part 1 A New Kind of Superhero: Film Noir and the Anti-hero

Jessica Bay

We open this collection with five chapters that critique the concept and genre of the superhero through Jessica Jones’s unique position, in terms of her character, the genre in which the show and comic book exist, and the show’s specific production elements. Jessica Jones the character serves an interesting role in the pop-culture landscape of the late 2010s; she is, as the authors in this section show, both heroic and not a hero, while also being a woman and misanthrope who inspires others to support and help her on her journey. This show and these chapters allow for an interrogation of what it means to be a hero.

In many ways Jessica embodies the traditional hero’s journey as defined by Joseph Campbell ([1949] 2008) or Northrop Frye (1957), however, she is a woman on a personal journey as well. Films of the 1990s, as Jeffrey A. Brown recounts, began showing women heroes “who are more than capable of defending themselves and vanquishing the bad guys” (1996, 52). Brown goes on to suggest that “the development of the hardbody, hardware, hard-as-nails heroine who can take it, and give it, with the biggest and the baddest men of the action cinema indicates a growing acceptance of nontraditional roles for women and an awareness of the arbitrariness of gender traits” (52). While Jessica herself very clearly presents as this type of character, her superhuman strength means that she has personally moved beyond that definition. At the same time, the show’s creators have recognized that women heroes no longer need to simply be men in drag performing that “hard-as-nails” role: they can be action heroes while also exploring personal journeys that are specific and recognizable to many women. Jessica has nothing to prove to others, but she does have to prove something to herself—her own worth. The audience sees her working through her trauma and PTSD, discovering herself as she tries to save the figure of [H]ope.

In this way Jessica is a different kind of hero, and the authors in this first section consider both her role as a hero and the show’s role in the hero genre. We have a number of chapters that consider Jessica across media. As an adaptation of a character from a comic book, these examinations of Jessica Jones allow for our authors to incorporate analyses that pull from comic book studies, media studies, genre theory, and media industry studies. In the first chapter, Catherine Jenkins makes use of Michel Foucault’s theories to build a habitus of the superhero class, analyzing Jessica’s position as a superhero by holding her character and actions up to this habitus. She considers Jessica in relation to ideas of the post-human as discussed by Sheryl Vint and Katherine Hayles, while placing Jessica within a history of comics superheroes, particularly from the two major publishers (Marvel and DC). Ultimately, Jenkins uses this discussion to construct a superhero habitus for the Modern Age of comics (1985–present).

After this strong introduction to Jessica as a multimedia superhero identity, we move to a consideration of the hero narrative within genre. Natalja Chestopalova carves out a new (sub)genre through her analysis of Jessica Jones, that of the rebel femme noir. This genre critiques the traditional superhero character, while also pushing back against heteronormativity and patriarchal control in popular culture. Jessica is not fully a noir detective; rather, she is enacting the role of superhero rebel who is fighting for femme empowerment. Sarah Stang then shows how Jessica Jones questions the (super)hero as a concept through the ideas of duty, responsibility, and morality. Stang demonstrates that Jessica fits neither the traditional superhero nor the anti-hero role, suggesting that she is instead a sort of neo-noir “hero.” This conception works to further critique the superhero character and genre.

Finally, we have two chapters that consider how the show works within its larger production context. Eric Ross examines Jessica Jones with reference to Foucault’s concept of the panopticon to discuss the role of the camera within the show, the camera recording the show, and the various actors controlling or viewing those cameras, including Jessica, us as viewers, and Netflix, which surveils us as we watch Jessica watch others. Ross’s chapter takes us from the story world to our own experience of both viewing the show and being viewed in the new era of digital production. We close this section with a chapter by Ian Fitzgerald, who argues that the production and distribution context of Jessica Jones and the other Netflix Marvel adaptations offer the opportunity for a change in genre. This change allows for Jessica Jones, in particular, to critique the superhero genre—including Marvel’s other major film adaptations—by showing a character and a world that has to deal with the consequences of the actions of those larger-than-life heroes.

The chapters in this section take Jessica Jones as a new perspective on the (super)hero—both as a character and a genre. Through these discussions we can better understand the changing roles of women, and gender in general, in traditionally male-centred stories and production contexts.

References

Brown, Jeffrey A. 1996. “Gender and the Action Heroine: Hardbodies and the Point of No Return.” Cinema Journal 35 (3): 52–71.

Campbell, Joseph. (1949) 2008. The Hero with a Thousand Faces, 3rd ed. Novato, CA: New World Library.

Frye, Northrop. 1957. Anatomy of Criticism: Four Essays. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.