvel’s The Avengers
Ø
Marvel’s
Agents of Shield
Marvel
Studios: Assembling a Universe (2014)
·
“Iron
represents the dark side in all of us” 3:43
·
“The lack women in the spotlight is becoming
impossible to overlook”
·
“Wonder Woman was long-hailed as the
greatest example of the need for young women to see super powered role models
on the big screen”
·
“It isn’t just progress or equality that demands
women be treated differently in superhero blockbusters – it’s the laziness that
seems to go into shaping them.”
·
“The battle for equality between men and women
in superhero films is a fight plenty will volunteer for, but the narrow field
of roles (and powers) afforded to women isn’t just about equality – it’s about
boring storytelling.”
·
“Women are allowed to fit into one of a handful
of painfully rote moulds.”
·
“The pre-assigned roles for women are less
interesting, less important, and simply more played-out than their male
counterparts.”
·
“The Female characters are ranging from deadly
super-spies to Norse goddesses and the high-powered executives in between;
Marvel’s movie universe has all the makings of a gallery of strong, interesting
women.”
·
“There is much to be said about the intelligent,
witty, independent and charming Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) and her constant
need to be rescued (in Iron Man and Iron Man 2… and Iron Man 3), proving that the ‘damsel
in distress’ trope is alive and well – even if the damsel in question is the
CEO of a Fortune 500 company.”
·
“....even fans of the film will concede that
Jane’s existence functions largely as a walking, talking plot device.”
·
“The issue got even worse in Thor: The Dark
World – a film that would (for a nice change of pace) find Jane
infected by the film’s Macguffin, thereby requiring her to play a more active
role in the plot.”
·
“Sif had quickly emerged as the only real
‘warrior woman’ seen in a superhero film to that point – despite being more of
an ‘Asgardian’ than a bona fide superhero.”
·
“A warrior goddess (who managed to exude sex
appeal without showing skin)”
·
“One of the most promising super powered women
in Marvel’s stable was reduced to one of the most stereotypical soap opera
tropes imaginable.”
·
“Seeing women running, screaming, and needing
rescue has gotten old – fast.”
·
“The Dark Knight trilogy had Bruce Wayne embarrassed and rejected by the
women of Gotham for a change.”
·
“Nearly every typical male superhero uses their
gifts to attack, exercising power and dominance over whoever they
face. Yet the female superheroes (who are presumably their equals) are
relegated to support roles; or even more troubling, have their powers
originating from an unnatural energy source, or a mental abnormality.”
·
“...just decades ago doctors were still pointing
to ‘female hysteria’ as a cause for dozens of mental and physical
afflictions. “
·
“Yet a lack of control is still used as a
uniquely female trope: Rogue was unable to control her powers, hurting the men
in her life she most cared for. Mystique’s gift is mired in issues of self-confidence,
being led (against her will at times) by the men in her life. Fantastic Four‘s
Susan Storm can disappear from sight, and lashes out emotionally with blasts of
nonlethal energy when not complaining about her powers.”
·
“The notion of a woman being unable to control
her superpowers is widespread”
·
“If a super powered woman is laughing or taking
pleasure while using her powers in a film, odds are she’ll be a villain or
morally ambiguous at best (hell, even Anne Hathaway’s Cat woman stopped
enjoying herself once she decided to fight for good).”
·
“The best example is possibly Jean Grey
(Famke Janssen), who only fully realized her true power in X-Men 3: the Last Stand. Embracing
her mutation doesn’t help her come to terms with who she really is (the theme adhered
to for nearly every other film and character), but causes her to side with
antagonist Magneto, with her murderous spree only stopped once she begs
Wolverine to kill her. Because she just can’t control herself.”
·
“Due
to the different directors of the two movies, there were very different ways of
treating the character. It’s quite a fascinating difference and it brilliantly
shows the difference between a feminist and anti-feminist character.”
·
“In
Iron Man 2, Black Widow was more of an object. She spent most of the movie
bending over various objects in revealing clothing.”
·
“Natasha
Romanov developed no character of her own, instead simply acting as something
that Robert Downey Jr. and the audience finds sexy.”
·
“The
Avengers was a bit of a boys’ club but given the treatment of Scarlett
Johansson, it qualifies as a feminist movie.”
·
“Black
Widow was a very useful character. She recruited Bruce Banner without the use
of seduction techniques, she discovered Loki’s plan and she deactivated the
Tesseract. As a bonus, Black Widow doesn’t even have the most revealing
costume, an honour bestowed upon Hawkeye.”
·
“Hawkeye
ended up as more of the disappointing female character; his costume being more
revealing, having less screen time and getting captured by the enemy.”
