Friends, let’s discuss Thor 2, a movie which recently came out. Now, if you have not yet seen Thor 2, I suggest you don’t continue reading unless you are alright with plot spoilers -because I will be talking about the movie in detail, and it will ruin some plot points for you.
So, fair warning, if you have not seen Thor 2 and don’t want it spoiled -do not continue reading. Come back after you’ve seen it.
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I suppose I am supposed to be happy over the fact that Thor 2 passes the Bechdel Test. I mean, the Bechdel Test is super important, and not many movies pass it anyway (at least, not in America.) But, yay, Thor 2 passes the Bechdel Test -huzzah for jumping over an already low bar.
I guess I should also be happy that there was no pointless and useless sexualization of women like there often is in movies about men. I should be happy that women were presented as being very strong and put-together and not-taking-anyone’s-shit.
But I’m not happy.
I am furious at Thor 2. I am so tired of getting excited over movies and then being so completely disappointed and disgusted. I am so tired of believing that a movie would actually be decent towards women even though it’s focused on one man.
They [the writers, the directors, who the fuck cares] put Frigga in the fridge.
[If you don’t know what I mean, take a look at the “women in refrigerators” website or the wikipedia link]
I am raging.
Frigga -the All-Mother, the only other person/god with high enough status to sit on the throne beside the All-Father, Odin, her husband -was killed in the movie by the villains.
“She’s just a casualty of war”, you say, “Someone has to die, her gender has nothing to do with it. You’re over-reacting.”
I would not be so angry if they had done the same to Loki.
They spent the entire movie lining up parallels between Loki and Frigga -they have the same magic, the same fighting style, even. Loki was Frigga’s favorite, or at least she doted on him. Loki loved Frigga -this can be seen by him “creating” an image of her to talk to in his cell and then by completely trashing it after he learns she is killed. Even Tom Hiddleston, in an interview [starting at 2:20], explained:
“Part of the back-story we created was that Frigga was really the most attentive to Loki when he was a child. And Odin didn’t really know how to connect. He connected much more with Thor. They were sort of cut from the same cloth. And Frigga and Loki had this kind of beautiful, sensitive, more artistic relationship. And it was actually her who taught him all his magic”
Meanwhile, shortly after Frigga is killed and we watch her funeral take place, Loki is “killed” in a very similar way. Frigga was stabbed with a longsword, and Loki is similarly impaled on a sword (or something sharp, but it really doesn’t matter).
At the end of the movie, we find out (SURPRISE SURPRISE) that Loki is still alive.
This is why I am furious.
Because Loki literally learned everything he knows from Frigga. Frigga is much older than Loki is -she [according to the movie] is his fucking adoptive mother -she raised him. AND YET HE IS “CLEVER” ENOUGH TO LIVE THROUGH GETTING STABBED WHILE SHE IS NOT. SHE HAS THE SAME MAGIC AS HIM IF NOT MORE OF IT AND SHE STILL DIES AND REMAINS DEAD.
I am done. I am so done.
Why are men in movies always able to come back to life, but women are not? Is it because women are just meant to bear life rather than actually live it? And then, once they are killed, they can help the men “get their revenge” through their man-angst?
So, no, I will not be happy that this movie passed the basic standards of what all movies should-be (the Bechdel test and the lack-of-female-sexualization) because they still relied on a trope. They still showed their sexism in the end. They killed arguably the most powerful woman in the entire movie in order to propel the men of the movie into anger and action, and that is unforgivable and disgusting.
And this sucks for so many reasons. It sucks because the movie was actually pretty good -it was partially predictable, but it did surprise me at some points. It sucks because I am going to be seen as over-reacting, and not many other people are going to be angry at this. But it sucks because I feel like I have been betrayed.
I don’t want to see movies that star male characters anymore. I don’t want to be this angry at things that aren’t even real. I don’t want to be a feminist anymore when I can’t even go see a movie with my boyfriend without becoming furious and shouting in the parking lot.
But I also don’t want to be seen as someone who’s life can be thrown away to further the plot/life of a man. I am not just a plot device. Frigga should not be reduced to just a plot device. She was important. We are important. And I’m just so tired of not being seen that way.
A Feminist Looker 
You’re comments are valid, and I don’t think you’re overreacting given the facts you have. However, they killed off Frigga because Rene Russo wanted to leave the franchise and not come back. It was not in the original script.
I’m guessing it’s because her character was largely used as a token female, considering how she’s hardly explored in the first Thor movie and in the second she was used to explore deeper into Loki’s character and her only interaction with Thor was to save Jane.
As an actress I’m sure it frustrates her and it’s no surprise she wants to get out of it.
Especially since Natalie Portman herself also wanted to leave the franchise too.
