The Avengers and the Smurfette
The current issue of Entertainment Weekly is all about The Avengers. And as we’ve seen, most contemporary superhero films pretty much, well… suck (except Thor which was surprisingly good!), but since Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon has been tasked with directing this major blockbuster film, of course I’m going to see it!
Entertainment Weekly interviews the seven stars of the film as well as Joss, and overall the interview is relatively unremarkable, in the way nearly everything in EW is, but there were a few comments that are worth noting about the gender disparity in the film adaptation and superhero films generally.
In various interviews with media outlets, many of the cast members were asked what Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow was wearing under her “catsuit”. Johansson said, “Ugh, I got that questions so many times!” She continues, “‘What kind of underpants were you wearing?’ I’m like, “What kind of underpants are you wearing?”
Later when asked which new characters would make it to an Avengers sequel, Whedon responds sarcastically, “I think we need to get some more men on the team,” and Hemsworth (Thor) adds laughing, “Yes, there are too few of us.”
When asked about Joss’ attempts to make a Wonder Woman movie, “Studios will tell you: A woman cannot headline an action movie. After The Hunger Games they might stop telling you that a little bit. Whatever you think of the movie, it’s done a great service.”
While none of this is shocking or revealing, it’s nice to see, at least some critical comments about superheroes and gender in a popular mainstream magazine.
