Why I need a Black Widow movie
(Originally posted here on my tumblr, conveniently recopied here.
Because it's not about want, it's about need.
Comics have a certain mythology about them, and they do conform to the same tropes that mythology and folklore have. How many characters have the Coming of Age of the Hero arc to it? How many characters have similar parallels with real life issues, even if it wasn't explicitly written into the text? I'm not a lit major by background, so those questions can probably be more accurately answered by them.
My focus is more on MCU Natasha Romanoff, and what we know of her in that canon. I'm going to try to keep comics out of this as much as I can, especially since all the history I know about that comes from the fantastic summaries on this blog and the various wikis out there. Different universes and all that. But even with the MCU canon only, there are lots of tantalizing bits of Natasha's history that can't help but hook me in, and it shows an amazing strength of character that we need to see more of. And before someone decides to troll me and say "Oh, but she's an amoral killer!" in response to this, no, she's not amoral. And don't wave that at me when everyone seems bound and determined to glorify Tony Stark even when he had his self absorbed, womanizing alcoholic moments. Let's not go there, mkay?
Natasha was started on the mercenary's path as a very young child even in the MCU-verse; I don't believe she was lying to Bruce about that in the Avengers. So we have six year old Natasha being trained to fight, lie, kill and steal from that point on. She worked with the KGB (and likely their successors, but that's a good enough shorthand for those not in the know), likely being indoctrinated about how she's doing necessary things for her country. We know she's had her personality and mind rearranged in some way, which is why she can empathize with Clint Barton. We know that after the organization's demise, she went freelance since it was all she knew. (Again, I don't think Natasha was lying in the Avengers here. She has an ability to take her own personal truths and twist it when she needs to.) Then Clint was sent in to hunt her down, but instead of following the kill order, he took her in. She had to have been a teenager in this period, because it would take years for her to get from "kill on sight" to being a trusted agent of SHIELD and a surrogate daughter for Fury. (Don't tell me how he treated Natasha in IM2 isn't fatherly, but that is certainly how I saw that.)
We don't know exactly what went down in the interim, but let me repeat this: she went from being a target with a kill order to being a trusted agent of SHIELD. That shows incredible perseverance, because we know human nature. Someone would have held her past against her, would have put her down because of the kills she made or what she had to do to make those kills. She wouldn't have been trusted right away, and she likely wouldn't have trusted herself. But Natasha wanted to go straight, she wanted to be seen as trustworthy, she wanted to right the wrongs she had done. That also takes a lot of flexibility, because she saw the proof that everything she had learned as a child was wrong, and was able to not only incorporate this into her worldview, but choose to do the right thing. SHIELD wouldn't put a target out there and say to her she had to do a certain number of missions to be in their good graces. She chose to redeem herself, to balance out her ledger. This is her being able to exert her own agency, using her own mind (which likely had been ripped to shreds and pieced together however her handlers wanted) and showing that she is capable of good judgment.
She was an abused child that went on to abuse others; in the real world, many victims go on to victimize others. They see their abuse as normal, and accept the role they're given by their abusers because it's driven into them that it's their fault. As much as Natasha does seem to internalize that aspect of it, she grew beyond the victimizer role. I say this because she points out to everyone else that their actions under mind control are not their fault, yet she clearly cannot give this grace to herself. When helicarrier staff want to come to her aid in Avengers, she waves them off to keep them from being potential targets when Bruce Hulks out. She pushes aside her own fear and pain (let's not forget, she was tossed across a room and was nearly backhanded by the Hulk before Thor showed up) to go save others when no one else was available. She goes out of her way in Captain America 2 to make herself a target and shoos innocent bystanders out of the Winter Soldier's path.
Natasha learned from her past full of horrors and mistakes and moved on, transforming that into a weapon she could use to effect a greater good. She transcended her victim and victimizer roles, took on a power all her own. SHIELD didn't create her. She took their tools and opportunities and created herself.
This is a powerful message for girls to learn. Little girls, grown women, and even men have that to learn. You are not limited by your past. You are not limited by your pain. You can grow and become more.
This is why I love Natasha Romanoff. This is why I need a Black Widow movie. Are you listening, Marvel?
