SMPA 3333 Paper Example

Aside from being a Journalism and Mass Communications Major, I am also an English major, which has taught me how to better format my papers. Below is a paper that I believe best combines the best of the two majors for a “Media Organizations and Audiences” class.

Rachel Garton

Professor Phalen

SMPA 3333

April 26th, 2022

Misogyny in Marvel

INTRODUCTION
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is presently recognized as a media franchise that dominates the global box office, taking four of the top ten highest-grossing movie spots of all time. Despite its acclaim now, the string of superhero movies weren’t always popular. Prior to the 2008 Marvel Studios’ release of Iron Man, the concept of a movie starring the “genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist” known as Tony Stark had been deliberated over for more than twenty years (Wetzel 4). Aside from its lack of success getting on the big screen –even with the rights being passed to and from Universal Pictures and Twentieth Century Fox– the film was not estimated to be a box office hit. Jon Favreau was fairly unknown at the time as a director, but had a deep interest in the character; Robert Downey Jr., who would play Iron Man, had a “questionable” past by Hollywood’s standards; and producers had trouble getting the film financed (Wetzel 82). The film, however, was an unexpected hit with a gross of more than $585 million worldwide. When Disney CEO Bob Iger bought the rights to Marvel Entertainment for four billion in cash and stock in 2009, plans were immediately put in place to make a sequel to Iron Man, and hopefully match its predecessors’ success. Executives were also contemplating how to connect superheroes into a major blockbuster movie, and effectively drawing in as large of an audience as possible. Thus, casting calls were made to form the Avengers, including one for Natasha Romanoff, better known by the alias Black Widow, who would be the first official Marvel Studios female superhero. However, while the movie was well-received with a 72% score on Rotten Tomatoes and $624 million in box office earnings, the manner in which Natasha was presented was met with backlash (Wetzel 102). Although things have drastically changed for Marvel Studios in the 12 years since Iron Man 2’s release, the troubles the studio had with its male characters prior to Iron Man’s release seems to have foreshadowed similar troubles in initiating storylines for its female characters. Thus, while examples of female superheroes are greatly improving, the initial efforts made to incorporate women in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) were undermined by examples of misogyny in production, distristribution, and audience consumption. Marvel Studio’s growth, and its lacking portrayal of women, will be shown through examples of female characters divided by each of the studios’ “phases,” where each phase indicates an end to a story.

PHASE 1 : IRON MAN (2008) - THE AVENGERS (2012) Phase 1 of the MCU began with Iron Man (Favreau 2008), which featured little female representation. In one of the first scenes of the movie, the audience is introduced to Christine Everheart: a journalist who is only worthy to speak to Tony Stark after she is deemed “attractive” enough. The two engage in competitive back-and-forth conversation, with a few sexually-charged comments on Stark’s behalf, until the scene cuts to Everheart waking up in his bed, but with Tony nowhere to be seen. Tony’s assistant, Pepper Potts, is quick to evict Christine, and even alludes to her as being part of the “trash” she has to take out. Both Christine and Pepper remain mostly inconsequential to the plot of the movie, with feminist critics pointing out how Potts acts as a “glorified accessory, doing [Stark’s] bidding, cleaning up after him, and taking care of him” (Meluso 2020). After Disney took more of an active role with the multi-billion purchase of Marvel following the success of Iron Man, president of Marvel Studios Kevin Fiege promised encouraging representation of beloved comic characters (Wetzel 103). With Victoria Alonso helping produce the MCU alongside Fiege, things looked promising. Yet Alonso herself admits how little women are accepted into the superhero industry in a quote that reads “When I walk into a room, I do a headcount of males and females. When I leave, I say it. Every room, every time. I get no pride, no power by being by myself. I’m happy to hold the banner, but I don’t want to be there alone” (Hollywood Reporter 2018). The number of men to women in the “super hero industry” became increasingly evident with the release of Iron Man 2 (Favreau 2010), where Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff was unveiled. After figuring out that the arc reactor that keeps him alive is also killing him, Tony Stark promotes Pepper Potts to CEO, and is in search of a new assistant. In being interviewed for the role of his assistant while undercover for S.H.I.E.L.D., Romanoff’s introductory scene coincides with a shot of her in lingerie. Following her exit, Stark even tells his friend that he “wants one,” referring to Natasha as an object instead of a person. Iron Man 2 has also been heavily criticized for the skin-tight catsuit Romanoff wears in combat, where it is not only impractical for battle but is also unzipped to accentuate her cleavage (Meluso 2020). This in line with Meluso’s theory on the male gaze in the MCU, in which women’s appearances are altered for strong visual and erotic impact, while subsequently doing little to advance the plot. Also in line with this narrative are the movies Thor (Branagh 2011), Captain America: The First Avenger (Johnston 2011), and The Avengers (Whedon 2012). In each of these examples, there is a female character that acts as some form of love interest to the male-centered main character (Thor– Jane Foster, Captain America– Peggy Carter, The Avengers– Natasha Romanoff). In Thor, it is Jane’s intelligence and kindness that inspires Thor to change his ways; in Captain America, it is Peggy that serves as a motivator for Steve Rogers; Natasha is the glue that holds the team together in The Avengers, encouraging them to work together instead of fight one another. As Meluso points out, these women are not valued as themselves, but are “valuable instead for what they cause the heroes to feel and do”: it is the man that moves the plot forward, and the women are simply the catalysts for their actions (Meluso 2020).

