Melissa Ueckert
Film 300
3/24/2015
Feminist Film Theory and The Avengers
There is no denying that feminism is a hot topic in modern society’s social sphere. Conversations discussing it can be found across countless platforms of media and communication, film included. While feminist film theory can occasionally be used to laud the merits of gender-comprehensive films, it is more often used to identify insensitivities towards females in movies. One such instance can be found in The Avengers, an epic action film featuring the ultimate superhero crime-fighting team. While action-adventure films are notorious for their lack of feminist embracement, The Avengers makes few concessions to the pro-feminist audience demographic despite featuring a female as a main character. In Joss Whedon’s The Avengers (2012), use of the feminist film theory outlines the ways in which specific elements such as cinematography and character presence are used to manipulate and characterize the way audiences process females on screen.
Perhaps one of the most well recognized aspects of the feminist film theory is the concept of the male gaze. The “Male Gaze” refers to a deliberate placement of the camera so that it mimics the perspective of a heterosexual male. Most often, shots enacting the standards of the male gaze will pan slowly over a woman’s full body, taking time to focus on the sexualization of the feminine body type. This specific use of cinematography is intended to put viewers into the perspective of what is likely the heterosexual male character that is looking at or attracted to the woman in the film. The most prominent example of this technique in Avengers can be seen regarding the primary female protagonist, Natasha Romanoff, also known as the skilled assassin Black Widow. Romanoff is depicted as a beautiful young woman with a fit body, which is easily noticed by the audience as she primarily wears a skintight black body suit. Additionally, the zipper that sits on the front of her body suit is always zipped down rather low on her chest. The first few scenes that she is seen in the film always begin with the frame centered on her feet, only to slowly drag up slowly across her full body. In these scenes she always interacts with what can be assumed to be heterosexual males, be them antagonistic mobsters or any of the (noticeably all male) other members of the superhero team dubbed “The Avengers.” This cinematographic method intentionally forces the perspective of a straight male viewer on the audience, giving them no choice but to see Natasha Romanoff as a hyper-sexualized female character as well. The film operates under the assumption that viewers are heterosexual males, which forces the audience to view the film through a heterosexual male’s eyes. In some cases, though, this move can even alienate the audience by seemingly disenfranchising women and reducing them to the role of a purely aesthetic object to be viewed. In order to elicit the intended reaction, a scene featuring male gaze must be watched by an audience member with scopophilia, or, someone who, “builds up the physical beauty of [a character], transforming it into something satisfying in itself.” (Mulvey 7) The use of male gaze in The Avengers requires that the viewers of the film be active scopophiliacs to appreciate the overly sexualized display of the female form, yet those who are not miss this purposefully-constructed addition to Natasha Romanoff’s characterization.
Another distinction made noticeable by the feminist film theory in The Avengers is the literal presence, or lack thereof, of female characters. In the film, “The Avengers” are a group of six “superheroes” called together to ward off the Chitauri alien army sent to attack by lead antagonist Loki Laufeyson. Of the six members, only one (Romanoff) is female. Additionally, within the film, there are only three female characters who have more than one line each, Romanoff included, while there are more than ten male characters who fit the same criteria. As such, The Avengers aligns with what writer Katha Pollitt refers to as “The Smurfette Principle.” Pollitt defines the Smurfette Principle as, “a group of male buddies … accented by a lone female, stereotypically defined.” (Pollitt 1) The Avengers perfectly aligns with this dynamic, as Natasha Romanoff stands as the only female within the title group of protagonists. Pollitt makes the assertion that females in films that match the criteria of the Smurfette Principle surrender their true identities in order to fulfill a more generalized role, such as the femme fatale or the matriarch. While Romanoff does maintain a certain level of character-building back story, most of it involves Avengers member Clint Barton, with whom Romanoff has a long history. Romanoff’s story details how she was brought up in her home country Russia to be a perfect spy and assassin, but was working for an evil organization at the time. She then describes how Clint Barton earned her trust and convinced her to join the protagonist collective known as SHIELD, thus saving her from her life of evil. All of the detail put into Romanoff’s rugged past is instantly negated the second she mentions having been “saved,” as this fits her into the generalized role of the “damsel in distress.” This one story point effectively manages to counteract all of the pro-feminism characteristics Romanoff possesses, a feat which likely would not be so simple had Romanoff been a male character. Romanoff’s lack of solid, independent back story and characteristics only confirm Pollitt’s assertion that, “Boys define the group, its story and its code of values. Girls only exist in relation to boys.” (Pollitt 1)
Elements of the feminist film theory can be effectively used to identify components of the film The Avengers that are unsupportive of feminist ideals. While the film does make several concessions to feminism-sensitive audiences such as including a female as a main character and giving her a deep and layered back story, the way that her presence and the story of her past are represented onscreen neutralizes these feminist-friendly concessions. Despite her relatively gracious amount of screen time, female protagonist Natasha Romanov receives a drastically different onscreen representation than those of comparable male characters.
Works Cited
The Avengers. Dir. Joss Whedon. Walt Disney Studios, 2012.
Mulvey, L. "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema." Screen 16.3 (1975): n. pag. Web.
Pollitt, Katha. "Hers; The Smurfette Principle." New York Times 7 Apr. 1991: n. pag. Web.
