by Darcy Whitaker, undergraduate student at Bath Spa University
Introduction by Dr Rebecca Feasey, Bath Spa University
This article was an exceptional submission to a second-year module entitled Stardom and Celebrity at Bath Spa University, taught when Universities were encouraged to move teaching from campus to an online learning and teaching environment.
Darcy was introduced through the module to seminal debates as they related to the relationship between role and star, the differences between the Problematic, Selective and Perfect ‘Fit’ between an actor’s biography and a character that they are playing on screen - with a fascination for those star-character examples where all traits and mannerisms between the two accord (Dyer 1979). Frustrated and spurred on to research after Avengers: End Game, Darcy returned to early work from the field of film star studies in order to evaluate the potential Perfect ‘fit’ in the Marvel cinematic universe, with specific attention paid to the female actors in the franchise.
To quote Darcy herself:
‘Regarding why I chose Marvel Studios as a case study, what enraged me enough to use Marvel Studios was their shallow use of the girl-power fight scene in Endgame and the feminist marketing used for Captain Marvel. They capitalise on feminism despite their track record of dismissing and/or oversexualising female characters. It's important to note, since writing this article, they seem to be amending this, though I'm sceptical of giving them credit for simply choosing to use the female characters at their disposal without sexualizing them’.
Read in isolation, Darcy’s article is eloquent and thought provoking, however, there is the need for broader framing here.
Although students were given the option of attending lectures, seminars, workshops and assessment tutorials throughout the module, questions could of course be asked relating to the digital divide and the ease of access for neurodiverse individuals. However, what is important to note here is how Darcy managed to thrive academically while struggling, quietly, with her mental health. The fact that Darcy is now, through the framing of her article, keen to make this otherwise private health concern public speaks of her courage, resilience and her desire to seek a more open dialogue on the subject of mental health. After all, according to the National Union of Students ‘over half of students’ mental health is worse than before the pandemic’ (NUS 2020).
Darcy has requested to have her mental health concerns flagged here in order to highlight the difficulty for many students whose mental health and broader wellbeing stems from a social educational environment, not always seamlessly translated online. What this means of course is that as students have returned to campus, some 18 months and 3 semesters since they were last face-to-face with tutors and their peers, we need to be mindful that although students may well be excelling ostensibly, it is only when we can start having more candid conversations with our returning students that we as tutors, course teams and student wellbeing can really offer more meaningful support.
Marvel Studios’ Perfect Fit: Representing Gender in Contemporary Society
The marketing of stars has been a long-standing practice. With its conception in the late 1920s, the star system’s main goal was to create a commodity out of film stars to ‘stabilise audience response’ and maximize profits (Belton, 2005: 4; Walker cited in Dyer, 1979: 11). Despite the disbanding of the star system in the 1960s, the marketing of stars has stood the test of time in Hollywood with mainstream films still being marketed (mainly) through the stars attached to the project. Marvel Studios is one of the most notable examples of this.
Marvel Studios launched the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) with the release of Iron Man (2008). Robert Downey Jr. played the lead role and with him begun Marvel’s use of the perfect fit celebrity. Wilson Koh (2014) recognized these similarities between Downey Jr.’s star image and the character of Tony Stark/Iron Man in his 2014 article on the use of ‘celeactor labour’ in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Koh parallels Downey Jr.’s own history with the character of Tony Stark, noting that both Downey Jr. and Stark have histories of substance abuse and philandering (ibid: 486; ‘Robert Downey Jr. on Channel 4 News’). It is important to note that Koh never references Dyer’s perfect fit model, but he does discuss how the ‘conceits and concerns of films … have historically been personified by their lead star(s)’ (ibid); he concludes that this is ‘Marvel banking on these parallels’ to create an authentic image for the audience (ibid).
Koh’s research was released in 2014 before the MCU underwent a huge genre and style transformation and introduced more stars (Kearse, 2018). Since then, Marvel Studios has released fourteen more films that offer up more examples of Marvel Studios’ perfect fit celebrities (Marvel, 2021). The playlist features film clips and interviews from Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans (Steve Rogers/Captain America), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Chris Pratt (Peter Quill/Star Lord), Scarlett Johansson (Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow) and Brie Larson (Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel), but limited examples will be given throughout the essay for the sake of brevity.
One of the main ways that Marvel Studios manages the star images of its celebrities is through public promotion (interviews, press conferences, etc.). When comparing the behaviour and personalities of the stars as seen in promotion to their on-screen characters, I found that the projected star images of each celebrity seem to share parallels with their superhero counterpart. Both Captain Marvel and Brie Larson share a dry, sarcastic humour, shown in the clip ‘Brie Larson on The Ellen DeGeneres Show’. Scarlett Johansson and Black Widow are often directly linked to their sex appeal; this is greatly shown in the clips ‘Scarlett Johansson’s SodaStream Advert’, ‘Scarlett Johansson as Lucy in Lucy (2014) #2’, and ‘Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow in Iron Man 2’. Chris Pratt, who plays Star Lord in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), showcases a similar blend between image and character with their trademark loveable, goof persona found in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014; ‘Chris Pratt as Star Lord in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)’) and in the clip ‘Chris Pratt on The Graham Norton Show’ (IMDb, n/a)b). Similar examples using Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, and Robert Downey Jr. can be found in the BoB curated playlist.
