Black Widow (aka Natasha Romanoff), played by Scarlett Johansson, made her first live action appearance in Iron Man 2, and returned this year in The Avengers. Black Widow is a stealthy spy who works for a government espionage team called SHIELD, and exhibits a fair amount of butt-kicking ability. Despite the fact that she is part of the same franchise and played by the same actress, the character changes profoundly between films (namely because in The Avengers she has one). In The Avengers she was a compelling character who plays an integral role in a team of superheros, in Iron Man 2 she may as well be a fembot.
I think most everyone can agree that Scarlett Johansson is nice to look at, I don't necessarily think there is anything offensive about accentuating this, but a problem occurs when more time is spent doing slow pans of her body and closeups on her ass than giving her a story or a personality. The protagonist, Tony Stark, is shown constantly leering at her (giving all the viewers ample time to do the same) and any contribution her character could make to the story is completely dismissed. She appears undercover as a notary taking care of some business for Tony; as soon as she leaves the room Tony turns to Pepper Pots (his secretary/love interest) and says, "I want one." And that exchange is all the explanation we are given as to how she became Tony's new secretary. Not only is the protagonist shown talking about her as if she's a toy, but what could be an interesting exchange where she is convinced to come and work for Tony is never shown. Presumably, she's there trying to get information on Tony and reporting back to SHIELD but we never see her getting this information (unless you count the pointless scene where she coyly asks Tony if his martini is "dirty enough"...which I don't).
Some people would argue, "But Black Widow is a super strong female character. She knocks out a dozen guys by herself at the end of the movie!" While I agree that it's awesome when women kick butt, it's become a common trait in today's action films to try to cover up the objectification of women by having them exhibit physical strength. When she snaps into action at the climax of the film it is cool, but it doesn't make up for her lack of humanity throughout the film; it turns her into a sexualized weapon.
So, needless to say, before The Avengers was released I was worried about whether the Black Widow could become a compelling member of the team. Then I heard that Joss Whedon was going to write and direct the film, and was immediately hopeful. Just in case anyone is unfamiliar with Joss Whedon he is the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, and Doctor Horrible's Sing-a-long Blog (watch them all) and he's widely hailed as the man to beat in terms of creating feminist film and television. However, I remained skeptical, what with there being five other Avengers (all of them male) and this being his first big budget picture where he would be getting pressure from Hollywood.
Luckily, Whedon delivered. He turned Black Widow into a character who is strong, intelligent and complex. Black Widow has a cold and calculating persona that would be expected from a government spy but she also has a past and motivations that extend beyond her orders from SHIELD (such as her affection for Hawkeye). As Iron Man 2 attempted, she is shown manipulating the men around her with "feminine wiles" but we see her using her brains rather than her sexuality to achieve her ends. Her first scene in The Avengers she is interrogated by a group of men, while tied to a chair in a sexy black dress. I distinctly remember feeling disappointed, assuming we were about to see her flirt her way out of this fix.Then Joss Whedon did something awesome; he overturned my expectations, revealing that while the mob of men thought they were interrogating her, she had actually been interrogating them. Basically, it's awesome.
In addition to Black Widow's character improving, the male characters treated her better, which I feel is just as important. In Iron Man 2 Tony Stark stares at her, objectifies her and just generally does not treat her well. In The Avengers none of the five males batted an eye at the idea of an attractive woman fighting alongside them.
Some folks are calling The Avengers a feminist movie, but as much as I love this movie and Black Widow in it, it does still suffer from The Smurfette Principle and does not pass the Bechdel Test. So although I wouldn't call it a feminist movie I give it full credit for having a well-developed and super-cool female character, and generally being a great movie.
The differences between Black Widow's character in Iron Man 2 and The Avengers are not huge, proving that feminist's are not asking for the impossible. All I want are depictions of women who are more than just a pretty face, a slammin' body or a weapon. Whedon has shown that a movie can be a huge blockbuster without reducing the female characters to sex objects, something I hope future film makers notice.
