By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Font ResizerAa
  • Home
  • Drag Queens
  • Interviews
  • LGBTQ
  • Popular Culture
Search
  • Home
    • About
    • Privacy Policy
    • Advertise
  • Drag Queens
    • RuPaul’s Drag Race
  • Interviews
  • LGBTQ
  • Popular Culture
Follow US
© Foxiz News Network. Ruby Design Company. All Rights Reserved.
> Popular Culture > Television > She-Hulk: Heroing While Woman
Television

She-Hulk: Heroing While Woman

Kevin Quigley
Last updated: August 25, 2022 2:33 am
Kevin Quigley
8 Min Read
Share
SHARE

Women who superhero: you would think, by this point in our collective pop culture, that this would be a thing that everyone is cool with. In 2019, some people (men) went completely bonkers when Brie Larson indicated that she only saw white dudes reviewing her new movie, Captain Marvel, the first female-led Marvel film. When she said she intended to make her press coverage “more inclusive,” a pre-backlash to the movie started, somewhat hilariously. A grassroots protest erupted, asking moviegoers to “Take the Alita: Battle Angel Challenge” (a response of sorts to Disney’s initiative to send young girls to see Captain Marvel, utilizing the hashtag #CaptainMarvelChallenge on Twitter). The point, so far as it had one, was in trying to sink Captain Marvel by influencing folks to see Alita: Battle Angel, which also was playing at the time, instead. “Send a message to SJW [Social Justice Warrior] Hollywood,” read tweet by one vile, bilious alt-righter, who had previously tweeted that Alita was a “boring mess,” “take the #AlitaChallenge.” 

Of course what happened was that Captain Marvel made over a billion dollars at the box office, while Alita made 405 million. The ridiculous #AlitaChallenge was never about boosting up one movie with a strong woman lead, but about trying to silence a woman who had dared speak up about inclusion and equity. 

It’s been three years since that weird and ineffectual campaign, but some people just aren’t over women in superhero projects. Well, correction: they seem to like it when women kick ass and look hot. They just don’t ever want them to say a word about the difficulties of being a woman, and they are never, ever to be better at a man doing the same job. (They also don’t want them to be Muslim, as the more recent backlash over the Disney+ series Ms.Marvel proved.)

So now we come to Marvel’s newest jam, the Disney+ show, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. The recent (and terrific) first episode of got really under the skin of a lot of insecure people (mostly men). A quick recap: while driving with her cousin, Bruce Banner (aka The Hulk), lawyer Jennifer Walters’ car is targeted by a spaceship from Hulk’s past (it’s complicated), and there’s an accident. Some of Bruce’s gamma-irradiated blood gets into Jen’s bloodstream, and instead of killing her, bam, we have a She-Hulk. 

One of the overarching themes of the episode is how Bruce has had to isolate himself away from people, and to learn to control his rage – the thing that triggers his Hulk transformation. He tries to explain all this to Jen, and to teach her his ways of isolation, balance, and maintaining internal order. To his surprise, Jen is able to control her transformation into She-Hulk (name pending) far easier than Bruce had at the start, and doesn’t even lose her regular personality when she becomes a six-foot green creature capable of throwing a boulder further than him. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Marvel Studios (@marvelstudios)

By way of some explanation, Jen reveals how difficult the act of living and surviving as a woman can be. “I’m great at controlling my anger. I do it all the time—when I’m cat-called in the street, when incompetent men explain my own area of expertise to me. I do it pretty much every day because if I don’t, I will get called emotional, or difficult, or might just literally get murdered. So I’m an expert at controlling my anger, because I do it infinitely more than you.”

Did guys get pissed? Oh my god, they got so pissed. 

Now, beyond the fact that it’s the height of irony that so many angry men took to Twitter to minimize Jen’s existence, a good deal of negative reactions were just sort of nonsensical. One key argument against Jen’s speech is people saying that Bruce, as Hulk, has had to deal with way more trauma than Jen has. But the speech wasn’t about trauma – it was about anger, and learning to control and mitigate it long before she ever became a Hulk. One meme that went around showed Jen saying, “I get cat-called on the street” while Bruce says, “My father beat my mother to death.” I suppose this was meant to show that Bruce has had it a lot worse in life than Jen, and that microaggressions can’t compete with the trauma of seeing your mother beaten to death. 

What they didn’t seem to take into account was that that argument proved Jen’s point. Yes, that’s a traumatic event for a young boy to witness … but it’s kind of a lot more traumatic for the young boy’s mother, who was, in Jen’s words, “literally murdered.” Because they can’t see beyond the point of view of the male in this situation, women’s issues – up to and including being killed – are simply not as important. 

It’s been interesting (and a little exhausting) to watch the reactions to this show, which is a lawyer comedy show more than anything. It breaks the fourth wall just as it did in the comics (before even Deadpool did it) and has an irreverent sense of humor that most other MCU properties only hint at (a Thor or two notwithstanding). Most frustrating is the fact that we’re probably going to have to keep going through this. The fact that I’m writing a think piece about a fun show where big green people wrestle with each other and then share tiki drinks is … I don’t know, absurd? We accept a lot in our current world of superhero lore. We’ve accepted a guy frozen in ice since the 1940s, and then waking up as a super soldier in modern-day New York. We’ve accepted a kid being bitten by a spider and going into space with his spider-powers. We’ve even accepted that Paul Rudd and Kumail Nanjiani can get jacked as hell. 

How long before we accept women being, you know, women?

