In a time when comic book geeks are actually getting laid and cute girls are parading around the convention halls in next to nothing to emulate their favorite superheroines, isn’t it a little sad that us girls have yet to have a quality superhero moment on celluloid? For the past decade or so we’ve been proud to shell out our ten bucks to the movie house to watch Tobey Maguire and Christian Bale kick ass in spandex, because seriously, it’s Tobey Maguire and Christian Bale in Spandex, but we deserve more than that.
Male superheroes are great and I’ll watch as many movies about them as the studios can shell out, but at the same time, attending the very same movies to see women reduced to the obligatory role of shrieking damsel in distress has been less than inspiring. Not to mention how it must look to the outside community to have the most powerful geeks in the business regressing to their no girls allowed stage. It’s not too late to right this wrong, Comic-book movies are more popular than ever now, and there has never been a better time to include strong females into the equation.
The movies will seriously be better for it, for instance how many times have you heard this sentence, “that movie was kick ass, except I didn’t like Kirsten Dunst,” or “X-Men was so awesome but I wish they would have found someone else to play Storm.” It’s not just girls who complain about this. Did you ever stop to think that it isn’t just the actresses who sully your favorite movies but the comic book movie industry’s lazy attitude towards women characters in general? The actress is only as good as her material, and the material is seriously lacking. We need to take a good look at who is really responsible for this boy’s club trend and how they can fix it. Who’s to blame may shock you.
THE SOLUTION: Catwoman! If God is listening and Christopher Nolan does make a third movie within the next few years, then our friend Batman’s gonna need a new love interest, it would be great to have one that doesn’t need to be rescued all of the time (although once is fine). And for all of you who think that miss Selina Kyle is too obvious a character to include, well, so was The Joker and look how that turned out. After Michelle Pfeiffer’s interpretation, which while entertaining was not an accurate portrayal of the Catwoman we know today, and of course Halle Berry’s debacle, this iconic character needs to be redeemed something fierce. If anyone can do it, Christopher Nolan can.
THE SOLUTION: Well, the damage is done, so nothing short of a complete retooling a la Batman Begins will give us the X-Women we fondly remember. But the next time Singer gets the chance to make a female heavy ensemble picture, it would do him well to make the femmes more interesting to watch.
THE SOLUTION: Work on Mary Jane, and stop making every female character in the series a catalyst for the destruction of Spidey’s relationship, they have better things to do.
THE SOLUTION: First of all, never let these three make movies again. Second, find someone who can not only make a film based on an iconic stand-alone superheroine, but who can make it brilliantly.
Women in comics are complex, strong, smart, beautiful, sexy, adventurous and perfectly lovable. If only the movies based on comics would portray them as such. Comic book movies may still be more of a guy thing, but women are a large part of the audience too, sometimes we just need to feel empowered. And you know that guys are still going to watch. Boobs and explosions are the most guy friendly combination imaginable, as long as there’s a good story to go with the boobs and explosions, men will watch. So what are the studios hesitating for?
