This is where my secret feminist side comes out

[matril]

Since I can't turn on the television lately without seeing a commercial for Spiderman 3, I've been thinking about the first two movies. I'm moderately enthused for the second sequel - I didn't even bother seeing the first two until they were out of theaters, and they're not my favorite comic book movies by any stretch, but it ought to be fun to see the Evil Black Suit and the Pouty-faced Son of the Goblin and such.

However, there's one element of the movies that makes me grit my teeth and reach frantically for the fast forward button.

I. Can't. Abide. That. Girl. Mary Sue, er, Mary Jane. The redheaded bimbo. Blech. She has literally three actions:

1. Screaming
2. Crying
3. Kissing Someone

Doesn't that bug anyone else? Good grief, I thought we had come a long way from the girl being pigeonholed as Damsel in Distress/Brainless Love Interest. But apparently not. She has the personality of a cardboard cutout, honestly, yet every single guy wants her. She is the desired object, and why? She's pretty? Um, shallow a bit? No, actually, I think every guy wants her because that's all she is. Somebody's girlfriend/fianceé/wife. An object that gets passed around from one guy to another. She is never not with some guy. The part that irks me the most is toward the end of the second film, when she has (sort of) accepted that she's not going to be able to be with Peter, the man she loves....and she's going to go ahead and marry Mr. Bland Fianceé. WHY?? It's not fair to the fianceé; it's not fair to herself. Good grief, just go to him and say, "Look, I'm sorry, we had a nice time, but I just can't marry you, it wouldn't be right when I still have feelings for this other guy." She doesn't have to be married to anyone at all. Is this so difficult a concept?? Oh, I know it probably was done that way for the oh-so-gooshy romanticness of her running through the city in a wedding dress, blah blah blah...but it's ridiculous. After everything that happened between her and Peter, even if they're not going to be together, it would be absurd to go ahead and marry someone else. But apparently if she's not with someone, she doesn't exist. Grrr. Grrr. Grrr.

One other annoyance with the second movie - the villain's appearances are far, far too convenient. I understand that the plot needs to be contrived to a certain degree, but he shows up at the beginning, then completely disappears during all of Peter's I-don't-want-to-be-Spiderman crisis, and when he finally show up again, Peter's ready to put on the suit again. How lucky for him. :rolls eyes: Honestly, I was expecting mighty cool things from Doc Oc, and he ended up coming across as kind of lame to me. Ooo, the fusion machine of DOOOOM!! :shrugs: I liked Peter's conflict whether to be or not to be a superhero, in most ways, but it seemed like the villian was just tacked on as an afterthought.

Okay, I'm done ranting now.

Comments

[lazypadawan.livejournal.com]

Preach it, matril! The utter uselessness of Mary Jane has been one of my sore points with the Spidey films as well. She's purely a love interest/rescue object and it's not a feminist issue with me as it is lazy character development. And I don't understand why Peter would go this nuts over a girl who easily takes up with other men in his absence. For all of the complaining about Padmé's role in ROTS (while Mary Jane gets a pass), at least Padmé had the excuse of packing twins in the trunk. She also did things over the course of the PT besides screaming, crying, or kissing somebody, not to mention that she was 100% faithful to Anakin ;). Heck, even Trinity surviving long enough to give Neo a ride in the third Matrix flick was something. And of course Leia needs no introduction :D.

[matril.livejournal.com]

It's true; it is lazy character development. Padmé's role in ROTS is considerably superior to Mary Jane's, because for all her flaws and weaknesses, she is an actual fleshed-out character. She isn't defined just as Anakin's woman. She is also a Senator, an idealist, and a mother. She's not perfect, but at least she's complex. And of course, Leia has a thousand times the depth of Mary Jane. :)