This fictional character relates to us in more than one way. As the only hero with no superpowers, Natasha Romanoff’s physical and mental strength was built on a history of pain and pure brutality as a Russian spy.
Her beginnings
Every story starts somewhere, and hers is a sad one. Orphaned at a young age, Natasha entered the mysterious world of spy-craft set in Soviet Russia. Being exemplary during her training, she was later regarded as one of the world’s greatest assassins. This prized reputation came at the cost of sterilization as a form of graduation from the Red Room Academy and having to kill an innocent man which haunted her for a long time.
Pain today, gain tomorrow
The Red Room Academy is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to pain. This “school” regularly brainwashed the girls and even pitted friends against each other. They even slept with their wrists chained to the beds.
In hopes of finding her parents, Natasha returned to Russia. But all she could see was two graveyards, leaving her empty. Coupled with her inability to have children, Natalia Alianovna Romanoff built a wall around her heart to protect and isolate everything she had: herself. While the painful memories did not break her, it hardened Natasha to become the ultimate Black Widow.
From hunted to hunting
As a focused killer, the Black Widow always completed her mission, regardless of whatever it may be. This put her on Nick Fury’s radar, and the Black Widow got onto the S.H.I.E.L.D.’s hitlist. So they sent Hawkeye after her. Lo and behold, this became the beginning of a friendship that lasted till the end. The Black Widow’s impressive skill set allowed entry into the S.H.I.E.L.D., where she left the red room behind to become the true Natasha Romanove.
In the 7 movie appearances prior to her solo movie, we see Black Widow change, grow in character and in humanity. How was this possible?
As Marvel’s first female solo director, the spirit of resilience resonates strongly with Cate Shortland. In her previous films, she has been recognized and awarded for her ability to present strong female protagonists, often faced with struggles of their own.
“It’s great, because when she holds her gun, it shakes. But she’s still really tough inside, and resilient. You want to see her grit and determination. And that’s what we got.” – Cate Shortland, Director of Black Widow
So how can we built resilience
Being resilient means having the ability to bounce back and recover as we navigate through ups and downs. Here are a few values that can help us build resilience in ourselves:
Know your strength
When faced with life challenges, anyone can buckle if we do not have any resources to rely on. But if we know what internal resources, strengths and abilities that we have, we can rely on these to navigate through the problems.
Look back at your past challenges
Resilience is often built up slowly through overcoming painful trials and life’s disappointments. We just need to look back at how we managed to get through the challenges in our past. Think about how our thoughts and actions helped you through a difficult time and what you learned about yourself. Often over time, our confidence in ourselves will grow as meet more difficult problems.
Problem solving
Resilience can also be learned as we look at good role models to see how they’ve approached challenges in their lives. Learn from them, ask them how they made it through and ask them to help you in your journey.
Learning the right problem solving approaches and applying these selectively on the situation that we are facing, can also help us to know what works for us as we face life challenges. Shadee.Care has plenty of these, just check out our list of articles under Self Care and Buddy Care.
There are many other role models we can look up to as resilient figures who fought through their struggles, just like Keisia As an aspiring chef who discovered her calling for gastronomic adventures at a young age, she pushed herself beyond her comfort zone and dived into the deep end of culinary arts.
Positive thinking
Resilient people often have a ‘can do’ attitude. They tend to be more positive about life and have a growth mindset . Everyone will face failure, disappointment and unexpected turns in life. We may be derailed for a short time but how long we stay down will depend on how we see ourselves and what we can do to make a situation better. A positive mindset does not mean that we sugar coat everything. It means that we choose to focus on the good stuff that we still have, no matter how small or insignificant it seems to be.
Community
Having a community of people who will support us and cheer us on in our difficult journey can really help us build resilience one pebble at a time till we become strong and able to stand on our own. Find that community in Shadee.Care Care Chats.
So do you think Black Widow built true resilience, chat about this in Black Widow Chat.
