Member-only story
What Birds of Prey Could Teach Us about Girl Power
How Birds of Prey created a strong group of women that didn’t feel forced.
Disclaimer: Birds of Prey was just released in theaters so read with caution as there might be spoilers.
If you watched Avengers: Endgame, then you remember the fight scene against Thanos. And if you remember that scene, then you definitely remember all of the women banding together to assist Captain Marvel. A lot of publications, like Buzzfeed or Looper, picked up on something that was becoming more apparent as reviews came out- that it was a forced grouping of the female heroes in the MCU, or Marvel Cinematic Universe.
There were a few things that made this scene stand out. But the main thing was that it was a little too convenient that all of the women just happened to already be positioned together. Considering the short screen times they had all received in the film, this spotlight on them felt more like a last minute attempt to show “girl power”. With how well the characters did in Infinity War, Endgame felt like going to a party with your boyfriend and you get placed with the rest of the women because you have the same gender. While we need more movies with strong female characters, it needs to be just as natural as the moments a group of men get together in movies.
