I explained most of the history behind the Ocean’s Eight movie in the last post, but in this one, I’ll focus on the cast of the movie in greater detail.

The heist in Ocean’s Eight is carried out by a team of eight talented women, played by equally talented actresses. Debbie Ocean (Sandra Bullock) heads the team, filling the same role that her older brother, Danny Ocean, took in the original Ocean’s Eleven trilogy. She is incredibly smart, cunning, and confident. The elaborate plan that she crafted to carry out the heist during her five years in prison was genius (although not entirely believable as the plots from the original trilogy also were). Bullock’s formidable acting skills and ability to connect with the audience make her a strong lead.

Her right-hand woman is Lou (Cate Blanchett), an old partner who fills the same “wingman” type role as Rusty (Brad Pitt) in Ocean’s Eleven. As one review put it, Blanchett “[wraps] her character in just enough mystery to keep you transfixed.” Many audience members were left wanting to know more about the secretive club owner.

While the rest of the team fills more minor roles, each brings something unique to the group. Helena Bonham Carter plays a somewhat disgraced fashion designer whose proximity to the event where the heist would take place (the Met Gala) and the actress who they convinced to wear the jewels that they wanted to steal (Diane Kluger, played by Anne Hathaway) made her an invaluable member. Mindy Kaling’s diamond expert, Sarah Paulson’s merchandise fencer, Rihanna’s computer genius, and Awkwafina’s gifted pickpocket rounded out the team with crucial skills, responsibilities, and personalities.

(WARNING: SPOILERS!) If you’ve been keeping count, you may have noticed that I only mentioned seven team members. As a surprise twist at the end of the movie, Diane Kluger (Anne Hathaway), the team’s mark throughout the movie, is revealed to have been in on the heist. She is the haughty, conceited actress heading the Met Gala that they tricked into wearing the necklace that they hoped to steal. Hathaway nails her performance, “[turning] the part of a clichéd Hollywood female narcissist into a disquisition on performative femininity.”

While this talented team does occasionally turn the movie into “the clever, easygoing comedy we’ve long hoped it would be,” journalists like Vanity Fair’s Richard Lawson wrote of their wish that “that mood was sustained throughout.” However, nearly every review cites that the problem lies not in the cast but in the director, Gary Ross, who was unable to replicate the energy and spirit of the original trilogy, which was directed by Steven Soderbergh.

The film treats female empowerment in an interesting way, since the main cast is comprised of criminals. Debbie Ocean gives her team a motivational speech before the heist, saying, “Don’t do this for me. Don’t do this for you. Somewhere out there is an 8-year-old girl lying in bed dreaming of being a criminal. Let’s do this for her.” While feminists generally advocate for young girls pursuing any career they want to, they usually don’t condone illegal activities.

Ocean’s justification for why she believes the team should be made entirely of women is another way that the movie presents feminism and female stereotypes from the unique perspective of a criminal: “a Him gets noticed, a Her gets ignored. And for once, we’d like to be ignored.” The co-writer of Ocean’s Eight, Olivia Milch, explained that the line was created to be “indicative of what it is to be a woman looking to accomplish her goals in a man’s world,” making a broader message more clear.

All of the previous movies I’ve discussed have been superhero or sci-fi movies, but I made this blog to talk about women in all types of action movies. I don’t know exactly if Ocean’s Eight is classified as an “action” film, but it’s one that is interesting to look at when examining female leads in traditionally male-led genres (or in this case, a previously male-dominated franchise).

When it was announced that Ocean’s Eight would be released, most people recognized that it was a reboot of the 2001 Ocean’s Eleven trilogy starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and Matt Damon among many others. However, the franchise actually began with the 1960 film Ocean’s 11, which starred Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. All four of these movies centered around thief Danny Ocean (played by Sinatra and Clooney)  and the team that he assembles to execute elaborate heists, characterized by their unique twists and surprises.

