Attack The Crock: Captain Marvel

“I don't want to hear what a white man has to say about 'A Wrinkle in Time.' I want to hear what a woman of color, a biracial woman has to say about the film. I want to hear what teenagers think about the film...if you make a movie that is a love letter to women of color, there is a chance that a woman of color does not have access to review and critique your film...do not say the talent is not there, because it is.” - Brie Larson

The first lady Captain Marvel was a Black woman. Imagine a woman of color in that role in a multi million dollar Marvel movie. Did Brie Larson take a potential job from a woman of color? I don't know much about Captain Marvel. But I know some things. I know that it was a dude at one point and then became a woman that everyone knows and a few people love. It is the same Captain Marvel that appears in the latest film starring Brie Larson. Now, if I knew all the shit that Larson was saying before the movie came out I likely would have waited until I could rent it or some shit. But I did not so I went into it excited as all hell to see the latest in this series of films. I'm not one of those people that went and saw Black Panther with no knowledge of the character or just because I am Black. I have seen every single Marvel film that has come out. Some a shocking amount of times. The first trailer for Captain Marvel did not do much for me but the second one got me hype. Either way I was gonna see it. So...yeah. I saw it. The theater was dead quiet the entire time and I left before the credits were done which is something I don't do even during shitty films. But this movie made me feel different.

Very different.

I was not comparing this to other movies going in. I was not a huge fan of Ant Man but really enjoyed the second one. The first two Thor films were ass but I have watched Thor: Ragnarok more times than I'd like to admit. I certainly was not comparing this to Wonder Woman. It bothers me that so many people are. They are two totally different characters from two different companies. The only thing they have in common is that the lead is a woman which does not make or break whether or not I will see a movie. I was talking to a friend last week about the stuff that guys have been accused of in terms of seeing a movie or not seeing one based on the fact that a woman is the star of it. I, like many others, have grown up watching strong ladies in movies and I believe that the people that shit on Captain Marvel did it because of the star herself.

I have a tendency to think that a lot of bad shit said about women come from women themselves. I used to say if I ever had a daughter she would never hear me say she could not do something because she is a girl. And as someone that talks almost to nothing but women I know that women are not the biggest fans of themselves and put other women down regularly, sometimes without even knowing it. People should and a lot of them do just see a movie because it looks good or not. What will turn them off is either the person or persons in the movie, the personal life of the celebrity, or because it straight up looks like ass. As I watched Captain Marvel I realized that a lot of effects in it looked like ass. The story was weak as green tea. And the star herself seemed super miscast. I didn't dislike it because of anything Larson said because, like I pointed out, I didn't hear or read any of it until after seeing the movie. I don't have anything against her because I have only seen her in Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, 21 Jump Street, Room, Free Fire, and The Glass Castle. Out of those five films in order I thought one was meh, one was funny as hell, one was fucking great, one was cool, and the last was disappointing. I did not go out of my way to see or not see a movie with her starring or just in it. Woman or not, I want to see someone in an action/superhero movie kick ass. I grew up with the shit and not once did I ever doubt a character because of their gender.

What tends to make people sour towards a film starring a woman specifically is when a movie is geared towards women is when men are told that it is not for them. You don't get to say that anymore. I grew up watching She-Ra, My Little Ponies, and using my Rambo toy to fix my cousins' Barbie hot tub. These days when a dude reads that “This is not for you!” they either get angry or feel bad for wanting to see something that they are being told is not for them. If you want more representation in regards to movie reviews then look for them. They totally exist. Are they as well known? No. Why not? There are a metric shit ton of people that write movies reviews. I have written over one thousand of them and no one knows who the fuck I am. If you are looking for these people in the regular places you look for reviews then, yeah, chances are you will see a lot of bearded White guys talking. I want people to be honest when writing reviews. I am not going to praise a film because I am Black. I won't even go into what the fuck a “Black movie” even means. If Black Panther sucked I would have said so. If Get Out was garbage I would have said so. Sorry To Bother You was written, directed, and starring Black people but that got ignored by a lot of people and was my favorite movie last year. I have watched reviews for Captain Marvel where women just said “She kicked ass and I liked her cat!” Is that the kinda reviews people want? How about the story? The acting? The music? The directing? The special effects? The fucking look of the movie? If I ever made a movie and Black reviewers praised it just because of my skin tone I would be disappointed in humanity just as I would if they cheered for it because I have an alleged penis. As for most reviewers being White and/or men? Guess what? That is how this country looks. Going back to what I said at the beginning...

The second Captain Marvel was a (BLACK!) woman named Monica Rambeau. She was a cop from New Orleans, was in the Avengers as well as the first female Black member, and was their leader at one point. She later used the name Photon. You think I would have been mad if Erica Tazel (who I wanted to play Vixen in DC), Meagan Good, or Yaya DaCosta got put in that suit? Hell, no! But if you gonna talk that talk about people of color being represented and then taking this role what message does that send? There have in the past year or so been actors turning down roles because they found out that the race they were playing was not originally theirs.

Maybe I am just reading too much into this. If you don't see a movie because a woman is starring in it you're pretty much an idiot and if you see it just because a woman is the lead you are easily tricked.