Things We Saw Today: Jessica Jones’ Characters Are Struggling, and That’s Important

A behind-the-scenes featurette shows both scenes from the Netflix/Marvel show’s new season and discussions with the actors. Everyone is super-empowered and super-sad!

I think it’s important to highlight that these states are not mutually exclusive. One of Jessica Jones‘ most compelling elements is how traumatized the main character is—but what’s been done to her and the poor impulse control she sometimes displays doesn’t negate her ability to perform heroic acts. Many of the people surrounding and helping Jessica also exist with traumas, addictions, depressions—as Eka Darville (Malcolm) phrased it, “their demons.”

“Jessica Jones resonated in such a big way because we haven’t seen a superhero like this before,” show star Krysten Ritter says in the featurette. “Jessica is strong, she is vulnerable, and despite everything she’s been through, she still fights.” Darville (Malcolm) adds, “It is a superhero series but it’s set in a world where they’re not trying to save the universe, they’re just trying to survive and work through their demons.”

Then we see some awesome cuts of Jessica fighting a lot. I’d forgotten how delightful it is to see her massive strength on display.

The featurette also zooms in on the strong women that work to bring JJ to the screen. Showrunner Melissa Rosenberg says, “It’s not necessarily about a woman’s perspective, it’s about a balanced perspective. A powerful female protagonist, or a female director, or a female showrunner, that shouldn’t be unique.” It is, however, not yet par for the course, and Jessica Jones is leading the way with female-made media and realistic depictions of the ups and downs of the human condition—quite the feat for a show ostensibly about the superhuman.

Season 2 of Jessica Jones is right around the corner. It’ll drop onto Netflix at 12:01 AM on March 8, 2018, just in time to gobble up your weekend.

(image: Netflix)

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What’d you see?

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