Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Stop Wondering: We're Ready for Female Superheroes

Ask anybody paying attention to trends in Hollywood and they'll point to the rising wave of inter-connected film universes (distinct somehow from film series, the definition is a bit ambiguous). Chief among these is the Marvel Cinematic Universe, one of the many series contributing to the abundance of Superhero movies that have come to take over all blockbuster competitions and grown to infect a wide range of television and streaming services, leaving many to wonder how much longer caped-crusaders can remain a hot commodity before audience fatigue sets in.

In the midst of this conversation lie questions concerning representation of heroes who are female, especially following the announcements of the upcoming Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel films. Some question the viability of a female-led superhero film, wondering at possible audiences or box-office bankability of a superhero without a Y chromosome. It's possible to consistently point to past examples of female-led superhero films, such as ElektraCatwoman, and Supergirl, wondering if these critical failures point to the doomed prospects of any such project. Such comparisons though are inappropriate; just because there have been very bad female-led superhero movies made does not mean that such films cannot be good. All we're waiting for is a good female led superhero film, just like we're receptive to good films helmed by male characters. Hunger Games films works, so why can't Black Widow?

We're ready for them, so let's change the conversation and stop wondering whether it'll work or not, instead actively and excitedly anticipating when the studios finally decide to deliver.

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