**Due to recent misinterpretations of some one post
from this blog, a disclaimer is now apparently necessary. If this is your first visit to The
Scratched Camera, please read the introductory post and discover, for yourself, that every typed word that
follows is unabashedly my opinion and mine alone. In said introductory post, which,
shockingly, I did not simply type up for my own good health, I state that we
all read events and characters with our own baggage in mind; no one observes
with a perfectly clear lens—hence the
name The Scratched Camera.
Therefore, it is completely your will to disagree with any material that
follows, just as it is my will to agree and advocate for what is mine.** ~End, irritating obligatory disclaimer~
Jane Foster—Thor Magic is Just Science We Don’t
Understand Yet
Unlike
my previous posts centered on comic book characters (Natasha, Jean and Erik,
I’m looking at you) preliminary research on Jane Foster was relatively simple
and easy to acquire and understand (thanks, Wikipedia). What I found was so conversely
different from the Jane Foster I know, I felt compelled to include it in the
post, although the article will, as always, focus on the film adaptations of
the character.
Jane,
according to her comic book origins, was a nurse, working for Dr. Donald
Blake. Blake was, of course, the
alternate ego of Thor. Poor Jane
eventually fell for both of them, resulting in a messy, yet unnecessary, love
triangle, before Blake revealed his true identity. Thor took Jane to Asgard with him, where Odin granted her
the immortality and powers of a god.
However, her abilities were quickly striped from her, as she failed to
pass Odin’s test of bravery, showing fear at facing a beast entitled the
Unknown.
Jane
is returned to Earth, sans any memory of Thor or the power she had acquired
there. She eventually marries a
mortal doctor, only to divorce him some time later when Thor is allowed to
return to Earth. She becomes a
doctor herself, serving as a medical advisor to the Avengers.
While
nursing is, of course, a very honorable and inspiring career, I think I prefer
Jane as an astrophysicist, with three degrees and a headstrong attitude. Marvel Enterprises brought in
consultants from The Science and Entertainment Exchange to assist the screenwriters
and director Lockhart Kenneth Branagh with applicable terminology for
Asgard technologies. The
consultation was so enlightening, an updated version of Foster’s character was
formulated for the film, thereby resulting in the Jane I am vastly more
familiar with.
Jane
has a deep affection and affinity for science. She feels an intense loyalty to her subject matter and the
resulting work; it serves as her biggest driving motivation in the films,
surpassing any needy desire for approval or love, producing a character I can’t
help but like. In Thor, she spends the majority of the
movie incredibly irate that S.H.I.E.L.D. has stolen taken the entirety
of her life’s work; very few of her following actions aren’t motivated by her
insistence that she needs to have her equipment and findings returned to
her. She helps Thor with the
attempt to retrieve his hammer, but is only truly interested when he mentions
he will also return all of her materials to her.
Foster expresses a strong faith in
science, associating the possibility of truth in Thor’s story as just another
scientific finding; Thor has her admiration and conviction towards science to
thank for her believing his ‘magic is just science thus forth unproven’ declaration.
Inherently
with her driving scientific motivation comes a certain compulsory
curiosity. She believes in otherworldly
beings, in the hopes that she can be the first to discover them—to venture
where no other scientist has gone.
It is this curiosity that led her to the desert in Thor; that led her to wander off in The Dark World and stumble upon the Aether. In Jane, there is an admirable
courageousness in the face of the unknown (which is ironic, given original
Jane’s deep fear at the beast called Unknown).
With
this comes a dedication, a stubbornness.