I agree with you. I hate it when the writers or whoever kills off chacters that never were meant to be killed. take X-men they killed off almost everyone, people that should never have been killed and they changed the story line of others. in thor how can you kill off frigga she is odin’s wife and queen of the gods and was never killed off in any of the comics and then they kill loki only to some how bring him back, and where is odin then what next they will say they killed him as well. these people need to at least stick with the basics and not go around killing off people that never died no matter if they are women or men
Except it wasn’t a surprise at the end of the movie that he survived. The guard Loki turned into while body switching with Thor green-glows into existence on Svartalfheim not long after Loki’s ‘death scene’ then proceeds to talk to Odin. He didn’t miraculously survive getting stabbed at all, it was a body double. Like in Avengers, Thor ‘always falls’ for the body double trick, a gift Loki has used in all three movies that he has been in. There was foreshadow to that end scene and plenty of build up to it as well.
Don’t get me wrong, I believe in women rights. I am a woman myself and I am furious that Frigga died, but at the same time I’ve read the comics enough to not be surprised seeing as she dies in a MUCH less satisfactory way in the comics. At least in the film her skill as a bladeswoman and a magician was shown; in the comics she was literally just one offed. :/
I personally think you are looking too far into things. I never saw Frigga’s death as something happened just because she was a female character and I don’t think its in anyway unfair that she died and Loki didn’t despite their similarities. Loki needed something to drive him to join up with Thor, much like the reason they killed Coulson in the Avengers. Loki needed the motivation or else he would’ve given Thor the asgardian version of the middle finger when he asked for help. There is literally no one else in Loki’s life that would have given him the same drive for revenge as Frigga.
Loki’s character is supposed to be deceptive. He was hard to read in the firs movie and he’s hard to read in this one as well. The fact that he’s alive at the end wasn’t even remotely a gender issue.
Thanks for this post — I agree with you entirely. I was so upset that Frigga died like this — even a kidnapping, say, in exchange for Jane, would have been better than killing her off so the men could get righteously angry. And if Jane had this great power that explodes out at anyone who touches her without her consent (cool concept that they did pretty much nothing with, to my disappointment), why don’t we see that power instead of an illusory double? Frigga could have shown her tricksy illusions in another way, and we could have seen Jane being a badass and Frigga’s awesome self alive at the end.
For the people claiming “body double” with Loki’s death, the whole point of the body doubles was that once you touch them, they disappear. Since Loki’s didn’t disappear, we’re left wondering how he survived… Just because it wasn’t vocalised doesn’t mean it wasn’t a plot point.
Loki isn’t an Asgardian, he’s a frost giant. They have different physiology, can survive different things and have much different weaknesses.
I do believe your over reacting ever so slightly. I was very upset that Frigga was killed off too, she was an amazing character. But I think the reason Loki survived and she didn’t wasn’t anything to do with gender. Loki is a trickster. He also happens to be a frost giant. He can handle being thrashed a lot more than an Asgardian. Maybe stabbing a frost giant though the chest doesn’t kill them.
I’m pretty sure that it wasn’t a sexist idea to kill Frigga off through.
[…] Vooral de vrouw in de vrieskast-behandeling van koningin Frigga wekt woede op: […]
What a waste of 5 minutes of my life.
Firstly, you proudly announce yourself as sexist (feminist – there’s NO difference) like it’s something to be proud of. Anyone (and I mean ANYONE) that is sexist as an ass – and should be ashamed of themselves.
Secondly, this is some of the biggest drivel i’ve come across in a long time. Frigga’s character was poorly defined. Jane’s is ok – I’m glad she’s gone for the nerdy girl, as it can compliment Thor.
But, I’ve had a gut full of this shit that we must have 50% female characters, or they must be like olympian gods. Why not insist on 50% black characters, and 50% asian characters, and 50% disabled characters, while we’re at it, how about 50% overweight characters, or 50% read-heads. It’s JUST bullshit.
I wasted 10 minutes of my life responding to a person who is so righteous about their own sexism that it won’t make a difference.
Asta La Vista. Enjoy your hypocrisy.
I think you need to re-evaluate your definition of feminism if you believe it to be sexist, Sarah. Feminism isn’t about the triumph of maniacal women as they enslave men. Rather, feminism is about advocacy for women, who historically have been relegated to inferior roles solely because of being women.
In our society, it is easy to forget that just 20 years ago, it was acceptable to pick a less qualified candidate for a job because he was a man, or not to hire a woman because she had a child.
As a woman, I am grateful for feminism, because it has helped me stand on equal ground with men. Let me ask you – would you be so quick to decry feminism if you got paid a third less than a man doing the same job, at the same employer?
Why don’t you think about this for a while?
