Higher, Further, Faster, More: Captain Marvel and the Anti-Man Myth
Captain Marvel has the second coolest character design in comics. Period.
Agent Venom is number one, but I have him tattooed on my body, so I'm biased. Captain Marvel is proof that iconography and time do not correlate. Tight, detailed leather garb in bright, colorful primary colors. A powerful symbol blazend across her chest. A cool sash lazily draped across her waist. And best of all, an armored helmet THAT GIVES HER A MOHAWK!!! Any character that can shift between being ‘mohawked’ and ‘not mohawked’ from panel to panel is okay with me!
She also has a classic superhero background. A major in the Air Force, granted with alien abilities that give her superhuman strength, flight, and energy powers. She comes from a broken home and had to fight through her life being told she would never be good enough. She is a natural leader and strategist, but has a hard time when she has to step outside of the soldier role. She fights for the weak, protects her planet from greater outside forces, and is willing to sacrifice her life to save others. She’s a classic Marvel hero…That is being portrayed by Brie Larson, an actress with a “classic” rise to stardom.
She grew up with limited means, struggling from a very young age after her parent's divorce. She never really had a relationship with her father, in her own words “I don't think he ever really wanted to be a parent”. She fought for years to fulfill her acting dreams, finally breaking out in 2009, and still didn't find national acclaim until 2015’s Room. She became Marvel's first leading female superhero with Captain Marvel that released March 8th, 2019. She is also a big advocate of gender equality and supporter of victims of sexual assault. She is outspoken and self-confident and isn't afraid to stand up for those in need. She is doing her best to be a hero in her own way.
… SO WHY THE F@#$ ARE SO MANY MEN SO AGAINST THIS MOVIE?!?!...
There is this unbelievably stupid myth that Brie Larson is “anti-men”, specifically, “anti-white-men’. That sentence is so stupid it hurt typing it. Brie Larson has a history of dating men, many of which are white, so either she's a supreme hypocrite in her Against White Male (AWM) agenda OR she doesn't hate people based off of the color of their skin or their gender (if you remember my previous paragraph, this is the most likely scenario) and is fighting for fairness and inclusion within a system she finds lacking. A quick Google of her name will bring up link after link of “boycotting” Captain Marvel due to Brie Larson's “Anti-Man” hatred. The issue is that when you click on every single one of those links it leads to the same story of Larson noticing that, during her Captain Marvel press tour, the majority of her interviews are being conducted by male, specifically white male, journalists. So after having her team confirm her suspicions, she began asking to be interviewed by more woman and people of color. That is always followed up with a quote from her stating that she doesn't care what a “40 year old white dude” didn't like about the movie A Wrinkle in Time. “It wasn’t made for him. I want to know what it meant to women of color, to biracial women, to teen women of color, to teens that are biracial.”
That is it.
There is no follow up to that monologuing her hatred and disdain for anyone with male genitalia.
"I don't need a 40-year-old white dude to tell me what didn't work about A Wrinkle In Time" says Brie Larson. "It wasn't made for him! I want to know what it meant to women of color, biracial women, to teen women of color. Courtesy of SorrelGum
Storm Reid
Brie Larson wants more female and people of color to be sent out on press junkets and she doesn't care what people have to think about movies that aren't for them. When I heard about this ridiculous drama I searched for hours to find the real bad stuff, the dirt that Larson threw at a big section of the population. It couldn't just be this. People were so angry that there needed to be a reason, and this couldn't be it. She wasn't saying she doesn't want people seeing her movie or that critics can't review it. She is making the (very valid) point that if you are not happy with a movie that’s cool, but don’t feel like it is okay to harass the actors and creative teams because you didn’t like something. She is protecting people like Daisy Ridley, Kelly Marie Tran, Will Poulter, and Storm Reid, who were driven off of social media by the verbal attacks of people who decided that the only way to feel better was to put down others.
It is almost ironic… the same people who grew up being picked on and made fun of for enjoying these types of comics and movies and the like are now the bullies for the next generation of fans and, even more distressing, the creators that are trying to keep the mediums going. Contrary to the slanderous labels being thrown at Larson, she actually seems to be the hero figure in this situation.
So this is my callout to any person, of any race, of any age, of any creed, that feels the need to put down HALF THE POPULATION because you feel you're not being included in something. Get the F%$^ over yourself. If her words affected you in any way shape or form, you need to take a look in the mirror and consider why you care so much. Why do you feel you need to be pandered to and why do you feel you need to throw a temper tantrum when you aren't. It is okay to not see a movie, it is okay to see a movie and not like a movie, it's even okay to boycott a movie based on the actions or comments of a person. But guys, it's not okay to do those things based on perceived slights from outright lies.
Now let me focus on those ‘bullying’ white men in particular….
GET. THE. F%^$. OVER. YOURSELF!
Why is this still a thing that people have to talk about!?! If you feel like you're supposed to be something SO special then WHY THE HELL ARE YOU SO BASIC. This isn’t even typing anymore, this is yelling. If this article offends you, if Brie Larson’s words bother you, if you have a problem with someone else succeeding because you feel success should only be for you, THAN YOU ARE THE PROBLEM. People like you are holding society back and are making the rest of us look bad. Do better.
Do better.
This movie is going to be a cultural touchstone, it's going to shape the near future at the very least, especially if you are a fan of superhero movies. The least you can do is see the movie and make your own opinions. You’re probably going to like it. And if you don't? At least you decided that for yourself.
If you want to know what I thought of the movie, contact me directly, my opinions on it are not necessary for the message I felt I need to get across.
