Fail: The Avengers (2012)
May. 1st, 2012 04:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lilacsigil posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
bechdel_testThis movie is a great big fail, which is a pity because the one major and two supporting female characters are all shown as well-realised, competent characters with agency. They just never talk to each other.
Natasha Romanoff (movie spelling) has probably the strongest story arc of any character in the movie. She's determined, brave, highly competent and intelligent; she has hints of a dark past which (shock!) involves her doing bad things rather than having things done to her. Like the male Avengers, she is physically skilled and daring, and plans cleverly and fast.
Maria Hill is often present as the audience explanation character, though this is done intelligently as discussions between her and her commanding officer rather than her not understanding things. She's also brave, competent and dedicated. She gave orders to groups of male and female soldiers, but as these soldiers didn't have names or (mostly) speaking roles, I can't count that.
Pepper Potts has more of a cameo role but in those few scenes she's holding her own against Tony, arguing in a loving way over who had which idea and not letting him minimise her contributions to their partnership. Pepper is dressed casually in shorts and a shirt in one scene, but the movie's not shot to linger over her body.
All three characters and all other women in the movie are dressed practically: there's no random pole dancing air hostesses in this one. The most uncovered women are a posh, older crowd in formal wear. There are some lingering shots of Natasha's body but no more than for the male characters (and rather less than for Steve!) and framed in a similar way: she's sexy because she's dangerous and strong, not in a pornographic way. Her jumpsuit was never unzipped enough to even show cleavage; her civilian clothes were also restrained and practical, and the one pair of high heels is worn on an appropriate occasion and removed for battle. Considering the way Natasha is often drawn in comics, this was a delightful surprise!
When she shows concern for male characters, they also show concern for her; when Loki uses a gendered insult it's shown as pathetic. I consider this movie to be excellent for the female characters in it...now if only there were more of them and they interacted! Dr Selvig's role, for example, could have been Jane Foster instead, even though I know Natalie Portman's salary is probably the deciding factor there! There's no shortage of female heroes from the comics to be on the team - the Wasp was a founding member, Ms Marvel has been a major character and sometime leader for decades now, just to name two - and I hope future outings maintain the quality of representation while increasing the quantity.
Natasha Romanoff (movie spelling) has probably the strongest story arc of any character in the movie. She's determined, brave, highly competent and intelligent; she has hints of a dark past which (shock!) involves her doing bad things rather than having things done to her. Like the male Avengers, she is physically skilled and daring, and plans cleverly and fast.
Maria Hill is often present as the audience explanation character, though this is done intelligently as discussions between her and her commanding officer rather than her not understanding things. She's also brave, competent and dedicated. She gave orders to groups of male and female soldiers, but as these soldiers didn't have names or (mostly) speaking roles, I can't count that.
Pepper Potts has more of a cameo role but in those few scenes she's holding her own against Tony, arguing in a loving way over who had which idea and not letting him minimise her contributions to their partnership. Pepper is dressed casually in shorts and a shirt in one scene, but the movie's not shot to linger over her body.
All three characters and all other women in the movie are dressed practically: there's no random pole dancing air hostesses in this one. The most uncovered women are a posh, older crowd in formal wear. There are some lingering shots of Natasha's body but no more than for the male characters (and rather less than for Steve!) and framed in a similar way: she's sexy because she's dangerous and strong, not in a pornographic way. Her jumpsuit was never unzipped enough to even show cleavage; her civilian clothes were also restrained and practical, and the one pair of high heels is worn on an appropriate occasion and removed for battle. Considering the way Natasha is often drawn in comics, this was a delightful surprise!
When she shows concern for male characters, they also show concern for her; when Loki uses a gendered insult it's shown as pathetic. I consider this movie to be excellent for the female characters in it...now if only there were more of them and they interacted! Dr Selvig's role, for example, could have been Jane Foster instead, even though I know Natalie Portman's salary is probably the deciding factor there! There's no shortage of female heroes from the comics to be on the team - the Wasp was a founding member, Ms Marvel has been a major character and sometime leader for decades now, just to name two - and I hope future outings maintain the quality of representation while increasing the quantity.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-05-04 08:11 am (UTC)I was a little dubious of the Natasha-Hulk dynamic, as she's the only character shown to be sincerely scared of the Hulk. Tony taunts, Steve and Fury show it cautious respect, Thor goes hand to hand, I don't think Hawkeye really interacts. Natasha is the only one who's seen terrified. I mean, I realise terror of the Hulk is very sensible, but it would be nice to have seen that sensible terror displayed by, say, Fury as well. On the other hand, Natasha often fakes fear and weakness to play on the expectations of those around her, which is an interesting play, so I don't know how much of that is Natasha acting. She's definitely got a lot of layers to her characterisation. I really hope she gets a solo movie (or one with Hawkeye) to explore her.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-05-08 04:30 pm (UTC)There is a phenomenal discussing springing from this sequence and whether or not the use of that insult was appropriate, segueing into a greater discussion of Natasha Romanoff, going on in