10 years of Superhero Movies, not one Female Lead

I seem to be reading a lot of stuff about gender politics at the moment, and, as it's me we're talking about, getting into a lot of gender politics arguments as a result. The best thing was the fantastic Radio 4 programme Fry's English Delight, which this week discussed differences in the way men and women use English. The worst was this article, which I frankly found anti-convincing. Also, http://www.compsciwoman.com/, fantastic site, heartily recommended.

Now I could go deep into this one, talk about how you need to treat people as individuals first, and as groups only when absolutely necessary to counter-act existing prejudices. But that post ran to 4,000 words and is in drastic need of an editor with a blowtorch and thumbscrews, and in the course of which I become slightly snide. Quite snide. Very snide. a bit of a tool. a tool.  a complete toolbox with hammer, chisel, adjustable wrenches, electric drill, and those little fiddly things you can't identify but don't dare throw away.

So instead, while I'm committing the inadvisable act of getting my thoughts straight and then publishing them, I was contemplating one "gender issue" even before somebody on twitter went and reaped the whirlwind; the one area where sexism is so blatant and pervasive that I can stands no more.

Spider-Man.
Iron Man.
The Incredible Hulk.
Wolverine.
Superman.
Batman.
Green Lantern.
Ant-Man.

Ant-Man.

Ant-Man.

Ant.
Man.

F**KING ANT-MAN gets his movie before Wonder Woman, Power Girl, Zatanna, Ms. Marvel, the Black Cat, She-Hulk, Storm and/or Giant-Girl.

Now I know, there are reasons.

I really wish I was exaggerating

1. Due to issues with the way it takes 20 years to make a character "real" to comics fans, the number of 1st and 2nd-tier female superheroes per company can almost be counted on the fingers of one hand. (see the above list)
2. There are obviously issues with taking the superhero costumes of Wonder Woman, Power Girl, Ms. Marvel or She-Hulk and making a movie that is anything other than the cinematic equivalent of an Exercise video. (see right) It's a known issue.
3. Oh, I don't know. The standard target audience of 14-year old boys don't want to see an attractive woman kick ass. Women won't go and see films with female leads. Everybody hates women. Something like that, anyway.

But COME ON. Currently, the female lineup of women superheroes on film reads: Hit-Girl, Silk Spectre, the Invisible Woman, Batgirl and the women of the X-Men. Good characters all, but not a one of them actually the title character, and most of them given the task of "declaim exposition while the men get to work bein' awesome".



Firstly, technically neither super, nor a hero.
Secondly, all the other reasons.

It's not like there's a lack of brilliant, funny, beloved, fantastically talented women performers who would be willing to take the roles, and bring their built-in fanbases with them. Hell, you could cast the best writer and a potential lead actress for the Zatanna movie from the same household.

Seriously. Marvel. DC. In a world where Sex and the City 2 (a film that displays an attitude towards class not seen since about ten minutes before the French Revolution) can make enough money to ensure that Sex and the City 3 is a tragic inevitability, if you can't make money out of your female characters, you don't deserve to be in the money-making business.
Especially DC. You have Gail Simone on your staff and Wonder Woman in your Intellectual Property. Can we get it done before Marvel has time to rebrand Ms. Marvel into a vaguely filmable character?
And Marvel, one word. Trousers. Your characters require some.

Alternatively, you could make the film that's currently taken up residence in my brain and won't leave or pay rent.

Meet the Flash.


Now, the Flash is a character who has been stuck in development limbo longer than Green Lantern, mostly because DC seem to be obsessed with trying to get the comic book character into position.

This is unnecessary leg-work for a character that the Justice League cartoon proved could be summed up in a few paragraphs. Observe.

The best part about Justice League Unlimited was that, while obviously the DC characters are pretty stereotypical (because they're the models for the stereotype), they managed to give each character a stereotype that set them apart from the others. Superman is Good, Batman is Dark, Hawkgirl is Angry, Wonder Woman is Serious, Green Lantern is Gruff. And the Flash?

The Flash is FUN.

From about 3:00 in:

Lines rejected from The Dark Knight: "You're a standup guy, Bats. Don't let anybody call you a crazy loner."

The Flash taps into the essential nature of the superhero that occasionally gets overlooked; Having Superpowers Would Be AWESOME.

He's not torn up by responsibility, he's not isolated from humanity, he's not hated and feared. He's just this guy who runs fast and saves people.

Here's his origin. "Lightning Strike. Chemicals. BOOM. Super-speed. Superhero."

The problem that seems to obsess DC is how to write a story about a character who has little to no trauma. Because obviously, EVERY SUPERHERO MUST BE BATMAN. The problem that seems to possess the entire industry is how to write a story about a female character that doesn't end up being deeply, deeply exploitative and downright nasty.

(I'd show the Catwoman picture again, but frankly, it depresses me)

Why not make a film about a woman who has super-powers, suits up, and goes and be's a hero. Not because her father figure died, not because she's a Christ figure, not to compensate for her alcoholism and weapons profiteering. But because being a superhero is FUN. She wears a costume, she beats up people and drags them off to jail, and then she goes to her day job.
Because it's what she wants to do with her powers.

Notice that nothing above suggests that there's something special about changing the Flash character to a woman. This is because there's nothing special about changing the Flash character into a woman. There's nothing inherently masculine about the concept, the suit, or even the character of Wally West. I literally just changed the pronouns and it works fine.

You can save the issues that are specific to women, which is the main reason that Wonder Woman's been running around in circles for years, for the sequel.
It doesn't have to be a deep masterpiece, Lord knows Iron Man wasn't.
It doesn't have to "respect the character" because the current Flash in the comics is Barry Allen, who died when I was one, and whom nobody under 40 knows or cares anything about, so the damage is done there.
It just has to be a fun film made by people who are having fun making it and are proud of the end product.

 
See how easy! You've already done it once!

But Hollywood, can we PLEASE get a film about a superhero who isn't an emotional train-wreck, and can we please get a superhero film with a female lead?

And if they can be the same film, that would in fact be something of step forward for the genre.

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The author of this blog would like it to be known that he would merrily suffer spiders, snakes, minor burns, the wrath of multiple dieties and family members and another goddamn bike-theft if it meant that a Jewel Staite superhero film came out in 2011.

I am comforted in these dark times by reminding myself that nobody is making a Rise of Arsenal film, which would be literally the exact opposite of the superhero film I would like to see.