Sarah Michelle Gellar calls backlash to female-led Marvel movies “very backwards”
The Wolf Packstar lamented sexism among supernatural genre fans in a recent interview
Aux News Sarah Michelle Gellar
As star of the beloved (but in recent years controversial) series Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Sarah Michelle Gellar knows the highs and lows of working within the supernatural genre better than most. The pros? Incredible story-telling! Emotional character arcs! Mind-blowing special effects! Werewolves!
But the cons? Sexism. So much sexism.
“Genre is where women can really succeed and hold an audience,” Gellar said in a recent Guardian profile. “Every time a Marvel movie tries to do a female cast, it just gets torn apart… Unfortunately, audiences weren’t as accepting. There’s still this mentality of ‘the male superhero,’ this very backwards way of thinking.”
Unfortunately, we all know the specific breed of awful fanboy troll Gellar is talking about here: the ones who thought they really did something by review-bombing Captain Marvel before it was even released, and then attempted the same for Disney+’s Ms. Marvel, a prospect 19-year-old star Iman Vellani called “honestly quite laughable” in an NME interview.
While the younger actor’s impressive ability to let the hate roll off her back may point to positive change in the industry, Gellar opened up about how she still struggles with misogyny behind the scenes. “I still don’t get taken seriously by men on sets. I still feel the need, sometimes, to read [out] my résumé, like: ‘How many of these shows have you done? How many experiences have you had at 2am with 250 extras, a late shot, a stunt–all of these things? I not only have produced it, but I’ve also been in it. Listen to me, because I know where I’m coming from,’” she said.
Still, Gellar made her long-awaited return to what she calls “the genre that has been so good to me” in 2023's Wolf Pack, a show where—unlike Buffy—she actually has leadership power as Executive Producer, but—like Buffy—she was determined to use that power for good. “[I was able] to set up an infrastructure for the younger cast”, she said. “Something that I know for sure that I didn’t have on any of my jobs.”
Wolf Pack is now streaming on Paramount+.
33 Comments
“[I was able] to set up an infrastructure for the younger cast”, she
said. “Something that I know for sure that I didn’t have on any of my
jobs.”
Meaning what, exactly?
Would that make it “Lashback”?
Yes, of course “sexism” is the reason. It certainly cannot be that many of these movies are pretty much “not great”.
kill yourself
When the backlash comes before people have even seen the movie, it’s not because of the movie’s quality.
Sure, but it’s also a little pointless to respond to Twitter trolls whose vitriol will have zero effect on the movies’ actual box office returns. Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel both killed.
It’s a hard thing to weight into. The sexism of superhero fans and the internet seems incredibly obvious; it’s a thing that clearly exists. That said, they also haven’t made a good female superhero movie yet.
I’d really like to have one I could point to and rub in the faces of various angry sexists, but it’s not really been there. Captain Marvel was dull. Black Widow was mediocre. Wonder Woman had a good first installment and a lousy second one. She-Hulk, when all the hubbub died down, was fitfully funny at best. I’d like them to make female led films in general so we can get some great ones, but I can’t say the reaction to female superhero films has ignored their hidden quality.
Ms Marvel was good and She-Hulk was mostly pretty fine.I’m hopeful for The Marvels; comics Monica is a way less boring Captain Marvel than Carol, hopefully that shines through in the movie too.
I need to watch Ms. Marvel still! Looking forward to it.
Yeah for a teenage superhero show it’s really pretty decent. Oh, Runaways and Cloak and Dagger were both pretty good too actually, not exactly totally female lead but half of C&D and a good part of the Runaways cast were women.
It starts great but ends not so great.
I need to watch Ms. Marvel still! Looking forward to it.
You will love it.Not a prediction, an order.
I thought the first Wonder Woman was great, was that one not up to par for face-rubbing purposes?
Marvel has a lot of amazing female characters. Unfortunately, most of them happen to be X-Men. Hopefully they’ll get done justice soon!
Captain Marvel was a lot of fun and was at least as good as the first Iron Man movie. The first Wonder Woman movie was fantastic. (I haven’t seen the second.) Black Widow was a fun spy romp. Ms Marvel was a damn delight. WandaVision was weird and wonderful.Maybe you just have bad taste?
He says there hasn’t been a “good female superhero movie yet” and then two sentences later says “Wonder Woman had a good first installment and a lousy second one” as if the first installment wasn’t a movie, or as if the second installment cancelled it out (admittedly, the second movie is pretty bad).You maybe forgot to mention Birds of Prey, which was a really fun movie despite being hampered by some really lousy marketing and a sub-d-list villain.
There’s a difference between fun and good though. GotG2 for example was a fun movie, but was it actually good?
Captain Marvel was not at least as good as the first Iron Man. That’s a ridiculous assertion.
Yeah, this was essentially my reaction too. Though I thoroughly enjoyed Ms Marvel and She-Hulk.
You’re forgetting Sturgeon’s Law here. The bar for films and TV in general is way lower than *middling Marvel movie*. Hell, even in the MCU, Black Widow is head and shoulders over, say, Iron Man 2, let alone Inhumans.The internet needs a better scale for judging things than “if it’s not excellent it’s awful”.
Birds of Prey was fantastic tho.
Is Buffy the Vampire Slayer really “in recent years controversial,” or is Joss Whedon an asshole? It seems like entertainment journalists widely believe there’s some contradiction in liking a piece of entertainment AND recognizing that some part of its creation, or a person involved in making it, was not good. But I don’t think the viewing public experiences this supposed tension, or should.
