Y’all you know what hits hard....
The fact that the villain of BW was all about how girls were the most expendable resource and created a whole fucking spy program that took away their basic rights and free wills and how Nat broke free of that but was always dehumanized because she was a “Russian Spy Assassin” a “Widow” and yet all she ever wanted to do was good for the world. To get rid of the red in her ledger.
And she died for it. She “sacrificed” herself. After everything, after breaking free, after rekindling her families, after killing the man who ruined so many women’s lives, she was only ever an expendable resource in Endgame. But in BW she was given life.
And it’s just really sad to see that it came down to one basic thing: judgement. The Russos decided Nat wasn’t worth it, that she could be an expendable resource, that she had to die so Clint could return to his wife and kids as if Nat’s family wasn’t equally important. Men prioritized their judgment, their own best interest when deciding Nat’s fate. Cate’s judgement was instead of taking a canonically deceased character and just doing a spy movie or fill it with lots of action, she gave Nat depth and moments and made her more human and alive than the Russo’s ever did.
And it fucking hits hard that men say they don’t like her character when she’s having soft moments with her sister or parents, that they only like Nat when she’s kicking ass, flirting with the Avengers, and just found it hard to connect to her during her own fucking movie. Yet they can connect to Bucky. Who went through basically the same thing (other than the reproductive organs being removed—which can I say is fucking bullshit. Women can’t get pregnant “for the sake of the mission and shit” but men can still impregnate women??)
The very movie that point fucking blank states what it’s about. Of course you can’t fucking “connect”. You don’t understand what it’s like being a woman under an oppressive organization that only sees you as its property. It tied to human trafficking. It tied to the fact that men can get away with abusing and mistreating women. It tied to how society EXPECTS women to live their lives: as little innocent girls, as available young women, as mothers and caretakers, and as wise grandmothers. But that’s not how every woman wants to or can live their life, yet men assume that’s exactly the case and if it’s not it’s either the “monster for not able to have kids” or you don’t want to regret it later in life. And if you can’t see the fucking important themes and why they’re important, maybe you’re part of the problem.
The issue shouldn’t have been Taskmaster wasn’t straight out of the comics accurate, the issue should’ve been was that a father would do that to his own daughter. Antonia was a good fucking plot twist and felt right for the story and damn did my heart break that she was relieved to be saved my Nat. Not a single once of hatred towards her, but rather fear radiating off of a few words and facial expressions towards her father. 
You may not always be able to connect to a story but you sure as hell can open your eyes, understand, and sympathize. It’s not that fucking hard.
I’m so fucking glad this movie was made. It’s my favorite movie and not because of the “badass action” because of the fucking realism that Cate managed to bring into the world of Marvel that is so heavily catered towards men. This is a fucking stepping stone and we best not go backwards from here on out.
And stop saying it’s “dark”. No. It’s fucking real. Human trafficking is still happening. We choose to ignore it in real life because it’s easier, that’s the truth. If we didn’t ignore it, it wouldn’t be happening. Marvel has plotlines they choose to ignore and Cate focused on some of them. And now that it’s out in a movie, it would be fucking ignorant of the Russo’s and Feige to ignore what she ousted for future films in the next phase.
annaxmalina
germansingergirl
gummygunk
izzy806
