THE CONSTRUCTION OF POWER PORTRAYED IN

AVENGERS TRILOGY

By :

Nabila Hapsari J1A017006

Kirana Eka Y J1A017011

ENGLISH LITERATURE

FACULTY OF HUMANITIES

JENDERAL SOEDIRMAN UNIVERSITY

2020
 Talking about superhero in movies or comics, we agree that the well known ‘‘house”
for superhero are Marvel and Dc. Marvel and DC are the two largest producers of superhero
comics in the United States, each of them has its own massive and varied cast of characters.
There are many of these characters extremely famous, from DC's Batman and Superman to
Marvel's X-Men, Iron man, and Spider man. Marvel and DC were both making since 1939
and 1934, respectively. Films based on these characters have been shown made since the
1940's, but in the 2000's, both Marvel and DC's superhero movies had an resurgence in
popularity-possibly due to the advancement of special effects and CGI technology. In the
years since Tony Stark told the world he was Iron Man, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has
introduced a huge cast of superheroes with a wide array of abilities. From a genetically
enhanced World War II soldier to a photon-blasting Kree-human hybrid, the MCU's decade
long saga has brought together the most ambitious super powered team in cinematic history.
However in the society specifically for them whom lack knowledge on this kind of
superheroes, people will instantly assumed that mostly of superheroes are male, yet there are
some female superhero as well.

The roles of male superheroes are still dominant, but wisely not to forget about the
existence of female superheroes as well. Take illustration that male superheroes still
dominant it can be seen from their solo film. Since this paper just discuss the issue in The
Avengers (2012), The Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) and Avengers: Infinity War (2018),
the limit of discussion just around this issue. The writers said that the domination of male
superheroes can be seen from their solo film such as Tony Starks as Iron Man he has 2 solo
films, Captain America also has two solo film in 2011 and 2014, same from the previous the
character Thor also has 2 solo film in 2011 and 2017. Another male character who also has
their solo films are Black Panther, Doctor Strange, Ant Man, Hulk, Spiderman and others.
The emergence of solo film for female character it can be seen just in a year ago. Which is
the solo film for Carol Denvers entitle Captain Marvel that released in 2019. Looks pretty
lame compared to male superheroes solo film which already aired since 2011. Thus this lame
issue between the male character and female character leads us as the writers to discuss that
female characters was same important and has the same rights in this Marvel cinematic
universe.

Superheroes and superheroes movies have been around since the World War II, but
the production of them has resurfaced in the early 2000s.The two studios most famous for
their production superhero films, associated with Marvel Comics are Marvel Studios and
Warner Brothers DC Comics. While both comic publishers began in the mid to late 1930s,
their cinematic universes vary enough in age for it to impact the expansion of their cinematic
universes. At the time of this writing, Marvel Studios prevails with eighteen movies over the
course of ten years in comparison to Warner Brothers’ five movies over five years. Seeing
this difference, Marvel is clearly the more dominating force in the superhero genre and thus
more impactful for showcasing masculinity to audiences throughout the world. The result of
ideas that superhero movie related to masculinity already interfering the mindset of viewers.
As an example of familiar avengers figures in society were dominated by male character such
as Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Hulk and Spiderman. This kind of perspective if we
refers to British cultural studies scholar Raymond Williams is called as dominant culture. He
uses the term dominant culture to describe the perspective that is most widely held at any
given time, but he acknowledges that the dominant culture is never total. The society already
absorb this kind of ideas and take it for granted.

Popular or mainstream type of superhero has always been a part of our society,
because the narration of popular superhero already formed directly by the viewers
perspective. In every culture, there is always some form of art that is regarded as “more
popular” than others. This matter also exist in the ecosystem of preferences in superhero. As
the writers already mention above, that most favorable superhero in society dominated by the
male superhero. Besides most of male character of Marvel’s superhero are powerful. To be
illustrated in paragraph below the writers will explain the power has by male hero compare to
power has by female hero that makes them powerful.

