The Black Widow: a sympathetic analysis on the film character Natasha Romanoff in relation to character identification and female objectification
Author
Geirsdóttir, Sólveig
Term
4. term
Education
Publication year
2019
Submitted on
2019-06-03
Pages
49
Abstract
This thesis examines how the film character Natasha Romanoff (Black Widow) encourages viewer identification in The Avengers (2012), and how her status as the only major female character in the ensemble shapes both the identification process and her depiction. Grounded in cognitive and narrative film theory, the study applies Murray Smith’s “structure of sympathy” (recognition, alignment, allegiance) to map how the film establishes and guides audience engagement with characters. It integrates gender and genre perspectives on action/adventure and superhero films, including feminist film theory on female objectification (e.g., Mulvey) and scholarship on action heroines and superheroines (e.g., Brown). Focusing on The Avengers, with selective references to other films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the thesis argues that the blockbuster ensemble format invites audiences to identify with the spectacle-driven narrative as much as with individual characters. At the same time, gender emerges as a dominant factor in identification: Romanoff is repeatedly objectified and sexualized and offers limited challenge to stereotypical portrayals of women and action heroines. The study thus highlights how MCU’s gender imbalance and genre conventions shape audience engagement with a central female figure.
Dette speciale undersøger, hvordan filmfiguren Natasha Romanoff (Black Widow) fremmer publikums identifikation i The Avengers (2012), og hvordan hendes position som den eneste større kvindelige figur i ensemblet påvirker både identifikationsprocessen og hendes fremstilling. Projektet er forankret i kognitiv og narrativ filmteori og anvender Murray Smiths “structure of sympathy” (genkendelse, tilpasning, loyalitet) til at kortlægge, hvordan filmen etablerer og styrer tilskuernes forhold til karakterer. Analysen suppleres af køns- og genreperspektiver på action-/eventyr- og superheltegenrerne, herunder feministisk filmteori om kvindeobjektivering (bl.a. Mulvey) samt forskning i actionheltinder og superheltinder (bl.a. Brown). Med fokus på The Avengers, og med relevante henvisninger til andre film i Marvels cinematiske univers, argumenterer specialet for, at blockbusterformatet med flere hovedfigurer inviterer tilskuerne til at identificere sig med det spektakeldrevne narrativ lige så meget som med enkeltkarakterer. Samtidig viser analysen, at køn er en dominerende faktor for identifikationen: Romanoff bliver gentagne gange objektiveret og seksualiseret og udfordrer kun i begrænset omfang stereotype skildringer af kvinder og actionheltinder. Undersøgelsen belyser således, hvordan MCU’s kønsbalance og genrekonventioner former publikums engagement med en central kvindelig figur.
[This apstract has been generated with the help of AI directly from the project full text]
Keywords