I think there’s value in re-evaluating art in light of new knowledge about the context around it, it lets you notice interesting new things about it. Sometimes that can be a disheartening experience, but that doesn’t invalidate the joy it brought you in the past.But then, I’m into Lovecraft, so I’m used to art that has both brilliant and horrible parts that can’t be ignored :PI think people worry that they can’t like something problematic, when the real issue is ignoring/defending the problematic aspects, rather than acknowledging them.
That’s fair, but I think writers are frequently arguing that you shouldn’t like something because a person associated with it is bad. This article for example, didn’t label Whedon as controversial, but suggested the show Buffy the Vampire Slayer is controversial.
In this instance, the link provides context for that remark:https://www.avclub.com/charisma-carpenter-accuses-joss-whedon-of-emotional-abu-1846239812And yeah, the vague callbacks that you have to click through mostly-contrived links to understand are annoying, but that ship’s sailed.
I think this is a thing too often forgotten — most people don’t religiously follow entertainment blogs like this and so, unless it’s like a major sex crime or something, don’t really follow this kind of news.Seriously, the other day I saw someone wonder with apparent genuine sincerity how much damage the recent news that Bill Murray shouted at Geena Davis on the set of Quick Change would do to the box office of the new Ant-Man movie and how quickly his career would implode as if (a) the idea that Bill Murray may be kind of a dick when he’s not being Peter Venkman — or, indeed, any actor may be more of a jerk off-screen than off — is a shocking revelation, (b) he’s not already in his mid-seventies and thus one way or another in the twilight of his career anyway and (c) as if anyone who isn’t obsessed with celebrity gossip cares about a shouting match he got into on the set of a movie thirty years and change ago.
The Wolf Packstar lamented sexism among supernatural genre fans in a recent interviewThere needs to be a space between Pack and star.
I agree with Gella that when it comes to making movies or shows, that there is still a lot of sexism or misogyny BS to still deal with. But at least it can be pushed back and brought to light to have a bigger debate than it was 20 years ago or even back in the 20th Century.As for backlash, that’s going to be automatic regardless. You’ll find backlash on almost any topic usually with hate. You would’ve found it everywhere still in the 20th Century. Think how Thelma and Louise would’ve been treated if social media was around. Hell, I bet there would be hate for Basic Instinct because Sharon Stone wins in the end. But there will be backlash on anything. Both with groups and governments complaining about something and trying to find ways to censor it in the future.There are a lot of choices to where you can say to each their own. I enjoyed Wandavision, but never had interest in watching Ms Marvel. I liked Legends of Tomorrow but never had interest in Stargirl. So, I feel sometimes the number of people that have interest in seeing it right away is a factor on their success or failure, and not just the influence of trolls. I kind of want to give general audiences the benefit of the doubt that they can make up their own minds. If so many can say they don’t care what critics say, then I hope that many can say the same about review bombs and the hate.Last couple of years I have seen some female led movies like, Kate, Lou, Jolt, The English, Ready or Not. I really thought Glow was an awesome show. So, I feel quantity isn’t a factor, but quality can be sometimes. And it wouldn’t surprise me if the actresses or even the unknown female crew experienced some form of sexisms, misogyny in help making those.Kind of off topic but, I remember reading questions about, the female audiences are large, so where are they to help add in the success? I asked my sisters and a lot of my female friends on these kind of movies, I even invited them to watch some of them. A lot of them just say they have no interest in watching these movies right away in the cinema or at home. They might watch it once with a group of friends one day. And some of them really just don’t care for those types of movies.That’s not all female audiences of course, but it has to be factored in regarding success and not just bad marketing or trolls. I mean to the ones I talked with said they like action, scifi, horror and stuff, but their idea of liking something doesn’t mean they are dying to see it. For some women, they support improving on how women are treated in the industry, but they wouldn’t watch the product as they’re just not into that. Some just don’t see the two as mutually exclusive.Actually a lot of them preferred 50 Shades of Grey. Magic Mike. Reality shows. Or just going out with friends to hang out is higher on their to do list than watching movies. My one friend supports the cast and crew of Ms Marvel from all the hate they got, but she thinks the superhero genre is boring and has no interest in watching Ms Marvel. So Sarah Michelle Gellar among others will have and find support in improving on how women are treated in the industry. Success or failure to their products might be a whole different conversation.
“Actually a lot of them preferred 50 Shades of Grey. Magic Mike. Reality shows. Or just going out with friends to hang out is higher on their to do list than watching movies.”Don’t forget that fantasy/scifi is still somewhat of a niche, most people don’t fervently anticipate movies and rush to see them asap, and lowest-common-denominator entertainment like reality shows will always be popular. That’s not the same as “women don’t show up to releases and prefer sexy/trashy shows”.
The whole scifi/fantasy is niche is another topic to debate about. But I can agree that general audiences or casual fans won’t be in a rush for everyone of those that comes out. Maybe once or twice a year they’ll feel that kind of anticipation. Just from my social circle I can’t generalize anything in comparison to the female audience as a whole. But I never said that women don’t show up to releases and prefer this and that. I am saying just from trying to engage in conversations about this with my friends and siblings, they all pretty much support women like Sarah Michelle Gellar, but some make it clear their support doesn’t automatically mean they will see any movie or show they’re involved in.
I think that’s normal though. Those who place importance on voting with your wallet, actively supporting entertainers, etc. are the fraction of the audience who are not only relatively plugged in to pop culture, but also care about keeping up with the zeitgeist. That’s a subset within a subset, one that’s really easy to overestimate in online spaces like this.
Luckily this one of the few places to have some debate on message board without it automatically turning into just snark and insults.
“That said, they also haven’t made a good female superhero movie yet.”Batman Returns, yo!