Review: Black Widow, a movie that has a strong message about gender issues

Black Widow became an idol due to her strong personality as well as how she represents women’s struggles.

Black Widow Official Poster

(Image Source: Marvel Cinematic Fandom)

Black Widow’s lead star, Scarlett Johansson, recommended Cate Shortland as the director for Black Widow, as Scarlett was a fan of Shortlands’s previous movie ‘Lore’.

Marvel producer Kevin Feige also chose Shortland, because she is considered one of the best female directors and screenwriters in the industry. Feige wanted to portray women's influence in this film production.

Before moving to the plot, the movie had received high expectations even before it was released, being one of the most awaited Marvel sequels.

This movie was long-awaited by fans who really wanted to know what happened to Natasha Romanoff, after the events of Civil War.

Simple Plot

The story started in 1995 in Ohio, where a family of four were about to escape from the pursuing federal agents, then they were able to escape by an airplane.

They landed in Cuba, where the two children were taken and separated from their parents; it is known that this family was an undercover Russian spies.

In 2016 after Civil War events, Natasha Romanoff was a fugitive from the U.S. Secretary of State Thaddeus Ross, after violating the Sokovia Accords because she helped Captain America and the Winter Soldier.

While hiding out in Norway, she comes across something related to her past, where she once lived in the U.S. as a Russian spy posing as an American family.

After the undercover mission ends, she and her adoptive family escape to Cuba, where she and her sister Yelena Belova are the two children who were taken by Russian soldiers at the beginning of the movie.

Yelena and Natasha were taken to the Red Room, the Red Room is a secret facility for black widow training led by a former Russian General Dreykov.

Black widows are originally portrayed as a human being but act like robots, which they actually controlled by a chemical which was developed, based on stolen information from S.H.I.E.L.D’s lab in Ohio by Natasha’s undercover spy family.

The story ends as Natasha and her team destroy the Red Room and release the other black widows, and she escapes from Secretary Ross to free the other Avengers from prison.

The movie pays a tribute to the important roles that Black Widow holds as an Avenger, basically to honor the character because Natasha Romanoff was already dead in the Endgame story.

It shares a glimpse of Natasha Romanoff's struggles to be not only a companion of Captain America and the other Avengers in the previous sequels, as she is the only female Avenger at the time.

The movie may have caused confusion to the audience, because there are two separate stories that were connected together by one character, Natasha Romanoff or Black Widow.

Despite the confusion, the story's very clear objective is to uncover the true identity of Natasha Romanoff.

From that perspective, all fans might agree that this movie is really good although not so easy to follow.

The movie was not only very good from cinematic and story perspectives but also has a strong message about women’s rights and gender issues.

In general, this movie tells us that women and men are no different in the example of Natasha Romanoff who struggles to defeat Dreykov and free her fellow black widows from the red room.

Black Widow and Team in 4k Version

(Image Source: HDQ Walls.com)

There are several underlying messages in the movie. For example, the movie shows Dreykov using mind control chemicals to control the black widows. The chemicals are a symbol of men's dominance over women, which is still happening today.

Another example is in the last scene, which symbolizes that women have the right to choose freely.

In general, movies and music are often used to deliver messages about certain issues such as gender issues, especially if it's themed about women.

“Currently gender issues are still a concern, but now it is only a sort of reaction following an incident in our society,” said Wan Puspa Melati, social psychology lecturer at Taylor's University’s School of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

“The reaction is mostly because there is an incident involving women and there’s inappropriate comments about women,” she adds.