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Sarah Michelle Gellar is back with a vengeance and she has no qualms about speaking out against fans who aren't accepting of female superheroes.
No stranger to the role herself, the Buffy the Vampire Slayer star recently opened up to The Guardian about the ill reception of female superheroes in cinema.
"Genre is where women can really succeed and hold an audience."
"Every time a Marvel movie tries to do a female cast, it just gets torn apart."
While there are some exceptions, female-led superhero filmss—even the ones portrayed by big Hollywood names—have historically been dismissed, from DC's Catwoman and Marvel's Elektra to Captain Marvel and DC's Wonder Woman 1984.
Even though Captain Marvel was a billion dollar success at the box office, Brie Larson was fiercely criticized for her performance... even before the movie hit theaters.
Gellar continued:
"Unfortunately audiences weren't as accepting."
"There's still this mentality of 'the male superhero,' this very backwards way of thinking."
People took to Twitter to share their thoughts on Gellar's statements.
Some agreed with what she had to say.
I don’t think she is necessarily wrong. The casting of Larson was judged harshly. Black Widow announcement was met with a too little too late vibe. She-Hulk was dragged through the mud. It just so happens that the writing wasn’t all that good on a few so it felt justified.
— Daniel Crespo (@crisiscrespo) January 31, 2023
She's not wrong, though some of this is Marvel's doing as well.
— CallMeAurelius (@CallMeAurelius) January 30, 2023
I agree.
— ebonyivoryebonyivory (@irishman3370) January 30, 2023
Yes exactly Sarah and that mentality is disgusting and it needs to go away completely agreed 👍
— Spectacular Spider-Man 🏳️🌈 (@explorer_of_ent) January 30, 2023
She’s not wrong
— Barney🎮🇵🇷 (@barniibus) January 31, 2023
Others, however, argued that the females superheroes weren't necessarily "torn apart." They noted that the dismissal of the characters was a result of poor story lines and sub-par writing.
Low effort writing in the hopes it will become amazing because "female".......why not just stop and work on a thing to make it better?
— Zippy2strange (@zippy2strange) January 30, 2023
We like female superheroes.
Rogue, storm, white queen, Jean Grey, psylocke, etc etc etc
Hollywood is writing and including them horribly, the characters themselves are fine
— 🏴☠️Nasdorachi🏴☠️ (@Nasdorachi) January 30, 2023
It's because the female characters are poorly written. Either their backstory changes or supporting characters change or their powers change. Nearly every single one is a Mary Sue or close to being one. Making a character OP is not going to always sell a story.
— Louis Vasquez (@LouisV1099) January 30, 2023
because they dont build them to be good story characters, they build narrative agendas in female form. If they’ll stick to good entertainment story telling, they might gain some ground with fan acceptance
— Seascape (@seascape195) January 30, 2023
Write a.good script, pick a good director & a good cast and then people will watch & suppprt it. No one knows how to do this anymore or tell.people, they performace or script are just bad or not great
— Kyla Loas (@LoasKyla) January 30, 2023
Gellar is also standing up for women in areas outside of the superhero realm. Though she has been successful in the industry for literally decades, SMG revealed that she is still "not taken seriously by men on sets."
"I still feel the need, sometimes, to read [out] my résumé."
"Like, how many of these shows have you done? How many experiences have you had at 2am with 250 extras, a late shot, a stunt - all of these things?"
"I not only have produced it, but I've also been in it. Listen to me, because I know where I'm coming from."
Gellar is also giving a new generation of artists a voice that she wished she had when she was younger. Gellar is not only an actor on her new series Wolf Pack, but she is also a producer.
She recently told The Hollywood Reporterthat she has already removed a crew member from production for making a cast member uncomfortable, and she even gave her co-stars her personal phone number in case they need to bring up a concern to her.
Everyone needs a SMG in their wolf pack.