·
“The Avengers, we are privy to a perfect representation of women in films.
Five men standing, preparing to protect the city of New York from being wiped
off the map, and there is one woman with them. She is dressed in a suit that
perfectly forms to her curves, as to appear appealing, and she armed with the
smallest weapon. This is how women are portrayed in cinema.”
·
“Women
are constantly being misrepresented in these films, shown for purposes of
objectification, support of the male characters, and mostly as love interests
that drive the male characters.”
·
“...gender
role reversal in one of 2012’s big blockbuster hits, The Hunger Games.”
·
“Generally,
in superhero movies, the gender roles are stereotypical.”
·
“There
is a man who comes to save the woman from peril and is deemed a hero. We are
seeing the same amount of gender stereotypes in the superhero genre films that
were released in 2012, namely, The
Avengers, the Amazing Spider Man, Snow White and the Huntsman, and The Dark Knight Rises.”
·
“In
this instance, there was not a woman that needed protection; however, we still
see stereotypical gender roles. The men are all fighting for control of the
situation, each claiming to have the best solution to the problems they face.
On the same level, they are trying to undermine the other male characters with
snide comments.”
·
“The
main female character, the Black Widow, fights on the same level as the men do,
an area we see a small amount of gender equity in the film. However, she is
still much sexualized. When we first meet her character, she is playing the
role of a prostitute, and is extremely scantily dressed.”
·
“In The Dark Knight Rises there are
two strong female characters, Cat woman and villain Miranda Tate.”
·
“While
both of these women demonstrate courage and confidence, they are not
independent of men. Miranda Tate deceives Bruce Wayne and sleeps with him.”
·
“The
Cat woman character is often represented as being selfish and wanting her own
freedom. Her character ultimately succumbs to Batman’s plea that she helps save
Gotham, but her decision to come back and fight Bane was to be with the hero
Batman.”
Ø Feminism at the Movies - Edited by
Hilary Radner and Rebecca Stringer, Published 2011.
·
P36. "Lad Flicks": Discursive Reconstruction
of Masculinity in Popular Film.
·
P268. From Victim to Vigilante: Gender, Violence and Revenge in the
Brave One (2007) and Hard Candy (2005).
·
P44-6. The Queer Limits of Lad Flick in Masculinity.--"... The presence of an
attractive women to 'reassure' viewers of the protagonists
sexuality".-pg45
·
“Persuasions returns to work at a New York City strip club….Persuasions returns to Genentech for observation but
later appears again as an exotic dancer.”
·
“Watching
TV shows with Iron Man or the Hulk might make little boys more prone to
gender-stereotyped play and make both boys and girls more likely to play with
pretend weapons, new research finds.”
·
For
the men, they are at least six feet in height and are very muscular with wide
shoulders and narrow hips. This body type seems to be an exaggerated ideal for
American men, as many constantly go to the gym to lift weights and talk of
gaining a “six-pack” of well-defined abs or increase the size of their “guns”
on their upper arms.
·
“Even
the facial characteristics of the men promote certain ideal features.”
·
“They
are clean shaven and have a strong, distinct jaw line. This may be to suggest
strength on the part of the man, to compliment the strong body.”
·
“For
the women superheroes, they are built to promote their sexuality. Nearly all of
the women have hourglass figures that could rarely be accomplished in real
life, like Barbie, with a small waist and large bust and hips. The breasts especially are very
pronounced. These women are seen as beautiful in the American culture, and
other women try to emulate the body styles. Unfortunately, some pursue this in
the unhealthy manner of eating disorders while trying to achieve the pronounced
waist and others resort to plastic surgery to increase their bust size. The
heroines also have long hair, not too long, but falling to somewhere in the
middle of their back, and worn loosely with perhaps a headband to hold it back
off of the heroine’s face.”
·
“Skin
tight jumpsuits seem to be the standard attire for the superhero male, with
muscles showing clearly through the material.”
·
“There
are typically briefs or a belt of some kind drawing attention to the narrow
hips, or some sort of shoulder covering designed in a triangular fashion that
once again draws attention to the waist and hips.”
·
“Two
features of the costumes would suggest a presentation of the hero’s machismo by
drawing the observer’s attention to a finely cared for body as well as the
groin area.”
·
“The
jumpsuits also typically have an insignia of some sort emblazoned on the chest,
again drawing attention to how wide and strong the chest and shoulder area is”
·
“Accenting
these suits are calf boots which emphasize the leg muscles of the hero to fix
our attention on the man’s strength.”
·
“…the
outfits are designed to draw attention to their large breasts, narrow waist,
and wide hips.”
·
“The
only possible reason for them to be portrayed wearing this torturous foot-ware
is because we as a culture find heels attractive.”
