I’ve watched the Jessica Jones trailer, which is not particularly usual for me, and I’m profoundly torn on it.
On one hand, FINALLY we get a female-led superhero story. Jessica Jones is a good character, long varied comic book history, popular following, etc: all of that is good. Like every character who’s had a showcase of (up until now, his) own, the Jessica Jones trailer has clearly got its own vibe: it’s pretty horror-movie-feeling, which isn’t a direction any of the others have gone. So that’s all to the good. And they appear to be using a major part of her early comic book story line as the plot for the first season, which is high-quality fan service, of which I approve.
On the other hand, the back story they’ve taken from the comic, and the direction they’re taking with it, is very difficult to read as anything other than, “She’s been a victim, but now she’s fighting back.”
And I really, really wish that the first female-led Marvel Cinematic Universe showcase was not based around “the girl is a victim.”
Especially, especially because the only other well-established, long-term female superhero–Black Widow–is also from a hideously victimized background. I am not saying Black Widow is, as presented, a victim; she’s not. But her history is *horribly* abusive, deliberately, Machiavellianly so, and she’s already done the Rise Above/Reject Her Past storyline, albeit off screen.
(I did not see Ant-Man, because fuck them, that movie should have been The Wasp, and I gather Evangeline Lily as Hope van Dyne was pretty terrific, but she is also, from what I understand, forbidden by the male figures in her life to go out and be a hero because her mother the superhero had died in an accident, and her overprotective father doesn’t want her to BECOME A VICTIM LIKE JANET WAS. So 1. fuck them, and 2. female victims, whee.)
Anyway, so I’m really torn about Jessica Jones. I’m going to watch it, or at least the first parts of it, and I hope I’ll be so won over that I’ll happily forgive the “the girl is a victim” setup. Because honestly, I really, really want the show to rock. I want to love it. I want Marvel to do well by their first female lead, and I want, for all that is holy and merciful, for to succeed wildly and kill the stupid goddamned “women can’t open a show” thing forever and ever.
#sigh Anyway, to end on a happier note, my friend Lithera posted this cover of Uncanny Avengers #5
and said, “Oooh, pretty! Of course, that card should be the Queen of Hearts. Not that anybody besides me and Catie care…,” which led me to be happy that she understands both me and the importance of little details like that. :)