First is Tony Starks or well known as Iron Man. Iron Man is popularly known as the
leader or captain of the avengers. Same as the ideas of leader or captain in society, the man is
the leader. This kind of mindset already infiltrated in society because there is gender role
which limits the opposite gender to do the same, since it already infiltrated from long time
ago the society just taking it for granted. For Gramsci, individuals are not just oppressed by
ideology or power relations. Gramsci tried to explain how modern societies enforce power
relations, not through repression, but through persuasion and cooptation same as the ideas of
gender role in society it was spread gently and not through repression. He used the term
hegemony to describe this style of rule, which works as much through compromise as
through subordination. That is how the privilege of man in society to become leader or
captain and it is also applied in film, because the results of literary works is the reflection
from reality and everyday life. Tony is easily one of Marvel's smartest humans. With his
intellect, he has hacked technology centuries ahead of his time. His mind is said to be geared
towards the future, giving him the ability to predict future events through intuition. He has
demonstrated this with the events of Civil War, which he foresaw would occur years before it
happened. Then he is master of engineering. Engineering is Tony's forte. He is capable of
building and repairing nearly anything his mind can dream up, such as his Iron Man suits.
Last he is expert tactician. Tony has a knack for tactical warfare, being able to set enemies
into complex, precarious traps that they cannot escape. Part of his skill comes from his
supernatural ability to multitask, having the ability to pilot 3 Iron Man suits effectively at
once with no hindrance to his abilities. Another fact that shows how powerful Iron Man that
this man is not just powerful, smart, but without him the Avengers would not exist.

Second is Steve Rogers or famous as Captain America. Steve Rogers was selected for
the Rebirth Project and injected with the super-Soldiers serum after enrollment during the
Second World War. It gave him an ideal physical shape, making Rogers fitter, stronger and
longer lasting than any other human. He has enhanced senses and amazingly quickly heals his
body. During the war, he served as both a symbol of freedom and America's most effective
special operative. Then, during the final days of the war, he was trying to stop a bomb-loaded
drone-plane launched by Nazi technician Baron Heinrich Zemo when the plane exploded,
killing his partner Bucky; and throwing him unhurt into icy Arctic waters. The Super-Soldier
formula prevented crystallization of Captain America's bodily fluid, allowing him to enter a
state of suspended animation. Decades later, he was rescued by the newly-formed Avengers
and became a cornerstone of the team. His might undiminished. Captain America remains a
symbol of liberty and justice.

Third is Thor Odinson. Thor is one of the strongest heroes in the Marvel Universe.
Besides his enormous physical strength, and being durable enough to survive a blast from
Celestials, Thor also has energy manipulation powers that are on par with the Silver Surfer.
He is also armed with Mjolnir, the mystical warhammer that has been shown to be capable of
opening passageways through space and time, blocking all sorts of energy blasts, and bending
the elements to its master’s will. Thor has been shown to be able to swing Mjolnir at twice
the speed of light. Thor is an Asgardian warrior god, trained and skilled in the arts of battle,
and he’s been doing it for ages. While Thor has usually been shown to rely solely on his
fighting ability, super strength, and nigh invulnerability, he has many other options available
to him if a fight starts going badly. He has complete mastery over the weather, he can open
chasms in the Earth, and if worst comes to worst, use the dreaded God-blast, an attack that is
so powerful that one time Mjolnir shattered from the amount of power Thor channeled. This
god-blast has even caused a tiny crack in the armor of the Celestial Exitar; the force of which
created a shock wave which rocked the planet Pangoria to its foundations. While on Earth,
Thor once claimed to withhold his power unless fighting someone with similar strength and
durability. From the explanation above it can be seen that Thor has powerful abilities also the
help from his hammer Mjolnir. Thus there are some specification of male superheroes who
has powerful abilities from Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), even though the powers and
abilities of male superhero is mesmerizing but we have to keep in mind behind these
powerful male superhero, there are also female superhero who helped them against the evil.
They are Black Widow or Natasha Romanoff, Captain Marvel or Carol Danvers, Scarlet
Witch or Wanda Maximoff and others female characters. They are same powerful as male
character even though their abilities drowned by the dominance of male avenger’s power.

Cultural studies scholars think of control as a dynamic relationship between the

different systemic powers and the human agents that have to manage certain structures.
According to German philosopher Karl Marx, who stated that “men make their own history,
but they do not make it as they please, they do not make it under circumstances chosen by
themselves”. This indicates that individual have the ability to alter or affect society, but their
opinions and behavior are constrained limited by the economic and social systems around
them. This can be seen from Marvel Avengers cinematic series such as from Avengers 2012,
Age of Ultron, and Infinity War which use several female characters who have their own
power and help male characters to solve every problems. The female characters in Avengers
series are considered as an individuals who have the ability to influence the society and even
change a situation just like what is done by the male characters and even more, since men
according to Marx can only make their own history that certainly still need women’s help.
Therefore, power in Avengers series is not only owned by male superheroes but also
developed in female.

