As I was doing the reading for this particular discussion I kept coming back to the idea of “The Female Gaze” and how the majority of art and media is not generated from a woman’s perspective. The central idea is that throughout the history of art and media everything has been presented in order to appease the male gaze. Women should be secondary, appear vulnerable, be a sex object, but not too sexy lest she look whorish.
The teen movies of the 80s and 90s exploited a lot of the tropes popular within the male gaze. If a girl was smart or weird she wasn’t pretty, and all you had to do to make her pretty and popular was remove her glasses and put her in trendy clothing so she could pretend to be dumb and nothing more than eye candy for the men. As we all know a woman is only worth something if men want her.
Though marginally better when Marvel came onto the scene with well written female superheroes something was still missing. We had no feature films starring a female superhero. There were still plenty of movies about how the superhero wins over the woman who only kinda tolerates his existence at first but is worn down by his oafish charms. Yeah, I’m looking at you “Star Lord”.
So when they announced the Captain Marvel movie I was understandably worried. Historically in her comics both as Ms. Marvel and Captain Marvel the character has been a strong female protagonist. Some of the earlier costume choices left much to be desired, but eventually they sorted things out. Captain Marvel is smart, strong, brave, and confident. She is a hero, but she is not arrogant or vain. I grew up with her as more than just a favorite comic book character, but as a role model.
I didn’t get to go see the movie Captain Marvel when it first came out. Life happens. I was understandably disappointed to hear that it had gotten some pretty terrible reviews. The big ending fight scene was called “anti-climatic” and they called the character “flat”. I refused to read any of the reviews personally as I didn’t want any spoilers. So when I did go see it I was pleasantly surprised to see that all those negative reviews were full of crap. It was AMAZING! (Spoilers Ahead, you’ve been warned.)
Captain Marvel was everything she was supposed to be and more. She overcame oppression, learned to embrace her true self, didn’t need a romantic interest, and developed meaningful friendships with men without it being even remotely sexual. Most importantly, when the moment came to fight to “prove” herself… she realized her value didn’t have to be proven to anyone but herself and she had already done that. She was simply amazing.
So why did the movie get so much hate? It took me a while to figure it out. Captain Marvel isn’t filmed from the male gaze. -insert sounds of shock and awe- I know. How dare they film a superhero movie in the female gaze!! The main character overcame the kind of adversity that women face to accept that she was already good enough and didn’t need anyone’s approval. She didn’t have to wear skimpy outfits to be worthy of screen time and much of the movie rocked a bad-ass Nine Inch Nails t-shirt. (Sorry Wonder Woman, but that “armor” wouldn’t have saved you from a cut to the femoral.) She didn’t have to smile or flirt to get help from men.
She was gas-lighted and literally restrained by people who were afraid of what would happen if she learned just how strong she really is inside. She was told time and time again that she wasn’t strong enough. Told she would only be worthy when she could beat her male oppressor in a fair fight without using her powers. As a woman, her story of personal growth was not only complex and compelling, but also eerily familiar.
Captain Marvel was absolutely and undeniably a character that women relate to because we’ve all been there. The male audience that couldn’t comprehend the female experience had such a conniption fit over the movie that before the premiere that Rotten Tomatoes had to remove the ability for people to rate a movie before it’s released. That’s right, before it was even released they tried to tank it with negative reviews. They digitally altered photos of the character with a smile on her face because of course “wouldn’t she be so much prettier if she just smiled?” don’t you know.
That anti-climatic final battle that got such negative reviews? She was faced with her male oppressor and challenged to a final showdown without her (now fully realized) powers to prove her worth to him as an equal. She used her powers to blast him right in the arrogant face, packed him in his little ship, and sent him packing. She didn’t have to prove herself to anyone. She wasn’t his equal. She was better than him in every way and she knew it. That scene hit me especially hard. It was incredibly powerful. As someone who has fought that battle and said “ENOUGH” and walked away from an abusive relationship, that scene meant more to me than I could ever begin to express. I was represented in a way I had never been before. Respectfully and from the female gaze. My gaze.
Did the filmmakers exploit the female gaze in Captain Marvel? No, I don’t think so. What they did do was not water it down. It wasn’t presented wrapped up in a cellophane layer of male acceptability and aesthetic. It was simply allowed to be what it was with unapologetic bluntness. It did so without portraying men as inferior, stepping into the realm of misandry, or blaming men for the lack of female gaze in the past. It simply existed as itself and was a step in the right direction.