As they’ve already said:
1) Loki is a main character and Thor’s main foe. They aren’t going to kill him.
2) Loki never got stabbed. That was a body double. Frigga actually got stabbed, that’s why she died.
3) Loki didn’t create an image of his mother to talk to; FRIGGA created an image of herself as a workaround to the fact that Odin forbade her from visiting Loki. She also sent him gifts and books. For her efforts, Loki insulted her (which he immediately regretted). But when he reached out to her, she snatched her image (body double) away.
4) I was sorry to see Frigga go, but since she basically was the last vestige of Loki’s “humanity” her death was an effective storytelling device to inform the audience of the little love Loki had left in him and it also provided a way for Thor and Loki to “bond” again.
Perfect response!!! You sure know your stuff.
Do we also forget that Frigga in the myths as well as the MCU is a Seer? She knew her death was coming straight for her and she still continued to protect her family and Jane until the very end. She knew she was going to die. She knew she could not change that outcome. She represented the power and determination of a mother’s love and protective instincts. She fought for what was right and protected her family.She was courageous and brave. Her death was not unnecessary at all.
Reading this article tells me that you really haven’t brushed up on your Norse Mythology.
But did she die? Rewatching the moments immediately after her death, Odin appears to be listening to her rather than simply clutching her in grief and there’s something about the look in his eye which doesn’t fit with grief or anger – Hopkins is too good an actor to be getting that wrong, so I think it’s intentional. Coupled with Loki’s recovery and her power as a seer, I don’t think she died at all – rather she’s working in the background to prevent Ragnarok.
[…] Rene Russo speelt Frigga, Thor’s moeder en Odin’s echtgenote. Voor haar geen bijzondere krachten of een schijndood of wat dan ook. Nee, iemand steekt haar met gemak neer en punt. Op naar de emotionele uitvaart waar alle mannelijke helden, Odin voorop, hun emoties kunnen tonen en met hernieuwde grimmigheid verder vechten. Tenenkrommend. […]
Ok you have some issues lady, and obviously weren’t really paying attention to the movie. It is nazi-feminists like you that take everything way too damn seriously, and often in the completely wrong way. First off, Loki didn’t “create” the image of his mother, his mother did that. -duh. Frigga died because she was creating an image of Jane Foster, and she couldn’t do it for herself at the same time. Loki is also much more trained in fighting than his mother, so when she takes on the same people as Loki and Thor, who the hell do you think is gonna die? Her death was needed for the plot of Thor 2, and Loki’s survival was needed for the next Marvel movie. I think you may be the only person in the world who drew these conclusions. Next time don’t bitch about these stupid ideas of yours online.
this is what you spend your time worrying about? then you wonder why people don’t take feminism seriously. get a grip.
Loki is a main Marvel character. Frigga is a supporting character at best. You can’t be suprised they spared Loki and not Frigga And while they employ similar magic, Loki is undoubtedly more powerful than Frigga. Just looking at the official Marvel power ratings tell us that. And anyway, the going theory is that Loki faked his own death. All that was likely entierly on purpose.
Their deaths are not comparable at all.
Ladies and gentlemen, the endless, invincible capacity of feminist disdain.
Let me break the news to you now – Neither you, nor the authors you linked to, will ever be happy with efforts made to appease you. You make silly self centered demands and [the writers, the directors, who the fuck cares] do what they can for you, out of some misguided instinct to keep women happy, but its not enough. It’s never ever enough for you.
You just feel empowered to demand more and More and MORE. This isn’t fighting for equality its social profiteering.
you said yourself, this movie passed the bechdel test but you’re still furious.
Lastly I’m going to attempt the hopeless task of pointing out arrogance to a feminist.
You demand to see AGENCY in female characters but believe its the responsibility of OTHERS to bring about this change FOR YOU.
And NO, publishing a demand online is still not action – its just wishing loudly.
Wow! You distilled that to its essence.
I voted for Pat Buchanan and you are right.
Maybe Loki had advantage to plan while Frigga caught off-gaurd with rest of Asgard.
I have a daughter and appreciate your delineation of this injustice.
Having said that Renee Russo is going to be in Thor 3. Perhaps Frigga and Loki have teamed up against Odin’s antiquated control and abuse. Frigga looked pissed when Odin told her to beat it when he was grounding Loki. And look how terrible he is to Jane. Sheer contempt. Hannibal’s Lecter championed Clarice.
Well if you wouldve been more of a fan of marvel instead of just a feminist you wouldve known that Loki’s daughter is the goddess of the underworld.. Everytime her dies he is brought back by his daughter….. As to where everybody else only had one life, it was not his doing of him being brought back yet in the movies it is never mentioned that he had a daughter do it would have required more knowledge to even know that which you don’t have :)