Robert Downey Jr. Says Awesome Things About Women In Superhero Action Films

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Hey, it’s cool that he pushed for Gwyneth Paltrow to be included as much as she was in the Avengers movie, that’s great.

However, he was the guy clapping at Seth Mcfarlene’s horrible domestic abuse joke involving Rihana and Chris Brown. That part? Not cool, dude…

Truth. While I think it’s awesome he said this (above quote), I do not consider him an ally. That is unfortunate.

Maybe Pepper should get an Iron (Wo)Man suit next. :D

http://www.themarysue.com/iron-man-3-legos-pepper-potts/

On the one hand I appreciate what he says about women in action films. On the other women have been saying this for YEARS and yet it takes a man to make it sound all the more newsworthy. That said… I’m glad it was RDJ.

She gets a suit in the comics…

That’s one of the things I liked about the Iron Man franchise so far is that Pepper is a fully realized character. Yes, she’s the secretary/assistant who’s in love with her boss but there is a loneliness in both characters that adds a necessary layer to the cliché.

Wait — wasn’t his clapping at MacFarlene’s joke proof of his status as an ally? That joke was about not pretending that it’s somehow okay that Rihanna is back with her abuser. It wasn’t making light of domestic abuse; it was a call-out. That’s what Downey was clapping about — and that’s what made my respect for him go up a notch.

The tie-in comics also managed to explain why the heck War Machine didn’t show up in Manhattan to help during the Avengers—and even does so in a way that sets up Iron Man 3.

In a way, though, it’s a sign that women didn’t talk for nothing if RDJ heard them. That’s how feminism succeeds, when a man in power say “they’re right!”

Unfortunately this is how it usually works for any group that is disenfranchised. However, we shouldn’t dismiss his opinion because he’s a man – no more so than we should dismiss Abe Lincoln’s views on civil rights because he’s white. Besides, women like Jaimie Alexander have been speaking out about this issue and getting coverage…http://www.themarysue.com/what-if-jaimie-alexanderwonder-woman/

Yeah god forbid women would get equality by the power of their own voice…

Not to speak for Arrowe76, but I think what s/he is trying to say is that activism generally succeeds when the disenfranchised party is able to convince those who are empowered to take up their cause. Whether it’s civil rights, women’s rights, immigrant’s rights, gay rights, you can’t achieve equality unless you are able to change minds. I don’t think Arrowe76 meant to imply that only men, in this case, would be capable of changing how things are done in Hollywood or that women wouldn’t be deserving of the credit for changing the minds of the men in power.

It’s like the unfortunately common misconception that civil rights was an achievement that should be credited to the white men in government who signed legislation and not to the disenfranchised people of color who fought for those rights despite years of violent and ugly push back. Yes, MLK, Rosa Parks, Medgar Evers and others did most of the legwork – and deserve most of the credit – but it is also true that they recognized the need to appeal to those white men in government to use their power to make change.

It’s probably the most frustrating parts about the superhero boom. How many superhero films does Hollywood churn out a year? Now of those, how many star a lead that isn’t white or a male? Marvel Studios has all these wonderful properties but instead of making a Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel movie and a Black Panther movie or a Heroes For Hire movie (which has minorities, women AND both!) they just keep doing white dude after white dude

I wish they could of had both. As much as I loved the Avengers movie it still doesn’t make sense that War Machine wasn’t in the final fight. His presence would have added some much needed diversity to the team. Even though he was played by Samuel L. Jackson, Nick Fury wasn’t enough. They could have of at least given us a line or two to explain where he was like they did with Jane Foster.

Yeah, but you’re nobody. Don’t misunderstand, I’m nobody too, but if this had been Gwyneth Paltrow saying this, it would have been news because she is also somebody.

I wonder exactly what her job title is. At times, she seems to be playing the Alfred role, but then he (Tony)’s smart enough to put her in charge of Stark Enterprises when he realizes that his head isn’t in the game…she’s sort of EVERYthing.

Greg_G perfectly explained what I meant. RDJ’s quote happened because of the power of the voice of many women who succeeded in getting heard. This isn’t him “winning the fight”; him speaking is a sign of women’s gains.

Eh, honestly, the jokes feel more like they’re winking at that situation, shaking their head with a grin and going “what can ya do?”

I think MacF was making fun of the ridiculousness of the Rihanna/Brown situation – like they are both famewhoring this sick relationship. I think RDJ was the only one who applauded. Loved him for that!

I think you did not understand the MacFarlane joke. Rihanna wants publicity for people believing she is an abused woman, which of course is disgusting.

In the second Iron Man film, Pepper’s promoted to CEO though she later resigns. In the end, the two seem like they’re on equal footing in the company.

The really tiresome thing is that they’re still using the ‘Catwoman and Electra flopped’ excuse, in order not to make any female starring properties at all. It’s apparently what they said about making a Black Widow movie.

Rihanna is in a very difficult situation that a lot of women find themselves in (returning to abusers is very common). She’s in a lot of danger, and she deserves support not immediate condemnation and judgement. Why not level your disgust at Chris Brown? He’s the one who put her in this situation in the first place.

…right, but what’s her title otherwise?

One thing I really like about RDJ – he seems not to have any hang-ups or ego issues about strong women. His wife Susan was his boss when they met, which I irrationally think is kind of awesome.

I don’t think the two feelings are mutually exclusive. I think RDJ’s quote is awesome and as a woman, I’m pretty thrilled to hear a male ACTION star (Tony Stark no less!) making such a pro-woman statement.

But a part of me, emotionally, does feel a bit like Guest. It brings up that feeling when you’re at a meeting at work and you express an idea and it gets ignored – and then your male colleague offers exactly the same idea and gets praised for it. None of that is RDJ’s fault, but it’s also not a personal criticism of him to express that disappointment.

In fairness, look at the comics — good books with minorities like Pre-52 Blue Beetle, Power Girl, Katana and Vibe don’t make a dent on the market. Even Green Lantern saw sales dip when Hal Jordan was replaced by Simon Baz, a black Muslim (and a good character to boot).

It’s a very real problem, but the solution is harder to find. Simply making a movie isn’t enough — there has to be demand. We as fans have to create that demand.

It’s not only demand, but public knowledge. Yes, comic fans are a large group, but to be able to turn out a quality superhero movie you need a LOT of money just for effects. That means that you need a lot more money than just what comic fans are going to supply, so you need to apply to the general public. The public generally only knows Superman, Batman, Wonderwoman, Flash, Spiderman, Hulk, Thor, Iron Man, Robin, and various X-Men characters (namely Wolverine, Storm, and Cyclops is about as far as most people can go). All of these heroes have either been involved in a movie of their own or as a character in a movie besides Flash and Wonderwoman. Daredevil was a bomb, so was Electra and Catwoman (although with how awesome Anne Hathaway was as Catwoman we may see another try in the future), even both iterations of Punisher failed. They haven’t even attempted to reboot Spawn either. All of these heroes are big names and still struggle to get solid movies made in current times. The last Superman movie was garbage and Wolverines origin movie left a lot to be desired. The truth is that a big budget movie for Power Girl, Black Widow, Blue Beetle, or any other character with lesser mass recognition most likely won’t happen because no one knows their story and for a studio to risk $100,000,000 on a super hero less than 50% of just America knows about won’t happen.