Less spoiler-rific AVENGERS comment, about Joss Whedon's Problem

[xiphias]

Yeah. The movie doesn't pass the Bechdel Test. At all.

See, this is the disappointing thing about Joss Whedon. He so totally wants to be a feminist. But he just . . . misses. And I feel so bad for him. I'm always rooting for him to get it right, because he WANTS to get it right, and WE want him to get it right and he just doesn't.

He's got multiple female characters with agency. It would be so easy to actually put some of them in the same room at the same time and talk about things, other than men, that move the plot forward. But he doesn't. Even though he writes female characters with agency, they're usually interacting with men, reacting to men. His worlds are patriarchal, even though it's not his intention, or his desire, and he WANTS to do better.

Please, Joss. Get it right. You want to. We want you to. It just hurts that you don't. We're pulling for you, Joss! Please.

Comments

[metahacker.livejournal.com]

Yeah. :-/ I think this just points up how ingrained the patriarchal/male-oriented culture is.

Also, starting from Marvel comics doesn't really make it any easier. (This from a die-hard Marvel fan.)

[linenoise.livejournal.com]

That was kinda my first thought, that trying to get from "Marvel Comics" to "passes the Bechdel Test" is a *huge* leap. Not an impossible one, and he probably should've made more of an effort, but.

Some of the blame probably also goes to the Hollywood money that funded the thing, because "It's a comics movie! If it's not blatantly patriarchal, we might scare off our core demographic!" Only without the self-awareness required to frame the statement in that language.