TAGGED:Alita: Battle AngelCaptain MarvelDisney+She-HulkShe-Hulk: Attorney at Law
Share This Article
Facebook Email Copy Link Print
ByKevin Quigley
Kevin Quigley is a novelist, graphic designer, and podcaster living in Boston with his husband, Shawn. His first taste of themed entertainment was the Chuck E. Cheese’s in upstate New York he would drag his grandparents to every summer for his birthday. Since, he has immersed himself in environments as diverse as Disney parks, tiki bars, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show live, forever at the crux of kitsch, camp, and radical sincerity. He’s a fan of mid-century modern design, aloha shirts, and the homoerotic subtext of the music of Bruce Springsteen.
Previous Article Canada's Drag Race Canada’s Drag Race: “Cosmetic Queens” (S03 E06)
Next Article Canada's Drag Race Canada’s Drag Race: “Girls Trip The Rusical” (S01 E07)
Leave a Comment Leave a Comment

Leave a ReplyCancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Stay Connected
8.2kFollowersLike
1.9kFollowersFollow
16.9kFollowersFollow
1.6kSubscribersSubscribe
Subscribe to WERRRK.com

Join 8,217 other subscribers
- Advertisement -
Ad imageAd image
Search in this site
- Advertisement -
Ad imageAd image
Wigging Out Podcast
Wigging Out Podcast
Wigging Out Podcast

Drag Queens! Drag Kings! And all things nightlife are discussed in this brand new podcast hosted by two broke queens from NYC.

Listen OnApple PodcastsListen OnExternalListen OnExternal

Podcast Subscription Menu

Ep 120: Pride 2025 With Bertha Vanayshun!
byMartyr & C.Tepper

“Calling me a historian is a little generous.” In this episode, your hosts Martyr (@dragthemartyr) and Cate (@ctepper) celebrate the first episode of their 2025 Pride series with NY Drag’s Intrusive Thot, Bertha Vanayshun! First they discuss producing “Drag History Hour,” DL trade, video games, ABBA, and Lady Gaga. Later they talk about RuPaul, The Sims, Snapchat, and give their hot takes!
+
Follow our guest: @BerthaVNYC on all social media
+
Catch up with the first time Bertha came to the show: https://pod.link/1460638348/episode/aa44eba318458921afea768d751b6b6f
~
tinyurl.com/wiggingoutpodcast
This episode is proudly sponsored by MOTTO- the new queer dating app!
Tired of the endless scrolling? With Motto, Motto sends you daily matches of people who match your interests and kinks. There are no fees, no ads, and no nonsense.
Use invite code: ZVOGS when signing up.
~
Follow the pod on Instagram and Facebook @wiggingoutpodcast and on twitter @wiggingoutpod
Thots, comments, and dick pics? Please send to dragthemartyr@gmail.com
Cover art: Madeline De Michele – www.madelinedemichele.com
Music: “Club” by Andrew Huang (www.youtube.com/channel/UCdcemy56JtVTrsFIOoqvV8g) under Creative Commons.
Edits by C.Tepper

Ep 120: Pride 2025 With Bertha Vanayshun!
Ep 120: Pride 2025 With Bertha Vanayshun!
June 12, 2025
Martyr & C.Tepper
Ep 119: Vampy Von Thickums Galore Returns!
May 30, 2025
Martyr & C.Tepper
Ep 118: Magnifa
May 6, 2025
Martyr & C.Tepper
Ep 117: Robin Rose Quartz Returns!
April 30, 2025
Martyr & C.Tepper
Wigging Watchery EP 19: Scooby-Doo
April 23, 2025
Martyr & C.Tepper
Ep 116: Boyish Charm
April 10, 2025
Martyr & C.Tepper
Ep 115: Captain Wonder Returns!
March 27, 2025
Martyr & C.Tepper
Ep 114: Slagatha
March 4, 2025
Martyr & C.Tepper
Wigging Watchery EP 18: Fifty Shades Freed
March 4, 2025
Martyr & C.Tepper
Ep 113: Evangeline
February 10, 2025
Martyr & C.Tepper
Search Results placeholder
- Advertisement -
Ad imageAd image
Latest news
  • “Drag Race Brasil” Returns To WOW Presents Plus This July!
  • RuPaul’s Drag Race All-Stars: Wicked Good (S10 E07)
  • “Drag Race France: All Stars” Comes To WOW Presents Plus On July 10th!
  • RuPaul’s Drag Race All-Stars: Starrbooty: The Rebooty (S10 E06)
  • RuPaul’s Drag Race All-Stars: Rappin’ Roast (S10 E05)
- Advertisement -
Ad imageAd image
Categories

You Might Also Like

The Pandalorian: Panda Recaps Disney+’s "The Mandalorian" Ep 4 2
Television

The Pandalorian: Panda Recaps Disney+’s “The Mandalorian” Ep 4

Welcome back to a galaxy far, far away! Last week…

12 Min Read
WHAT THE WALKING DEAD: STRANGERS 4
Popular CultureTelevision

WHAT THE WALKING DEAD: STRANGERS

It's that time of the week again! Another episode of…

4 Min Read
Racing With Haley: RuPaul's Best Judy's Race 6
RuPaul's Drag RaceTelevision

Racing With Haley: RuPaul’s Best Judy’s Race

Another week, another RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars! GAG! This…

8 Min Read
RuPaul's Drag Race All-Stars: "Lip-Sync Lalaparuza Smackdown" (S09 E10) 8
RuPaul's Drag RaceTelevision

RuPaul’s Drag Race All-Stars: “Lip-Sync Lalaparuza Smackdown” (S09 E10)

The queens of RuPaul’s Drag Race All-Stars returned to the…

5 Min Read
Follow US
© Foxiz News Network. Ruby Design Company. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Privacy
  • Site Map
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • Twitter