Both versions of the eleven person team are exclusively male. In Ocean’s Twelve, the 2004 sequel, Ocean’s wife, Tess (Julia Roberts), joins the team, but she takes on an incredibly minor role after being roped into the plot after the original plot goes awry. In Ocean’s Thirteen, another man is added to the group.

 

The original eleven members of Ocean’s team were highly skilled in particular areas – often the best in the world at their trade. But, in Ocean’s Twelve, Tess doesn’t have any special abilities that make her an indispensable part of the team. As previously mentioned, she was a last minute addition to the team and strongly protested being a part of her husband’s criminal activities. She is only necessary for their plan because of her striking resemblance to Julia Roberts. Although this is incredibly funny and leads to many jokes, it means that the only thing she brought to the team was her appearance.

Ocean’s Eight features an eight woman team, led by Danny’s younger sister, Debbie Ocean (Sandra Bullock). It stars incredibly talented actresses: Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Mindy Kaling, Sarah Paulson, Awkwafina, Rihanna, and Helena Bonham Carter. However, when it was first announced, some critics were worried that the all-female continuation of the original trilogy would end up similar to the 2016 Ghostbusters reboot, which received very harsh reviews and was critiqued by opponents to female reinterpretations of male-dominated franchises for not living up to the original movie. Ocean’s Eight did not elicit the same level of sexist hatred, but how did it compare to the original trilogy?

To be continued…

Up until this point, I’ve exclusively talked about women in superhero films, but since this blog is about female representation in all types of action movies, I figured it was about time that I talked about Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

When it was revealed that the Star Wars franchise was coming back with a new movie in 2015 after ten years, fans were ecstatic and most looked forward to the monumental step that was being taken: a woman as the lead protagonist role. This character, Rey, has been deemed by many journalists and reviews as “the feminist hero we’ve all been waiting for.” Patricia Karvelas claimed that Rey’s characterization was “the feminist punch-the-air moment we’ve all been desperately waiting for.”

One of Rey’s many strengths is her ability to be great at just about anything. She is an expert fighter, a skilled pilot, and a “natural leader.” All of these traits make her an incredibly powerful character, deserving of respect from her male counterparts. She receives that respect on the basis of her merit rather than anything else, which is incredibly important. However, this characterization received a lot of backlash from some fans, calling her a “Mary Sue,” or a character that lacks any real flaws and is “too perfect,” causing them to be boring instead of heroic. To some extent, they have a point; Rey is able to stand her ground against very highly-trained enemies despite no training and is a phenomenal pilot despite basically no experience or practice (as far as the movie shows). She is an incredible mechanic and profoundly gifted at using the Force.

Fans of Rey contested this notion that she wasn’t a “strong female character” because of her natural talents by explaining that Rey was important representation for women regardless. Journalist Tasha Robinson acknowledged that Rey is “not a model for every female character to aspire to,” since she does lack pretty much any weaknesses, but also made the comparison to popular male characters like Ethan Hunt and Captain America who have similar unrealistic strengths and talents that don’t cause them to be undermined in the same way that Rey is.

Regardless of her characterization, Rey is an important example when speaking about female representation in action films because she is the first woman to be the central protagonist of a Star Wars movie. While Leia was one of the main characters in the original trilogy, the primary focus of the movies rested on Luke. Her growth and plotlines were, for the most part, secondary to his. However, Rey is the central figure in The Force Awakens, second to none.

The Star Wars franchise is beloved by millions of fans around the world, so featuring a female lead made a large impact on representation across the industry. The Force Awakens broke box-office records, becoming the biggest domestic opening weekend gross of $247 million, and went on to make over $2 billion worldwide. It is currently the third highest grossing movie of all time (although it’s opening weekend record has since been beaten by Avengers: Infinity War).

Reaction

Personally, I don’t have any particularly strong feelings towards Rey. I know many people who love her and see her as one of the best portrayals of a powerful female character ever and others that think she’s a boring Mary Sue. She didn’t really stand out to me. I didn’t feel a real connection to her or her story (partly because she was so amazing at everything she tried), but I didn’t feel anything negative towards her either. From what I can tell though, my disinterest in her as a character doesn’t really have anything to do with her characterization and is mainly just a matter of personal preference. However, I do recognize her importance in terms of female representation and because of that, support her role as the lead in the franchise fully.