For some of Marvel’s celebrities, their projected star image has percolated throughout their entire film and television careers due to typecasting. Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Pratt are the main examples of this as their respective superhero counterparts closely match the type of characters they have played throughout their career. Downey Jr. is the most straight-forward example, not only for the similarities as outlined by Koh (see above), but he has also continuously played eccentric, intelligent, and egotistical characters throughout his career (IMDb, n/a)c), as seen in the clips ‘Robert Downey Jr. as Sherlock Holmes in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011)’ and ‘Robert Downey Jr. as Hank Palmer in The Judge (2014)’; these characters share a similar personality to Marvel’s own Tony Stark. Pratt’s career has seen a similar typecasting of his aforementioned goofy persona with his roles of Andy Dwyer in Parks and Recreation (2009-2015; ‘Chris Pratt as Andy Dwyer in Parks and Recreation (2009-2015)’) and Owen Grady in Jurassic World (2015; ‘Chris Pratt as Owen Grady in Jurassic World (2015)’).
Throughout the use of this model, both Scarlett Johansson and Brie Larson have been subject to a highly gendered version of the perfect fit but have received vastly different reactions. This has been done by connecting both celebrities’ superhero counterparts to their gender. Johansson’s character of Black Widow is inherently linked to her gender through sexist tropes and oversexualisation (‘Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow in Iron Man 2’), whereas Brie Larson’s character is linked to her gender through the feminist marketing and subversion of gender stereotypes (‘Captain Marvel coverage on Good Morning Britain’). Larson’s portrayal of Captain Marvel and the subsequent reactions from audiences have highlighted how the representations of gender can sway a response and alter the effectiveness of the perfect fit due to a lack of cohesion between societal views on women and the way women are represented on screen. When comparing this with Scarlett Johansson’s critical reception, more gendered reactions are uncovered.
Captain Marvel was released in 2019 and became Marvel Studios’ first female-led superhero film (Gideonse, 2020: 117). Larson’s character begins as arrogant and confident; Larson mimics this in her star image with her sarcastic, dry humour, sometimes also mimicking Captain Marvel’s confidence through jokes of her superior strength (Entertainment Tonight, 2019). Many attribute the hatred of Larson to comments she made previously about how film criticism is dominated by white men and that she wants to be interviewed and critiqued by a more diverse crowd (Lezmi, 2019; Gablaski, 2020: 66-67), but a lot of criticism that ensued afterwards had sexist undertones.
Jordan Gablaski (2020) discusses how much of the criticism of Brie Larson and Captain Marvel is less about overt sexism and misogyny, and more about internalised ‘white male dominance’ that reaffirms sexist ideals (72). While Larson has dealt with overt instances of sexism, such as being told her character doesn’t smile enough (Gideonse, 2020: 117), a lot of the criticism seems to highlight a double standard within society. Gablanski (2020) cites twitter user @Jaywalker_9 and uses responses on his twitter thread that asked why people disliked Captain Marvel (72). Much of this criticism was about how Brie Larson portrayed Captain Marvel; the main concerns were her arrogance, rudeness, stoicism, and that Captain Marvel is overpowered (ibid). These are traits that are littered throughout the male superheroes of the MCU (Iron Man is arrogant; Thor is immortal/overpowered), and Gablaski (2020) determines that, where the male heroes were ‘allowed to embrace [their] less than heroic traits’, Captain Marvel was criticized from the start for these same traits (74). Brie Larson received much of the same criticism for her own behaviour in interviews. This echoes the experiences of women in the workforce who often find themselves viewed negatively for assertive, confident, and/or powerful behaviour that their male counterparts are rewarded for (Lease, 2017: 1-2). Gablaski (2020) poses the idea that this reinforces the belief that ‘personality traits can be coded as masculine or feminine’ (77).
These same criticisms haven’t followed Scarlett Johansson throughout her run as Black Widow; it is my belief that, due to Johansson’s sex appeal (affirmed by her star image), Black Widow is viewed more positively due to her adherence to gender stereotypes. One apt comparison is the stoicism showcased by both Captain Marvel and Black Widow. As stated above, this is one of Captain Marvel’s most criticised traits, but Black Widow features this same behaviour. We can see in the clip, ‘Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow in Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)’ where she kisses Captain America. This stoicism is directly linked to the sex appeal of Black Widow and to Johansson’s sexualised star image due to her trademark sexy, husky voice. This transforms the perceived masculinity of stoicism to a feminised one due to its links to sex and attraction (IMDb, n/a)d; Gablaski, 2020: 77).
We can also draw on comparisons between the costumes of Black Widow and Captain Marvel as they reaffirm the purpose of each character. Black Widow’s costume is tight, black leather, often shown accentuating her buttocks and bust, which directly links the character back to her sex appeal (Gerard & Poepsel, 2018: 78). This paired with Johansson’s sex symbol star image works to situate Black Widow as a product of the male gaze, a consistent trope used on female superheroes (Mulvey cited in Gerard & Popsel, 2018: 48). Captain Marvel, however, has a costume that is for functionality rather than ‘to titillate’ which works in the context of Marvel’s first female-led film with a vocal feminist as its lead (Gideonse, 2019: 119). This lack of sexualisation did not go unnoticed by audiences who proceeded to make jokes about Brie Larson needing a ‘butt-double’ (Motes, 2018). It is important to compare these aspects as, I believe, it highlights how society is more comfortable seeing an oversexualised woman than a woman not shackled by her sexuality and/or her gender.
Through identifying Marvel Studios’ use of the perfect fit celebrity and the gendered reaction from audiences, I want this playlist and essay to encourage more scepticism and criticism of established notions within star studies. By approaching longstanding theories and models through a contemporary, gendered lens, stars studies, and more specifically Richard Dyer’s perfect fit model, can be developed to be more modern by acknowledging how representations of gender and societal views of women can skew the validity of established theories.
Access Darcy's BoB Curated Playlist here.
About the Author
Darcy Whitaker currently studies Film and Screen Studies at Bath Spa University. Her main fields of interest are studies relating to the representations of class, gender, sexuality, and race within film and television.
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