"Same’s true of the Black Widow. Scarlett Johanssen looked great in that outfit, but she seemed to be there only as eye candy. The shot in the middle of the battle where she pulls out a pistol was silly. I don’t know who this Black Widow was, and I don’t think the screenwriter did either. She wasn’t the original comic Black Widow, the Russian femme fatale who seduces Hawkeye into trying to kill Iron Man. She wasn’t the later comic book Black Widow, who dons a costume, comes over to the good guys, and teams with first Hawkeye and then Daredevil. She was just… there."
George R. R. Martin, on reviewing the Avengers. [SOURCE]
Okay, George, I do totally agree with your earlier assessment of Hawkeye. I’ll give you that he didn’t have enough screentime to get proper development. But no. I can’t even let you finish, there will be no finishing of the Kanye West meme here. WERE WE WATCHING THE SAME FILM?
I don’t want to automatically fall back on the “you think she’s just eye candy, because you’re a male” argument, because that’s unfair. Fuck, you write some really damned decent females yourself (all things considered). But honestly? No. No, we were not watching the same film.
“JUST THERE?” Uh, did you not see any of her development at all, or were you just waiting for the men to come in and steal the show? This is the same character who is the only one to get decent information when everyone else is too busy arguing over stupid personal bullshit. This is the same character who has a conversation with Loki and doesn’t lose her cool. This is the same character jumping onto alien warcraft and beating these assholes at their own game. This is the same character saving the motherfucking day by racing off to beat Loki while all the boys are too busy playing house with the alien army.
Don’t tell me she was just there. That she was just eye candy. She was one of the most important motherfucking characters in the entire film, and it saddens me when reviews degrade Johansson’s performance simply because she isn’t one of the guys. And why do all of these reviews seem to come from long time comics fans, 90% of the time all male? You do realize that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is a canon into itself and doesn’t actually follow the comics the way you’re claiming it should? That characters were changed and updated to fit with current audiences and currently relevant plots? Laying this all on Black Widow’s origins not adding up right is just plain silly at this point in the MCU game. (A game you don’t seem to be playing well, G.R.R.M.)
Flawless bitch carried that goddamn film. Period.
