How is Female Empowerment and the representation of women
in today's society presented in Marvel Cinematic Universe films?
Speaker: Marvel Cinematic Universe is the franchise known for bringing some of the most popular Marvel Comic books to life. It is, therefore, safe to say that they bring with them the aura of these comic books, and with that, a very cartoon like representation of certain characters. Superhero movies are a large part of Popular Culture, described as being simply “well liked by many people” (Item 6) and are generally seen as Unrealistic and a means to escape, however they can be seen to provide a very accurate commentary on everyday life and in my chosen films specifically, the representation of women, and how 'In Patriarchal structures, woman is located as other' (Item 5), which is shown mostly through the character of Natasha Romanoff (Black Widow), played by Scarlet Johansson, a character who's treatment by Marvel is 'frequently outright lousy' (Item 10).
Projector: Clip of ‘The Avengers’ (2012) Natasha Interrogates the Russians 0:11:23 (3m5s) (Item 2)
Speaker: This is the first time that we see Natasha in The Avengers, and straight away she is shown in a very weak position, tied to a chair and the use of high angles to show her to be below the men that are stood around her. Here, Natasha appears in a black cocktail dress, showing off a lot of flesh, which essentially is used to satisfy ‘The Male Gaze’. This clip is from the very beginning of the film, which is when the film maker is of course attempting to engage their audience in any way possible so that they will stay for the entirety of the film, however “No amount of advertising will continue to pull people into a film they do not enjoy and cannot speak well of to their friends” (Item 4) and so the film maker must therefore cater towards the target audience, which for Superhero films is more often than not, teenage boys, though their use of Natasha's skimpy costume would ensure that the films would 'reach beyond so-called comic-book geeks.' (Item 13). This is shown throughout the majority of both my clips and the entire films through Natasha’s wardrobe which is more often than not skin tight or there is very little of it. This is because through the eyes of a male, one of the best things that they could see is the curves of a woman’s body. Though this clip does begin by presenting Natasha as ‘weak’, the use of canted angles suggest that there is something not quite right with the situation, a suspicion that is confirmed when Natasha single-handedly fights and overcomes every one of her captures, which presents her in a much more empowered light as she only “plays on the expectation that she's weak” (Item 11) in order to gain power over her enemies. This is furthered in another scene from the same film when she goes to 'interrogate' Loki.
Projector: Clip of ‘The Avengers’ (2012) Natasha speaks to Loki 1:01:00 (2m17s) (Item 2)
Speaker: This once again shows Natasha using a man’s assumption of her weakness in order to gain power over them as, though in this clip Natasha only shows weakness through her performance, after a montage of the other Avengers, it cuts back to her finding out what Loki’s plan was and that once again her show of weakness was simply an act, all part of her ‘Very specific skill set’. We also see her Black Widow costume in this clip which you can see is extremely form fitting, and the scene is shot from angles that emphasize her breasts and bum even more than the costume does. This film in particular from the ones I have chosen, whilst sexualizing her in order to satisfy the male gaze, does actually empower their main female character, showing that “Women are not helpless in face of existing challenges” (Item 12) However, it does not pass the Bechdel test, a set of criteria which films must meet to be seen as anywhere near to fair in gender representation. The test “requires that a film a) contain at least two named female characters, b) who have a conversation, c) that isn't about a man.” (Item 11), simple criteria, of which, the film meets one aspect. In fact, not a single one of my chosen films that is included on this list passed the test.
