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Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2014 Keeping the 'He' in 'Heroes': A Feminist Political Economic Look at DC and Marvel Superhero Film Adaptations Laura Stoltzfus Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF COMMUNICATION AND INFORMATION KEEPING THE ‘HE’ IN ‘HEROES’: A FEMINIST POLITICAL ECONOMIC LOOK AT DC AND MARVEL SUPERHERO FILM ADAPTATIONS By LAURA STOLTZFUS A Thesis submitted to the School of Communication in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Degree Awarded: Spring Semester, 2014 Laura Stoltzfus defended this thesis on April 16, 2014. The members of the supervisory committee were: Jennifer Proffitt Professor Directing Thesis Davis Houck Committee Member Donna Nudd Committee Member The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members, and certifies that the thesis has been approved in accordance with university requirements. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I must thank my thesis committee––Davis, Dr. D, and Dr. Proffitt––for the endless support and encouragement offered me during this process. You are all professors who are also mentors, and hopefully friends. None of this would have happened without you three, and I thank you for your counsel and your presence. Dr. Proffitt, thank you for being kind when offering advice and for allowing me to invade your office from time to time and ask you thousands of questions. Thank you for pushing me to submit my work to conferences and journals. Davis, thank you for taking my freshman self under your wing and lighting the spark that resulted in this. My knowledge of Socrates, archives, and cats has grown because of you. Dr. D, your combination of art and academia is inspiring, and I hope you continue to make students broaden their horizons and open their minds. You all are the best committee a student could ask for and have made this experience a positive one. Dr. Laurents, thank you for believing in me. You were the first Communication professor I met, and I was enthralled. You are like the caring older sister who is a lovely combination of sage and sass, and you helped me discover how fun communication can be. Your kindness has been a bright spot during my time here, and I will never forget it. I am also indebted to my family and friends, people who have listened to rants, edited draft after draft, and did not complain about the sheafs of paper littering various tables. Mom, thank you for spontaneously visiting me and cheering me up; Dad, I appreciate your support and encouragement even though you have also been incredibly busy; Nic, you have been a wonderful friend, editor, and mentor throughout this journey. Thank you all for sticking with me and seeming interested in my constant discussions of superheroes; thank you for your patience and goodwill. Prettyface and Chilli Pepper, thank you for breaking the monotony of writing by demanding food and attention. Lastly, thanks to Ira. From the encouraging notes to Tan’s delivery during busy weeks, you have kept me grounded through this process and words alone cannot express my thanks. You are an incredible partner. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT....................................................................................................................................vi 1. An Introduction to Heroes and Hosiery .....................................................................................1 1.1 Purpose of Study ..................................................................................................................3 1.2 Significance..........................................................................................................................7 1.3 Research Methods ..............................................................................................................10 1.4 Looking Ahead ...................................................................................................................12 2. The Literature of Comics and Their Films...............................................................................14 2.1 2.2 A Brief History of the Comic Book Industry .....................................................................15 Female Representation in Superhero Comics ....................................................................19 3. Theory and Methodology .........................................................................................................25 3.1 Political Economy of Media ..............................................................................................26 3.2 Feminist Political Economy Defined .................................................................................31 3.3 The Importance of Feminist Political Economy and Superhero Films ..............................33 3.4 Conducting Textual Analysis .............................................................................................38 3.5 Textual Analysis Explained................................................................................................40 4. A Political Economic History of Comic Books and Their Film Adaptations ..........................43 4.1 A Brief History of Superheroes in Print .............................................................................47 4.2 The Platinum Age ..............................................................................................................47 4.3 The Golden Age .................................................................................................................48 iv 4.4 The Silver Age ...................................................................................................................50 4.5 Industry, New Technologies, and Synergy: Communication Firms and Licensing from the Bronze Age Onward ...........................................................................................................54 4.6 The Multimedia Superhero Environment in the 21st Century: From Print Properties to Silver Screen Sensations ....................................................................................................59 4.7 Taking a Political Economic Approach to Superheroes .....................................................64 4.8 Political Economy and Female Representation .................................................................69 5. Analyzing Themes Within the Top Ten Superhero Films Since 2000 .....................................72 5.1 A Discussion of the Most Profitable Films and Their Characters .....................................76 5.2 Discussion of Recurring Themes, or the Trap of Tropes ...................................................79 5.3 Darling Damsels and Vexing Vixens: A Dichotomy of Women ........................................81 5.4 Promoting Hypermasculinity and Demoting Female Masculinity ....................................85 5.5 Males and the Consumerist Weapons-Industrial Complex: Superheroes as Caring Capitalists ...............................................................................................................87 5.6 Women as Expendable and the Use of Females as Plot Devices .......................................89 6. Research Findings, or Where We Go From Here ....................................................................91 6.1 Limitations of Study ..........................................................................................................92 6.2 Recommendations for Future Study ..................................................................................92 6.3 Closing Thoughts ...............................................................................................................94 APPENDIX A: Information on the Top Ten Films ......................................................................100 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................101 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH .......................................................................................................114 v ABSTRACT The genre of superhero films has taken the movie industry by force, resulting in over a dozen comic book adaptations within the past decade alone. These films are based on intellectual properties originally appearing in comic books, and most of the adaptations are from DC and Marvel characters. As DC and Marvel, the two largest publishing houses, are wholly owned by TimeWarner and Disney, respectively, superheroes are easy and free content for media conglomerates to adapt. Due to the success of the superhero genre and its various offshoots like toys, video games, and merchandise, this work examines the top ten films since 2000 through the lens of feminist political economy of media. Issues like ownership within the comic book industry and the film industry, the inherent patriarchy of hierarchical capitalism, and gender representation in adaptations will be explored. Concluding that superhero films as a genre of profitable adaptations perpetuate stereotypes of females as dangerous vixens or damsels in distress, and that females have less agency than their male counterparts, I argue that such representations are the result of a media oligopoly and are problematic in nature. vi CHAPTER ONE AN INTRODUCTION TO HEROES AND HOSIERY I was determined to watch Marvel’s the Avengers immediately after its first trailer was released in 2011.1 I thought that the lone female Avenger, Natasha Romanov a.k.a the Black Widow, would be the multifaceted female hero superhero films have been lacking because female fan favorite Joss Whedon was involved. Whedon, creator of vampire-slaying high schooler Buffy Summers, wrench-wielding ship mechanic Kaylee Frye, and determined activist Echo/Caroline Farrell, is known for creating female characters who are more than physically strong––they are emotionally compelling, interesting characters.2 Thus, I entered the theater with high hopes. As the movie progressed, I began to feel uneasy. Each member of the eponymous team gets an introductory scene to establish his/ her persona. The audience first sees the Hulk as Bruce Banner3 saving lives as a medical doctor in a rural area, while Clint Barton/Hawkeye is guarding the Tesseract with Nick Fury,4 and Tony Stark’s Iron Man is making the world a more eco-friendly place by upgrading pipes deep underwater, safe in his suit. These are clearly the good guys, actively protecting and defending the planet. And then there is Natasha Romanov. Her first scene is a bit, well… different. The audience sees her tightly strapped to a chair, stockings ripped, shoes nowhere to be seen, wearing 1 Burns, Chris. "Marvel Comics the Avengers First Full-length Trailer Released [Video]." Slashgear. October 11, 2011. 2 see Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, and Dollhouse for more information on these characters. 3 The Hulk is the alter ego of medical doctor Bruce Banner. They have a somewhat tenuous relationship because Bruce Banner is mild-mannered, whereas the Hulk is a literal hulking mass of uncontrollable rage. 4 Hawkeye is a member of the Avengers, and his enhanced vision makes him a good assistant in watching the Tesseract, which is a device that can open portals among worlds, allowing for transportation through them. His superior, and the head of the Avengers, is S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury. 1 a skin-tight black cocktail dress complete with plunging neckline. She is surrounded by male thugs who are obviously up to no good. The audience can deduce immediately what happened: Romanov used her feminine wiles and spy skills to break into a party or an event, probably seduced some powerful man, and then happened––or allowed herself–– to get caught. Just as it seems the scene may take a turn for the worse, she gets a phone call from her boss Nick Fury’s assistant, spectacularly beats up her captors, and makes a quick escape, grabbing her high heeled shoes in the process. This scene, while demonstrating that Romanov is a force to be reckoned with, also reinforces a set of ideologies common in this genre. Nowhere in this film do we see Hawkeye attempting to seduce a villain as part of his repertoire as a hero, or spot Captain America dressing provocatively in order to obtain classified information. Their sexuality is not part of their resume, but for Agent Romanov, it is. The assumption that the audience is immediately presented with is that female heroes must rely on their sexuality to fight crime, because men can be swayed by the power of femme fatales.5 While males get cornered or trapped in inescapable rooms, females get tied up in compromising positions. The introduction of Agent Romanov immediately establishes her as a sort of dangerous human, a seductress who has incredible skill but still must get ahead by using her sexuality. Female heroes are given few roles in comic book adaptations like The Avengers. When they are, it is almost always in a highly sexualized way that reinforces the superiority of male superheroes and captures the attention of young male filmgoers.6 This is evident in the relegation 5 Gray, Richard J., II. "Vivacious Vixens and Scintillating Super Hotties: Deconstructing the Superheroine." In The 21st Century Superhero: Essays on Gender, Genre and Globalization in Film, edited by Betty Kaklamanidou and Richard J. Gray, 75. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2011. 6 Introduction. In Gender, Race, and Class in Media: A Critical Reader, edited by Gail Dines and Jean McMahon Humez, 9. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2011. 2 of Storm, Mystique, and Jean Grey to minor characters in the X-Men films; the window dressing that is Catwoman in Batman: The Dark Knight Rises and Batman Returns; and the difference in costumes and dialogue for males and for their female cohorts in every superhero adaptation. 1.1 Purpose of Study It is my argument that the effects of the current conglomerated structure of the media industry, combined with the rhetorical messages of such adaptations, promote an image of female superheroes as less able to physically defend themselves or take on leadership positions in a group––female characters are relegated to the background as maternal figures or sexually tempting vixens. Articles and essays have been written about how portrayals of female characters as sexual objects or inferior heroes have a negative effect on audience members because of how viewers use films to construct their reality.7 Not much, however, has been written on the structural factors that cause such representations to be made in the first place. Studying these factors through the lens of political economy of media––specifically feminist political economy––can explain how the current system came to exist. As Janet Wasko notes, “Political economy focuse[s] on the production, distribution, exchange, and consumption of wealth and the consequences for the welfare of individuals and society.”8 The interplay among resources, power, and information can be used to determine how businesses can create a commercial status quo that can negatively affect citizens. In our patriarchal capitalist society, only a few corporations hold a disproportionate amount of wealth, which has a large impact on the citizenry––consumers are presented with a 7 Scott Bukatman, “Why I Hate Superhero Movies,” Cinema Journal 50:3, 122. 8 Wasko, Janet. "Critiquing Hollywood: The Political Economy of Motion Pictures." In A Concise Handbook of Movie Industry Economics, edited by Charles C. Moul, 7. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005. 3