Now... there's more red here than I'm really comfortable with... but this movie has a good representation of women and equality. It is a feminist approved movie.
V Bechdel test
Yes. There are women talking about something else than men.
O Mako Mori Test
Well...
Black Widow doesn't fit
Captain Marvel? No
The Wasp, Valkyrie, Frigga, Scarlet Witch, Mantis, Shuri, Peggy, Jane, May... no.
So... perhaps Nebula and Gamora. But... is it really a story arch? I don't know...
V Sexy Lamp Test
X The Crystal Gems Test
At least four major characters... No. They brought in everyone and the kitchen sink, but still there are only two major female characters. Black Widow and Nebula. Maybe Valkyrie, if we stretch the lines, but... do we really have to? Shouldn't it be self-evident and obvious? When it comes the The Avengers and MCU, I think it should.
It passes the Bechdel test, Mako Mori test and Sexy Lamp test - sort of.
But - Black Widow doesn't talk with another female character about something else than men. She doesn't have her own story arch. She passes the Sexy Lamp test, there's nothing sexual or erotic about her and her role is important. But her role... it's 100% about supporting the male characters and helping them get to what they want.
Nebula does pass all three.
Valkyrie? No.
So, no. Endgame does not pass the Crystal Gems test.
X F-Rating
Hell no. "features complex female characters who contribute significantly to the story on screen in their own right". I don't think so.
X Sphinx Test
- Does a woman has a primary role? Yes.
- Is there a woman driving the action? No.
- Is the woman active rather than reactive? Not really.
- How stereotypical is the character? Not much.
- Is the character compelling, complex and multidimensional? Not really.
- Is the movie/story essential and does it have an impact on a wide audience? Yes.
So, no, I don't think it passes.
V The Feldman Score
I give it 5 because I think some department heads were women, and one could say women had an important role.
X Furiosa Test
X The Roxane Gay Test
Simply because this movie doesn't tell women's stories. The only story here that deserves any consideration is Nebula's story, and it's... *sigh*
V The Maisy Test for sexism in kids' shows
X Gender Balance - Gender Representation
It was mostly Iron Man and Captain America, supported by the rest. I would say there's only Black Widow and Nebula who had a bigger role of the females, and that Hulk, Thor, Hawkeye, Ant-Man and Thanos had at least as big a role as the women. Perhaps also Ant-Man and Rocket. So, it's 9 to 2. And that's not a good proportion. OK, perhaps I could give Captain Marvel a little more space than tat, so 9 to 3. It still sucks. Especially, when Captain Marvel wasn't there most of the time; Nebula was kind of played out, and they killed Black Widow.
V Gender Safety
No-one is being sexualized, no-one is being sexually harassed.
O Social Justice and Equality
Well... every woman in this movie is skinny and traditionally beautiful. Even Nebula with her blue skin, black eyes and bald head. Men come in all sizes and shapes.
Frankly, I get the feeling that all diverse characters are in it as token people. Sure, Black Widow, War Machine and Falcon are there totally equal to their white male counterparts, but it's still... nah. It's like "this character should really be a white male, but we need diversity, so let's put a person who isn't a white male to play it". I mean... it's of course great that a character isn't defined by his race or her gender, but I would appreciate if there was something to mark the fact that these people don't have the same frame of reference, know more adversity, have fought more fights, have a special, unique point of view. I like that in Agent Carter tv show - she IS being discriminated against simply because she is a woman. She behaves like a woman. Not like a man with boobs. Not like a tomboy.
But - what ever. I suppose all the people will never be satisfied, what ever one serves them.
Then comes the statistics tests. And, no, this movie doesn't pass. It does a relatively good job, and it irks me that I have to start relating and considering and grabbing straws to give it more credit... Why can't I just say "yeah, it's about 50/50". In all departments there are more men than women, and in most departments it's A LOT more men than women. I mean... "there's at least 2 women in every department"... 2 women and 15 men. 2 women and 20 men. Suddenly it doesn't sound like enough.