Projector: Clip of Avengers: Age Of Ultron (2015) Hulk's Lullaby 0:07:38 (1min) (Item 1)
Speaker: In this clip from my Focus film, Natasha is shot from eye level, even after assisting the Avengers in infiltrating a Hydra base, up until the point that she performs this lullaby on the Hulk, when she is shot from a very slightly low angle, which shows that the only way Natasha can be seen as having power over a male character is when she is performing a maternal act such as a lullaby. However, shown through the close ups of Natasha's hand, this interaction is still made to look very seductive with Whedon himself saying that “She is working him. She is working me!” (Item 7) Showing that these shots are made very much for the male gaze as they were designed to seduce their audience, 'screen images of women are sexualised no matter what the women are doing' (Item 5), proven further through my own questionnaires given to fellow film students as 50% of people asked were male, and of these 75% saw no problem in how Natasha was represented at any given point in this film (Item 14). Her power is further taken away from her with the fact that at the very beginning of this sequence, she must be on higher ground than the Hulk to even be able to attract his attention, let alone have any leverage over him. Plus, this shot of film, lasting only about 1 second is shot from an extremely slight canted angle, which though usually unnoticeable, is a subtle way of showing that it is unusual for the female character to be in power. This is also shown through the fact that over 80% of MCU target audiences felt that it is unusual to see a female character hold power over their male counterpart in Marvel superhero films. (Item 15)
Projector: Clip of Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) Natasha takes control 0:53:40 (50s) (Item 3)
Speaker: In this clip from Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Marvel choose to once again give some sort of power to Natasha whilst simultaneously making it impossible to hold anything over her male counterparts. When faced with the SHIELD agents looking for them, Steve goes for an automatic Military way out, whereas Natasha opts for the less obvious tactic of simply blending in. Throughout the sequence, though she has taken charge of the situation and is giving orders to Steve, she is almost always walking slightly behind him, as though he is in charge, and when on the escalator, Steve is even on the step above her, giving him clear power over her as he is placed on higher ground, emphasised by the fact that Natasha is shot from a high angle whilst Steve is shot from a low angle. This use of simultaneous giving and taking of power from Natasha is also shown on the poster for this film (Item 16). Though Natasha is pictured in a very strong and empowered pose, standing nonchalant whilst still looking tall and strong, she is the only female character on the poster, and in most of the film, and is placed behind two other male characters to emphasise the fact that, yes she may be a badass, but these two male characters are much more badass and of course more important to the story than her. She is also pictured once again in the skin tight Black Widow costume, however Scarlett Johansson herself has said that she does not think that her costume is sexualising her body, but 'totally empowering' (Item 8)
Projector: Clip of Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) Ultron Attacks 0:29:11 (32s) (Item 1)
Speaker: This simultaneous giving and taking of power from Natasha seems to be a recurring theme through all of the films that I have looked at. It's once again evident in this clip from Age Of Ultron, where instead of fighting Natasha takes Bruce and runs for cover. This could be seen as either a tactical approach or a weak one, and when asked, the MCU target audience were split completely 50/50 between the options. (Item 15) However considering most of the male Avengers get up to fight straight away, we can assume that this is Marvel's way of showing the audience that Black Widow does in fact have some weaknesses. This scene also begins to introduce a connection between Natasha and Bruce Banner, as she pulls him to safety along with her. This attitude of grabbing others and saving them along with her is what would give Natasha any power at all in this particular sequence, however this power she has gained is once again taken away by the fact that it is simply a device to build up to an unneeded romantic sub plot between these two characters which Scarlett Johansson herself 'didn't really understand or expect' (Item 9), all of which is made worse with the shot of Bruce falling on top of her, his face landing directly in her breasts. Though I'm sure this shot was supposed to hold comedic value, it was instead degenerative and downright dangerous towards Scarlett who was in fact pregnant at the time of filming.
Projector: Clip of Avengers: Age Of Ultron (2015) Natasha and Bruce in the Farmhouse 1:02:50 (3m2s) (Item 1)
Speaker: This clip is the climax of the relationship that has been building up between these two characters, filmed in a very stereotypical way. It makes use of a lot of shot-reverse-shot of the two of them reacting to the revelations, and it is also one of the few times within the film that Natasha is shot from eye level rather than a high angle, and most of the other occurrences of this happen when she and Bruce are together, showing that Marvel believe the only way Natasha can be on the same level as any of her fellow Avengers, she must be included as a love interest. Furthermore, the sequence begins with a flashback of Natasha being sterilised when she graduated from the 'Red Room'. She then calls herself a monster because she is unable to have children, 'being reduced to her reproductive choices' (Item 10) This shows that clearly Marvel are 'uninterested in the emotional lives of women' (Item 10) as this could be seen as an extremely upsetting or even offensive subject and therefore statement to any women who may watch the film that are unable to conceive. 90% of the film students that were asked said that they could see how this particular scene would cause controversy and that it was unsympathetic towards women that could be watching the film (Item 14)
Through this research, I have found that Marvel Cinematic Universe films do not present Women in a very empowered way and essentially make their films in the best way they can to satisfy the male gaze, using their female characters as romantic plot devices and ways to make their male superheroes seem even more powerful, even when the female character shows some signs of power, it is in order to assist their male counterparts.