PHASE 2: IRON MAN 3 (2013) - ANT-MAN (2015)

These themes continue into Phase 2, where despite the introduction of more characters, the female role stays mostly the same. In the first film of Phase 2, Pepper Potts briefly gains powers through a procedure known as “extremis” (genetic manipulation that allows the body to heal and regenerate from physical and mental damages), but Tony Stark quickly vows to find a way to “cure” her. A similar plot happens in Thor: The Dark World (Taylor 2013), where Thor’s love interest, Jane Foster, is imbued with the aether (an infinity stone that affects reality). Although the aether is dangerous in the body of a mortal such as Jane, she becomes minimized to the role of damsel in distress, where Thor and his brother, Loki, must do the work in ‘saving’ her. While the powers the women gain are considered dangerous, it is no less dangerous than how the majority of male heroes come into their superpowers. In accordance with Meluso, it appears to be more a matter of protecting the woman from that power and the connotations it brings (Meluso 2020). With Captain America: The Winter Soldier (Russo 2014), Natasha Romanoff makes her third MCU appearance. Even with the opportunity to incorporate Natasha’s background in what made her shift from Russian assassin to American spy and hero, she is instead used more as a potential love interest to Steve Rogers. Meluso and Ameter even argue that Romanoff is used as a reminder of “heterosexual love” for Captain America, in a movie that is dominated by his relationship to his childhood best friend, Bucky Barnes (Meluso 2020, Ameter 2019). Moreover, in the face of the backlash Black Widow’s combat suit received from fans in previous movies, her suit stays mostly the same, with miniscule changes. The questionable wardrobe of female characters remains to be a point of contention in both Guardians of the Galaxy (Gunn 2014) and Avengers: Age of Ultron (Whedon 2015). Stylistically, Gamora, the sole female hero of the Guardians, is dressed in skin-tight clothing and a corset for the majority of the film. Furthermore, despite the emphasis of the role of family in the movie, she nonetheless becomes a love interest to Peter Quill’s Starlord. The trend continues into Avengers: Age of Ultron, where Wanda Maximoff’s Scarlet Witch is introduced. Although her brother wears a running suit to reflect his superspeed and the Avengers all have respective armor (minus, of course, Black Widow), Maximoff is dressed only in a low-cut dress, ripped stockings, and a red leather jacket. As Ameter argues, this is a common theme found in the uniforms of the MCU female heroes (Ameter 2019). While it can be argued that the blame for this portrayal can be solely placed on those working on set or in studio, the problem extends to distribution and marketing as well. Many critics have pointed out how, in posters, male heroes will be facing the camera in a “heroic” pose, where female heroes are facing away from the camera, with the shot angled up their back to emphasize their buttocks. For love interests such as Jane Foster or Pepper Potts, they appear fearful yet secure in the arms of the male hero. Additionally, in the marketing for Avengers, it was Marvel’s Creative Committee that blocked the production of Black Widow-themed merchandise, because some thought that superhero products promoting a “girl” wouldn’t sell (Wetzel 109-110).

