Seriously, are you people ever happy?

Skipping around and reading reviews of the Avengers movie, I note there are still people complaining that the Black Widow is sexist.

[Click for spoilers. Also, consensus view please: When can I stop spoilering these things?]

The thing they are whining about now is the whole sequence with Natasha and the Hulk rampaging through the carrier. Apparently it is part of an evil misogynist plot to make sure that the damsel in distress archetype is reinforced by making the girl run from the enormous green rage monster who is casually putting his fists through important parts of the aircraft.

I don't know about you, bub, but if anyone didn't run from an unwillingly Hulked-out Banner, I would be complaining very loudly about the writers making my superheroes fucking stupid. Natasha is massively outgunned in that fight. Her schtick is manipulating people until she gets close enough to kick them in the face. You cannot manipulate a creature that is unwilling to listen or unable to understand, and kicking the Hulk in the face -- if you can reach his face in the first place -- just makes him more frightened and angry than before. This is exactly not what she was trained for. Tactically, the smartest thing to do is run and hope that the Hulk finds another target before he squishes you.

She stays huddled on the floor partly because the Hulk has just batted her into a bulkhead, and partly because she's hoping that if she doesn't move, the Hulk won't think she's a threat anymore and will go break something else. She's also scared shitless, but that doesn't stop her from bolting up and beating the hell out of Clint as soon as she makes sure she's clear of the tantrum-monster.

If it makes you feel any better, imagine the same sequence starring Tony, unable to get to his robotic suit. The exact same thing would have happened, except he'd have been worse at avoiding getting hit, and nerves would have rendered him completely unable to shut the fuck up while he was running. And Natasha would still have had to take care of Clint, who would have just broken Tony's nose, plus whatever other bones he felt like snapping, then thrown him out of the damn plane.

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