Those are my favorite scenes in the film! They really demonstrate the Black Widow signature of adopting the noir archetype of an emotional and easily manipulated woman and using it to her advantage. Whedon isn't perfect and he shouldn't get a pass on sexism just because he's Joss, but he crafted those scenes VERY well.

I think those scenes can also challenge the idea of Tasha being an honorary male. Only a woman, underestimated by everyone, could pull off what she does. But HM is still a good way to look at women in films.

Meh. I can't say the posters bother me, not because there's nothing wrong with them - there is. It's just not any worse than the stuff I see everywhere everyday. I would like for the way that women are posed on posters to change, but I care more about the way female characters are portrayed in movies. You fix that and I suspect the posters will naturally get fixed along the way. I don't stare at movie posters all day, but I do stare at movies.

I've been thinking about "strong characters, female" as Allison puts it and there really aren't any good action movies from this century told from the point of view of a woman. Are there? I guess there's a couple bad ones, like Catwoman, but I can't think of any good ones and I definitely don't own any.

Since Hollywood is so dedicated to perfecting this whole superhero-story-movie-thing I'd really like just ONE really good one starring a woman before this trend is over.

YES. What Teague said. I feel a little sheepish that you were able to sum up what I was feeling that succinctly when I so could not. Good job.

And fair enough, Eddie. I can live with that.

No, no. I was specifically answering Bathilda's request for a "good action movie from this century told from the point of view of a woman". That's all.

Yeah, I probably should have clarified, my outrage at the film stems more from my two guy friends insisting that I feel empowered by Black Widow and me being unable to immediately explain why that felt so wrong.

I don't begrudge anyone else liking Avengers, and the movie isn't horrific. It's like Looper; it hurts more because it got so very close to being the thing I want, not because it missed by a mile.

Also: thanks for the warm welcome and for taking my complaints seriously. That's very kind. 

It's a wonderland, in which the forum is a magic bean. 

This is an interesting example of culture clash, really. A big budget US movie where a female character DOES have her gender become an issue would probably be laughed at, or at least be considered old fashioned. Similarly, a movie about women in the US military might be laughed at in nations like Israel, where women have served in combat for years.

That's a great post, and provides a good explanation for why friends and I hung out in comic book stores convincing people to order the new Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel books.  It felt like we had to put in effort to make sure it got a chance. On that note: please go check out Captain Marvel. She's great. New issue out on March 20!

Also, the post brings up a good point about women feeling uncomfortable in comic book shops. I've been going to the same comic book store since I was 11, but I still get guys trying to explain to me how things work or asking if I just want to know where to find the movie-tie-ins. Women can be and are into comic books. We just have to stop alienating them, both by marketing to them and making them feel welcome.