In 2016, Marvel Studios announced the title of the sequel to Ant-Man: Ant-Man & The Wasp. Released in 2018, this was the first movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to feature a female superheroes’ name in the title, so it was an incredibly important step towards greater equality for women in the MCU.

Movie Poster Controversy

The movie posters were subject to some controversy due to the way Ant-Man and the Wasp were positioned. Evangeline Lilly (who plays the Wasp) is facing forward, while Paul Rudd (Ant-Man) is looking back over his shoulder, a pose typically reserved for women on posters. One tweet from an angry fan sums up the strange, sexist outlook that the opponents of this poster had:

This is the future the liberals are planning for you. Women are men and men are women. #AntManAndTheWasp – @michaelshipley

Another poster (pictured below) featured Wasp in a prominent position at the center, which was another “win for gender parity,” as Scott Mendelson of Forbes Magazine wrote.

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Female Competence

Throughout Ant-Man and the Wasp, the female characters consistently prove themselves to be more competent and often more powerful than their male counterparts. Hope van Dyne (Wasp) was introduced in Ant-Man, but got little chance to show her true worth or the extent of her abilities. In Ant-Man and the Wasp, however, Hope was “the brains of the operation,” in contrast to Ant-Man’s “comic relief.” Alongside her father, Hank Pym, she works to solve complex scientific problems involving the quantum realm and is never portrayed as less intelligent or inferior to Pym, despite his greater age and experience. Not only is Hope much more intellectually competent than Scott Lang (Ant-Man), she is his physical superior as well, demonstrating acrobatic and shape-shifting skills that put Ant-Man’s to shame. As one critic wrote, “this woman kicks so much ass, it’s almost infuriating that she wasn’t recruited to the Avengers before the Infinity War went down – she could have given Thanos and his minions some serious trouble.” Although Ant-Man is still the focus of the majority of the film, his role is somewhat passive. One of Scott’s greatest roles in this film that allows them to (spoiler alert) rescue Hope’s mother, Janet van Dyne, from the quantum realm is as a conduit that Janet is able to relay information through. Scott hears her voice in his head and in some scenes, is fully controlled by Janet’s mind. This leaves Hope to save the day and rescue her mother. She “gets Scott out of binds, risks her life to save him, and generally drives the entire plot of the film,” showing her incredible capabilities every step of the way.

Janet van Dyne is another example of a competent woman in Ant-Man and the Wasp. Although she was trapped in the dangerous quantum realm for many years, she was able to stay alive and even find a way to contact her family, a feat that her husband never thought would be possible.

Ghost

One of the most interesting ways to write a villain is by giving them a valid justification for the things that they are doing. A villain with an unrelatable motivation makes the fight between good and evil seem simplistic and loses all sense of nuance. Ant-Man and the Wasp features a female antagonist, which is not very common in the action movie genre. Ghost is one of my favorite villains simply because I can genuinely understand where she’s coming from and why she committed the crimes that she did. Ghost lives with an incredibly painful condition where she phases through objects uncontrollably. Her fight against the heroes is solely motivated by her intense desire to cure her condition, which was caused by a terrible accident that killed both her parents. This sympathetic backstory and motivation allow her to connect with the audience and the protagonists, which is unique to many antagonists.

Following the release of Avengers: Age of Ultron in 2015, massive controversy surrounding the portrayal of the character Black Widow erupted. At the time, Black Widow, or Natasha Romanoff, was arguably the main female character in the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe, appearing in three films prior to Age of Ultron. But, the representation of women in Marvel films was still incredibly lacking. As one reporter, Jen Yamato, wrote:

“in 11 Marvel Cinematic Universe films thus far, strong female co-leads have only appeared in the larger ensemble team-ups primarily as lethal and emotionally impenetrable femme fatales who double as love interests (shoutout to Guardians of the Galaxy‘s Gamora).”

