Just tonight, I saw Avengers: Infinity War. This was for class, in Film Symposium, so it was not a film I chose to watch myself. Therefore, I found myself critiquing it and thought of several tie-ins to what we have studied so far in Stars and Celebrity. As my final core post, I wanted to weave together some themes and ideas from multiple weeks and readings to describe what was happening in the movie, and therefore our own society.
One of the main things that I noticed about the movie was that the female characters struck me as particularly weak and tied to male characters. We have studied female stars that struggle to manage their image in relation to sexuality and categorization. Monroe was an example of a female star that both was defined by her sexuality but also put into a box because of her persona. At the time, she combined her sexuality with innocence to create a persona that she was unable to break. In the interview we watched with her in class, she reclined on a sofa and told the viewers that she wished she could do more serious roles. But as we know, Monroe was never able to find that for herself and felt enormous pressure and entrapment which may have lead to her early death. Carmen Miranda, that we read about in the Roberts piece for the lecture of this week, had created an image for herself that was unique and not extremely sexualized. But in becoming "The Lady in the Tutti Fruity Hat," she limited herself and the roles she could be assigned in Hollywood. Recently, stars like Lopez and even Amy Schumer (as I wrote about regarding I Feel Pretty) have stared to be allowed the freedom to be accepted as who they are in Hollywood. Lopez's unconventional body type (unconventional for Hollywood when she began) has become popular, and Schumer is respected for her comedic talent regardless of looks. However, when I saw the female characters in Avengers: Infinity War, I was disappointed that they were so limited. Women, including the superheroes in the film, were first introduced as "the girlfriend" character. They represented an emotional connection that the men often had to struggle with. Gamora was Thanos's daughter and Star-Lord's girlfriend and Scarlet Witch, although apparently one of the strongest superheroes in the movie, struggled with the emotional decision to kill her boyfriend to save the planet for the entire film (although two male characters quickly decided to kill those they loved). Even characters that had been strongly represented in other films, like the women in Wakanda, were barely given any screen time or story arcs. Rather, they all dressed similarly and had similar roles in relation to the male characters, from what I saw. I was not inspired by them and found them unrelatable. To me, it seemed like they were getting stuck back in a box of femininity and sexuality.
However, I challenged myself to think about how the male characters were being portrayed as well. Perhaps both genders were simplified and generalized in the film. And truly, I feel that is the case. Each of the male super heroes are just that, super-human and strong. After reviewing our readings from the week on masculinity, I thought about the quote from Springer that "cyborg figures 'perpetuate, and even exaggerate, the anachronistic industrial-age metaphor of externally forceful masculine machinery, expressing a nostalgia for a time of masculine superiority'" (Bukatman). Almost all the male characters (and interestingly, none of the female characters) had technological additions to their bodies. Just like the traditions that started in films like Aliens and the Terminator movies, Iron Man, Thanos, Star-Lord, Vision, Bucky Barnes, Black Panther, and even The Hulk used technological and robotic additions to their bodies or body suits. These enhanced their strength, although it didn't mean they would particularly win their battles. The elements of machinery in the movie definitely create a masculine association, and reinforces the idea that the ultimate male is a strong figure who can save the world. I would be interested in seeing a male superhero who is not such a "regular guy," so that we can expand our definitions of manhood.
Action films are made to be fun and enjoyable, and sewn into the genre are ideas about masculinity, femininity, and strength. In today's day and age, I would challenge filmmakers to create less conventional characters and storylines in order to move it to a more interesting and inclusive place for both men and women.
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