Captain Marvel is a Better Movie Than You Think It Is
I went to the newest superhero movie out this weekend–and spoiler alert, Captain Marvel is a Better Movie Than You Think It Is. So shut-up.
Captain Marvel is a Better Movie Than You Think It Is
It was late in the day on Friday, the day after Captain Marvel opened, when I bought my tickets.
I had waited until later because I wasn’t 100% certain that my husband would want to go–he’s not as into the whole superhero thing as I am.
But, at noon, I couldn’t stand it anymore and I brought it up and he said “Yeah, we should do that.” So I scrambled my phone in hand and bought our tickets online and reserved our seats.
I was excited–he was, “Yeah, we should do that.” Like he was more interested in the beer they serve at the movie theater than the movie itself, but that was fine with me.
We chatted beforehand (we were there 15 minutes early because I was SO excited about the first REAAL Marvel FEMALE superhero. Groundbreaking in my mind.) about what the critics had said back and forth and neither of us sounded or felt very biased.
Just there for a movie, the two of us were.
And then the movie started.
As I watched, I had smiles, laughs, moments where I was transfixed. And moments where I was sad–though not like in Infinity War (no tears that I had to hide because, as he says, “It’s just a movie!”).
Then it was over.
I thought Captain Marvel, as a movie, was great.
Seriously–I couldn’t wait to parse it apart with my husband in the car on the way home, like we do with every movie we see.
We sat through all of the credits to see both end credit scenes–and it was so worth it to me.
But as soon as we walked out of the theater, I could tell that my husband wasn’t as in-awe as I was.
I mean, this movie was great–I was stoked to see End Game because of it. Captain Marvel’s origin story movie was cool, and just like Captain America’s opening movie, it was a deep origin story, but that’s so COOL.
My husband, though, his opening words into our typical post-movie-convo had me putting on the breaks.
He said, “That guy, Yon-Rogg (Jude Law), he was just there for some kind of dude for her to be man-splained to so she could be the girl that stood-up to the guy.”
To say that I didn’t see it that way was a SUPER big understatement–and if you saw it his way, be prepared to change your mind.
Without thought, without digging too deeply–because that often allows me to overthink and ruin everything, I blurted what I thought the whole movie was to my husband.
“Yon-Rogg wasn’t man-splaining, this wasn’t some kind of feminism troupe intended to feed feminist fantasy of beating a guy. Yon-Rogg was the embodiment of the AI that controlled their universe and was doing the bad things in the name of the good things. She was standing up for what was right–not because she was being man-splained at and needed to ‘be a woman, hear her roar’.”
I went on, because I do that, “You never would have said that if she’d had a dick. If she didn’t have boobs and long hair, you would have thought she was the perfect underdog. Just like Captain America, she’s the underdog that keeps getting back up. Just like Spider-Man–who gets knocked down and keeps getting back up. Just like every other underdog superhero.”
Perhaps I’ve gone too far, I thought, railing at him for a simple, pure thing that he can’t see because, in his world, he is never man-splained to and he can’t identify with HER because HE doesn’t have boobs. And all things that have boobs must be man-splained to.
Dude, I was so happy that I was wrong. My husband thought for a minute (back-off, ladies, he’s taken) because he’s a thinker.
And then he said, “You’re right. You’re absolutely right. I didn’t think about it that way. She wasn’t doing this because she was a SHE, she did it because she’s a superhero, and that’s what they do. And yea, he was the damned AI that was controlling the whole thing–or at least the physical embodiment that she could take-out now, while the actual AI is the “big boss” that will have to be taken-down in the next movie. I get it.”
So, see?
It’s not as bad as you thought (especially you guys with the dicks out there). Captain Marvel REALLY is a better movie than you think it is.
You just have to get past the boobies and dicks to see–she’s just a freaking awesome superhero doing what superheroes do and saving the universe.
And, like all the best superheroes, she ALWAYS gets back up.
A quality that I think all little girls and boys should learn–so we can all stand up for what’s right when it counts, no matter the personal consequences.
Which is what I think Superheroes should inspire us to be–and I think that’s what Stan Lee meant, too.
So, since he’s the one that made her–shut up and listen, because he’s the master of the MCU. And he knows his stuff.
PS. Sorry about all the “boobies” and “dicks”–I was just on a roll there.