PHASE 3: CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR (2016) - SPIDER-MAN : FAR FROM HOME (2019)

The controversial treatment of Black Widow and other female characters carried into Phase 3 of the MCU, despite the franchise’s growing popularity. With Avengers: Age of Ultron making over $1 billion in the box office and gaining more critical acclaim, executives had to start making decisions on how to change the perception of its female superheroes. At first, hardly any change was made with the release of Captain America: Civil War (Russo 2016). Wanda Maximoff is referred to as a “kid” in the movie (although her age is hotly debated to be somewhere between 24-27) and is locked in the Avengers Compound until Hawkeye comes to break her out. Natasha Romanoff, on the other hand, is once again demoted to being the equivalent of Switzerland in the feud between Captain America and Iron Man over government sanctions on superheros known as the Sokovia Accords. Although Romanoff takes the side of Iron Man in the film, she consistently questions Tony’s decisions and ultimately helps Captain America make a grand escape from battle, effectively making her a government fugitive by the movie’s conclusion. Women play a comparatively small role in both Doctor Strange (Derrickson 2016), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (Gunn 2017), and Spider-Man: Homecoming (Watts 2017). In Doctor Strange, a character known as “The Ancient One” acts as a mentor to Dr Stephen Strange. She dies three-fourths of the way through the movie, in a move that is meant to pass the mantle of “Sorcerer Supreme” to the male hero. In Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, there is growth in Gamora’s storyline outside of her relationship to Starlord, but she is ultimately defined by her relationship to the male hero. Meluso’s point about women being a catalyst for men’s actions also plays heavily into this film, where –once Starlord discovers that his father, a god-like being named Ego, killed his mother– he spurs himself into action (Meluso 2020). In Spider-Man: Homecoming, the primary female character, Liz Allan, is Peter Parker’s love interest, as well as daughter to the antagonist of the film. Thor: Ragnarok (Waititi 2017), however, shows particular growth in its depiction of women. It is the first film of the MCU where the main antagonist is a woman. Furthermore, one of the characters Thor befriends is Valkyrie: a female warrior of the Norse Asgard, whose combat outfit includes full body armor, with no corset in sight. This hopeful trend continues into Black Panther (Coogler 2018). Not only is it the first MCU movie where the central protagonist is Black, but it extends deeper into intersectionality with its depiction of a powerful group of female warriors known as the Dora Milaje and the acknowledgement that Shuri –little sister to Black Panther’s T’challa– is the smartest character in the MCU. However, while important strides have been made in these examples, it is also important to note that these women are not central figures in each respective film and do not yet have “their own origin or solo breakout films” (Taylor 2021). In spite of the strides Thor: Ragnarok and Black Panther made, Avengers: Infinity War (Russo 2018) appears to take a step back in its utilization of the female heroes. Guardians of the Galaxy’s Gamora is killed halfway through the movie; Captain Marvel doesn’t show up until after the battle has been lost; Scarlet Witch, despite having powers derivative of an infinity stone, is watching over her love interest, Vision, to which a comment is jokingly made “why was she up there all this time?” when she finally joins the battle. Meluso also points out that Vision’s love and concern for Wanda is what causes decisions to be made in the film, and not Wanda herself (Meluso 2020). Quickly following Avengers: Infinity War’s release, however, are two movies that made the most substantial strides for Marvel to date. First was the release of Ant-Man and the Wasp (Reed 2018), which was the first movie in which a superheroine made her way into half of a feature film title (Fimibanti 2020). While still a love interest to Scott Lang’s Ant-Man, Hope Pym’s Wasp exists outside of her relationship to Scott and has considerable character growth centered around her family instead of the male hero. Second was Captain Marvel (Boden 2019), the first MCU film centered around a female hero, but also Marvel’s most controversial movie. Although Captain Marvel eclipsed more than $1 billion in the box office, the movie has faced major backlash from male fans, who down-voted the film on Rotten Tomatoes to the point where the website had to change its rules in allowing users to post a review to a movie before its been released (Killian 2019). Aside from the negative reviews, Captain Marvel was also hailed by film critics to be “the worst thing to happen to the MCU” (Killian 2019). Interestingly, on the other hand, is how women composed under 19% of the data pool for reviewers on Captain Marvel, which Fimibinati argues is evidence that women aren’t even “the prominent voices surrounding the films that showcase them” in It Wasn’t Made for Him (Fimibinati 2020). Similarly, at the time of Captain Marvel’s release, only 1% of films employed 10 or more women, and audiences were twice as likely to see male characters than female characters, which is demonstrative of a major gender disparity in the media industry (Fimibinati 2020). Critics have also pointed out that Marvel only released Captain Marvel after Warner Bros./DC Comics released Wonder Woman, and were sure of the success of a female-centered superhero movie. Meluso argues that Marvel had access to the rights to Black Widow a full ten years prior to the release of Wonder Woman, but didn’t utilize her character fully until a competitor’s success (Meluso 2020). In the same vein, critics have also pointed out the glaring similarities between Natasha Romanoff’s Black Widow and Carol Danver’s Captain Marvel: they are both “stoic fighters who don’t take anything from anybody,” so when compared to the vast difference in personality given to male heroes, one might wonder why the two central female characters share so many personality traits (Ameter 2019). Even so, Captain Marvel should be awarded for its much-needed strides for female representation in the MCU. From Danver’s suit mirroring the costumes of male heroes to her refusal to accept misogyny, Captain Marvel’s female directors seemed to have learned from the mistakes of their male predecessors. In comparison to Avengers: Endgame (Russo 2019), where Black Widow sacrifices herself to gain an infinity stone that will restore life to the universe, it is certainly a step in the right direction.

