There’s a shadow looming over Superheroes and Pop Culture; a shadow so glaring and evident, but seemingly unavoidable: conservatism.
Marvel, as it is, must be one of the most recognisable brands of everything Pop in the world right now. A machine that spits out billions of dollars in licenses, merchandising, movies, cartoons, comics… now, under the leadership of Disney, it became a juggernaut of capitalism, a tent-pole of entertainment in our time. With its simple formula of rigorous management and world-building within its filmic narratives, Marvel has been setting the rules of action and popcorn cinema since 2008. The brand managed to jump from the perceived niche of geek and childish magazines to a symbol of edgy and accessible culture-maker.
But because Pop Culture Cinema is a medium rather than an absolute trend-maker, it has to be in tune with its audience. The symbiotic relation creates an interesting dynamic, in which creator and ‘watcher’ are both passive and active shapers of the narrative: while cinema translates into a movie whichever social parameters studios think will have optimal impact and acceptance among the audience — that is, it will pick values and moral that already are ingrained into the collective mind — , it also helps to propagate and solidify said social parameters. Young boys like giant robots fighting? Then let’s have a franchise about it, and let’s make more people get into the trend of fighting robots, so we dramatically increase our profit. And like magic, suddenly giant robots become a pop culture staple, ingrained into cultural tastes and discourses. It is a weird balance that creates the myth that Hollywood (among other pop industries) dictates, when it actually follows and propagates.
Now, we like to believe that, in the West (pardon my French), we are living decently progressive times. We pay attention to minorities which, is spite of all the infinite problems that they still face, have now legitimate platforms to create their own discourses and narratives. Women, as it should be, are in the vanguard of these beautiful social changes: the word feminism is now a fundamental part of political syllabi everywhere. It is not a trend or an ideology, but a reality. And it should be, of course. So, all in all, the balance seems to be leaning towards a more positive horizon. However, amidst the much-need shakes in the social structures, where does Pop Culture stands? After all, women are playing as much games as men are (if not more). Women are going to the cinema to watch action movies as much as men are (if not more). Women like superheroes as much as men do (if not more). Yet, since 2008 we had almost fifty superhero movies, and all had men as protagonists. Mystique, Hit-Girl, Boltie and Silk Spectre are there, sure, but none of these are the main hero.
And then, we have Marvel. Marvel, discreetly, tried out Black Widow in Iron Man 2 to see if audiences would react well to a woman in that super-powered universe. They did. So Black Widow came back to the Avengers. And to Captain America: the Winter Soldier. And to Age of Ultron. And she will be back in Captain America: Civil War. And probably in Infinity Wars as well. She suddenly became so beloved that her comic counterpart went from relatively B-fame straight to the collective imagery of every one. She is now one of the main heroes of our culture, as recognisable as Captain America, Thor and others. And yet again, we have no movies of her. We barely have merchandising of her, even if girls (and boys) everywhere are claiming, vehemently, for her action figure. Why?
Answers are multiple. From Marvel, we get all kinds of excuses, but they tend to be more or less:
- There is no audience for her (bullshit)
- Men wouldn't watch a movie led by a woman (bullshit)
- She is not important enough (bullshit)
- It is difficult to write a good feminine character in an action movie.
This last point is interesting. It is rarely uttered, mainly because it basically acknowledges the lack of women in these movies. It also silently address the pitfalls of the archetypical strong female character. More or less aware of feminist discourses, writers struggle between trying to come up with interesting female characters and still appealing to what is perceived as that mythical core audience: young males who are reluctant to see women taking places that once belonged to a masculine status quo. And even when cultural products manage to get around this, the writing falls short of expectations. Strong female characters are either hypersexualised or, more commonly, they are just female versions of typical male heroes — and most of the time they still engender stereotypical female plots: family, relationship and all that. It is as if the strong female characters were written as a tool to tackle criticism, rather than being an affirmation of a progressive discourse.
To avoid these things, it seems that Marvel is skipping Black Widow’s movie altogether. But the polemic surrounding the character obscures the fact that, without fanfare, Marvel has already created a product that is a progressive oasis within a desert of conservatism: Agent Carter.
Agent Carter is a series (with two seasons so far) that follows the adventures of pre-S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Peggy Carter, Captain America’s first love interest, after the Second World War and before the creation of the eponymous spy agency. I suspect that Marvel was only half-aware of the gem hidden in the character of Peggy Carter: because the show was created to fill the gap left by the winter break of the more famous Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., it seems that the series was devised as a way to dialogue with feminist arguments and, at the same time, remain low profile enough that rabid male audiences wouldn't feel “threatened” by a strong woman (if that sounds stupid, it is probably because it is true. Men are fragile creatures). In spite of Marvel’s possible unwillingness to create more commotion around Peggy, the characters and the show are incredible feats of modern pop culture writing. Peggy is strong and symbolic because, first and foremost, she is a human being! She is not omnipotent or completely confident as most artificial strong female characters, but she behaves like a real-life woman who is trying to get her job done in an era of indomitable machismo (that is, the 1940s).
Not only Peggy is a well-written character, but the structure around here is brilliant. The script manages to create a world that resembles a past reality, but at the same time addressing contemporary issues. Peggy is not taken seriously at her workplace at first, because of course, this is what would have happened in the 1940s, but it also brings forth very urgent issues of women’s lower wages and similar problems. The historical setting function as a surrogate for modern problems, but it is so colourful, rich and well made, that it creates an interesting dynamic: even if the series work as a lab to showcase a decently-written female character, the story is compelling enough to be interesting in addition to the discussion of social issues.
I won’t go into plot details too much, but suffices to say that throughout the first season, the story never really has the idea of “romantic interest” as a central point, nor it relies on Peggy’s looks and beauty — and yes, Agent Carter passes the Bachdel test multiple times (with honours!).
So, Peggy Carter is the feminist, strong female character that we need. Well-written, independent and real, she already reached a summit that no other superhero character has reached (Wonder Woman included). We shouldn't stop trying to change the panorama of conservatism within pop culture, of course; but Agent Carter is a show that deserves all the attention it can get.
In an episode of the second season, Howard Stark says: “I always thought you should be in pictures, Peg. What do you say? Arlene French called in drunk. You want to play a sassy beer wench?”. To what she replies: “ I’d rather be the cowboy”. The dialogue than goes it Marvel’s own mea culpa: “ I like it. I don’t think the audience is ready yet.” Stark asks.
Peggy replies: “ But they’re ready for a movie based on a comic book. Sounds like a dreadful idea.”