The Invisible Women of Comic Books

This past Friday, I went to see the Avengers and had a blast.  While we were there, we saw previews for all sorts of films, mostly geared towards that magical demographic, 18-30 male.  Apparently men in this strata like Wikipedia Fantasy History, cue Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter.  

Yes.

It really exists.  I've already declared, I will become a vampire before I will watch this one.  Now if Old Abe was taking on Team Edward...I might be  tempted.  But ultimately, still no.  Even seeing the sparkly vampire get his would not be enough of a draw.  He's the Hufflepuff of the undead.  And poor President Abraham Lincoln, he deserves better than to become the hatchet man Van Helsig of  America.

With every age, there is this collective of films geared towards the cathartic nature of watching violence, the horror film, Rambo series, John Wayne films, etc.  It is true in humor as well, as I was reminded as I laughed out loud with one pure moment of rage by the Hulk directed at the film's villain, and another at one of the film's heroes.  For guys there is this genre of films, mental candy escapism. Women can partake of it, and it's fun, but  I wondered, why don't women have this? 

Are we seeking to be boring or just so used to doing what must be done that we don't allow ourselves that sort of free wheeling escapism in our minds, breaking down the barriers of what is and what could be?  What would it look like and what would be the why of it?  

I'm not talking romantic escape films.  I'm sick to death of women films where the main character, vaguely discontent, travels to an exotic local to find her true self --Under the Tuscan Sun, Eat Pray Love....Stella Got her Groove...what have you, like our souls were rerouted somehow in the course of living and deposited at an unknown locale and if we go there, we'll find our whole selves in the process.   I want a super spy woman or a chosen one female that is able to put all the pieces together and defeat the evil bad guys with panache and authority, humor and finality.

Where is our Female Captain Kirk/James Bond or even Frodo for crying out loud? 

The closest we get is Angelina Jolie as Tomb Raider or Hallie Berry whether she plays Storm or Catwoman, and the final result is millions of women yawning.  No one saw Supergirl (with good reason), and no one is even thinking about making a Wonder Woman flick.  If you look at the superhero films out there, there have been in the past five years, two Iron Man, multiple Batman genres, Spidermans and relaunching of Spidermans, Thor, Green Lantern (okay that stunk but still), Wolverine, Xmen, Two different both failed Hulk Reboots, and a remake of Superman.  Do you notice there's not one woman in tights out there?  Is the best we can get an ex Russian Spy Scarlet Johansen whose most action packed scene is when she's tied up and in a slip? 

Then I thought about the options....She Hulk --lawyer with blood transfusion....the Invisible (Invisible!) Girl/Woman....Supergirl --Superman's cousin....Batgirl....imitator of Batman....Spiderwoman...again...imitator of Spiderman.  I realized the only original female superhero that has any marquis value is Wonder Woman, an amazonian princess carved out of stone come to life by the Greek Gods! (So as I understand it, the only way women can become superheroes is by following their male counterparts...unless they are cut out of whole cloth and not in any way related to any other women on the planet).  Diana Prince's family tree starts with her...it doesn't fork.  

Then I thought of Jean Grey but dismissed her.  Marvel is so in love with  the Phoenix story, she's been retold, revived and re killed at least 50 times...but no one really cared after the first story when it was ground breaking...now it's just retread.  And...she's dead.  Ergo...Can be super powerful, but must die to save the Universe, can't be going around busting bad guys...too powerful a woman...must not continue...I'll stop now.  You see the theme.

Most of these creations were the inventions of the comic book writers, mostly men...ergo I'm guessing, if we want females to take the lead in films or be super heroines that are wholly new...we're going to have to find the guys that write these things and introduce them to a few new ideas and maybe....a few dates.

Should I Be Concerned?

My four year old daughter is precocious and smart and often elects to be silent.

So yesterday when she produced a menagerie of animals and dolls at the table and began imaginary play by herself, I eavesdropped.

There's a reason that one should not poke one's nose into the musings of another's thoughts unwelcomed. 

