Jessica Jones

If the Avengers are Earth’s mightiest heroes, then Jessica Jones may be Earth’s most frustrating one. Or at least that’s what I thought after the first seven or eight episodes.

                I just finished watching the first season of Marvel’s Jessica Jones on Netflix. Yes, I realize that’s over two months after most people have binged watched the hell out of it when it was released back in late November.

                However, I liked it a lot, to the point that I wanted to even write about it (obviously, if you are reading this). But I didn’t like Jessica Jones at all- certainly not at first.

                Why you ask? Easy- I found myself unbelievably pissed off at her. She kept letting her arch nemesis repeatedly escape so that she could save innocent people. I was livid! How dare this so-called hero not even have the decency to rip her enemy’s head clean off his body? I mean on several occasions the guy was well within killing range and a couple of times even unconscious at her feet. In addition to that, Jessica is usually confronted with the choice of taking out the mind-controlling Kilgrave or rescuing those pesky innocents.  

                So rather than end the life of this madman who had caused so much strife and devastation to not only her, but to those around her as well as countless strangers, she tries to save the lives of innocents, AND do the right thing! I know? Sickening right?  

                However, I ended up having a revelation while watching this show. Me, a guy who’s middle aged, and seen just about ever superhero movie and show in existence since Lou Ferrigno was the Incredible Hulk. Because of this I have been exposed to just about every major super hero’s moral code- from Batman’s vow not to take a life, to Venom’s “lethal protector” gimmick.

                So I’m a bit ashamed that I didn’t realize what I’m about to disclose earlier…

                Being a hero isn’t just about getting the bad guy.

                Had Jessica Jones opted to let those people die, she would’ve at best been a half-assed hero, and at worse no hero at all. It’s her drive to do the right thing, to deliver the total package of ass-kickery and protecting those that need it that makes her admirable.

                Building on the theme of doing the right thing it’s interesting that Jessica strives to carry out this enigma that is “the right thing” – even when her humanity limits her ability to discern what “the right thing” might even be. Not to mention, what consequences her actions or inactions might have down the road.

                This leads me to why I was interested in the character in the first place. In a lot of ways Jessica Jones is as close to Watchmen as it can be, without ripping it off or seeming trite. Yes, Jones has powers, but her is her biggest weakness is what makes her a great character: She’s relatable because she’s human, and human because she is flawed. She’s manipulative, rude, and drinks too much. Even though she has the strength to throw grown men through walls, she more frequently builds them in order to keep people at an emotional distance. All these things reminded me of Watchmen, as the characters therein were also people with real, and often negative, personality traits. That rings true to me because I believe that if we did live in a world where individuals were equipped with superpowers, we’d have more Rorschachs than Supermen.  

                One last nice touch was that Jessica Jones faced the fact that other Marvel characters do exist in her world. The series reminded viewers of the events that took place in The Avengers films without rubbing it in or taking the focus away from the microcosm of Jessica Jones’ own story.  The fact that Jessica Jones lives in Hell’s Kitchen (the same base of operations as Daredevil) is also touched on by the series as well.

                All in all Jessica Jones impressed me. The only drawback is that I now have another show that I must wait (impatiently) to return.