**SPOILER ALERT**
So, I saw X-Men Origins: Wolverine this weekend, and here's what I have to say about it:
-There's only 3 female characters with any lines, and only one with a role of any real significance.
-The aforementioned female character gets to be a classic hero movie murder victim. She is used shamelessly as a plot device to ignite Wolverine's feelings of vengeance. (We could call this antifeminist film cliche "The Braveheart Effect".)
-As seen elsewhere, the female mutants possess powers that are more passive or somehow more feminine than those of their male counterparts (like skin that shields bullets or seductive mind control).
-Apparently, I would have been prepared for this if I had ever read the comics, but there is a scene in the film that is all sorts of problematic from a fat acceptance standpoint. A character named "The Blob" provides, as Underwire puts it in their review of the film, "fat-suit comic relief". Ugh.
Despite all these problems, there was one really good thing about this movie. Liev Schreiber is in it, and while he's supposed to be playing the super scary and villainous part of Wolverine's brother, Victor, I can't watch anything he's in (including the Scream movies) without picturing him as the lovable Chris from the movie Mixed Nuts:
And thinking about that was enough to get me through this silly action movie.
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1 comment:
I have one honestly serious question. I seriously want to know, what is wrong with the "feminine" characters. Why does having a defensive or psychic ability make a character weak? Kayla's power wasn't seduction, it was the ability to make people do what she told them to do with just a touch.
I really don't understand why a strong woman can't be feminine. Yes, women are traditionally portrayed as being weak, and yes, I LOVE to see an aggressive, ass-kicking woman show who's the boss. But I don't see anything wrong with having the character be as vulnerable as she is in the story she's a part of.
In the case of Origins;Wolverine, I don't see the woman as being weak or wimpy. I see her as being strong enough to do what she had to to save her sister. (Who by the way was chosen by Stryker because of her durable skin)
In the struggle to empower and strengthen all women everywhere, we feminists should not waste our time and energy being offended at something as silly as a movie. Movies are intended for entertainment, not to be taken seriously. Save the indignation for something worthwhile like changing the attitudes toward women in places like Africa and the Muslim nations, and just sit back and enjoy the movie! ;)
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