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BADASS BITCHES, DAMSELS in DISTRESS, OR SOMETHING in BETWEEN?: Representation of Female Characters in Superhero Action Films

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BADASS BITCHES, DAMSELS in DISTRESS, OR SOMETHING in BETWEEN?: Representation of Female Characters in Superhero Action Films BADASS BITCHES, DAMSELS IN DISTRESS, OR SOMETHING IN BETWEEN?: Representation of female characters in superhero action films Master’s thesis Jenni Kinnunen University of Jyväskylä Department of Languages English April 2016 JYVÄSKYLÄN YLIOPISTO Tiedekunta – Faculty Laitos – Department Humanistinen tiedekunta Kielten laitos Tekijä – Author Jenni Kinnunen Työn nimi – Title BADASS BITCHES, DAMSELS IN DISTRESS, OR SOMETHING IN BETWEEN?: Representation of female characters in superhero action films Oppiaine – Subject Työn laji – Level Englanti Pro Gradu Aika – Month and year Sivumäärä – Number of pages Huhtikuu 2016 140 Tiivistelmä – Abstract Tämän tutkielman aiheena on tutkia suosittujen supersankarielokuvien naishahmojen representaatioita. Tarkoitus on selvittää, kuinka naishahmoja representoidaan eli kuvataan visuaalisin keinoin, puheen/dialogin keinoin, erilaisten käyttäytymismallien kautta sekä kuinka hahmot toimivat elokuvissa, eli mikä hahmojen rooli on elokuvan juonen kannalta. Aineisto koostui viidestä (5) elokuvasta ja näiden elokuvien viidestä (5) naispäähahmosta. Aineistona käytetyt elokuvat olivat The Dark Knight Rises, The Amazing Spider-Man, Iron Man 3, Captain America: The Winter Soldier ja Guardians of the Galaxy. Laadullisen analyysin perustana käytettiin kriittistä diskurssianalyysia, tekstianalyysia sekä Greimasin aktanttimallia. Analyysissa kiinnitettiin huomiota hahmojen visuaaliseen ilmeeseen, puheeseen ja käytökseen, sekä siihen, mitä hahmot tekivät elokuvan juonessa. Hahmoja analysoitiin yksityiskohtaisesti yksi kerrallaan vanhimmasta elokuvasta uusimpaan ja sen seurauksena oli mahdollista havaita samankaltaisuuksia hahmojen kesken sekä jonkin verran muutosta representaatioissa elokuvien välillä. Analyysi osoitti että naishahmot ovat ruumiinrakenteiltaan hyvin samankaltaisia eivätkä hahmot täten edusta monipuolista kuvaa naisvartaloista. Lisäksi naishahmojen määrä suhteessa mieshahmoihin oli hyvin pieni, mikä vaikuttaa myös siihen ettei elokuvissa juurikaan esiinny naisten keskistä kommunikointia. Naishahmot kuitenkin ilmensivät useita erilaisia käyttäytymismalleja, joiden perusteella oli mahdollista todeta, että hahmot ovat monipuolisempia kuin alun perin oli ajateltu aiemman tutkimuksen perusteella. Kahdessa uudemmassa elokuvassa naishahmojen roolit olivat myös juonellisesti merkittävämmät, mikä viittaa jonkinasteiseen kehitykseen naishahmojen representaatioissa nykyaikana. Asiasanat – Keywords representaatio, naishahmot, elokuvat, supersankarit, feministinen elokuvantutkimus Säilytyspaikka – Depository Kielten laitos, JYX Muita tietoja – Additional information TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................................................. 5 2 THEORY AND CONTEXT ........................................................................................................................................... 11 2.1 GENDER STUDIES AND SUPERHEROES ....................................................................................................................................... 11 2.2 FEMINIST FILM THEORY AND FILM CRITICISM ........................................................................................................................ 15 2.3 WOMEN IN COMIC BOOKS: A BRIEF HISTORY .......................................................................................................................... 20 2.4 WOMEN IN CINEMA: A BRIEF HISTORY ..................................................................................................................................... 26 2.5 PREVIOUS RESEARCH ON SUPERHERO FILMS .......................................................................................................................... 32 3 METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................................................................................... 43 3.1 AIMS AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS .............................................................................................................................................. 43 3.2 METHODS OF ANALYSIS ................................................................................................................................................................. 46 3.3 DATA SELECTION AND COLLECTION ......................................................................................................................................... 53 3.4 THE FILMS AND THEIR FEMALE CHARACTERS ....................................................................................................................... 54 3.4.1 The Dark Knight Rises ................................................................................................................................................................ 55 3.4.2 The Amazing Spider-Man ......................................................................................................................................................... 56 3.4.3 Iron Man 3 ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 56 3.4.4 Captain America: The Winter Soldier .................................................................................................................................. 57 3.4.5 Guardians of the Galaxy ............................................................................................................................................................. 58 4 ANALYSIS ......................................................................................................................................................................... 60 4.1 CATWOMAN/SELINA KYLE ......................................................................................................................................................... 60 4.2 GWEN STACY ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 72 4.3 PEPPER POTTS .................................................................................................................................................................................... 80 4.4 NATASHA ROMANOFF/BLACK WIDOW ................................................................................................................................. 89 4.5 GAMORA .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 98 5 CONCLUDING DISCUSSION ................................................................................................................................. 111 5.1 FINDINGS IN RELATION TO THE RESEARCH QUESTIONS ................................................................................................... 111 5.2 FINDINGS IN RELATION TO PREVIOUS RESEARCH ............................................................................................................... 121 5.3 IMPLICATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH ........................................................................................... 125 5.4 LIMITATIONS OF STUDY ................................................................................................................................................................ 126 5.5 CLOSING THOUGHTS AND LOOKING AHEAD ....................................................................................................................... 127 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................................................................... 130 APPENDICES ..................................................................................................................................................................... 138 List of figures: Figure 1 Behavioral patterns 42 Figure 2 Actantial model applied to a generic fairytale 48 5 1 INTRODUCTION For the past four years, the summer season of movie theater box office has been dominated by films that bring characters known from comic books to life and accessible to audiences wider than the comic book enthusiasts. In 2012 it was the superhero assembly movie The Avengers (Marvel Studios), followed in 2013 by the third installation into the Iron Man (Marvel Studios) franchise, and in the summer of 2014 the box office was dominated by yet another superhero ensemble film by the Marvel Studios, Guardians of the Galaxy (Box Office Mojo n.d.a). In the summer of 2015, the sequel to The Avengers film known as Avengers: Age of Ultron (again, a Marvel Studios production) ranked second in the box office listing, following Jurassic World. These four comic book adaptations are merely the tip of the iceberg, and it is evident that the film studios are not going to stop releasing more movies with iconic superhero comic book characters anytime soon. Indeed, Marvel Entertainment, LLC., which is one of the largest character-based entertainment companies in the world and best known for its comic books and films (Marvel n.d.), posted on its official Twitter page in November 2014 the studio’s upcoming film schedule which included nine films and their planned release dates spanning between 2016 and 2019 (Marvel 2014). The films will
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