...And, to be honest, the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) may be headed in a direction I may not follow. Well, why would they care? Why indeed, but it seems I'm not the only one who noticed the two and a half minute long trailer was more of an "identity politics" statement than a promo to go watch their new movie. Check it out for yourself at the end of the post.
Now, don't get me wrong. I'm all about a society consisting of free speech, equality and liberalism. But the epidemic of "third wave" feminism seems to be this non-stop shrieking juggernaut ready to demolish anything in it's path. Whilst that is it itself another topic of discussion entirely, I feel the portrayal of "strong women" has soon become a cliche unto itself. And Captain Marvel, starring the monotone Brie Larson has this message almost rammed down our throats. Firstly, all these factors to one side, I felt the overall trailer wasn't great. Maybe it's because of the unfamiliar source material or less-than-impressive showcased action sequences, but had this been cast by anybody else, I'd echo the exact same sentiments. It'd be interesting to see how the released movie turns out.
But I found the underlying tone of "female empowerment" or "girl power" took the whole experience down to a whiny cringefest. There's one point where a caption reads "her", only to transform into "a hero". Yeah, very clever. But why hint at that being such a prominent aspect of the movie? I mean, Wonder Woman was pretty damn good and solely relied on the performance of a strong leading actress to carry the film. And whilst there were plenty of haters across the board gawking at the prospect of a female lead for a superhero film, Gal Gadot thought it best to let her acting skills do the talking instead of stirring the pot even more. A wise move and ultimately satisfying outcome for everybody then, in that instance. This new beginning for Phase 2 of the MCU movie franchise appears to be anything but.
Larson has already taken to the Internet, citing her frustrations out at "white, middle-aged men" being the biggest problem for her. Well done on bringing racism and sexism into it all in one short tweet. Audience alienation has begun even before the wrap-up of the upcoming finale of Phase 1, Infinity Wars - Part 2. In addition, she will apparently be heading the line-up going into Phase 2, which at this moment, doesn't appear a suitable candidate or bode well for the future of this franchise. Remember, no Hollywood studio is bigger than the viewing public.
There are several other subtle nods to the fact that a woman is playing the "primary" role which I find needless, unnecessary and discriminatory. The whole thing feels more akin to some SJW advertisement than an actual movie progressing the background subplot. Dangerous territory to tread, no doubt. Movies should provide a welcome route of escapism from the numerous shortcomings of the real world. Political ideology thrust upon it's target audience in this manner will stray from that main purpose at hand. Primarily being to entertain and enthral. Let's see how far down the rabbit hole Disney wanna take this one...