Moreover, since the liberation movement of women in the 1960s, their role in the
social, cultural, political spheres, and economic life has radically changed and progressed to
the better, apparently giving women are equivalent to men in certain facets of life. In fact,
women in Hollywood movies are now, more than ever, exposed to unattainable heights of
beauty, intellect, physicality and behavior, among other aspects. Essentially, people will have
it all, at least some on-screen. Although much of the film business is considered to be just
that, film cannot ignore the ability to create and spread agendas large and wide. It shows the
degree to which the categories will contribute to the female representation and normative
ideologies, in this case, that of women, they must be physically perfect to qualify as heroes.
The first step to qualify as female hero in a man’s world is to be young and beautiful. If not
young, then she must be botoxed to look young. If not beautiful, then she must have silicone
breasts, be aided by plastic surgery, wigs, make up and never ever a wrinkle on her pretty
face (Schubart, 2007). At the same time, female Avengers break out of this shell and bring us
different depiction of female heroes on the big screen, they represent the perfection of each
character that has its own characteristics, such as does not distinguish the skin tone, even they
are also known as rebellion, but still shows the side of beauty and intelligence, strength and
submission, sexuality, timidity and so on.

However, Marvel Avengers series focuses on male figures and leaves little room for
fully formed female characters, relying instead on female tropes, patriarchal, and stereotypes
that portray representations of unreflective and monolithic women. This examines and
utilizes female characters from the Marvel Avengers show to explain and explore a grievous
lack of meaningful women participation in films. Female portrayals in this superhero series
validate strongest patriarchal ideology through the Marvel's representation of post-feminism,
which restricts narrative and female, a continuous progression or developmental line
combines with sexual empowerment and male objectifying. Thus, female character in Marvel
is not describe as a dominant based on Raymond Williams views which describe the
perspective that is most widely held at any given time, but he acknowledges that the
dominant culture is never total, but it depicts as a subordinate which represent a small, an
easily tolerated dose of rebellion that ultimately helps prevent a full-scale attack the
wellbeing of the capitalist system. Hebdige (and Gramsci) would argue, instead, that even a
small dose of rebellion alters the system in meaningful ways. Moreover, the superhero
costumes also act to highlight the masculine body, but unlike the female's costume, these
costumes also serve a functional purpose which helps in their superhero powers and any piece
of clothing worn by women reiterates the oppressive affirmation of body objectification in
the show.
 In addition, through maintaining women as subordinate and physically dependent or
weaker, women require male masculinities through creating their femininity in contrast to
male masculinities, a common cinematic trend. Mulvey (1975, 1981) argues that the
dominant patriarchal ideology exemplified in film creates a gender divides by the sexual
differences that determine active or passive gender roles and sexualities: the active male/
passive female paradigm. Undoubtedly, the superheroes as well as their multiple personalities
represent active males: they try driving the plot lines and evolve the arcs. Women, on the
other hand, remain passive overall; things occur to them rather than just to make something
happen. Although, in the traditional sense, these women are not passive women – they have
careers, independence, resources, and even tough attitudes – power divisions, they are still
existent and they continue to serve passive female roles. Male characters drastically change
throughout the films, but female characters remain the same even if they tend to be
increasingly active throughout the series. The writers will explain that even though they are
tougher, more comprehensive roles than other women, and each of them actively challenges
the command to help a superhero. Yet again, despite a few inspiring characteristics, these
women remain passive in the storylines. These women are helping the arcs of the superheroes
and providing support.

First, Natasha Romanoff or well known as Black Widow. She is a female superhero
which always appeas in The Avengers (2012), The Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) and
Avengers: Infinity War (2018). The femininity of Black Widow and the overall feminine
power stem from the contrast between her and the male heroes around her. This significant
distinction between Black Widow and the rest of her fighting teammates and across her
history has made her a seductive spy in the Marvel world and a powerful female role model
in modern society. She has thin, curly and red hair, a white porcelain-like skin whose look
changed in the Infinity War with a new blonde hair color. Thus, she is generally perceived by
the audience as a strong female role model, an example of a delicate mix of strength and
beauty. Natasha Romanoff brings a feminine touch to the plots that are based on the overall
masculinity of the main characters. Marvel's decision to create a stronger plot with the first
female lead culminated in a complicated relationship in The Avengers: The Age of Ultron,
The highly explosive Hulk and delicately powerful Black Widow are establishing a
relationship that many consider to be a generic plot for female characters. Instead of the
romance on the frame, Black Widow's overwhelming power and intelligence make her role
impressive and fascinating to audiences. A section of what creates Natasha in this framework
as passive female is the false postfeminist perspective that empowers hyperfeminininity and
hypersexuality. As best exemplified by the sexualized Natasha / Black Widow,
hypersexuality in this series is constructed under flaunting racism, Natasha is often misled by
other characters in using her sexuality, especially Tony and Bruce, who see Natasha's
sexuality as manipulative and distrustful. This treatment of Natasha has become ironic; the
hypersexuality of Black Widow is really a useful counterintelligence tactic, but Natasha is
explicitly non-sexual, non-nonsense, and professional.

