Eleven years ago, Iron Man’s girlfriends were disposable eye candy. Now
Women form the foundations of the franchise
In the history of Hollywood, there are far worse moments than the deeply cringeworthy one in Iron Man 2 when Tony Stark eyes up Black Widow and tells his aide: “I want one.” Anyone who has hit play on Pulp Fiction in recent years, only to find themselves squirming during the scene in which the director shows up as a character who liberally drops the N-word will be well aware that some moments are almost enough to make you switch off a once-beloved classic. (Let’s not even mention the masturbation scene in The Exorcist, starring a 13-year-old Linda Blair.)
But what’s different about that offending scene in Iron Man 2, which Scarlett Johansson condemned this week, is that the film feels far more closely connected to the current time. It is more recent, of course, but it is also part of a film series that continues to unfold, largely with the same actors playing the same characters. Both Johansson and Robert Downey Jr will return in forthcoming prequel Black Widow. The fact that the Iron Man 2 scene – now noticeably jarring – was apparently acceptable as recently as 2010 is symptomatic of the radical change both
Hollywood and wider culture have been through.