It can unnerve. 

She began singing.  I tried to catch the lyrics but the meaning caught me up.  She was play acting all of the villains from the Little Mermaid, Pokemon, My Little Pony, Phineas and Ferb, Dora and Thundercats merged into one.  I waited for the hero to save the day, the barbie to be rescued, the pony Rainbow Dash to fly in at the nick of time, even a Thundercats HO! call to arms.

Nothing.

Not a peep.

Ursula won. Team Rocket Won.  Nightmare Moon and Doofensmurtz, Swiper and Mum-rah won!
She let out a triumphant cackle, the kind that usually ends the first half of a two parter episode where the bad guy seems to have the upper hand.  I made her lunch and mine.   I didn't want to interrupt.  I was waiting for the second act.

"You think you will win but you will not!" She was gloating. "For I am the greatest in the WORLD...." She let her voice float along dramatically holding that last word.

I waited, "Lunch?" 
"Yes! That would ...please me." she said in deep tones. We were now channeling Darth Vader I think, from the old version that is on VCR tapes.

A butter sandwich, yogurt, goldfish crackers and a banana later, she was back in her world. 

The heroes never showed up or they were beaten but she seemed to be having a splendid time.  Now I don't ever recall having the self possession to roll play outside of the parameters of the good guy as a kid; shoot I wouldn't even allow myself to be a villain in Dungeons and Dragons when I was a teen, much less find myself sorted in Slytherin as an adult so I wondered that a little girl barely old enough for pre-school would find the forces of chaos so compelling as versus those of sweetness and light. 

Part of it was the rump roast effect of getting the assigned roll by older sisters in games, she'd come to know these second tier characters first because she had to wait her turn for the prime spots that others who were older had jump claimed in any play that took place.   Part of it was personality; the villains were much less transparent in their actions and motivations and my daughter liked keeping her cards close to the vest.   I decided that rather than fret, I'd be direct.

"Why do you like the villains?" I asked, trying to seem very casual.
"Mom..." she gave me a look of amusement, one that made her seem at least eight years older than she is, "It's only pretend."

Perhaps I need to get out a bit more. 

Short Definition of an Optimist

At a Comic Book Shop in the mall, there was a rack of costumes. While Batman, Spiderman and Superman were well represented in all sizes, only two costumes appeared to have been ordered to fit women wanting to indulge in Halloween traditions: Halle Berry' Catwoman and Daredevil's Sai wielding ninja girlfriend, Electra.

Good luck fellas.

Now I read and have read comic books since I could read. To this day, I am puzzled that the costume purveyors don't have Marvel Girl, Storm, Kitty Pryde, Phoenix, Dark Phoenix, all manner of Catwoman and Batgirl costumes available for October 31st. Who wouldn't want to dress like the Winsome Wasp or Megan of Excalibur, or Emma Frost after she joined the X-men. Honestly, I'd have suited up my entire group as the X-men if the manufacturers had created any options other than Wolverine.

But it isn't just the X-men that suffer from this problem. It happens with Lord of the Rings and Star Wars too. I mean, Eowyn rides into battle, hacks up the Witch King, providing the turning point in the battle and is there a costume for her? No. Not even a wig and pretty dress from her time in the Rohan court!

And I remember when Star wars first came out. There were Han Solo figures, R2D2, C3PO, Chewbacca, even the unfortunate ewoks and Jabba the Hut, but Leia? Forget about it. Princess Amidala is available but most people over the age of 20 would like to erase from their adult memory, any recall of Lucas' second trilogy that prequelled the first.

Searching the costume sites is a dicey endeavor. Lots of the potential outfits border on the pornographic. I mean, they make the Halle Barre and the Electra pieces look a bit like Maid Marian and Juliette. Maybe the comic book guys are banking on desperation to close the deal.

I've however come up with my own idea for Halloween, and I'll even get to be a superhero in the process. This year, I'm the Invisible Woman.

Happy Halloween Week!