X The Uphold Test
V The Rees Davies Test
X The White Test
X The Hagen Test
X The Koeze-Dottle Test
That's the thing with these tests. We have been laughing at how ridiculously simple and easy Bechdel test is. I mean... it really takes just two female characters talking about something else than men, AND A LOT OF MOVIES DON'T PASS EVEN THAT! And then we have all these manchildren whining because feminists are so demanding, unfair and unreasonable in their demands X-[
I mean, you could have two whores discussing make-up or have two wives say "good morning, Bess!" "Good morning to you too, Alice!" and the movie would pass. But that is too much for some guys. And then they wonder why we see them as ridiculous, petty spineless whiners.
Oy vey, the radical notion that women are human beings.
X The Peirce Test
I really don't think there are female characters with their own story arch, their own needs and desires, their own motivation, their own goals which they pursue through action.
V The Villarreal Test
Let's say it passes, if we understand Black Widow and Nebula as lead female characters.
X The Landau Test
Oops... a leading female character ends up dead. The other becomes a plot problem for the male characters. And, yes, I say male, because at that point she is the only female character there.
X The Tauriel Test
Well... everyone knows Black Widow is good at her job. But we just kind of know it. She isn't shown doing anything about it, or noted... Yes, she is the acting leader of the Avengers. But mainly because she's the only one who would do the job. Is she good at it? Perhaps not. She is being questioned. Then she sacrifices herself and kind of does it because she bests Hawkeye. But - is that because she's good at sacrificing herself? I mean, come on!
Frankly, I don't think Black Widow is being utilized in a good way and I don't see her doing anything that makes me want to be her or do what she does. She's mostly just moping and worrying about Hawkeye. Even her sacrifice is to benefit Hawkeye.
Then we have Nebula. Is she good at her job? Not really. We are reminded of that Gamora was better at what Thanos' daughters' job was. We are reminded of that Nebula would do anything to get her father's recognition and praise, and she never gets it. She fails even at her last job.
And then there's Valkyrie to whom Thor leaves the kingdom in Norway. Which isn't really even a real kingdom, because Norway is an independent country and a kingdom in its own right and they won't give away pieces of land to some people who claim to be Aesir. Is she good at her job? Wouldn't know. She just flies around on a flying horse, basically, it just drowns in the common mess and chaos.
So, no... I don't think this movie passes Tauriel test.
X The Willis Test
No.
Pepper: "Tony, look at me. We're gonna be okay. You can rest now."
V Molly Haskell test
Black Widow sacrifices herself. Ouch. But not because she's a woman, and she doesn't sacrifice herself for a man. (Or... actually she does, but...) It could just as well been a man.
The women don't need to choose between a career and a man, they aren't demonized for having a job and a career, on the contrary. Both Black Widow and Valkyrie are presented as leaders. No-one is competing about a man, even though one could think Nebula is. She is competing of a father's approval, though, not about who gets to have a romantic relationship with the man. So that's different.
Women aren't presented as meek, submissive, obedient, quiet, stereotypical females. Every character is their own character. Women are assertive, active, offer advice on equal terms. I don't feel women and men are presented as traditional gender roles.
V the MacGyver Test
We have three good dads in this movie. Their children have their moms.
We have male-female friendship based on their characters and what they have been through together, not on sexual attraction.
But - we do have a lot of violence going on. One could think that Thanos has to die, but he's also a male, so what does that say about men? One could say, though, that the way the Avengers got the stones was creative and not violent. Hulk did try to just take the stone, but when he realized that wouldn't work, he talked his way to it. Captain America didn't try to fight himself to the scepter. All in all, I would say they did honor MacGyver's legacy :-D
O the Raleigh Becket Test
I really don't know... one could say that Tony was able to do what he had to do because Pepper had grown. That because of Nebula's character arc through all the movies, they succeeded, that because of Black Widow's development, they succeeded... but I don't know. It kind of feels farfetched. Kind of not relevant. Because EVERYONE has grown, and because they have, they succeeded. EVERYONE. Men and women alike.
Puer Aeternus – Peter Pan syndrome – Man-child
No
V Kuku test
Age of actors:
Robert Downey Jr. 54
Mark Ruffalo 52
Josh Brolin 51
Paul Rudd 50
Jeremy Renner 48
Bradley Cooper 44
Chris Evans 38
Chris Hemsworth 36
Scarlett Johansson 35
Karen Gillan 32
Ouch.
