One of my favorite movies is Black Widow. The main characters are Natasha Romanoff and Yelena Belova, and they are sisters. The movie includes many ethnicities from Russian to Dutch since the widows are from all over the world and its more female led. Both the director and writer are women so there may be some writer's bias since they may want more representation for women which is why its female led, and some men are seen in a bad light such as Draykov being the evil head of the widows and Alexei being a bad father.
The film shows representation in many ways. In the beginning of the movie, it shows Natasha and Yelena as young girls playing outside together, the lighting and colors are warm, and this shows comfort and represents that it's a good memory. It can remind people of their own memories as a child, and they can even relate with the sister bond. The two of them have a whistle call which adds to their sisterly bond, further representing sisterhood.
There is also representation in their makeup and costumes. Natasha’s makeup was natural allowing viewers to relate and connect with her. Yelena had a smokey eye which showed her expressing herself, making viewers feel comfortable doing the same. The suits they wore were practical. In past movies that the black widow was in, her suit was made tight to accentuate her curves however in this movie she wore a more functional and practical suit to shift the focus to her skills. Yelena also wore a vest throughout the movie that had many pockets further adding to this representation of empowerment in women rather than sexualization.
The movie does not include many stereotypes but one that can be seen is how Russians are evil. The leader of the widows is Draykov a Russian man, he is the main antagonist in the movie, and this can add to the stereotype that Russian are evil or bad. Othering is also seen in the movie as the black widows are brainwashed and trained assassins while the viewers are not.
Natasha and Yelena’s whistle call: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RkEDesKU88
Childhood scene:
Yelena’s costume:
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