Why do you think female superhero movies don't work out in the end?

[Binker]

I've been pondering this. Why do you think they don't work out in the end of it all? Is it because they can make good stories with male heroes but since its a woman, they have to do stuff and add things in like in-jokes because she is a strong female?

What do you think?

 

[3dman27]

i wonder about that myself

 

[Dr. Fate]

Probably because a lot of them are poorly written, poorly directed, poorly acted and poorly advertised.

 

[November Rain]

because either the alluring costume, or the star in them takes more attention than the character they are playing....

 

[Chris Wallace]

They don't take the female superheroes seriously. When they make a movie surrounding a male character, they give it meaning, they put heart & soul into it. They flesh out these characters. When they do one on a woman, the mentality seems to be, "Will 15-year-old boys like it?"
Do you think the Spider-Man movies would have been such a big draw if he was fighting an evil cosmetics corporation?
Would Batman be as popular if his plot changed every 15 minutes & involved inexplicable uses of magic?

 

[DarKush]

They don't take the female superheroes seriously. When they make a movie surrounding a male character, they give it meaning, they put heart & soul into it. They flesh out these characters. When they do one on a woman, the mentality seems to be, "Will 15-year-old boys like it?"
Do you think the Spider-Man movies would have been such a big draw if he was fighting an evil cosmetics corporation?
Would Batman be as popular if his plot changed every 15 minutes & involved inexplicable uses of magic?

I agree. With females in superhero or action flicks, there is too strong a tendency to cash in on looks or sex appeal at the expense of the plot.

However, I think Underworld, ALIAS, Buffy the Vampire Slayer series, Alien movies, and to some extent Resident Evil and the Tomb Raider movies have did all right, with varying degrees of success in mixing sexuality and kickass action/seriousness.

The more success of the movies/TV shows-Underworld, Buffy, Aliens, ALIAS, have focused on character and story more than sex.

 

[Chris Wallace]

Keep in mind, we're talking about a genre that has for years been notorious for regarding women as little more than eye candy. The typical artist gives a female character Toccara Jones' boobs, Lindsay Lohan's waist, thigh-high stiletto boots & little more than a bikini. What's a filmmaker supposed to do with that? Give the women respect & you'll get better movies. Make them action heroes/superheroes first & women second.

 

[Binker]

I thought about this and what I came into a conclusion is that the only way you can ever pull off a good female superhero movie is if the main character isn't played by a star, or a big star, and you write her like you would write any other superhero that was normal.

Like you write a hero who: suffers a poor job, saves people from the evils that character sees in the world, you go into that character's emtional state and at the end of it all, it happens to be a woman.

Now, yes the movies DarKush mentioned happen to show that if done right, these movies with a female as the hero can work. I also like to point out another movies that had a woman as a hero who was a ordinary girl next door and that's The Terminator (1984). And also, Joss Weldon does women good in his movies and he is a feminist and thats a plus with him doing Wonder WOman.

Oh yeah, another rule: NO EYE-CANDY.

 

[Majik1387]

I thought about this and what I came into a conclusion is that the only way you can ever pull off a good female superhero movie is if the main character isn't played by a star, or a big star, and you write her like you would write any other superhero that was normal.

Like you write a hero who: suffers a poor job, saves people from the evils that character sees in the world, you go into that character's emtional state and at the end of it all, it happens to be a woman.

Now, yes the movies DarKush mentioned happen to show that if done right, these movies with a female as the hero can work. I also like to point out another movies that had a woman as a hero who was a ordinary girl next door and that's The Terminator (1984). And also, Joss Weldon does women good in his movies and he is a feminist and thats a plus with him doing Wonder WOman.

Oh yeah, another rule: NO EYE-CANDY.

I agree 100% but about the eye-candy, it does need it, all movies do. It shouldn't be a main point at all but it does need it. There is not one movie made without eye candy.

 

[Chris Wallace]

I wouldn't say any movie NEEDS eye candy; but its presence doesn't hurt so long as that's not the main focus of the film, a la "Catwoman".
And having a star in the title role doesn't necessarily hurt either, so long as she's not the only real selling point of the film.

 

[Dr. Fate]

I wouldn't say any movie NEEDS eye candy; but its presence doesn't hurt so long as that's not the main focus of the film, a la "Catwoman".
And having a star in the title role doesn't necessarily hurt either, so long as she's not the only real selling point of the film.

The eye candy of "Catwoman" wasn't even that good.

 

[Joker]

they try and make them more "grrrl power!" than about an actual person who gets these powers

 

[fangrl06]

I've been pondering this. Why do you think they don't work out in the end of it all? Is it because they can make good stories with male heroes but since its a woman, they have to do stuff and add things in like in-jokes because she is a strong female?

What do you think?

You haven't seen Wonder Woman yet.

 

[fangrl06]

they try and make them more "grrrl power!" than about an actual person who gets these powers

^That's a good point.

 

[Chris Wallace]

The eye candy of "Catwoman" wasn't even that good.

I never said it was.

 

[Lobster Charlie]

A buddy of mine said he thought female superheros suck in general for two reasons.

1) They are almost always unbelievably overpowered (Storm, Rogue, Elektra coming back from the dead a million times, Scarlet Witch, Mystique)

and

2) They are often times just female versions of male characters (She-Hulk, She-Thing, Batgirl, Spider-Woman)

I know, I know, keep in mind, this ain't *my* opinion, but I always found it interesting.

 

[James"007"Bond]

sex appeal dwarfs any chance of putting forth a respectable script and of course direction. Its that simple.

 

[SuperJediHero]

Well, Actress Not enough Strength/Action/Atheletic as man.

If they want a Beautiful woman, they can't get an Atheletic woman
If they want woman good with Action/fights, they can't get someone look Hot!

 

[Mr. Walters]

Most female super hero movies seem like a parody. The filmmakers don't seem to be taking the source material seriously. I think with the right director and writer there could and probablly will be an excellent movie based on a female super hero. I remember reading somewhere that the fan base for female characters is lower so they inject too much comedy and sex appeal to make it appeal to a broader audience. I don't know how true this is though. If a character is good, it shouldn't matter if the character is male or female. I think the fan base should be the same, but I don't know. I mean look at the sucess of the Kill Bill movies. They pretty much were female super hero movies.

 

[incubat]

i think it's because people expect the women to show skin, and it just distracts them from the point

 

[Chris Wallace]

Well, Actress Not enough Strength/Action/Atheletic as man.

If they want a Beautiful woman, they can't get an Atheletic woman
If they want woman good with Action/fights, they can't get someone look Hot!

Your post is as factually inaccurate as it is grammatically confusing.
A woman CAN be strong as well as attractive. See "Dark Angel".

 

[Chris Wallace]

i think it's because people expect the women to show skin, and it just distracts them from the point

That's not the problem; most of these movies fail because they HAVE no point.

 

[WallCrawl]

That's not the problem; most of these movies fail because they HAVE no point.

It's not the entirety of the problem, but it is the beginning of it. These movies have no point, no coherent plot or characterization because they expect attractive actresses being oggled to carry the entire film.

 

[The Sage]

Probably because a lot of them are poorly written, poorly directed, poorly acted and poorly advertised.

Why even bother posting my thoughts when you've said them.

 

[Chris Wallace]

The long & short of it is, these films are made to be nothing more than titllating eye candy, which isn't enough to draw the masses. And as usual, when the movie tanks, the studio blames the source material or the genre rather than the approach that was taken.