Photo Source: EW
I’m a sucker for action movies, but, I have to admit the lack of good femme-heroes is annoying. It’s always some girl in a tight suit (or short skirt) acting like she’s a badass, all squinty eyed and sexy-faced. Like, REALLY– you just fought six guys and got the crap beat out of yourself and you’re not even out of breath?! Usually I feel like I’m watching an actress who really really wants to look good on camera.
Enter Scarlett Johansson as The Black Widow in The Avengers. Now, I thought she was good in Ironman 2, but this time I really got to see her in action and I was so impressed! Finally, an actress who made me believe that everything I was watching was real! My favorite action heroes are the ones who are ultimately human at their core– who are self-depricating, only about 85% confident in their own abilities and totally flawed. Give me a good actor, and I’ll buy into any world a director creates…
Here’s all the reasons why ScarJo pulled off the best version of any super (or non) heroine…
SHE’S VULNERABLE
During a brief respite in the midst of being attacked and fighting for her life (and everyone else’s), what did The Black Widow do? Did she look around, satisfied, and pant with a slight smile on her face? No. Did she cock her gun and say some corny “I’m so awesome” line? No. She sank down in a corner and started shaking. It took everything in her to get back into the game when she was called upon. When she gets hit, she looks like it actually hurt – which, HELLO!? I don’t care how tough you are, if a 200lb dude hits you in the face, it’s gonna friggin’ hurt. Oh, and how about the look on her face when Banner gets a little ticked off in the beginning? Yeah, if a big green anger-monster was about to squish me, I’d make that face too… %10 tough, %90 terror.
Most super-heroines have snarky lines written for them, but they don’t seem to have to intelligence to carry them off. Johansson made me feel like Natasha Romanoff (aka The Black Widow) was terrifyingly smart. She didn’t have to rub it in everyone’s face, though… you just knew. She had a sensibility about her. She wasn’t trying – she just WAS. Then, she USES her vulnerability to get what she wants from her enemies. This definitely requires skill.
SHE’S NOT TRYING TO BE A GUY
The Black Widow may be competitive, but she’s not competing for “toughness”. Mama didn’t try to one-up the boys and isn’t trying to prove anything to anyone. She uses the fact that she’s a girl to her advantage.
SHE’S HOT BECAUSE SHE DOESNT CARE IF SHE’S HOT
I never felt for a second that ScarJo was concerned with her hair, her boobs or her bad-assy ness. She was totally unaware of herself and “in the moment” the whole time, which, of course, is hot.
SHE’S OPTOMISTIC
Optimism requires hope… hope requires reasonable insecurity. Scarlett’s Natasha Romanoff didn’t walk around totally confident that she could win, she just HOPED that she could. Which is terribly endearing.
SHE’S STILL A LADY
Even when conning her enemy, after she gets what she wants, she genuinely thanks him for giving up his secret… which is so classy! The Black Widow is completely sincere and ladylike.
If you haven’t seen The Avengers, get on that.
xo Joy
this was fantastic!
completely agree! i loved scarlett in this movie. she showed what she can really do!!
Agreed, all the way!
I have to agree with Nessa Aref above. While I think Scarlett Johansson did a phenomenal job as Black Widow, I think a lot of the credit for her being so great, has to go to writer and director Joss Whedon. He has a history of creating female characters that are strong, believable, vulnerable and overall bad asses. I’m not sure any actress could have pulled off what you loved about this character with any other man behind the camera. Three cheers to everyone involved for creating a terrific film. Now go watch Buffy The Vampire Slayer for another dose of beautiful, brilliant, ass kicking women.
Loved this . So true.
best closing thought ever. “Just… get on that!”
I’ve never been a huge fan of ScarJo, but I think she does a fantastic job as Black Widow. I think the entire cast was very impressive, even Mark Ruffalo, who I was on the fence about because I had enjoyed Edward Norton’s Bruce Banner. I agree that her vulnerability in the role made her more endearing. I liked that she wasn’t unfazed by The Hulk, and that she was genuinely terrified when he was coming after her. She should have been, he’s THE HULK! Lol. I also liked when she and Captain America were fighting the Chitauri, she was exhausted. She was beat up and tiring, which is completely reasonable since there were a lot of them and she doesn’t actually have a “super” power.
While I totally agree with your article and loved ScarJo’s performance, I have to insist on a very loud round of applause for Joss Whedon, who has always made it his goal to present awesome female characters.
Not only did he write an awesome Black Widow but he fought hard to keep her in the movie. On top of all that he managed to keep her from being the only female badass in the film by giving Colbie Smulders the equally awesome but slightly overlooked character of Agent Maria Hill.
Hi Joy
I just loved reading everything about your entry. I agree with Everything that you talked about in the entry. She is a great actress and you just said lovely things about her and her great acting ability. Now I will have to go and see the avengers at some point.
Thanks for sharing
Zara
Hey Joy !! thanks for this article ! it’s nice to see you on hellogiggles again with very interesting articles ! i haven’t seen The avengers yet but i really wanted to see it and maybe even more since i read your article ! i love scarlett she’s really beautiful, down to earth just like you are ! i’m definitely gonna see this movie next week ! plus there are some handsome guys in the movie so …
Much love from France !
I find it really interesting to listen to people’s reactions about her performance. When I walked out of the theater with my friends (after the first hour of dorking out about everything else in the movie) somebody said “So ScarJo was really wooden and kinda ruined it for me. Anybody else?” Nods all around at that comment. When she was cast as Black Widow in Iron Man 2, my friends and I were all fairly disappointed because we had no faith in her ability to portray the character. I’d heard a rumor it would be Mila Kunis instead (since, you know, she’s Russian), and getting ScarJo felt like I’d gotten robbed somehow. Honestly, all the stuff you described above is how Black Widow is the best super heroine (in your mind) not the actress.
Particularly up against actors like RDJ, it becomes very clear that she is TRYING to act and not quite getting it. The interrogation scene with Loki was physically uncomfortable for me, not because of the power play between the two characters but because she looked like ScarJo (not BW) talking to Loki, and frankly I don’t think she’d last very long up against the god of mischief. Just my two cents, of course, but I think you’re more gushing over the writing and the character than the actress.
That being said, the facial expressions when she was interrogating at the beginning of the movie were really good.
Man ,see my entire group had the exact opposite reaction to yours. Went in really prepped to be disappointed by her, but LOVED her in the role. Can’t usually stand her, but she so beyond sold me (from the moment her face switched upon finding out Hawkeye was compromised, I was sold) She was very reserved in the role in the parts tht need it, but that’s who Black Widow *is* Anything different, I would have said would have been a disservice to the character.
I love this, I have admittedly had a little vendetta with ScarJo since her character in ‘He’s Just not that into you’ but adored her in The Avengers!
xxx