‘Brainy Beauty’ Johansson Shows Growth of Heroines

The film “Lucy” contains a rather interesting creative hook, namely the question of what happens when a person’s mental abilities are developed to their fullest extent; yet, the idea remains wrapped in the slick action movie packaging of a heroine’s journey.

A short time ago, American comic giants Marvel and DC both announced the coming half decade’s plans for their respective superhero franchises, including Captain America, Iron Man, the Fantastic Four, Batman and Superman. Apart from Wonder Woman, almost all are to be male-centric films. Of course, several of these still require the assistance of women to accomplish their feats of derring-do, such as when Catwoman helped Batman save Gotham in “The Dark Knight Rises.” There is a minority of works, however, that focus on depicting the growth of heroines. The movie “Lucy,” currently playing in theaters, is one such example, separating it from rather more run-of-the-mill action flicks.

The ’90s were still steeped in macho personalities such as Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis dominating the silver screen, but by that decade, director Luc Besson had also already demonstrated his ability to invent a femme fatale in “Nikita,” with the movie having a marked impact on both the Hong Kong film industry and American TV shows.

“Lucy” once more adopts the female action star as its core concept. The movie opens with an attractive but unthinking young woman, Lucy (Scarlett Johansson), who is tricked [by her boyfriend] and forced by an Asian drug dealer to act as a mule transporting a compound called CPH4. After being severely beaten, the drug-filled containers within her body break open and leak their contents into her blood stream, permeating her cells and dramatically augmenting both her physical abilities and intellect as her brain usage increases from the 10 percent typical in ordinary people to full capacity. The movie thus contains a rather interesting creative “hook,” namely the question of what happens when a person’s mental abilities are developed to their fullest extent; yet, the idea remains wrapped in the slick action movie packaging of a heroine’s journey.

Compared with how most male action heroes must only unleash their latent power to come to understand their true calling and place in the world — classic examples being the “Matrix” and “Batman” series — heroines traditionally must somehow gain that power first due to the relative lack of physical strength apportioned to their gender. In the first segment of “Lucy,” the protagonist is a rebellious and troubled young woman whose turning point comes when drugs flood her system. She gradually experiences an awakening of sorts as her mind continues to grow, gaining the powers of telekinesis and even mind control, ultimately allowing her to alter her own destiny. Nearing the end of her journey, the heroine musters up the courage to face her own death, attaining rebirth and transcendence.

Lifetime screenwriter and director Luc Besson is well-versed in the final stages of a story after having spent years in Hollywood. In a movie full of symbolism, when Lucy calls her mother to express her gratitude one last time, it is a foreshadowing of her final goodbyes to the past and the rebirth soon to come.

This world is in sore need of heroes, but it also needs heroines in equal part. Including the recently popular “Hunger Games” and “Divergent” movies, as well as Zoe Saldana’s “Colombiana” and “Guardians of the Galaxy,” heroines in movies often must walk a path from awakening to change and rebirth. The manner in how these “heroines’ journeys” are told, as with Lucy’s transformation, is a representation of the metamorphosis of heroines in Hollywood.