Taylor Swift once said there’s a special place in hell for women who tear down CGI women. Marvel’s She-Hulk: Attorney at Law has come under fire online for how it has portrayed Jen Walter’s green alter ego. Namely, they want more bulk in their Hulk. More thigh in their CGI. When Bruce Hulks out, he’s ginormous, they argue, so why is She-Hulk basically still a conventionally attractive woman? Shouldn’t there be more diversity of size in this show? At the TCA press tour, the show’s creative staff argued that argument is actually sexist. Would you be saying this stuff about He-Hulk? “In terms of the CGI being critiqued, I think that has to do with our culture’s belief in its ownership of women’s bodies. I think a lot of the critique comes from feeling like they’re able to tear apart the CGI woman,†director Kat Coiro told press (per The Hollywood Reporter). “But I think if we had gone the other way, we would be facing the same critique. I think it’s very hard to win when you make women’s bodies.â€
You know who also has a hard time winning when making women’s bodies? The VFX team. The She-Hulk team acknowledged reports that VFX artists resent getting “pixel fucked†on Marvel projects, i.e., being underfunded and overworked. “This is a massive undertaking to have a show where the main character is CG,†said head writer Jessica Gao. “It’s terrible that a lot of artists feel rushed and and feel that the workload is too massive. I think everybody on this panel stands in solidarity with all workers.†The face of She-Hulk, Tatiana Maslany, said she felt “incredibly deferential to how talented these artists are and how quickly they have to work. Obviously, much quicker than probably should be given to them in terms of like churning these things out. We have to like be super conscious of the work conditions, which aren’t always optimal.â€