·
“They
add definition to calf and leg muscles, but they are treacherous to wear. They
might even be designed to raise women’s respect for the superheroes because we
admire everything that they manage to accomplish in said shoes."
·
“In
a survey distributed across campus about superheroes, when asked about their favourite
attributes of superheroes 40% of females and 32% of males responded that some
physical aspect of this hero was their favourite attribute or the reason that
particular hero was their favourite.”
·
“The
majority of superheroes exude an extremely exaggerated masculine – feminine
ideal.”
·
“Superheroes
that do not have as pronounced physical sexuality are not as popular, such as
the androgynous original Rogue from the X-Men. Through the development of
the X-Men however, Rogue became steadily more feminine, with larger breasts and
tighter clothing, until we are faced with the Rogue of the new X-Men movies who
has a respectable sized chest, wears tight clothing, and first experiences her
powers while making out with her boyfriend.”
·
“.
We have no room for heroes who do not exaggerate the ideals we have and emulate.”
·
“The
way female heroes are described places a heavy emphasis on their appearance and
femininity. The X-Men member Emma Frost is described in her bio as follows:
‘A
diamond-sculpted seductress with the brains to back up her body of work, Emma
Frost amassed wealth and influences enough to attract the attention of the
planet’s social elite. As White-Queen of the exclusive Hell-Fire Club, Frost’s
power plays frequently put her at odds with the heroic X-Men. (www.marvel.com)’”
·
“The
words “diamond-sculpted seductress” at the very beginning of her description
immediately indicates her exaggerated femininity. Also, the fact that brains
come second “to back up her body of work” indicates that brains are not what a
woman should have first, but looks are.”
·
Marvel
Comics continues to describe their female heroes with phrases like, “Feline
fatale…pretty little paw,” for Black Cat
·
“Femme
fatale…lured by her beauty, many a man has felt the Widow’s Sting” for Black
Widow 1
·
“Tempering telepathy and telekinesis with
warmth and compassion, Jean secretly hungers for a passionate partner,” for
X-Men’s Jean Grey, and “a classic beauty in every sense of the word,” for
Storm, also of the X-Men (www.marvel.com).
·
“DC
Comics does not appear to be much different for they describe Cat woman “in a
tight leather cat suit…the Princess of Plunder…[whose] heart would always
belong to Batman,” and exalting Wonder Woman as being “as beautiful as
Aphrodite” (www.dccomics.com).”
·
“The
creators were describing the heroes’ physical prowess and the heterosexual
tendencies of the Human Torch. It all points to them being the strong male. It
implies that heterosexuality is important and should be imitated, as well as
being strong with sharp senses and they must be a seeker of justice.”
·
“In RH Robbins’ chapter on
the Cultural Construction of Identity, Robbins mentions how Linguist Robin
Lakoff “was one of the first to draw attention to the way that a woman’s
identity in society influences how she speaks” (Robbins, 2006, pg. 205)”
·
“Lakoff says women are “constrained to minimize their
expressions with…tag questions…rising intonations…the use of hedges… [and]
indirection” (Robbins, 2006, pg. 205).”
·
“Relative powerlessness of women, stemming form their
relatively weak social position” (Robbins, 2006, pg. 205).
·
“In Ultimate
X-Men Vol. 3: World Tour, a graphic novel compilation of 8 X-Men serial
comics, both Jean Grey and Storm frequently minimize their expressions (Miller,
2002). Jean Grey ads tag questions like, “You don’t think he might have, you
know, gone over to the other side or anything, do you?” and “it’s highly
unlikely we’re both off the mark, right?” Storm on the other hand used hedges
more frequently like, “Somebody calls an ambulance! I don’t think Bobby’s
breathing here!!” Instead of saying “Bobby’s not breathing,” Storm adds a hedge
to leave an opening for someone to affirm what she is saying.”
·
“When Jean Grey and Storm are discussing Professor
Xavier’s book, Storm says, “I saw the chapter on ‘a mutant alternative to
boom-and-bust economics’ and went straight back to Cosmo and People Magazine,
girlfriend,” which implies that women do not or should not have an interest in
such highly academic matters (Miller, 2002).”
·
“ For the men, during a scene where Professor Xavier is grading their
attempts at crime solving, there are two full pages of
argument between the male teams as to who had the better bust; Wolverine,
Bobby, and Colossus who busted a multi-million dollar drug ring and “maimed,
killed, or disfigured over twenty human beings in a blaze of Adamantium Fury,”
or Cyclops and Beast who broke up some muggers, checked two guys into rehab and
made plans for the ex-muggers’ futures (Miller, 2002).”