Because it's not about want, it's about need.
Comics have a certain mythology about them, and they do conform to the same tropes that mythology and folklore have. How many characters have the Coming of Age of the Hero arc to it? How many characters have similar parallels with real life issues, even if it wasn't explicitly written into the text? I'm not a lit major by background, so those questions can probably be more accurately answered by them.
My focus is more on MCU Natasha Romanoff, and what we know of her in that canon. I'm going to try to keep comics out of this as much as I can, especially since all the history I know about that comes from the fantastic summaries on this blog and the various wikis out there. Different universes and all that. But even with the MCU canon only, there are lots of tantalizing bits of Natasha's history that can't help but hook me in, and it shows an amazing strength of character that we need to see more of. And before someone decides to troll me and say "Oh, but she's an amoral killer!" in response to this, no, she's not amoral. And don't wave that at me when everyone seems bound and determined to glorify Tony Stark even when he had his self absorbed, womanizing alcoholic moments. Let's not go there, mkay?
Natasha was started on the mercenary's path as a very young child even in the MCU-verse; I don't believe she was lying to Bruce about that in the Avengers. So we have six year old Natasha being trained to fight, lie, kill and steal from that point on. She worked with the KGB (and likely their successors, but that's a good enough shorthand for those not in the know), likely being indoctrinated about how she's doing necessary things for her country. We know she's had her personality and mind rearranged in some way, which is why she can empathize with Clint Barton. We know that after the organization's demise, she went freelance since it was all she knew. (Again, I don't think Natasha was lying in the Avengers here. She has an ability to take her own personal truths and twist it when she needs to.) Then Clint was sent in to hunt her down, but instead of following the kill order, he took her in. She had to have been a teenager in this period, because it would take years for her to get from "kill on sight" to being a trusted agent of SHIELD and a surrogate daughter for Fury. (Don't tell me how he treated Natasha in IM2 isn't fatherly, but that is certainly how I saw that.)
We don't know exactly what went down in the interim, but let me repeat this: she went from being a target with a kill order to being a trusted agent of SHIELD. That shows incredible perseverance, because we know human nature. Someone would have held her past against her, would have put her down because of the kills she made or what she had to do to make those kills. She wouldn't have been trusted right away, and she likely wouldn't have trusted herself. But Natasha wanted to go straight, she wanted to be seen as trustworthy, she wanted to right the wrongs she had done. That also takes a lot of flexibility, because she saw the proof that everything she had learned as a child was wrong, and was able to not only incorporate this into her worldview, but choose to do the right thing. SHIELD wouldn't put a target out there and say to her she had to do a certain number of missions to be in their good graces. She chose to redeem herself, to balance out her ledger. This is her being able to exert her own agency, using her own mind (which likely had been ripped to shreds and pieced together however her handlers wanted) and showing that she is capable of good judgment.
She was an abused child that went on to abuse others; in the real world, many victims go on to victimize others. They see their abuse as normal, and accept the role they're given by their abusers because it's driven into them that it's their fault. As much as Natasha does seem to internalize that aspect of it, she grew beyond the victimizer role. I say this because she points out to everyone else that their actions under mind control are not their fault, yet she clearly cannot give this grace to herself. When helicarrier staff want to come to her aid in Avengers, she waves them off to keep them from being potential targets when Bruce Hulks out. She pushes aside her own fear and pain (let's not forget, she was tossed across a room and was nearly backhanded by the Hulk before Thor showed up) to go save others when no one else was available. She goes out of her way in Captain America 2 to make herself a target and shoos innocent bystanders out of the Winter Soldier's path.
Natasha learned from her past full of horrors and mistakes and moved on, transforming that into a weapon she could use to effect a greater good. She transcended her victim and victimizer roles, took on a power all her own. SHIELD didn't create her. She took their tools and opportunities and created herself.
This is a powerful message for girls to learn. Little girls, grown women, and even men have that to learn. You are not limited by your past. You are not limited by your pain. You can grow and become more.
This is why I love Natasha Romanoff. This is why I need a Black Widow movie. Are you listening, Marvel?