Still, previous movies had teased Black Widow’s complicated and interesting background, so fans were excited to see her character arc during the second Avengers movie and learn more about her story, as they were promised. Natasha Romanoff was trained from a very young age to become a spy as a part of the “Black Widow Ops Program” at a Soviet training facility called the Red Room. Knowing that a flashback scene to Romanoff’s time at the Red Room was coming in Avengers: Age of Ultron, fans hoped for an explanation of the “red ledger” line in the first Avengers movie or another event that showed the complexity of her character with the sins she committed in her past. Instead, it was revealed that the final “graduation ceremony” at the Red Room was sterilization. Although this is an undoubtedly terrible and traumatic event in Black Widow’s life, the focus of her big reveal is on her reproductive abilities, and, as Todd VanDerWerff, a reporter for Vox, writes, “it seems as if she, like so many female characters, is being reduced to her reproductive choices.” This left many fans disappointed and upset, arguing that this reveal was sexist and overshadowed Black Widow’s other moments in the film. Although Romanoff had never previously expressed interest in starting a family or having children, her backstory reveal focuses on the devastation that she feels because she is unable to have children. One review of the movie’s treatment of Black Widow explains the scenario, “instead of an assassin struggling with moral lines she didn’t know existed, we got a woman who feels incomplete because she cannot have babies.”

The last sentence of Black Widow’s reveal has been the subject of massive controversy. Her mini-monolgue, which she gave to Bruce Banner (the Hulk), in its entirety says:

In the Red Room, where I was trained, where I was raised, they have a graduation ceremony. They sterilize you. It’s efficient – one less thing to worry about – the one thing that might matter more than a mission. Makes everything easier, even killing. You still think you’re the only monster on the team?

Its somewhat difficult to tell whether she is referring to herself as a monster because she has killed people or because she is unable to have children. Although Joss Whedon stated in an interview 18 months after the film’s release that the former was his intent, it still reads as if Black Widow is calling herself a monster because she was sterilized and is equating it to the literal monster that the Hulk is.

The timing of this reveal is also very important, since it takes place within a very controversial scene. The Avengers are all safely hidden at Hawkeye’s secret family’s farm, recovering from previous events and preparing for the battle against Ultron ahead of them. In this scene, Natasha and Bruce Banner (the Hulk) have a conversation about their relationship. Although there was absolutely no evidence of anything romantic going on between them in previous movies, Natasha spends this scene flirting and making advances towards Bruce. When I first saw the scene, I was struck by how awkward and out of character it was. Bruce rejects her advances, saying that she would have no future with him because of his Hulk alter ego. When he brings up the fact that it would be impossible for him to have children, Natasha responds with “neither can I” before giving the lines quoted above. This entire scene is completely out of character for both Natasha and Bruce, who have never shown any interest in each other before and forces Black Widow into an unnecessary love interest role.

I originally planned to only write two posts on Wonder Woman, but I just couldn’t fit everything that I wanted to talk about into my previous posts. So, here’s more about the revolutionary movie.

Warning: Spoilers Ahead!

No Man’s Land

One of the most memorable and powerful scenes in Wonder Woman was the battle in “No Man’s Land.” It takes place at a pivotal moment for Diana’s character. After a woman tells her that a nearby village has been taken over by enemy troops, Diana is determined to help, but in order to do so, she must cross “No Man’s Land,” the strip of land between the two opposing enemy lines. Steve Trevor warns her, “no man can cross it. This is not something you can cross. This is not possible.” Against the advice of all the men she is fighting alongside, Diana steps into “No Man’s Land.” Showing strength and perseverance, she makes it to the other side.

