I have been meaning to write about Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow for a while, and with Battleship do to overtake The Avengers in the box office this weekend, I better write it now! So, here we go: why Black Widow is important to the portrayal of women in action films, especially in the superhero subgenre. (That’s what you call a thesis, folks!)
Although I’m not very familiar with the Marvel Universe when it comes to comics, I am fairly versed with action films in general, and superhero films in particular. I have seen just about every single superhero movie since they became the “thing” again with the release of X-Men in 2000. Batman Begins, Iron Man, Superman Returns, Spider-Man, etc., etc. As you can tell by the titles, they were about men, and if you watched any of them you might have notice a severe lack of women. While each of these films had a leading lady of some degree—Rachel Dawes, Pepper Potts, Lois Lane, and Mary Jane Watson—you might also have noticed that each of these women also happens to be the titular man’s love interest.
Now, before someone gets offended or pissed off at me for denigrating the clever Pepper Potts or the brilliant reporter Lois Lane to “love interest”, I must say that, with the exception of Rachel Dawes, I am quite fond of all of these women, especially in their comic book form. That said, in the comics they have lives of their own and arcs that consist of more than “I will not date you, but I think you’re adorable” to “you have won me over with your heroism, let’s get to it!” As far as the movies are concerned, there isn’t much else to them, no matter how snappy their dialogue may be.
Enter Black Widow.
There she is!
Just like the rest of these women, she’s attractive, sophisticated, and damn good at her job. Unlike the rest, she exists without the need of a romantic story line. She is a supporting character who helps the hero meet his goals and doesn’t feel the need to bang him for doing a good job. She is a breath of fresh air, not only in action movies, but movies in general. It is rare to find a female character who wants things, not just in addition to, but completely outside of a husband or boyfriend. What’s more, is she has survived two films without falling into that trope. It was easy for her not to do so in Iron Man, as Pepper Potts is the leading lady in that franchise, but to hop ship to The Avengers and not be paired with any of the men (two of whom lacking girlfriends going in), is pretty spectacular.
Yes, there were a few hints by others that she and Hawkeye may have more than just a working relationship, but each time it was dismissed by the present party. Additionally, in their shared scenes it was standard banter between co-workers. It’s so good to see a male and female character work together without emphasizing the sexual tension. It’s good to see they can be friends and not be destined to the When Harry Met Sally endgame of holy matrimony. It’s good to have movies where the main female character is too busy kicking ass and saving the universe to even think about her libido or if she’ll find true love and all that jazz.
Black Widows kill their mates, anyway. Life is sometimes better than sex. Sometimes.
Now, I’m not saying love is a bad thing. Seriously, it’s one of my favorite things in the universe (you may read my Valentine’s Day article about it), but romantic love isn’t for everyone. Not everyone wants it (believe it or not!), and very few people want it all the time. We go through ebbs and flows regarding the relationships we want and need in our lives (at least I know I do), and it’s nice to finally be able to go to my kind of movie and see the character I self-identify myself with due to the vagina thing (if nothing more) and not have to watch her fall madly in love with the hero. It’s liberating.
What I also like about Black Widow is that she can, for the most part, take care of herself. Aside from the weird horror film sequence in The Avengers where The Hulk–I mean, “the Other Guy”–chases after her and she runs around, trying to hide like a terrified little girl, she’s a fairly competent hero. A competent hero sans-powers, at that! She kicks ass, takes names, and helps her team save the day with her interrogation skills and ability to coax the villain into monologuing his schemes away (no matter how obvious it may have been to the audience). Additionally, Black Widow’s introductory scene was awesome. Even with the god-awful hair whipping that was supposed to be a headbutt. The way she worked around the chair was pretty spectacular, and not something I had seen before.
Which is more beneficial: A woman with a gun or a bowman?
An interesting, independent female character who is trying to seek redemption on her own terms, and not in the arms of a lover? Yeah, she gets my vote for Best On Screen Female Comic Book Character. Definitely. Even with the over-sexualized portrayal of her in the advertising of the movie (but that’s been talked about to death, and I want to stay mostly positive in at least once when talking about The Avengers).
That said, as much as I like Black Widow, I’m not sure if a solo film starring her is where it should go. Perhaps a S.H.I.E.L.D. film is a good idea; but a solo film, I’d imagine, would basically just be a female James Bond movie, and would negate all the pros I was pitching, as Bond is nothing if not hyper sexed and romanticized, even if he refuses to fall in love. And yes, I recognize that seduction may very well be one of her tools for gaining information, but so far it hasn’t been used and I’d like it to stay that way.
Nevertheless, I see this as a major step forward (be it conscious or not by the filmmakers), and I hope that we can see more women like this in action films, and maybe it will coax DC into finally bringing a decent Wonder Woman project forward, and not just some half-assed attempt like last year’s pilot (which I watched and it was just dreadful).
In the mean time, we’ll see two women in The Dark Knight Rises. One being Selina Kyle aka Catwoman, the other is Miranda Tate who may potentially be Talia Al Ghul. If so, then both women are known for their romantic ties to the Batman just as much as, if not more so, they are known for anything else. Considering Catwoman is advertised as a major villain in the film, I doubt it will be all that defines her (and if Miranda is Talia then of course there will be a bigger arc, due to her Ra’s role in Batman Begins). Nevertheless, it seems doubtful that a romantic story arc–no matter how doomed to fail or tragic–will be missed in the case of either of these women. Not to mention, since the death of Rachel in Dark Knight, there will surely be a hole to fill in the Caped Crusader’s heart.
This feels somewhat reminiscent of 1992 … did you used to be a blonde?
We’ll see. I won’t necessarily be disappointed either way, I just hope it doesn’t take another decade or so before a female hero can exist without her presence being justified or dependent upon her male counterpart.