Representation Test C
V Kent test
X Aila test
V Waithe test
X Ko test
X Villalobos test
So - how could it be better?
As a movie, it would be better if the Russo brothers stopped trying to use all their toys and ideas in the same movie, and started using the stars as a team instead of giving everyone five minutes of fame. But - that's not what this blog is about. This is about feminist movie evaluation.
So - of course, more females in cast and crew.
Maybe 50% is too much asked (though why would it be?), but perhaps 40%? Or at least 30%? Right now about 15-20% of the cast is female, and that's not good. Women need work as much as men do, and nothing in this work is something men would be better at, or where male physical qualities would be necessary.
The only thing where gender matters here is the actors and their stunt doubles.
And that is all about the writers.
Of course the source material was mostly originated in the 60s when the society was misogynist. Only some 25% of Marvel characters are female, and only some 12% of mainstream comic books have female protagonist. Now, of course 2/3 of comic book readers are male, but the representation is still not proportionate.
When it comes to movies, 40-45% of the audience is female, in the last 22 MCU movies, less than 1/4 of speaking roles were for women, most of the other roles went to men, and only one of the movies had a female MC. And this time they don't have the "well, it was a misogynist era" excuse. They CHOSE to push women aside. They CHOSE to take 10 years before they gave a woman the main role in a movie. Also, inspite of whether there are women in speaking roles, there is a woman on screen for only about half an hour of a two hour movie, and usually they share the screen with a man, whereas the rest of the two hour movie is all men.
The entire MCU ranked by how much time female characters spend on screen
Give Pepper more screentime and a more important role. I mean, they made her the Rescue suit. Tony never was this family provider and selfless hero they made him look here. He has never shown any signs to warrant Pepper's last words to him. There was no need for that sacrifice. They could have given that to Pepper, so that Tony would have been the single parent raising his daughter to become the next generation brilliant scientist and genius.
Give Black Widow more screentime and a more important role. No, worrying about your friend doesn't count as a character arc.
Give Valkyrie more.
Use Captain Marvel more and better.
We need fat women.
We need more ethnic variety.
We need more female friendship and sisterhood, co-motherhood, female master-apprenticeship depiction... I mean... why was Spiderman in the Avengers movie? Spiderman has a strong enough franchise on its own. He seriously isn't needed in the Avengers. They should have taken something else. More females. There's plenty to fetch from in Marvel's comic books. For example, they could have made the boy Ironman's apprentice and protege. Or even better, he could have been a girl.
They could have focused on developing what already exists, like allow the development of the friendship between Natasha, Wanda and Pepper.
"But guys don't want to see girls gossip and try on makeup and clothes!"
Why would these women "gossip" or try on makeup and clothes? Don't forget that Thelma and Louise was directed by a man, and has plenty of male viewers who enjoy the movie. If I can identify myself in Hulk's and Thor's friendship, Tom, Dick and Harry can identify himself in Nat's and Pepper's friendship.
A lot of things are not done because people have these weird ideas and preconceived notions on how things work. Friends didn't only have female audience. Supergirl has about 50/50 audience and it's very female. Agent Carter has male audience. It's not the gender of the characters that make the audience not be there. It's whether it's good or not. So there really isn't any real obstacle for making these movies more female friendly. Frankly, all the men whining about cooties should grow up.
Natasha shouldn't have been the one to be sacrificed. Not Hawkeye either, which makes it a questionable choice to send them two to fetch the Soulstone. I mean, the obvious, OBVIOUS choice to be sacrificed was War Machine. That would have been even more heartbreaking... Tony to need to accept the loss of his best friend to save the world. They could have chosen Natasha to fetch the Reality stone with Thor, because she was a woman, and there could have been some talk between Jane and Nat, creating ground for Mighty Thor. Hawkeye could have gone with Nebula to fetch the Powerstone and Rocket could have gone with War Machine to fetch the Soulstone. Rocket would not have understood the magnitude of the sacrifice, but we would.
