As we head into summer blockbuster season, the outrage brigade is ratcheting up its rhetoric and dusting off its pearls for clutching.
First they went after the Avengers’ Black Widow because the character — who spends most of the movie kicking butt and being awesome — was upset that she couldn’t have children. Forget the fact that she offered this information only because her love interest — Bruce Banner — had just told her he couldn’t have a family because he’s the Hulk and, well, being so angry that you grow massive, green and destructive isn’t a good trait in a father. No, this was evidence of her falling into traditional gender roles — which are no longer allowed to be portrayed in film, apparently.
It appears the aggrieved would have preferred Black Widow remain the cold, emotionless killer she was programmed to be, because feelings, who needs them? (Except members of the same group of people who are constantly talking about how their feelings have been hurt, somehow making them “survivors” of some kind of violence.)
“Jurassic World” got the same treatment from the outrage brigade. The lead female character in the movie begins as a cold, emotionless creator of killers who is more concerned with her career than the two nephews who come to visit. Nothing wrong with that until she begins to loosen up and start caring. How dare she! How dare she realize there’s more to life than money and career — things like family or love (which, incidentally, is the plot of almost every sappy Christmas movie ever, except when those movies involve a man who ignores his family).
So, to those predisposed to see sexism and outrage in everything, is the ideal female movie character one that loves killing and nothing else? Is that … is that really a good ideal for women to follow?
