As much as some people want to write off Mark Ruffalo as just another offensive douchebag Avenger, I just can’t. I love him. I think he only made one mistake during the Ultron promotional tour, and he tried to apologize for it and I don’t know… I kind of forgive him. He had a “live and learn” moment with the Romani community. He’s still a feminist though! He’s been absolutely lovely to and about the actresses in Ultron, and he’s always self-identified as a full-throated feminist (and a pro-choice feminist at that).
So, Ruffalo did a Reddit AMA yesterday and he was asked about a lot of different things, obviously. You can read the full AMA here. The part everyone picked up was where Ruffalo was asked about the criticism leveled at Joss Whedon for not making Black Widow a stronger, more empowered character. This was Ruffalo’s response:
I think it’s sad. Because I know how Joss feels about women, and I know that he’s made it a point to create strong female characters. I think part of the problem is that people are frustrated that they want to see more women, doing more things, in superhero movies, and because we don’t have as many women as we should yet, they’re very, very sensitive to every single storyline that comes up right now. But I think what’s beautiful about what Joss did with Black Widow – I don’t think he makes her any weaker, he just brings this idea of love to a superhero, and I think that’s beautiful.
If anything, Black Widow is much stronger than Banner. She protects him. She does her job, and basically they begin to have a relationship as friends, and I think it’s a misplaced anger. I think that what people might really be upset about is the fact that we need more superhuman women.
The guys can do anything, they can have love affairs, they can be weak or strong and nobody raises an eyebrow. But when we do that with a woman, because there are so few storylines for women, we become hyper-critical of every single move that we make because there’s not much else to compare it to.
So I know Joss really well. I know what his values are. And I think it’s sad, because in a lot of ways, there haven’t been as many champions in this universe as Joss is and will continue to be. And I know it hurts him. I know it’s heavy on him. And the guy’s one of the sweetest, best guys, and I know him – as far as any man can be a champion for women, he is that.
So it’s been a little disheartening.
But I also see how much people love that aspect of it. There’s an equal amount of people who find the love interest between Banner and Black Widow to be a big standout. And it’s very satisfying to people. So it’s a movie. People are going to have their opinions. And that’s actually a great thing. The fact that this is a debate that’s coming out of this movie is probably a positive thing.
I just don’t think that people should get personal with Joss, because he really is – of anyone – an advocate for women. He’s a deeply committed feminist.
I think he’s dead right. He doesn’t dismiss the criticism as “internet trouble” (tip of the hat to d-bag Jeremy Renner) and he doesn’t negate Black Widow’s sexual agency either. The problem is not that Black Widow or any female character (or any real life woman) has sex, it’s a larger problem of the lack of representation of many types of women in film. And Ruffalo defends his friend Joss Whedon. Yes… Ruffalo is still one of my favorite people.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
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