WARNING: This Article May Contain Spoilers
In case anyone is not aware, the films used in these articles were made before the first appearance of any actor credited as their superhero alias. I wanted to make that clear as I am fully aware that Natalia ‘Natasha’ Romanoff first appears in Iron Man, exactly the same as the comics by the way, but she is not the Black Widow as this point in the MCU. This is going to sound like a really odd point to make, but Black Widow is never blonde in the comics until Yelena takes up the mantel, so I wonder if they made her blonde in the films due to Scarlett having other acting roles at the time.
We Bought A Zoo
I’ll be honest, I’ve loved the film since the first time I watched it so for me it was an absolute no brainer to use. There’s something beautiful about the character of Kelly that Scarlett Johansson plays and it’s not just her love for the animals, it’s the fact that she has clearly fallen for Benjamin (and him for her I think) but she’s so understanding of the love he still has for his wife – that her simply saying ‘I can’ in response to him telling her he can’t let go says so much more than just that. For me, she’s saying ‘I’ll wait’. People probably think this sounds mean – but I’m actually glad they don’t get together at the end. Yes, they kiss but that’s it – and I think if it had been any other way, it may have ruined the film for me.
Ghost World
First off, I have absolutely no idea what is happening for most of this film. I feel like it’s meant to be maybe a female version of Clerks or Mallrats with the mundane behaviour that takes place the majority of the time. It’s clear that Scarlett Johansson’s character of Rebecca is clearly ancillary to Thora Birch’s Enid. Rebecca is so sullen and comes across as so out of character from other roles that Johansson has played.
Love Song for Bobby Long
This may sound mean but I find it hard to feel sorry for Johansson’s character of Purselane. I get she’s lost her mum but she comes across as a bit of a brat and there are times that it’s like she’s trying to use her feminine wiles to get what she wants out of Lawson. Anyway, this film is actually about the way the relationships between Pursy, Lawson and Bobby changes during the time they live together. I think Lawson falls in love Purselane because she looks so much like her mother. Little annoyed at the predictability of Bobby Long being her father! (That’s not a spoiler, I would hope you all expected it…just wish it hadn’t been the case)
Side note: this is really sad on my part, but I knew this was set in New Orleans based on the graveyard they held Lorraine’s funeral in at the beginning
Honorary Mentions
Scarlett took on her first acting role at the age of 10, playing Laura Nelson in North and from there her career blossomed. At a young age, she had films released for consecutive years and that has not changed. Within all of this, she has started in a range of films from cheesy horror like Eight Legged Freaks to strong, based on true life, films as Girl with a Pearl Earring and The Other Boleyn Girl with some romantic films like He’s Just Not That Into You thrown in along the way.
