Joss Whedon | unfridged

Weekend Reading List: Feminists, fighters, and failures

First up, the Mary Sue on why asking “is this feminist” is rather beside the point.
Black Widow was never supposed to resemble Buffy the Vampire Slayer. They both have vastly different origins and motivations, but the Avenger’s recent Age of Ultron story arc, in which she wants to run away and “be monsters” with the Hulk, both needlessly conflates two of Joss Whedon’s best known female heroes and betrays Romanoff’s character development thus far. [The Mary Sue]
Which is nerdier: Star Wars or Star Trek? [CollegeHumor]
And now it’s all Furiosa all the time! Here’s a beautiful essay on Mad Max, women fighters, and compulsory femininity that also touches on archaeology, Kate Beaton, The Faerie Queene, and Tamora Pierce. So the good stuff. [Hazlitt]
The accompanying comic, Furiosa #1, was highly anticipated, but unfortunately fell very short of the mark. It’s wildly offensive, graphically depicts rape, and undoes everything that made the movie revolutionary for its genre, as this Shakesville article clearly and thoroughly shows.
And then comic co-creator Mark Sexton responded to this criticism… poorly, saying that if the Wives (who are, let’s remember, kept in captivity as broodmares) hadn’t been assaulted in the pages of the comic, they would have seemed like spoiled children who didn’t know how good their lives were. I’m not really able to respond coherently. [The Mary Sue]
It’s important to aim for greater racial diversity in films (and especially important not to dismiss those who advocate for it) and we shouldn’t forget about the three actresses of colour present Mad Max, and how their roles interact with the history of colonialism in the Pacific region. [Jeanne the Fangirl]

Monthly Reading List III

“They are no men: Tolkien’s 6 most badass forgotten ladies.” [The Mary Sue]
Here’s a recap of a “geeks and kink” panel that was held at Emerald City Comic Con. [The Mary Sue]
Okay okay okay just listen to the abstract of this Nature article: “Emerging evidence indicates that dragons can no longer be dismissed as creatures of legend and fantasy, and that anthropogenic effects on the world’s climate may inadvertently be paving the way for the resurgence of these beasts.” What.
I haven’t read the amazing science fiction and social justice anthology Octavia’s Brood yet, but I so want to. [Boing Boing]
Bitch has a cool interview with the anthology’s editor, Walidah Imarisha.
Look there’s a wee little comic about representation, and it manages to combine Star Trek, Buffy, and Steven Universe. [The Nib]
In rage-inducing news, the Hugo awards kind of got co-opted by this small group of right wing expletives. So that’s fun. [Salon]
George R. R. Martin was not pleased about this. At all. [The Guardian]
Orphan Black’s Tatiana Maslany as every emoji. [Autostraddle]
“How I became a video game feminist.” [PBS Game/Show]
Have you read Jillian Tamaki’s SuperMutant Magic Academy? Go read Jillian Tamaki’s SuperMutant Magic Academy. Then read this interview, for more info on comics, mutants, and why Canada is awesome. [Bitch]
“The definitive timeline of Marvel’s ‘Black Widow’ movie [that hasn’t been made yet].” [MTV]
So the press tour for Avengers: Age of Ultron was kind of a shit show, with Jeremy Renner and Chris Evans slut shaming Black Widow. [The Daily Beast]
IndieWire published an open letter to Joss Whedon from a “disappointed feminist fan” about the many ways Age of Ultron fell short.
Styleite has a cool list of comic heroines who can teach you about being a badass. I bet you you can’t guess who’s included.
The Mary Sue has a thoughtful piece on cosplaying while black.
Inside Amy Schumer has an excellent skit called “A Very Realistic Military Game.” It’s incredibly on point, but also a little hard to watch, so trigger warning for discussions of rape in the military.
Whoopi Goldberg was interviewed by My Drunk Kitchen‘s Hannah Hart and it was glorious.
Everyone is losing their collective shit over Mad Max: Fury Road, with Buzzfeed calling it a “feminist playbook for surviving dystopia.”
Okay, so let’s tackle Game of Thrones, shall we? It’s getting harder and harder for many fans to both watch and defend the show. It seems the writers and show runners care little about showing violence toward women in a sensitive light, and the problem only seems to be getting worse. Vanity Fair came out strongly against the treatment of Sansa Stark, the Mary Sue has made an editorial decision to no longer cover the show on their website, and Bitch discusses the post-colonial politics of the show thus far.
As a palate cleanser, Matthew Lewis (Neville Longbottom in the Harry Potter movies) showed rather a lot in a recent magazine photo shoot, and J. K. Rowling had an adorable mom reaction to it. [The Mary Sue]

Top image by alphatrashking.tumblr.com.

unfridged

feminism and fantasy, science fiction and sexism

Tag Archives: Joss Whedon

Weekend Reading List: Feminists, fighters, and failures

Monthly Reading List III