This week's trip into the Marvel Cinematic Universe sees us jumping from World War Two to the 1990's via 2019's "Captain Marvel"...
Vers is a Kree soldier without a past- a hazy history blocked by a traumatic incident years prior. Fighting against the Skrull army, she finds herself crash landing on Earth in 1995, and confronted by who she really is... and what her full potential could be...
This was the first MCU movie with a female lead character and performer. It's a decent enough effort... but it has some serious flaws that weaken it greatly when compared to others in the franchise.
The story isn't bad. Not great, though. It's actually pretty standard fare... that unfortunately relies heavily on a rather outdated- and problematic trope. Let's see if you recognize it:
A white skinned soldier is fighting in a war against a race described as being savages. White skinned soldier finds themselves surrounded by the "savages". After spending time with them, the white skinned soldier learns that they aren't what they were being described as. The white skinned soldier discovers that their leaders have been lying about the "savages". The White skinned soldier turns against their leaders, joins the oppressed race, and becomes the "savior" they needed.
Yep. The infamous "White Savior Trope" is pretty much the cornerstone of this movie's story.
But the story isn't the only thing weakened by the white bias. The characters suffered as well.
The prime example of this is the character of Monica Rambeau. In the comic, Monica held the name "Captain Marvel" before Carol Danvers did- one of the first black female superheros created. She was also a very successful leader of The Avengers in the comics... not to mention quite popular with comic fans. While I appreciated the fact that her mom, Maria, was put on almost equal footing as Danvers by making her a fighter pilot as well, I was disappointed by the fact that they choose to diminish Monica's comic legacy by reducing her to a child who worshipped, and idolizes her white "aunt". Personally, I think putting Monica in the role filled by Maria would've been a much better way to treat the character. This would've also eliminated (hopefully), the use of the "absent black father" stereotype created by making Maria a single mother.
Nick Fury wasn't exactly immune either, as his support role was turned into a more comedic sidekick than the badass fans have come to love and enjoy.
And to be honest, I didn't find Carol Danvers all that engaging. I found myself more interested in the Skrulls and their struggles. I also found the cat, Goose, to be more enjoyable to watch too. The cat.
I have one other complaint regarding this movie: the sparring scene. In it, Yon-Rogg keeps needling Danvers by telling her to control her emotions. While I admit that women are often needlessly told to do so, in the context of this scene- as her instructor, Yon-Rogg is perfectly in his rights to do so. As anyone with ACTUAL military experience (myself included), martial arts experience (like Jay)- and I suspect even movie film coordinators, will tell you that learning to control your emotions (and being told to), IS part of the training- regardless of gender. They'll tell you that if you don't, unnecessary injuries, or deaths can easily happen. They'd also tell you that he's right to tell her that she needs to be able to fight without using her powers. And when she blasts him at the end of the match, while certainly cathartic for many... only proved that she needed to learn to control her temper and impulsiveness.
This movie, sadly, left a less than satisfying taste in my mouth. While it could be called a "feminist" movie, it's more accurately, a "white feminist savior" movie. I wouldn't even recommend it to feminists because of how bland and biased it is. "Captain Marvel" is an "Ugly" for me.
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