Projector: Clip of ‘The Avengers’ (2012) Natasha Interrogates the Russians 0:11:23 (3m5s) (Item 2)
Speaker: This is the first time that we see Natasha in The Avengers, and straight away she is shown in a very weak position, tied to a chair and the use of high angles to show her to be below the men that are stood around her. Here, Natasha appears in a black cocktail dress, showing off a lot of flesh, which essentially is used to satisfy ‘The Male Gaze’. This clip is from the very beginning of the film, which is when the film maker is of course attempting to engage their audience in any way possible so that they will stay for the entirety of the film, however “No amount of advertising will continue to pull people into a film they do not enjoy and cannot speak well of to their friends” (Item 4) and so the film maker must therefore cater towards the target audience, which for Superhero films is more often than not, teenage boys, though their use of Natasha's skimpy costume would ensure that the films would 'reach beyond so-called comic-book geeks.' (Item 13). This is shown throughout the majority of both my clips and the entire films through Natasha’s wardrobe which is more often than not skin tight or there is very little of it. This is because through the eyes of a male, one of the best things that they could see is the curves of a woman’s body. Though this clip does begin by presenting Natasha as ‘weak’, the use of canted angles suggest that there is something not quite right with the situation, a suspicion that is confirmed when Natasha single-handedly fights and overcomes every one of her captures, which presents her in a much more empowered light as she only “plays on the expectation that she's weak” (Item 11) in order to gain power over her enemies. This is furthered in another scene from the same film when she goes to 'interrogate' Loki.
Projector: Clip of ‘The Avengers’ (2012) Natasha speaks to Loki 1:01:00 (2m17s) (Item 2)
Speaker: This once again shows Natasha using a man’s assumption of her weakness in order to gain power over them as, though in this clip Natasha only shows weakness through her performance, after a montage of the other Avengers, it cuts back to her finding out what Loki’s plan was and that once again her show of weakness was simply an act, all part of her ‘Very specific skill set’. We also see her Black Widow costume in this clip which you can see is extremely form fitting, and the scene is shot from angles that emphasize her breasts and bum even more than the costume does. This film in particular from the ones I have chosen, whilst sexualizing her in order to satisfy the male gaze, does actually empower their main female character, showing that “Women are not helpless in face of existing challenges” (Item 12) However, it does not pass the Bechdel test, a set of criteria which films must meet to be seen as anywhere near to fair in gender representation. The test “requires that a film a) contain at least two named female characters, b) who have a conversation, c) that isn't about a man.” (Item 11), simple criteria, of which, the film meets one aspect. In fact, not a single one of my chosen films that is included on this list passed the test.
