A Few Thoughts on Black Widow in Age of Ultron

After Black Widow was such a highlight of The Avengers (and Captain America:  The Winter Soldier,) many people felt disappointed by the handling of her character in The Avengers:  Age of Ultron.  For me personally, and not to take away from anyone’s feelings on the issue, I find the situation problematic but not horrific.  In other words, at no point have I been prepared to denounce Marvel and/or Joss Whedon, but they don’t get a free pass, either.  My main reaction, like I said, is “disappointed,” not “irate.”  (Natasha-related spoilers for Age of Ultron.)

There are several sticking points responsible for the general dissatisfaction with Black Widow’s treatment in the film.  1)  Her tentative will-they-won’t-they relationship with Bruce.  2)  The revelation, brought about by a Scarlet-Witch-induced vision, that she was sterilized as an adolescent at the end of her Red Room training.  3)  Her capture in the second half of the film, which requires her to be rescued by Bruce.  I’d like to look at all three, separately and together.

Taken individually, each subplot is handled fairly well.  Natasha’s feelings for Bruce don’t alter her characterization – she’s still tough, brave, and wry – and the plot is viewed through both characters’ perspectives.  She’s not treated like an object, and her wants are central to the storyline.  Similarly, while I don’t like the sterilization reveal, I don’t think it’s badly done.  It makes sense for Natasha to dwell on it after the Scarlet Witch has been playing with her memories.  Someone who’s used to hitting first wouldn’t take kindly to having been violated, and someone who’s so self-reliant would hate having her reproductive choice taken away.  It’s unfortunate that she reveals this in the same scene that she calls herself a “monster,” but I think that’s just bad timing; it’s all tied up in her Red Room days, the years she spent killing for the bad guys, and with the monster comment, I see her talking about past crimes, not the fact that she can’t bear children.  Finally, while it’s true she gets captured and subsequently rescued, she maintains her agency throughout, immediately rigging up a signal to the rest of the team so they can find her.  Besides, she only gets caught in the first place because she’s being a grade-A boss and cares more about the mission than her own safety.  Damsel, thy name is not Black Widow.

So, while each thread is potentially uncool gender-wise, all three are done in a way that maintains the integrity of Natasha’s character.  So, my qualms aren’t with the specific handling of any one subplot but the cumulative effect of the whole.  My problem is that there’s no way that one of the male Avengers’ main story in the film would have consisted largely of a romantic connection, the reveal that they’d been forcibly sterilized, and being captured/rescued.  You may see them with one (such as Bruce’s feelings for Natasha, of course,) but never all three.  I dare say you wouldn’t see the sterilization plot at all.  You’ll see fertility-issue stories sometimes with men, which generally tie into emasculation, the idea that a “real man” can “put a baby” in a woman.  It’s about prowess, not children, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a plot where infertility is inflicted on a man against his will.   That violation seems reserved for women only.

In this way, it’s not any one thing.  It’s all of them together and the fact that this particular combination of plots would only happen with Black Widow.  That’s what I don’t like, because it makes her less “one of the six Avengers” and more “the girl Avenger.”  Yes, she’s a woman, and yes, that informs who she is, but I feel that Age of Ultron leans far too heavily on gendered plots where she’s concerned.  Here’s hoping for better in her next appearance.