As she deflects bullets on her way through “No Man’s Land,” Wonder Woman is taking fire for the defenseless and helpless people she feels a duty to protect. She stands strong in her conviction to help others and serves as an inspiration for her friends to join her in the push against enemy lines. But, the primary purpose of this scene wasn’t to create an exciting battle; Patty Jenkins, Wonder Woman’s director, explained her thought process when creating the scene and the opposition she faced:

Nobody understood what I was trying to do there. It was a scene that everybody was like, ‘Ah, OK, but we’re doing this cool thing in the town, why are you worried about that?’ I think to some of the people I was working with it was confusing. ‘Who’s she fighting?’ [But] it’s not about that, it’s about her.

The location’s name is incredibly significant as well. No man might have been able to cross it, but a strong, determined woman did.

Impact

I mentioned many of the ways that Wonder Woman broke records and became incredibly successful in my first post, but I never explained the impact it had on me. Since I first saw The Avengers in 2012, I have been a die hard Marvel fan. I try not to hate on DC Comics, since I know the rivalry between fans of the two competing companies can be vicious, but I’ve never connected with any DC characters. While I have hundreds of issues of Marvel comics, I only have a single issue created by DC, which I got for free and even though I went to see Marvel movies on their opening weekend, I had never seen a DC movie in theaters until Wonder Woman. So, saying that Wonder Woman is one of my favorite movies feels a little bit like a betrayal, but I can’t help it. On my way out of the theater, I couldn’t stop smiling. This is going to sound super cheesy but bear with me; after watching Wonder Woman, I felt powerful. I had never seen a female superhero that had made me feel that way before. I can’t even really explain how I felt. But, looking back, I wish I could feel that way again.

To some, Wonder Woman is the first “good old-fashioned superhero” of the DC Extended Universe. She is not dark or grim or hostile or edgy. She is defined by her hopefulness and belief in goodness. She is confident in her abilities and firm in her morals. It is a refreshing take on a superhero.

Warning: Spoilers Ahead!

Themyscira and the Amazons

Wonder Woman, or Diana Prince, was born on the island of Themyscira, a paradise inhabited only by female warriors called Amazons. Gods created these women in order “to show mankind what sort of greatness they [could] achieve,” but after mankind enslaved them and a war ensued, the Amazons returned to their island, sequestered from the rest of the world, training constantly in case they ever needed to fight humans again.

When German soldiers do invade the island at the beginning of the film, a massive fight begins. As a review by Vox put it, “Amazons deal beautiful death.” They fight gracefully, beautifully, and precisely, but also with incredible strength and brutality. Despite their best efforts, the Amazons are killed one by one, unable to combat the Germans’ guns. Shots of these women falling to the ground, struck by bullets, tears at the audience’s heartstrings and establishes Wonder Woman’s motivation to end war and suffering.

Steve Trevor, the Sidekick

In male-led superhero movies, their female counterparts are often physically weaker and require constant protection or rescue. In Wonder Woman, Steve Trevor fills that role, subverting the traditional expectation of the romantic lead. Wonder Woman serves as his protector while Steve helps to guide her through the new world she suddenly is forced to face as she leaves Themyscira. They have “compelling chemistry” and the romance between them does not minimize Diana’s independence and strong-willed nature.

The Nature of Strength

Diana is not only physically strong and agile; her strength also comes from her morality and optimism. In a genre that is dominated by dark, pessimistic protagonists, Wonder Woman is unique. She is able to do what she does because of her emotional strength and belief that human beings are inherently good, even though her male counterpart, Steve, feels the opposite way. In the final battle against Ares, he argues that humans do not deserve the protection that Wonder Woman is granting them and she responds, “It’s not about deserve, it’s about what you believe. And I believe in love.” This belief in love and hope is the reason she is able to defeat Ares and save mankind. Women are often called “emotional” as an insult, but Diana shows that it is a powerful strength.

 

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There is so much more that I could discuss about this movie like the No Man’s Land scene, the inclusion of a female villain, and the sexism Diana experiences in London, so I might make yet another post about Wonder Woman! (Let me know in the comments if you think I should or if you’re tired of me talking about Wonder Woman!)

