How Guardians of the Galaxy’s Trailer Symbolizes Bigger Trends in Movies

I was pleased to see that last week’s post really sparked some debate. Specifically, debate about Gamora’s brief appearance in the trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy, my reaction to this appearance, and whether or not Mary Jane Watson is that important in the Spider-Man canon.

To answer the last one: Yes.

I’d like to look at Gamora in the trailer for GotG a bit more, since I had a lot of feelings about this. Zoe Saldana’s Gamora is featured twice in the trailer. In the first scene she looks like this:

Okay: Cool, tough. I dig it.

But in her second scene, she looks like this:

So, looking at the trailer as someone who was both unfamiliar with Guardians (sorry) and a feminist, I don’t have much to work with. I was highly turned off by that weird pseudo-sexy face she has going on.

Facebook friends of mine didn’t quite see things the same way I did, though.

Some pointed out that Karen Gillan was kicking major butt in later scenes of the trailer, proving that Gamora is not the only female in the film. Others noted that Gamora wasn’t the only shirtless one in the scene; Chris Pratt is plenty shirtless too, ladies.

So I feel like I wasn’t explaining myself well. So let’s take a step back and revisit some of these issues. Why did I have such a problem with the Guardians of the Galaxy trailer?

To put it in simple but loaded terms, I didn’t like how it represented women.

I’ve talked in the past about the Bechdel test and how it’s used to evaluate women in cinema, so while there’s no such test for trailers, just from looking at a trailer you can learn a few significant things about the movie.

For instance, you can learn what the movie’s about, generally. What’s the story? Who are the major players? What kind of movie is it?

You can even learn who the filmmakers WANT to come see the movie based on the kind of content that’s in it. Bazookas? Geared toward men. Slapstick? Children. Slapstick AND copious pop culture references? That’s a kids’ movie that knows who is actually buying the tickets.

Buying tickets for this? Everyone. via

Heck, trailers can even hint at the role women play if the trailer passes the first stipulation of the Bechdel test. Are there two or more women who are named in the trailer? That’s a good start. Do they talk? Excellent. You at least have Thelma and Louise. However, chances are, if women are talking in a trailer, the movie is a romantic comedy. Thankfully, there are more lady-lead dystopia films, but there is still a significant imbalance.

This is only a snippet of findings. Read the full thing here.

But with this in mind, I rewatched the trailer. Yes, Karen Gillan is in this film. She plays Nebula. But this character is only seen in flashes, and not named like Gamora is. She is kind of just a blue blur without a name. Neither female characters speak, but it seems like John C. Reilly and Chris Pratt get the most word privileges in this trailer. And then you have sexy Gamora. So right there, I’m a bit frustrated.

Now, let’s look at the second argument: Chris Pratt is also shirtless, so there’s “equal opportunity sexualization.”

Ladiessss. Via.

There’s a lot to unpack in that one statement. So let’s start the way most college application essays do, and use a definition, courtesy of Merriam-Webster:

Sexualize (transitive verb): to make sexual : endow with a sexual character or quality

You could argue that Peter Quill is being sexualized in the trailer because he is also shirtless. But that’s not the only thing he is doing in the trailer. He’s the hero. He’s the protagonist. Yes, he gets shirtless. But he’s still getting some defined character traits in the less-than-two-minute clip.

Gamora is not kicking butt. She is not actively doing anything in this trailer. She’s just…smoldering. And also she’s shirtless. Being topless is a sub-problem to that damn sexy face she’s making (another post on this an issues of nudity to come).

THIS FACE. YOU KNEW WHAT IT MEANT EVEN AS A CHILD. via

The whole picture is that she is being cast in Peter Quill’s story as the hot love interest. And as a lady in the audience, I wasn’t happy about this.

A friend of mine has started another geek interest/social issue blog that is so important to this blog and to me that it feels like an extension of my own arm. Over on Hey Token Black Guy, Parker explains why the representation of Falcon in Captain America was so important to him and in the bigger scheme of geek culture.

As Parker points out, the superhero movie industry is mostly focused on white dudes. While Parker is looking at representations of race, he notes how representation is critical for audiences, especially young audiences, because it molds your ideas of what you can be. Falcon opened the doors for a new generation of black children to see that they, too, can be superheroes. What about girls, though?

Never gonna happen. via

Of course, this is just the trailer for Guardians. For all we know, this scene won’t make it. It could be a scene that, in context, is silly and ridiculous. Gamora and Nebula could just trump all the other  guys in this movie and be the best heroes that ever graced the screen.

But the film isn’t selling me that.

With those sorry-ass statistics on women in film presented above, you can see why having the token female in the hero group being presented as just a sexual conquest for the hero is irksome and deeply troubling. That’s why there were so many jokes about Black Widow’s but being displayed in Avengers promotional materials:

via

Girls aren’t just there to be sexy. We can be heroes too.

I still haven’t gotten around to addressing my actual viewing experience with Captain America. Oops.