Projector: Clip of Avengers: Age Of Ultron (2015) Hulk's Lullaby 0:07:38 (1min) (Item 1)
Speaker: In this clip from my Focus film, Natasha is shot from eye level, even after assisting the Avengers in infiltrating a Hydra base, up until the point that she performs this lullaby on the Hulk, when she is shot from a very slightly low angle, which shows that the only way Natasha can be seen as having power over a male character is when she is performing a maternal act such as a lullaby. However, shown through the close ups of Natasha's hand, this interaction is still made to look very seductive with Whedon himself saying that “She is working him. She is working me!” (Item 7) Showing that these shots are made very much for the male gaze as they were designed to seduce their audience, 'screen images of women are sexualised no matter what the women are doing' (Item 5), proven further through my own questionnaires given to fellow film students as 50% of people asked were male, and of these 75% saw no problem in how Natasha was represented at any given point in this film (Item 14). Her power is further taken away from her with the fact that at the very beginning of this sequence, she must be on higher ground than the Hulk to even be able to attract his attention, let alone have any leverage over him. Plus, this shot of film, lasting only about 1 second is shot from an extremely slight canted angle, which though usually unnoticeable, is a subtle way of showing that it is unusual for the female character to be in power. This is also shown through the fact that over 80% of MCU target audiences felt that it is unusual to see a female character hold power over their male counterpart in Marvel superhero films. (Item 15)
Projector: Clip of Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) Natasha takes control 0:53:40 (50s) (Item 3)
Speaker: In this clip from Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Marvel choose to once again give some sort of power to Natasha whilst simultaneously making it impossible to hold anything over her male counterparts. When faced with the SHIELD agents looking for them, Steve goes for an automatic Military way out, whereas Natasha opts for the less obvious tactic of simply blending in. Throughout the sequence, though she has taken charge of the situation and is giving orders to Steve, she is almost always walking slightly behind him, as though he is in charge, and when on the escalator, Steve is even on the step above her, giving him clear power over her as he is placed on higher ground, emphasised by the fact that Natasha is shot from a high angle whilst Steve is shot from a low angle. This use of simultaneous giving and taking of power from Natasha is also shown on the poster for this film (Item 16). Though Natasha is pictured in a very strong and empowered pose, standing nonchalant whilst still looking tall and strong, she is the only female character on the poster, and in most of the film, and is placed behind two other male characters to emphasise the fact that, yes she may be a badass, but these two male characters are much more badass and of course more important to the story than her. She is also pictured once again in the skin tight Black Widow costume, however Scarlett Johansson herself has said that she does not think that her costume is sexualising her body, but 'totally empowering' (Item 8)
Projector: Clip of Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) Ultron Attacks 0:29:11 (32s) (Item 1)
Speaker: This simultaneous giving and taking of power from Natasha seems to be a recurring theme through all of the films that I have looked at. It's once again evident in this clip from Age Of Ultron, where instead of fighting Natasha takes Bruce and runs for cover. This could be seen as either a tactical approach or a weak one, and when asked, the MCU target audience were split completely 50/50 between the options. (Item 15) However considering most of the male Avengers get up to fight straight away, we can assume that this is Marvel's way of showing the audience that Black Widow does in fact have some weaknesses. This scene also begins to introduce a connection between Natasha and Bruce Banner, as she pulls him to safety along with her. This attitude of grabbing others and saving them along with her is what would give Natasha any power at all in this particular sequence, however this power she has gained is once again taken away by the fact that it is simply a device to build up to an unneeded romantic sub plot between these two characters which Scarlett Johansson herself 'didn't really understand or expect' (Item 9), all of which is made worse with the shot of Bruce falling on top of her, his face landing directly in her breasts. Though I'm sure this shot was supposed to hold comedic value, it was instead degenerative and downright dangerous towards Scarlett who was in fact pregnant at the time of filming.
Projector: Clip of Avengers: Age Of Ultron (2015) Natasha and Bruce in the Farmhouse 1:02:50 (3m2s) (Item 1)
Speaker: This clip is the climax of the relationship that has been building up between these two characters, filmed in a very stereotypical way. It makes use of a lot of shot-reverse-shot of the two of them reacting to the revelations, and it is also one of the few times within the film that Natasha is shot from eye level rather than a high angle, and most of the other occurrences of this happen when she and Bruce are together, showing that Marvel believe the only way Natasha can be on the same level as any of her fellow Avengers, she must be included as a love interest. Furthermore, the sequence begins with a flashback of Natasha being sterilised when she graduated from the 'Red Room'. She then calls herself a monster because she is unable to have children, 'being reduced to her reproductive choices' (Item 10) This shows that clearly Marvel are 'uninterested in the emotional lives of women' (Item 10) as this could be seen as an extremely upsetting or even offensive subject and therefore statement to any women who may watch the film that are unable to conceive. 90% of the film students that were asked said that they could see how this particular scene would cause controversy and that it was unsympathetic towards women that could be watching the film (Item 14)
Through this research, I have found that Marvel Cinematic Universe films do not present Women in a very empowered way and essentially make their films in the best way they can to satisfy the male gaze, using their female characters as romantic plot devices and ways to make their male superheroes seem even more powerful, even when the female character shows some signs of power, it is in order to assist their male counterparts.