In 2017, Wonder Woman marked the first movie in either of the two largest comic companies’ cinematic universes to feature a female character in the lead role. Before Wonder Woman, Marvel and DC’s movie studios had doubted the chance of success for a female-driven superhero film. But, the problem with previous attempts at female protagonists in superhero movies wasn’t a lack of viewers willing to see a female-led film: the movies were just terrible. Marvel’s Elektra, which was released in 2005 before their cinematic universe began, received horrible reviews with only a 10% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Similarly released before the current interconnected universes of movies existed, DC’s Catwoman starring Halle Berry got a dismal 9% rating.

So, why was Wonder Woman so successful?

One thing that set Wonder Woman apart from the other movies I mentioned was the popularity of its heroine. Elektra is not a Marvel character that many people know about now even after the movie came out and the character has been featured on Daredevil and The Defenders, two Netflix shows. While Catwoman was more familiar to audiences, she still did not reach Wonder Woman’s level of popularity. Wonder Woman has become a part of American pop culture since the character was first created in 1941, largely due to her 1970s TV show starring Lynda Carter as the titular character. Because Wonder Woman is somewhat of a household name, audiences were more likely to turn out and respond positively to her movie.

Another thing that set Wonder Woman apart was its female director, Patty Jenkins. With this film, Jenkins set a record for the highest-grossing movie of all time directed by a woman. But, you may be wondering, why was the director’s gender important? As a woman, Jenkins has the same female perspective that her protagonist does in the movie. She understands Diana Prince in some ways that a man would not. But, one of the areas where this is most clear is the costumes of Wonder Woman and the Amazons. The photo below shows the Amazons, a tribe of powerful, warrior women that Wonder Woman is a part of, in Wonder Woman (created by Lindy Hemming) on the left and more recently, the male-directed movie Justice League (created by Michael Wilkinson) on the right. In the first image, the women have practical armor; their vital organs are covered with metal or leather, they have metal gauntlets and shin guards, and areas of their body aren’t exposed unnecessarily. In Justice League, however, the majority of the women have absolutely no protection on their midriff (where their vital organs are) and the purpose of their outfits is clearly not what would be most appropriate in a battle, but instead, what looks the hottest. Jenkins and Hemming’s gender factored into their decision to prioritize practicality and realism over sexualization when designing the costumes and resulted in a drastically different characterization of the Amazons.

When I started this post, my goal was to talk about the background of Wonder Woman‘s success and the reason why said success was so important and the actual content of the movie, but I realized after I got 500 words in that it would probably be better to split this movie into two posts. So…

TO BE CONTINUED!

When I watched Black Panther for the first time, I was struck by how unique each female character was. They had distinct personalities, positions, interests, and motivations. They sometimes argued with each other due to their different beliefs and points of view, but as actress Lupita Nyong’o, who played Nakia, one of the leading roles in the film, explained, the women are never pitted “against each other.” When I started thinking about other action movies I’d recently seen, I realized that I viewed most of the characters (female and male) as fairly one-dimensional or at least, they had the same generic motivations as the other characters on their side of the conflict (i.e. the “evil” side is bad). The women who are a part of the main cast of Black Panther have unique personalities and points of view; they are in very high-powered positions within their society and demand respect. As ELLE Magazine explained,

These women are crucial to the structure of the film and to how the film’s central ideas play out. And they’re fully human: defined by their ideas, their ability to communicate them, and the lengths they’ll go to fight for what they believe to be true.

All of these characteristics make them positive representations of women (and in particular, women of color) in superhero films.

NAKIA, THE SPY

Played by Academy Award winning actress Lupita Nyong’o, Nakia could have easily been reduced to a typical superhero love interest, contributing little to the overall story and constantly requiring rescue or reassurance. Although she is the love interest of the male lead, T’Challa, that is not the only thing that defines her. She is an incredibly accomplished spy and fighter. Nakia is fiercely loyal to her country and her people, willing to do anything to protect them. When T’Challa asks her to stay in Wakanda instead of returning to the dangerous life as a spy, she makes it clear that she will not stand by and do nothing when she knows that there are people in need around the world who would benefit from her help. Her strong sense of morality drives her character in every decision she makes and is consistent over the entire course of the movie.

