First of all, I had to nail the look: ripped jeans, leather jacket, motorcycle boots, fingerless gloves pic.twitter.com/KAMuynrTsw
— Kara Weisenstein (@karaweisenstein) March 27, 2018
Marvel superhero Jessica Jones likes to fight hard and drink harder as she investigates cases for clients, and digs into her own past, in the Netflix show named after her.
She's both an anti-hero (she doesn't like humans much) and a #MeToo role model (she hates misogynists even more), but she still manages to fight for those who need a champion most.
But what's it like walking in Jessica's shoes when you don't have superpowers like wicked fighting skills and a high tolerance for hard liquor?
Vice editor and Marvel fan Kara Weisenstein did just that, embodying the character by "drinking an irresponsible amount of whiskey, never smiling, and spying on people from a fire escape," she wrote in Vice on Monday.
She drew the line at extreme violence. While Jessica enjoys cracking the skulls of those who deserve to be thrashed about, Weisenstein wasn't eager to spend the night in jail.
Even "Jessica Jones" showrunner Melissa Rosenberg chimed in with advice for Weisenstein on how to get into the antisocial superhero's mindset: "There's a 'don't f**k with me' attitude that pervades everything."
In true Jessica Jones form, I went to bed drunk, woke up hungover, chugged a Red Bull for breakfast, and investigated a case pic.twitter.com/6fmQk2JwqU
— Kara Weisenstein (@karaweisenstein) March 27, 2018
The wardrobe had to be duplicated too, so Weisenstein donned a plain white T-shirt, hoodie, leather jacket, ripped jeans, fingerless gloves and motorcycle boots.
The best part of the experiment isn't the uncanny cosplay or even the attitude. It's that a dedicated reporter conducted an actual investigation (with tips from a real-life P.I.) to see why her best friend had been ghosted by a guy he was seeing. And she did it all with a regular infusion of whiskey.
Also sneaky private eye things like spying on people from a fire escape and drinking whiskey out of a water bottle pic.twitter.com/priz1MLdBe
— Kara Weisenstein (@karaweisenstein) March 27, 2018
Even I don't have the kind of liver that could take drinking like Jessica for an entire day, so if I were to mimic a Marvel superhero, it would have to be someone like She-Hulk. Sure she's a busy lawyer, but she's also a green mutant who unlike her cousin, the Hulk, can control her anger issues. But that would mean I'd have to paint myself green and not lose my temper all day.
Then again, maybe I would be better suited as Squirrel Girl. I just have to wear a giant tail and pretend to talk to squirrels. That actually sounds like fun. Plus I don't have to drink any whiskey or spy on my neighbors like Jessica.
But I digress. The main takeaway from Weisenstein's day as a disgruntled Marvel superhero wasn't the drinking or the spying, but the fact that she really enjoyed not being polite to people who were rude to her.
"I came away from the day inspired to lean into my 'resting bitch face' a bit more," Weisenstein wrote. "Despite her issues, Jessica is a powerful female character. She reminds me that it's OK to lean into your prickly, stubborn side to get what you want sometimes, especially when it's for a noble cause."
We should all channel our inner Jessica Jones more often. Just skip the endless whiskey shots unless you've got a superhero's liver.
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