She refuses to compromise anything in the name of science; no matter
what other tasks she may have on her plate, science will always be her top
priority. When Darcy delivers the
message of gravitational fluctuations during her date with Richard, it takes
Jane approximately thirty seconds to decide to follow Darcy and leave behind
her sea bass. The intern expected
as much, as she patiently waited the arrival of her friend from the parking
lot. This same clear choice in
conviction is also evident in the received call from Richard once she and Thor
find the other end of the Portal between the Nine Realms. She clearly has little to no interest
in actually speaking to Richard—she barely even acknowledges he’s speaking
beyond the occasional “uh-huh,” and “no, don’t hang up!” In turn, when Thor questions her who
Richard is, she shrugs off the slight twinge of jealousy evident from the god
with a disbelieving “really?” To
Jane, Thor’s potential for envy only takes up time that could be dedicated to
science and the troubleshooting of their newest problem.
Along
these same lines, Foster notably fails to excessively apologize for her
discovery of the Aether. Her
infection at the hands of the Infinity Stone causes a lot of problems—Frigga
dies, Malekith is hostile towards the Asgardians, destroying a large portion of
their Realm in the process, soldiers die, prisoners escape and all hell breaks
lose. Regardless of this
destruction, Jane apologizes exactly once in the entire film for her acquisition
of the Aether.
I
do not mean to say that Jane is arrogant and selfish to the point where she
refuses to admit she made a mistake.
Had she failed to apologize at all throughout the film that would’ve
perhaps been the case. However, as
she does, it eliminates a potential for a swelled ego to be amongst Jane’s
qualities. Conversely, I believe
it is Foster’s dedication to science that prohibits her from apologizing
earlier. Jane, as a strong and
committed scientist with an enthusiastic love of the unknown, can’t rationalize
apologizing for something inherent to her nature and personality. In short, she’s rather unapologetic.
However,
this does not mean Jane lacks compassion and understanding. Simply, Foster knows her worth. Yes, she may be human, but that does
not make her inferior to anyone else.
This stance is applicable even to the King of Asgard, who receives a
healthy dose of attitude from Jane at his equating her to a goat. Even after she learns of his title and
position, she demands to receive no less than the respect she deserves.
To
Jane, she deserves respect on two levels.
Her intelligence as an astrophysicist would typically take
precedence. However, in front of
Thor’s family, against the man who raised Loki to become the man who wrecked
havoc on New York City so very recently, Jane does not speak to him as a
scientist—she speaks to him as a human,
as a part of a race that has suffered at the hands of one of the king’s
own. Just because she’s a human,
Foster rationalizes, doesn’t make her inferior.
Her
stance against Odin is quite remarkable, as he could quite literally squash her
like a bug, should he choose to do so.
Regardless, she holds her head high and insists she receives the regard
basic human rights inform us we all are privy to.
However,
Loki is truly the one responsible.
When faced with the man guilty with the deaths of countless humans in
New York City, Jane doesn’t hesitate to slap him immediately and issue a
scathing “that’s for New York,”
showing us her strong sense of right and wrong—to her, Loki may be a god, but
he is not above punishment. Once again
Foster displays fearlessness in the face of the unknown; other than the
accounts of the attack on New York, she really knows very little about the
abilities of Odin and Loki. With
such volatile opponents, anything could happen, a fact that doesn’t seem to
bother Jane in the least.
Some
would argue that Jane is protected by Thor and the infection infesting her, (which,
really, is only protecting itself,
not necessarily her) and that it
is far easier to be brazen when faced with the fact that no harm can come to
you. I would agree that Thor is
quick enough to potentially deflect any attack that may come Jane’s way, but I
wouldn’t go so far as to assume that, should a fight break out, he’d be the
absolute victor.
This
theory is also disproven by her involvement in the final conflict with Malekith
at the end of The Dark World. The infection has been removed from her
system; Thor is rather busy fighting Malekith. If the above theory had been correct, this would render Jane
defenseless and useless in terms of contributing to the final showdown on the
streets of London.
But
Jane’s still got her brains. All
along her mind has been her greatest asset and it doesn’t fail her in the
confrontation with Malekith. The
fight that rages in The Dark World is
perhaps one of my favorites; the combined effort of the hero and heroine to
take down the villain satisfies my feminist side far better than the bulk of
final fights in superhero movies.
