One of the bigger challenges in the sexist Hollywood industry is to portray women who walk the thin line of being strong and sexy at the same time. Comic book and film fans could recall the incredibly sexist script that "Avengers" and "Justice League" director Joss Whedon created for his adaptation of "Wonder Woman," which thankfully never saw the light of day. Patty Jenkins' "Wonder Woman," which is arguably the best selling film this year, was a laudable interpretation of the character, balancing both strength and grace, and embodying a different type of sexiness that did not require her to show skin.
While some may describe her as "bada**," that term isn't quite comprehensive enough for the scope of her strength. Just ask "Thor: Ragnarok" actress Tessa Thompson, who recently opened up about how women are often forced to strike a balance between strong and sexy in superhero flicks.
Tessa Thompson describes the new version of Valkyrie
In "Thor: Ragnarok," Tessa Thompson plays Valkyrie, who was chosen by King Odin himself to lead the warrior goddesses called Valkyrior. These goddesses would hover through battlefields of those who worshipped the Asgardian gods and select the lucky souls of heroic warriors who would be taken to Valhalla, which is called the land of the honored dead.
In the Taika Waititi-directed Marvel flick, however, Thompson admitted to the Los Angeles Times that she and the director deviated from Valkyrie's comic book roots to create a "more timely character." The 33-year old "Westworld" actress said, "We wanted to create a character that occupied her own iconography."
Actress talks about the 'unfair position' of women in superhero films
Tessa Thompson, who also appeared in the Sylvester Stallone film "Creed" in 2015, also spoke out on the pressure that Hollywood puts on women who play roles in superhero films such as "Thor: Ragnarok." Screen Rant reported that as per Thompson, "There's an unfair position that women are sometimes put in, in the context of superhero movies and action movies where at once they have to be very strong and fierce, but also sexy."
Tessa Thompson added that she really dislikes the word "bada**," which she often comes across in many Hollywood scripts nowadays.
She explained that it's a "terrible" word to describe women in such superhero films. Thankfully, Taika Waititi's interpretation of Valkyrie is something different that young women can look up to without having to be confused as to why there's a certain sexiness to her. "Thor: Ragnarok" opens on November 3.
