Daredevil: Born Again’s Shocking Twist That Reverses a Tired Trope!

by

In the premiere of “Daredevil: Born Again,” a striking and unfortunate event was the demise of Matt Murdock’s closest friend, Foggy Nelson (portrayed by Elden Henson). Initially, Marvel didn’t plan to bring back Netflix characters like Foggy and Karen Page for this series. However, the new showrunners recognized that Foggy’s death would significantly shape Matt’s character development throughout the season. And it seems they made the right call, as we believe the narrative wouldn’t be as powerful without Foggy’s tragic end. But fans on social media are questioning if Marvel has “Fridged” Foggy. If this is the case, it raises a point: if creators sacrifice a male supporting character to advance a male lead character’s story, does it still count as fridging? For those unfamiliar with the term, let me clarify what fridging means…

“Fridging,” The Tradition of Harming Women Characters to Service Male Character Story Arcs

The term “fridging” was introduced in 1999 by comic book creator Gail Simone, recognized for her work on ‘Birds of Prey’ and ‘Uncanny X-Men.’ It’s an abbreviation for “Women in Refrigerators,” a trope that Simone used to describe a common narrative pattern in fiction where female characters are harmed or killed to further the storyline of the main male characters. The term “fridging” is derived from a 1994 ‘Green Lantern’ comic, where the villain murdered the hero’s girlfriend and put her body in a refrigerator. This was a shocking example of a trope that has been around for many years. However, the term “fridging” has stuck on. Some argue that a character must be created solely to die for it to be considered fridging, but this isn’t always the case. For instance, Stan Lee didn’t create Spider-Man’s girlfriend Gwen Stacy with the intention of her dying, but she was killed by other writers at a later time.

After the term became widely recognized, people started noticing its frequent use in various narratives, not only in comics but also across multiple media platforms. For instance, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Solo,” and “Deadpool 2” all employed this device, with Deadpool 2 featuring Wade’s girlfriend Vanessa (played by Morena Baccarin). However, when Deadpool 2 was released in 2018, viewers were so sensitized to this trope due to its overuse and problematic nature that they opted for a new ending where Deadpool reverted Vanessa’s death using time travel. Nowadays, creators are more mindful of the tiredness of this trope. Marvel deserves credit as they chose to give Karen (played by Deborah Ann Woll) a different fate in the live-action version instead of following the comics where Karen was ‘fridged’ when Bullseye killed her. The question remains, is it still problematic if it happens to a male character?

Can a Male Character’s Death Like Daredevil’s Foggy Nelson Count as “Fridging?”

In many genres of fiction, the primary characters are usually men, and their female companions often suffer or die to advance the storyline. This pattern is so common that when a male character’s loved one meets a tragic end, it’s not typically labeled as “fridging.” If more female characters were given leading roles in these stories, we would see more instances of male characters suffering similar fates. The prevalence of this gender imbalance in storytelling is what makes the term “fridging” primarily applicable to female characters at present.

It’s undeniable that having a main character lose loved ones in a story can be an effective plot device, particularly when executed skillfully. This is why it remains a common trope among writers. For instance, the death of K’ehleyr in ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation,’ which deeply affected Worf, or Rachel’s demise in ‘The Dark Knight,’ both served crucial purposes in their respective narratives.

However, it’s concerning that in many stories, especially those within heroic genres, the significant deaths often occur to female characters, rather than males. This trend results in an unfortunate pattern where interesting female characters frequently suffer and die at a higher rate compared to their male counterparts. Such repetitive use of this trope can be seen as harmful to cultural progress overall.

Killing Off Secondary Male Characters Is Rare, But Hardly Unheard Of

Is it uncommon for a male secondary character like Foggy to die? While yes, there have been instances where significant male characters have met their end in films, such as Steve Trevor in Wonder Woman or Mr. Big in Sex and the City, it’s often the manner of their death that stirs debate. For instance, Pa Kent in Man of Steel died due to circumstances that some felt could have been avoided, and Clark Kent could have prevented it. Similarly, Carrie Bradshaw’s love interest, Mr. Big, was killed off in Sex and the City: And Just Like That, which became a major plot point for Carrie throughout the series. So, while it’s not entirely unusual, these instances can sometimes raise questions about the narrative choices made by the creators.

Essentially, in many stories, writers use the death of characters to drive the main plot forward. Death is an unfortunate yet inevitable aspect of life, and it’s hard to exclude it entirely from storytelling conventions. However, until male characters are killed off as frequently as female ones, we can’t label Foggy’s demise as “fridging.” Instead, perhaps there should be a separate term for this trope when it happens to male characters, although it occurs less frequently and has yet to be defined. If Elden Henson’s character continues to be used in this manner, his impact on pop culture could be creating the term “Getting Foggied” to describe this pattern in male characters. It’s unknown if that’s the legacy he wants for his character, but it would be intriguing if it becomes the name for this trope.

Read More

2025-03-11 03:34