OKOYE, THE GENERAL

Okoye (Danai Gurira) is the commander of the all-female Wakandan special forces team called the Dora Milaje. These incredibly powerful women are the most elite group of fighters in Wakanda and dutifully serve the reigning king or queen. Okoye holds onto this belief of loyalty to the throne very strongly, even when it pits her against her husband on the battlefield. This sense of loyalty to the throne places her at odds with Nakia at one point in the film and leads to one of the most important scenes in the movie (at least in terms of female representation). At this moment in the story, (spoilers ahead!) T’Challa had seemingly been killed and a new king, Killmonger, had taken control of Wakanda. Along with T’challa’s mother, Queen Ramonda, and his sister, Shuri, Nakia made a move to flee the country to avoid the new king’s wrath. She assumed that Okoye would follow her lead and aid in the resistance against this new ruler, but Okoye refused, professing “I am loyal to that throne, no matter who sits upon it.” This conversation inverts the typical dynamic of conflicts in television and movies in relation to gender: the fight between the men (T’Challa and Killmonger) is largely personal and emotional while the conflict that occurs between the women is a debate on ideas where the ultimate goal is to make the choice that is best for an entire nation.

SHURI, THE GENIUS

This 16 year old is not only second in line for the throne of Wakanda, but is also the head of the country’s science and technology development program. According to the directors of Avengers: Infinity War, Joe and Anthony Russo, Shuri is the smartest character in the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe. Her inventions help to make Wakanda the most advanced civilization on the planet. Played by Letitia Wright, Shuri stood out as a fan favorite not only because of her incredible brains but due to her humor and liveliness. She is a typical little sister to T’Challa: mischievous and playful. She is confident and brilliant and serves as an inspiration that young girls can be the future of the scientific field.

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Representation is undeniably important. Danai Gurira, the actress who played Okoye, explained in an interview, “all children need to see that anyone can be anything, women can be the head of an army and black and bald (…) When I was a kid, and right up until just now, these images were not there. That, to me, is so vital.” Black Panther provides powerful role models to young girls by creating distinct, driven, strong female characters in vital, high-power positions.

Of the 100 top domestic grossing films of 2016, only 29% featured female protagonists. This number dropped to 24% in 2017 and in action films, women made up only 3%. Despite these dismal numbers, there are many notable examples of high-profile, fan favorite female leads in superhero and action movies such as Ripley in “Alien” and more recently, Wonder Woman who took on the titular role in the 2017 film of the same name. But, as Martha Lauzen, the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film’s executive director, explained, “a few high-profile cases can dramatically skew our perceptions of how women are faring as protagonists or in important behind-the-scenes roles.” Even though there are many memorable female action heroes, the fact that they only comprise 3% of action protagonists should not be ignored.

In this passion blog, I hope to look at examples of good and bad representations of women in the typically male dominated genre of superhero and action films, providing analysis of the roles they play, their interactions with other characters, and their development throughout the story.

Captain Marvel

While I don’t want to devote an entire post to a movie that has not yet been released, I wanted to briefly mention the upcoming film “Captain Marvel,” which is premiering on March 8, 2019. This will be the first movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to feature a solo female protagonist. The Marvel Cinematic Universe began in 2008 with the premiere of “Iron Man.” Over the course of the last ten years, twenty superhero movies within the MCU have been released, but none have been led by a solo female protagonist (although, 2018’s “Ant Man and the Wasp” did feature a female title character). At San Diego Comic Con in 2016, Marvel announced that Oscar-winner Brie Larson would take on the role of Carol Danvers in “Captain Marvel” and ever since, fans have been anxiously awaiting the film’s release. Hopefully, this movie will be the first of many solo female superhero films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as Kevin Feige, president of Marvel Studios, announced earlier today that there are plans for many more female-led Marvel movies in the works.