pop culture gloss
Why ugly women in the film have a hard time – and makes the ugliest of them all ugly: “She-Hulk”
Angry women are quickly accused of being hysterical in pop culture. When “She-Hulk” gets mad in the Disney+ series of the same name, she doesn’t become hysterical, but super strong – and green. Nevertheless, the makers did the angry women a disservice.
As a child, I often hit the ceiling. Others usually found that funny because I freaked out like a little hamster. So not very impressive. Today my fuse is longer, but maybe because of my explosive past I’m very fond of one superhero: Hulk. When Professor Bruce Banner gets mad, he turns into a big green bully. There’s a female version of it too: Lawyer Jennifer Walters is She-Hulk (yes, the name isn’t really creative) and she now has her own series on Disney+. But I’m disappointed.
Pretty Green: She-Hulk and Hulk become super strong thanks to anger.
Like her male counterpart, She-Hulk is aroused by anger. This makes her the ultimate «angry woman», and she has a difficult time in pop culture in general. When men show anger, they are passionate doers. Women, on the other hand, are seen as over-emotional and exhausting. That’s how it’s been shown to us in movies and television for a long time.
Angry Women: From Ridiculous to Serious
When a female character gets mad, she’s hysterical, irrational — and entertaining: in comedy, she’s a screaming caricature. In dramas she is crazy and dangerous. And in horror films, she’s so terrifying that an entire genre celebrates her as the embodiment of evil.
Luckily, you see more and more female characters whose anger is portrayed as something to be taken seriously. They have every reason to be pissed off, they seem real and their behavior is understandable. Even if that doesn’t always make her a heroine. Action films have understood this for a long time: Here anger is something that drives them, suppresses fear and helps to overcome obstacles.
Still, I don’t like She-Hulk. The reason: she is a woman! No, that’s not the problem. But she is no more. Your gender is practically your entire personality. And one scene in particular claps the feminism stamp blindly across the screen: Bruce Banner became the Hulk years ago, Jennifer only recently. When he explains that she has to keep her anger in check to control her powers, she says she does it all the time: “When men whistle at me or when incompetent men think they know everything better than I do.” So she can control her anger better because she is a woman. As a woman, do I have to find them great?
Not the same, but better
Granted, what she says is not wrong and sexism is no small thing. But she couldn’t have said that to a worse opponent. Bruce Banner has experienced several bad traumas in the comics and films and it took him years to get a grip on Hulk. Why do the series makers have to make this achievement small? Why does Jennifer have to be better than him?
Something that has happened several times in recent years, hardly a film had a feminist touch: When Batwoman in the series of the same name follows in the footsteps – and the suit – of Batman, she demands that the suit be “fixed”. When the answer that he is already perfect, she says: “He will be if he fits a woman.” um, ok…
Ruby Rose in «Batwoman».
When the doctor in the British cult series “Doctor Who” is a woman for the first time, she says there was an “upgrade”. So all of their numerous predecessors were worse for some reason.
Jodie Whittaker ist der 13. Doctor in «Doctor Who».
In the “Charlie’s Angels” reboot, the three angels were perfect all-rounders and all the men were absolute brains. But that’s not exciting or funny, it’s boring. And pretty arrogant. Same thing now with She-Hulk: Bruce is made bad so Jennifer can shine.
Ella Balinska, Kristen Steward and Naomi Scott (left to right) in the 2019 version of “Charlie’s Angels”.
“Wonder Woman” shows how unnecessary that is: Diana makes mistakes in the film and learns from them. She’s not perfect just because she’s a woman.
Gal Gadot as “Wonder Woman” Diana.
Éowyn apparently almost pees her pants on the battlefield in The Lord of the Rings. Nevertheless, she overcomes herself and is incredibly brave.
Miranda Otto as Eowyn in The Lord of the Rings.
And in “Edge of Tomorrow” it doesn’t even matter that Rita is a woman. Yes, she is exploited in the film as an advertising character for the war. But in the war itself, she is simply a capable soldier fighting with others for a common purpose.
Emily Blunt als Rita in «Edge of Tomorrow».
Maybe Jennifer as She-Hulk will also develop and learn. After all, the series has just started. Maybe she and Hulk still fight side by side. Maybe she’ll get a personality too. I hope so. Because if things go on like this, she won’t be the only one who mutates into a She-Hulk.