PHASE 4: Black Widow (2021) – Now

Avengers: Endgame nevertheless opened the door for many future projects starring female-centered superhero roles. The first release of Phase 4 was Wandavision (Shakman 2021), a limited Disney+ series centered around Scarlet Witch. Unlike the stoic composure of her predecessors, Wandavision tackles the concept of female emotions and grief making a character stronger rather than weaker. In Benjamin Jones’ Evolving Portrayal of Female Emotions in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he argues that previous Marvel projects suppressed female emotion and characters, indirectly implying that they have a harder time controlling their feelings than men (Jones 2022). He references that in films featuring Black Widow and Captain Marvel, inherently feminine emotions are used to deceive or defeat a male character, when they actually lack the emotions that the male characters think they are experiencing (e.g., crying). Thus, in a show where Wanda’s emotions are seen as a “source of strength rather than a weakness to be exploited,” it indicates a shift in narrative for female characters, where they are “no longer relegated to the sidelines” (Jones 2022). This shift carries through to the first theatrical release of Phase 4, Black Widow (Shortland 2021). Considered a much-needed installment into the MCU, the film explores the backstory to a character inducted into the franchise over 10 years prior, but also one that has already died, as the film takes place directly following the events of Captain America: Civil War. While some critics have argued that this character development is tempered “by the knowledge that (this) history is all we can ever know,” others have applauded it in depicting the strength and resilience of the female character, as well as expanding Natasha’s emotional palette (Taylor 2021). Furthermore, it is the first MCU film to break the stereotype of a female hero being seen as “shocking” for displaying equal levels of power as male characters. In Gender Portrayal in the MCU, Jess Ameter argues that women’s powers are seen as abnormal to other characters, as it’s unbelievable that a “woman could be strong and powerful enough to rival a man” (Ameter 2019). With Black Widow, Natasha’s enemies take her at face value and as an equal component, demonstrating the exponential growth Marvel has had.

CONCLUSION In conclusion, Marvel has demonstrated considerable growth, but they may still have a long way to go in being truly intersectional. As of now, only 15 of the 27 films pass the Bechdel Test, and most only scrape by. The Bechdel test merely measures if women are in a movie off of three components: (1) two female characters are named, (2) they have to talk, and (3) their conversation must have nothing to do with a man. However, so far all of the projects from Phase 4 have passed the test with flying covers. Marvel Studios also appears to be expanding into intersectionality, by incorporating more women of color, religion, sexuality, and age, with upcoming projects such as The Marvels, She-Hulk, Ironheart, and Ms Marvel. To continue to make the characters equal beyond just the number of female versus male characters, Ameter argues that it also must be about how the characters interact with others, how similar they are to characters of the same gender, and how they are depicted visually (Ameter 2019). Keeping these characterizations in mind in contrast with current and future projects, it appears that Marvel Studios is changing rapidly to best fit their growing audience.

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