Avengers That Arose on The Basis of The Era of World War 2

Casablanca and Captain America-The First Avenger are World War II films that have leading female characters central to the plot. The portrayal of the female lead in each film displays varying levels of anti-feminist agendas and propaganda that are used to influence the actions and opinions of female and male audience members during each time period. The anti-feminist aspect of both films attempts to objectify and delegitimize female characters through the depiction of social conventions, attitudes, and expectations, as well as through the use of film technology.

In Casablanca, the lead female role is Ilsa Lund, played by Ingrid Bergman. She is the wife of resistance fighter Victor Lazlo. Played by Paul Henreid, and former girlfriend of bar owner Rick Blaine, played by Humphrey Bogart. Ilsa is a beautiful, tall, thin, well dressed woman who is at first mysterious in her origins to the story. In the beginning it appears she has been unfaithful to her husband in her relationship with Rick. Later it is revealed that she believed her husband dead when she fell in love with Rick. Ilsa and Victor have also concealed their marriage from the public to protect her. Now that she has rediscovered Rick in Casablanca, Ilsa is ready to leave her husband and stay with Rick even if it means her husband will have lost one of his main reasons for fighting in the resistance. She ultimately cannot decide and asks Rick to decide for them all.

Through this representation, Ilsa is depicted as somewhat deceitful, overly emotional and completely indecisive about her future. She relies on men for financial support, emotional support as well as decision making, causing her to appear weak minded and submissive to the men in her life. Film Critic Roger Ebert states in his review of the film in 1996, “From a modern perspective, the film reveals interesting assumptions. Ilsa Lund’s role is basically that of a lover and helpmate to a great man; the movie’s real question is, which great man should she be sleeping with?” Ebert’s understanding of the film emphasizes her lack of intellectual value to the film and downgrades her to a ‘helpmate’ and sexual object to an important man. She is dressed head to toe in beautifully rich long-sleeved blouses and floor length skirts through the entire film which enhance her sense of morality even as it is questioned by the storyline. The wardrobe depicts Ilsa as a woman of means but one who is still just an object to be admired.

The technical aspects of the film such as camera angle and lighting aid in portraying Ilsa as an object to be gazed upon. Bennett Caplin with Williams College writes in his artile “In the Eyes of the Beholder: Perspective in Casablanca”, “Ilsa…does not present the image of intellectual potency…nor does she wield any sort of power. She is even incapable of making her own decisions…the camera portrays [her] literally in a different light than it does the men…more brightly lit, without shadows, and very often in soft focus. Ilsa maintains the attention of the camera; in several instances the lens remains fixated upon her even when she is not speaking. The female character is implicitly objectified and sexualized; her function in the scene is to be looked at. Her thoughts and perspective are ignored. (2).” This treatment of the Ilsa character reduces her to an object of desire. The idea of female value being tied to appearance was common in the time that Casablanca was released in 1942 at the beginning of the United States involvement in World War II. Anti-feminist tendencies based on appearance depicted via the female lead are also apparent in Captain America-The First Avenger.

Captain America-The First Avenger’s female lead is Agent Peggy Carter, played by Hayley Atwell, a British Intelligence agent. She is one of the commanders of the military that is involved in experiments that created the super human Steve Rogers, played by Chris Evans. Agent Carter holds an authoritative role but ultimately reports to the U.S. Army General played by Tommy Lee Jones. Agent Carter is strong and independent, never putting her love interest, Steve, before her work. But she is also highly feminized by her demeanor, actions and wardrobe.

Mary DeMarchi states in her thesis “Avenging Women, an Analysis of Postfeminist Female Representation in Cinematic Marvel’s Avengers Series”:

Despite a few empowering characteristics, (Peggy) remains passive in the story line. Regulated by military commanders, serves to aid the superheroes’ arc, and provide support. Peggy, who has virtually no backstory, supplies pep talks, weapons, and transportation to Steve…She is a mix of sexuality and femininity and her outfits are tailored to her contours and feminized. The camera constantly frames her in a way that accentuates her massive but modestly displayed chest, bright red lips, and traditional beauty…..She is strong in a way that is non-threatening to her male co-workers and her power appears to lie in her nurturing abilities to Steve/Captain America; her strength and capabilities are used to support him rather than stand on her own…Peggy is merely a helpful tool for Steve in relation to the Captain America plotline, providing guidance and motivation for him to save the day. (29, 30)

By depicting Agent Carter as a ‘helpful tool’ to Captain America she is essentially relegated to an object. By sexualizing her, she is valued less for her intelligence and more for her appearance. The lack of creating a fully round character diminishes her value and emphasizes the anti-feminist agenda.

Agent Carter is also portrayed as emotional in her reaction to discovering Steve in a romantic embrace with another woman. She becomes passive aggressive and does not attempt to clear up the issue with communication. She then irresponsibly fires a pistol at his shield while he is holding it. Which portrays her as being violent, irrational and unpredictable. This extends the stereotype of women being overly emotional and thus ill-suited for stressful situations.

This portrayal of female leadership in a Hollywood action movie at first may appear to support feminist ideas but upon closer examination it merely leaves women with an example of leadership that is sexualized and subservient to the male leads in the film. While the Agent Carter character may not be considered propaganda, it does send messages to the female and male audience that female leadership should adhere to the male expectation of femininity, sexual attractiveness and deference to men. Though Captain America-The First Avenger depicts World War II, it was released in 2011. While the entire existence of Agent Carter could be considered a positive feminist statement. As it would have been impossible for a woman to hold such a high-level position at the time of World War II. It can still be considered an antifeminist role as societal attitudes toward women in the work place have changed greatly since the 1940’s.

In both Casablanca and Captain America-The First Avenger. Hollywood has cast women into important but ultimately powerless roles as a form of propaganda to convince the female audience that the expectation of them is to submit to men, allow men to be the decision makers and the ones to hold the power. Women should merely support men in their endeavors. The male audience also receives this message and it creates in them these expectations of the women in their lives. These attitudes and expectations work against the feminist ideals of equality and fairness for women, which changed considerably between the release of Casablanca in 1942 and Captain America-The First Avenger in 2011.

Casablanca was an extremely popular film which leads one to believe audiences bought into the antifeminist propaganda throughout the film. During World War II people needed positive and hopeful reinforcement. Casablanca gave audiences hope. That victory could be achieved if everyone accepted the sacrifices that were necessary. The film used the depiction of women in subordinate roles to remind women of the sacrifice they need to make during a time of war. Captain America-The First Avenger is more an expectation of the ideal woman than a real example of women of the day. There were no women in authoritative roles at the time of World War II. The character of Agent Carter. While also experiencing a sacrifice in the loss of Steve in a plane crash at the end of the film. Primarily works to pressure women to be sexually attractive even if holding a powerful authoritative position.

The portrayals of Ilsa Lund and Agent Peggy Carter. Using film technology such as camera angles and lighting. As well as the depiction of anti-feminist social conventions, attitudes and expectations such as emotional status, powerlessness and deferring to the male characters, create a message that reduces the importance of the female character. While Captain America-The First Avenger displays a strong level of antifeminist sentiment. Casablanca uses clear propaganda to achieve its goal of delegitimizing and objectifying women.

Cite this page