Your Fave is Problematic: Age of Ultron and Black Widow's Monstrosity
One week ago, I stood with my fiance and friends in front of our local movie theater, waiting for the doors to open so that we could watch the newest installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Avengers: Age of Ultron.
I was so stoked. I had been waiting since I walked out of the theater after Avengers to watch the sequel, and here it was. This was my time. I quite enjoyed it. It's a good movie, and I got so excited during the movie that apparently I almost broke my fiance's hand by squeezing it so hard.
But there was one part (and spoilers are after this, if you haven't seen it yet and wish to avoid them) that stuck out with me and bothered me, even while I was in the middle of excitedly watching the film.
It was Natasha Romanoff.
Now, I have seen essay after essay after post after well-intentioned opinion written about the characterization of Black Widow in this movie. I'm not going to talk about her romance with Bruce Banner and I'm not going to talk about how Ultron captured her and imprisoned her and I'm not going to talk about how she didn't even attempt to lift Thor's hammer. I'm going to talk about the part where she called herself a monster.
After failing to take the chance to have a recovery shower with Bruce at Clint Barton's farm, we find Natasha and Bruce standing in a bedroom, having a heart-to-heart about Banner's insecurities with forming a relationship with Natasha (none of which, interestingly enough, have to do with the fact that her superhero alias is Black Widow and all that that stands for). Bruce is, essentially, uncontrollable. He can't always really control when he turns into the Hulk and once there he does massive damage, hurting hundreds upon thousands of lives, whether innocent or not. Also, he can't have children. Both of these things hurt the essentially gentle Doctor Banner, who, if you'll recall, we met at the beginning of Avengers helping poor people who needed medical attention. As someone who's spent his whole life trying to make others whole, the thought of hurting people wounds his soul. He hates it. He doesn't want to do it. Those things make it hard for him to find someone to form a romantic relationship with, and on top of that, his sterility means that he'll never be able to have children.
To which Natasha responds, a crack in her voice, "I can't either." We're then treated to a flashback to her days in the Red Room, where, to complete her training, she must go through the process of becoming sterilized. She doesn't want to, and argues with her trainers, who insist upon it and violate her agency by doing it anyway. She, like Bruce, is unable to bear children.
Bruce Banner calls himself a monster because he can't control the Hulk and has hurt many innocent people because of it.
Natasha Romanoff calls herself a monster because she was sterilized against her will as a teenager.
What does that say to all the other women who aren't able to bear children? Who are watching this movie? Are they monsters too? Infertility is a common problem, occurring in 6% of married women between 15-44 years of age (x).
I'm not going to talk about how Natasha's monstrosity stemmed from her inability to bear children while ignoring all of the "red in her ledger." That bothers me, but not as much as the insistence that being unable to bear children is something that makes a woman a monster.
So many women are unable to conceive children because of things beyond their control. I've known women myself who struggled with the fact that they wouldn't be able to have children ever. They're not monsters. I think we all, having watched Natasha work with the Avengers in the MCU, would agree that she's not a monster.
I don't think Marvel and Joss Whedon meant for that scene to be demeaning to women who are unable to bear children, any more than they meant for Thor's line in Avengers calling Loki adopted to be a smear on adopted children (x). I think it's just a matter of not thinking things through.
And this isn't to say that I don't understand how Natasha might feel like a monster regarding her sterility. This is a really good article that talks about how superheros - even those as awesome as Black Widow - struggle with real human problems, including sterility. And that's one of the things I love about Marvel - their ability to give these superhuman characters real stories and real problems.
Infertile women go through enough struggles in their lives. They might relate to Natasha's problems, but leaving the monster statement hanging - with no rebuttal - feels off.
I was so stoked. I had been waiting since I walked out of the theater after Avengers to watch the sequel, and here it was. This was my time. I quite enjoyed it. It's a good movie, and I got so excited during the movie that apparently I almost broke my fiance's hand by squeezing it so hard.
But there was one part (and spoilers are after this, if you haven't seen it yet and wish to avoid them) that stuck out with me and bothered me, even while I was in the middle of excitedly watching the film.
It was Natasha Romanoff.
Now, I have seen essay after essay after post after well-intentioned opinion written about the characterization of Black Widow in this movie. I'm not going to talk about her romance with Bruce Banner and I'm not going to talk about how Ultron captured her and imprisoned her and I'm not going to talk about how she didn't even attempt to lift Thor's hammer. I'm going to talk about the part where she called herself a monster.
After failing to take the chance to have a recovery shower with Bruce at Clint Barton's farm, we find Natasha and Bruce standing in a bedroom, having a heart-to-heart about Banner's insecurities with forming a relationship with Natasha (none of which, interestingly enough, have to do with the fact that her superhero alias is Black Widow and all that that stands for). Bruce is, essentially, uncontrollable. He can't always really control when he turns into the Hulk and once there he does massive damage, hurting hundreds upon thousands of lives, whether innocent or not. Also, he can't have children. Both of these things hurt the essentially gentle Doctor Banner, who, if you'll recall, we met at the beginning of Avengers helping poor people who needed medical attention. As someone who's spent his whole life trying to make others whole, the thought of hurting people wounds his soul. He hates it. He doesn't want to do it. Those things make it hard for him to find someone to form a romantic relationship with, and on top of that, his sterility means that he'll never be able to have children.
To which Natasha responds, a crack in her voice, "I can't either." We're then treated to a flashback to her days in the Red Room, where, to complete her training, she must go through the process of becoming sterilized. She doesn't want to, and argues with her trainers, who insist upon it and violate her agency by doing it anyway. She, like Bruce, is unable to bear children.
Bruce Banner calls himself a monster because he can't control the Hulk and has hurt many innocent people because of it.
Natasha Romanoff calls herself a monster because she was sterilized against her will as a teenager.
What does that say to all the other women who aren't able to bear children? Who are watching this movie? Are they monsters too? Infertility is a common problem, occurring in 6% of married women between 15-44 years of age (x).
I'm not going to talk about how Natasha's monstrosity stemmed from her inability to bear children while ignoring all of the "red in her ledger." That bothers me, but not as much as the insistence that being unable to bear children is something that makes a woman a monster.
So many women are unable to conceive children because of things beyond their control. I've known women myself who struggled with the fact that they wouldn't be able to have children ever. They're not monsters. I think we all, having watched Natasha work with the Avengers in the MCU, would agree that she's not a monster.
I don't think Marvel and Joss Whedon meant for that scene to be demeaning to women who are unable to bear children, any more than they meant for Thor's line in Avengers calling Loki adopted to be a smear on adopted children (x). I think it's just a matter of not thinking things through.
And this isn't to say that I don't understand how Natasha might feel like a monster regarding her sterility. This is a really good article that talks about how superheros - even those as awesome as Black Widow - struggle with real human problems, including sterility. And that's one of the things I love about Marvel - their ability to give these superhuman characters real stories and real problems.
Infertile women go through enough struggles in their lives. They might relate to Natasha's problems, but leaving the monster statement hanging - with no rebuttal - feels off.
I didn't hear the same implications in that line. When she was explaining her situation to Banner, she clarified that the reason she was sterilized was to make sure she never became attached to a family, and that's what made her a monster. It was all so she could be a more effective assassin. I felt that her monstrosity, as she perceived it, was her role as a perfect killer, part of which was made possible by her inability to have children. And I think now she is starting to question that -- even though she is unable to have children, she is capable of loving others like a wife and mother. But that could be a very hard thing for her to accept.
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