Jane may not have the physical strength to conquer Malekith, but there
was no way Thor could defeat Nine the villain without her
assistance. Thor and Foster work
together as a cohesive whole to win, forming a united front that is unheard of from
the supposed romantic interest of the film. Jane even has the final word as she punches the appropriate
button and sends Malekith back to the hell that is Svartalfheim.
From Bella to Katniss:
Is Jane a good role model?
Where the original Jane was revolutionary in terms of achieving the
position of doctor, this Jane is innovative as she is a successful member of a
branch of the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) line of
occupations. There are very few
women in media that show an aptitude towards science or similar applications. On that note, Jane doesn’t just show an
aptitude towards the field, she is incredibly intelligent, with three degrees
on the subject. As there are few
women portrayed in this way, Jane could serve as an excellent example for
females who wish to find success in a STEM field. Foster also has a firm grip on her priorities—Ron
wouldn’t say she needs to sort her’s
out, I’m sure of it, although he can be rather stupid on issues such as this—she
cares for Thor, even acknowledges having a deep affection for him. However, she never allows this to rule
her life. In Thor, science, her work and her equipment were still her top
priorities, no matter what her status with Thor may have been. When Thor disappears, Jane grieves the
relationship, but doesn’t allow it to control her life. She takes herself out of the dating
equation for a while, certainly, as is the common practice—particularly when
one has fallen for and, correspondingly lost, someone as so very attractive as
Chris Hemsworth—but eventually moves on. We see her date with Richard and, while it may be
unsatisfactory to her, she is at least continuing to look; she hasn’t allowed
her entire life to be derailed by the loss of the god. Likewise, if the relationship attempts
to inhibit her scientific tasks in any way, she’s quick to reassert herself
upon the situation and insure her priorities remain in tact. Finally, she’s quite unapologetic,
particularly in regards to her priorities and the respect she believes she
deserves. She may come off as
crass at times, but she knows what she wants and she isn’t afraid to seek it
out.
Role Model Rating:
9/10
From Lorelai to Wonder Woman: Is Jane relatable?
Jane serves to humanize Thor, particularly in the first film, where he
is arrogant and egotistical. Her
simple and short response of “you ask nicely,”
to his demand of more coffee with an accompanying breaking of his mug,
shockingly works as he gets as close to an apology as he probably ever
has. Conversely, Thor isn’t the
only one to grow and improve once they meet; towards her initial introduction
to the god, Jane giggles like a schoolgirl talking to the quarterback nearly
every time he implies needing her assistance—a habit, although understandable, (he’s
a god) she thankfully grows out
of in short order. These repeated
small encounters between her and the Thor reminds the audience that, despite
the fact that Foster is brilliant, she’s still human at her very core. To add to her relatability factor is
the character’s ability to be both steadfast and vulnerable at the same
time. When Thor disappears for two
years, Jane is very saddened by his lost—to which I say, wouldn’t you? Look at him! However, upon his return, she doesn’t
tearfully run and embrace him—she slaps him across the face and demands to know
where he was. Some may call this
clingy, demanding he explain his time to her, despite the fact that he was
obviously in New York—a fact The Avengers
informs us she was certainly aware of.
However, I disagree. Jane
listens to his explanation and nods, able to acknowledge that, as excuses go,
that’s a pretty good one. Her
reaction, to me, isn’t needy; it is an affirmation of her understanding of her
worth—she knows she deserves an explanation and, therefore, she knows no other
option than to seek it out.
Finally, it’s refreshing to have a heroine who is on the short side, and
yet is practical enough to refuse to wear high heels. The only exception to this is when she’s in her “lady
clothes,” an understandable concession that proves her dislike of whatever a
typical “lady clothes” wardrobe would entail. For those of us who favor jeans and fail to see the
practicality behind dresses, it’s a breath of fresh air.
Relatability Rating:
8/10
