“Captain Marvel”

I appreciate your review, it is clearly very thought out and honest. I totally disagree though, I loved it! Full disclosure I am notoriously easy to entertain, and although I thought the dialogue was awkward at times and the acting in some scenes wasn’t 100% believable, I didn’t personally view it as patronizing at any point. I am really interested in your take and I’m trying to understand it.

You talked about what you called the best scene in the movie (and I agree with you there) when Carol “finds the inner courage to cast aside her doubts and embrace her impressive, near-invincible powers” but lament “what a pity it’s preceded by scene after scene of Carol being chastised because she can’t control her emotions”. I may not understand your exact complaint here, but I didn’t see this piece negativity. I saw it as Carol, who had been put down over and over for not being able to “control her emotions” discovering that her human emotions were a strength rather than a weakness. It’s empowering to me to see a person embracing who they are especially when they have been told they are broken. I found it especially interesting because throughout history women have been told they are too emotional for (insert place/profession here) and in this movie the response wasn’t to change or conform, it was to realize that her emotions and determination made her stronger both before and after she gained super powers.

I am a woman and a mechanical engineer in an industry that is very male dominated (even by engineering company standards) and even in this day in age I have dealt with a lot of disrespect, chastising, skepticism, and harassment on the road to my current position sometimes it’s because I’m a woman, sometimes it’s because I’m young, and sometimes it’s just because people are jerks. I imagine 25 years ago this would absolutely be the case in a career like hers. Failing and being told “no”, “you can’t”, and “you’re not good enough” over and over and over again will either cause you to get sick of it and do something else (which happens to a lot of women in my industry) or learn to try over and over again. But that isn’t an experience unique to being a woman. Anyone who fails repeatedly, is an outsider, or gets told they aren’t capable or can’t succeed has to either learn to be empowered by getting back up after getting knocked down or will eventually give up. I sympathized with the strong super hero not just because we share the same gender, but because I am inspired by those who possess the conviction to get back up. I thought your comment “certain aspects of the film are likely to inspire a passionate tenacity in women of all ages the world over” was a bit telling in terms of highlighting the difference in how we saw the movie. I think it is likely to inspire passionate tenacity in people of all ages the world over. I am not sure I understand why that response would be unique to women. The movie wasn’t about pregnancy, it was about a character realizing she was stronger and more capable than she was given credit for and using her determination to realize her potential.

Just because this specific story focused on a woman who experienced many things some of which were because she’s a woman does not mean that she is only relatable to and because of her gender. I loved Kung Fu Panda for some of the same reasons I loved this movie, and in Kung Fu Panda Po faced some specific problems because he’s a panda, but it produced situations that are relatable because he is a sentient creature. Po is overlooked, underestimated, and told he doesnt have what it takes to succeed in the role circumstance thrust upon him, but beccause of his personality he chooses to pick himself up again and again. But I’ve never heard anyone say the creators are just pandering to pandas and only pandas can relate to him. Even though Po faces some specific challenges because of his species, he is inspiring because of his choices and his actions not because he is a panda. I’m a sucker for protagonists who get back up after getting knocked down over and over and over again (literally or figuratively) regardless of whether I relate to the specifics in their situation. I find it interesting that when women are the main characters in stories that have some plot points about being women suddenly comments like “the gender politics are strong in this one” start cropping up in reviews with little explanation. On that note, what stuck out to you in this movie as being about gender politics and in what way? 

As far as the “Just a Girl” action scene is concerned, again I felt totally differently about it. I actually loved this scene too, but I was struck by your comment that you “can’t imagine females everywhere wouldn’t find it obnoxious, if not insulting, to our gender”. Maybe I am being dense, but I don’t understand what was insulting about it. If you were looking for a more serious scene and/or intense music then I can see why you’d be disappointed, but I thought this was similar to Dead Pool’s fighting scene set to Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5”. I guess I like when they set fight scenes to pop music in these movies. I think its fun and funny. Out of curiosity, were you offended by that scene in Dead Pool 2 (if you’ve seen it)? Not that it’s exactly the same thing, but I am trying to understand your viewpoint. If it was specifically the song choice being “Just A Girl”, I am curious about that as well. I really like the sarcasm in that song and I even thought it was clever to use a song that came out the year in which the movie took place.

I found your review really interesting, and I love discussing this stuff so thanks for entertaining my long response. I’d enjoy reading more specifics about your viewpoints.

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