Hysteria is hysterical

I saw the movie today and I loved it. A lot of laughs and fun characters like Molly "the Lolly" (a prostitute-turned-maid) and Edmund (played by Rupert Everett), a rich friend of Mortimer Granville who helps him when he gets repeatedly fired. Edmund is also an eccentric inventor who creates a motorized feather duster that Mortimer is inspired to convert into a "personal massage" device. I wish we'd seen more about Edmund and perhaps a little about Emily, too. She was the "devoted dutiful daughter who still loves her wacky, outspoken sister" for so much of the movie; so when she realized that she needed to live for herself rather than for her father's expectations for her, it was too late to get a real personality out of her. But I guess they didn't have room for more development on the non-lead characters. Good story, and it was amusing to see various models of vibrators during the closing credits.


Meanwhile, I rewatched Iron Man 2 to see more Black Widow and was reminded of how depressing her part was in the film. She spent most of the film undercover as a PA and sex object. She got one long fight scene in her catsuit, then was stuck doing computer hacking the rest of the movie. What a total waste of her character. Although I liked the movie the first time around, seeing it again (especially after the Avengers) shows me how dark, too serious, and unsatisfying it is. Though there were sometimes funny jokes, most of the movie wasn't fun. We're bogged down in annoying crap: Tony Stark was being a self-destructive jerk when he thought he was dying; one villain was the hard-to-understand vengeful son of Howard Stark's ex-partner; and the other was whiny, jealous, and schemy, but helpless at getting played and used. Black Widow was just one flaw in a massive mess that I hope will be fixed when Shane Black does Iron Man 3. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang was dark, but it was incredibly fun and entertaining throughout.

In the Avengers, Black Widow at least gets to show her own personality and be an awesome spy with many great action scenes. Her ability to interrogate people while they don't realize it is especially great. But she can still be vulnerable and afraid sometimes, making her human instead of a robot. Almost every character in the movie got a chance to shine, except Agent Maria Hill, who had no personality and might as well have been a bit part. If she continues in more movies, then she needs better things to do, a revamp like Black Widow's. At least as much personality as Agent Coulson got.

Anyway because Black Widow was so awesome lately, I went looking for some dolls and/or action figures of her, but was disappointed to find that the toy store only carried the male Avengers. I even looked at the Iron Man 2 brand and she wasn't there either. Moreover, Lego's website (full of both Marvel and DC heroes) doesn't include Black Widow at all. If they're serious about reaching out to girls with their new Friends brand, they need to fix the disparity about women superheroes too. She was in two films! Doesn't she deserve merchandise yet?