Second, Wanda Maximoff also known as the Scarlet Witch. She is one of the most
powerful characters in the Marvel Universe. With actuality deforming magic and a superior
knowledge of sorcery, she proved herself to become one of the most important members of
the Avengers. Even with her appearance as an antagonist and a history of mental instability
that forced her to clash with her friends, the Scarlet Witch remains one of the most familiar
Marvel characters. As Scarlet Witch is a far more prominent part of the Avengers, he was
more fleshed out as a hero. Eventually, she married the Android Vision, and became briefly
the chief of the West Coast Avengers. At this time, her abilities were known as "chaos
magic" along with her usual hexes. In addition to hexes and chaos spells, Scarlet Witch also
has truth warping abilities. She is the Avenger. She's saving the world. Since her powers are
likely to come at least in some part from the Mind Stone within Loki's scepter, Wanda's
abilities include telekinesis, energy control, and some sort of neuro-electrical interfacing that
helps her to interpret minds as well as send her enemies a waking nightmares. Under the
guidance of Avengers Captain America and Black Widow, she learned not only to further
improve her abilities, but also hand-to-hand combat and tactical skills. Scarlet Witch has a
long and complex history. Yet for all of her shifts, despite all the years in the making. The
oppressive concepts of witches have tended to subvert. Even though she has continued to
subvert the patriarchal definitions of witches, but in Avengers she is the same as another
female character which mostly lacks in female representation of the development, production
and delivery of films historically and presently, and underlying issues in the film
interpretation of the superhero genre which still emphasizes male superhero as a leader or
dominant.

Last, Gamora. She is a green-skinned murderer, she is the last person of her race after
everything was destroyed by Baldoon. Thus, she became the adopted daughter of Thanos and
adopted sister of Nebula. Gamora itself has superhuman strength, agility, and the ability to
heal. Gamora grew into a strong woman because since childhood she was separated from her
parents. In addition, Gamora has the skills to fight because she lives with Thanos. This power
is only owned by Gamora, in the film Avengers: Infinity War, we see that Gamora knows
where the weakness of Thanos lies, but Gamora never showed it off to others, she is always
calm and also carry out her plans with strategy. Moreover, Gamora is clearly able to hurt
Thanos as if only by snapping his fingers. Gamora did it in an almost perfect way, even
making the most mighty Thanos shed tears. This is a heart game between Gamora and
Thanos. Everything happens simply without having to involve physical scenes, although in
the end she still described as a weaker because she eventually reveals the location of the Soul
Stone, and says she doesn't know much about it. Thanos' ace in the hole is waiting behind the
door on his ship: Nebula, her sister-in-trauma, being tortured — slowly and painfully
disassembled — as a final effort to compel Gamora to reveal the existence of the hammer.
She does, and both of them venture to the planet Vormir to get it back. This death, is one of
Avengers' most deeply resonant: Infinity War, turned out to be a bit more complex. Gamora
was sacrificed by Thanos during the film in order to obtain the Soul Stone. It can be seen that
no matter how strong Gamora's power, but she still has a feeling when Nebula was tortured
by Thanos until she sacrificed herself, this proves that Gamora became one of the female
characters in the Avengers who was described as subordinate because besides aiming to help
other male characters, she also still cannot be defeated by Thanos who has more power than
her.

In conclusion, this analysis is in no way a comprehensive look at the issues presented

by female characters of the Marvel Avengers series, or just touches the surface of the
obstacles in the film and television industries to gender equality. Needless to say, there are a
variety of factors impact this claim, which needs more research. As this analysis only
examines a few intersecting aspects of gender-divisive female identity, there could be much
others at stake than should be addressed. Contribute to this fundamental representation.
Unfortunately, the portrayal of women in the Marvel Avengers show reflects the prevalent
patriarchal narrative. Postfeminism blends strength, female liberation, and autonomy with
(individualized) hyperfemininity or hypersexuality and the internalization of male gaze and
objectification. Through all of this, we were able to see that women were not commonly
portrayed directly or openly in a patriarchal and normative manner. This analysis also briefly
examines women in the media sector at large, and the past of women's representations,
interlinked with the fictional images of women in the superhero genre depicted in Iron Man,
Captain America, Thor, Black Widow, Scarlet Witch and Gamora, demonstrating the
construction of power in Avengers. In fact, because much of Hollywood is run by the same
small entities and businesses because success. From the Avengers series highlighting the
absence of gender diversity, more in-depth analysis into Hollywood / modern entertainment
business expectations and creating improvements in modern Hollywood should have added to
this dialogue. Moreover, the acceptance of films, formats and comics by different viewers of
gender will assess the degree of influence and consumption of post-feminism, sexism,
objecfication, and other patriarchal elements.