© Marvel Studios
Scarlett Johansson in Black Widow (2020) Dir: Cate Shortland
is a movie about a female superhero - supposedly a big selling point in the #MeToo era. The problem is she is also Russian, a risky label in these politically charged times. Or are Americans too jaded to even care?
Much is being made in the media about Marvel Studio's female-led superhero movie
Black Widow, starring Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff, the highly trained superspy who has been a mainstay in many Marvel films, dating back to her debut in
Iron Man 2 in 2010. Though Johansson's portrayal of the character has been extremely popular among audiences, Marvel has been slow to give the character her own movie, until now.
This snail's pace of development for such a high-profile female superhero has drawn much criticism from both the media and fandom alike, along with controversies surrounding Johansson being paid less than her male counterparts in the Avengers films. With the success of female-led films such as
Captain Marvel and
Wonder Woman, many who support women's representation are eyeing
Black Widow to help elevate the role of women in the superhero genre - a movie genre that has traditionally been dominated by male characters.
But the real question when it comes to the
Black Widow film isn't so much 'are audiences ready for a female superhero?' After all, the success of recent female-led superhero movies and characters proves that they are. No,
in this politically charged time period during an election year, the better question is, 'are audiences ready for a Russian superhero?'
Comment: Spain's parliament has been suspended for at least one week after a lawmaker tested positive. Israel has introduced mandatory quarantine for all visitors coming from abroad. Saudi Arabia will impose a $133k fine on any visitor providing inaccurate health or travel history disclosures. Iran's leader Khamenei cancelled his traditional New Year's speech in Mashhad. Iraqi authorities have closed the holy city of Najaf. And while cases are exploding in Iran and Italy, China continues to see their own numbers going down - all temporary hospitals in Wuhan have now been shut down. (See more updates and stats here.)
For an idea of what Italian hospitals and doctors are going experiencing, here are some accounts. The biggest issue is that the hospitals are not equipped for the number of serious cases requiring intensive care. Doctors are having to choose who gets a spot in the ICU, and who doesn't. These are cases over and above their regular workload. So while numbers in absolute terms are not yet very high - hospitals are already working at or above their capacity to treat serious cases coming in. If China could reverse the exponential spread of its own cases, other countries should be able to do the same. In the meantime, the medical system will be struggling to keep up in countries where that has yet to happen and spread of cases is still growing exponentially.
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