Although Gwen Stacy is played by Emma Stone now, and she had many great moments in ASM (and of course so did comic!Gwen back in her day) my favourite ever moment involving Gwen is in Spider-Man 3. Wanna hear about it?
It’s when she meets Eddie at Spider-Man Day. They’ve been on a coffee-date already and when Eddie asks to take her pictures, she makes a vaguely provocative (well, you know, by most men’s standards), smiley pose at him. (She’s a model in this ‘verse, used to posing for the camera.) Then he asks her for another date and she says no. Eddie’s expression turns to one of bubbling-under anger, but then the scene cuts away and Eddie and Gwen don’t interact again. (Although he remains obsessed with her, watching her from afar when she goes out with Peter instead)
Now let’s go through all that again-
A WOMAN ACTED PROVOCATIVELY IN FRONT OF A MAN
AN ATTRACTIVE WOMAN, WITH A CAREER AS A MODEL (!), ACTED PROVOCATIVELY IN FRONT OF A MAN
WHOM SHE HAD ALREADY BEEN ON A DATE WITH THAT DIDN’T END IN SEX
EVEN THOUGH HE’S MADLY IN LOVE WITH HER SHE DENIES HIM SEX, OMG
-BUT THEN
SHE EXERCISED HER RIGHT TO SAY NO WHEN HE WANTED TO TAKE IT FURTHER
SHE DIDN’T SEE HIM AGAIN, BECAUSE SHE DIDN’T WANT TO (and after the way he looked at her, who can blame her)
-AND ALSO
SHE’S THE MAIN ‘RIVAL’ FOR PETER’S AFFECTIONS
SHE KISSES HIM AND UNINTENTIONALLY CAUSES A RIFT IN PETER AND MJ’S RELATIONSHIP
SHE ACTS FRIENDLY AND TOUCHY-FEELY AROUND PETER, ACTIONS THAT COULD BE MISCONSTRUED (AND ARE, BY MJ)
-B U T
SHE’S NOT BLAMED FOR EDDIE TURNING INTO A SUPERVILLAIN
SHE’S NOT BLAMED FOR WHAT PETER DID
SHE’S NOT BLAMED FOR ANYTHING AT ALL, QUITE RIGHTLY
SHE’S NOT ACCUSED OF LEADING EDDIE ON
SHE’S NOT TOLD SHE ‘FRIENDZONED’ HIM
MJ REACTS LESS THAN FRIENDLY TO HER, TRUE, BUT DOESN’T CALL HER A SLUT (She goes no further than to snap about Gwen’s ‘polished fingernails’, which might even be a jibe at Gwen’s higher social status, she’s the daughter of the police chief after all.)
PETER DOESN’T CALL HER A SLUT
NO-ONE CALLS HER A SLUT
BECAUSE SHE ISN’T
AND SHE FINISHES THE MOVIE ALIVE AND WELL
DO YOU KNOW HOW RARE THAT IS
DO YOU