Marvel stuff etc.
Mar. 15th, 2019 07:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stellahibernisI generally like watching trailers, but when it's a huge movie there tend to be so many and the later ones so spoilery that you basically know the plot beforehand if you watch them all, so I'm limiting myself. For example in the case of Captain Marvel I watched the later trailers after I'd seen it in the theater. As it is, I'm not proactively watching Endgame trailers anymore, but I'm not terribly spoiler phobic, so I don't mind seeing gifs or if the new trailer comes before some other movie at the theater I'm not going to cover my eyes and ears.
From what little I've seen, though, I can now put a check mark on something that seems to happen every time with MCU, namely someone (or more than one person), takes some detail from a trailer, gets very huffy about it online, and later it turns out they drew wrong conclusions and the tirade in retrospect is pretty stupid or maybe even embarrassing.
In this case it was that someone (I actually don't remember who it was, not someone I follow regularly, but that I knew of beforehand, might have been a BNF or a pro of some sort) took issue over how Steve in the previous trailer said that some people move on but not them. This person took it as Steve putting the Avengers on pedestal for not moving on, and that he was somehow belittling those who had to move on and not wallow in loss. Back then I kind of side eyed them, because that interpretation didn't feel at all consistent with Steve's previous characterization by the same writing team, and now lo and behold, turns out my gut reaction was right. In the scene Steve was actually making a point that it's a good thing, a smart thing to move on, to continue life after a tragedy, and it's pretty clear he knows it's not healthy to be unable to do so like he and the rest of the Avengers are.
Lessons learned, better judge the movie only after seeing it.
***
Speaking of judging movies, I haven't really sought out Captain Marvel reviews, mostly because I know a lot of them would annoy me. I'm not saying there isn't legitimate criticism, because there is, and I've also read good positive articles by pros as well as good metaposts from fandom, but there's also a lot of hypocrisy and stuff that just doesn't float.
I mean, if you say the story was a complete mess, you'd better have something else as an example than discontinuity about her spacesuit (she had no bag while walking around in jeans, so clearly she shouldn't have had the spacesuit in Louisiana). Yes, this is a real take I saw on twitter. Let's consider first, that discontinuity with costumes isn't actually a story issue and has nothing to do with the emotional effectiveness. Secondly, we saw plenty off time her helmet appear and disappear, so it shouldn't be too big a leap to assume that the whole suit works the same way. Both Iron Man and Black Panther have nano suits, so it's not outlandish for the Kree to have them.
I know that when they don't like something people tend to latch on details that stuck out whether or not they were the actual reason for why the movie doesn't work. However, there also seems to be a tendency to try and find every possible thing that didn't quite work and make them much bigger deal than they actually were (same thing happened with Wonder Woman and Black Panther, and undoubtedly will keep happening).
I'm also not a big fan of those reviews that wanted more of an agenda in it. In general it's okay to seek meaning, but one had to be willfully blind to consider there was no deeper substance in Captain Marvel. Also I'm wary of people saying there needs to be an agenda, because it's too close to the argument that there has to be a reason for a character to be something other than "default". That the hero can't be a woman, or POC, or LGBTQ+ just because, that there needs to be a reason other than it reflecting real life.
***
For me, this was quite a week at work and I'm tired, but on the other hand the cold I had is fully banished, and I'll finally get to see the Favorite tonight. I've been meaning to catch it ever since it was released here, but I've been too sick or busy or tired before.
From what little I've seen, though, I can now put a check mark on something that seems to happen every time with MCU, namely someone (or more than one person), takes some detail from a trailer, gets very huffy about it online, and later it turns out they drew wrong conclusions and the tirade in retrospect is pretty stupid or maybe even embarrassing.
In this case it was that someone (I actually don't remember who it was, not someone I follow regularly, but that I knew of beforehand, might have been a BNF or a pro of some sort) took issue over how Steve in the previous trailer said that some people move on but not them. This person took it as Steve putting the Avengers on pedestal for not moving on, and that he was somehow belittling those who had to move on and not wallow in loss. Back then I kind of side eyed them, because that interpretation didn't feel at all consistent with Steve's previous characterization by the same writing team, and now lo and behold, turns out my gut reaction was right. In the scene Steve was actually making a point that it's a good thing, a smart thing to move on, to continue life after a tragedy, and it's pretty clear he knows it's not healthy to be unable to do so like he and the rest of the Avengers are.
Lessons learned, better judge the movie only after seeing it.
***
Speaking of judging movies, I haven't really sought out Captain Marvel reviews, mostly because I know a lot of them would annoy me. I'm not saying there isn't legitimate criticism, because there is, and I've also read good positive articles by pros as well as good metaposts from fandom, but there's also a lot of hypocrisy and stuff that just doesn't float.
I mean, if you say the story was a complete mess, you'd better have something else as an example than discontinuity about her spacesuit (she had no bag while walking around in jeans, so clearly she shouldn't have had the spacesuit in Louisiana). Yes, this is a real take I saw on twitter. Let's consider first, that discontinuity with costumes isn't actually a story issue and has nothing to do with the emotional effectiveness. Secondly, we saw plenty off time her helmet appear and disappear, so it shouldn't be too big a leap to assume that the whole suit works the same way. Both Iron Man and Black Panther have nano suits, so it's not outlandish for the Kree to have them.
I know that when they don't like something people tend to latch on details that stuck out whether or not they were the actual reason for why the movie doesn't work. However, there also seems to be a tendency to try and find every possible thing that didn't quite work and make them much bigger deal than they actually were (same thing happened with Wonder Woman and Black Panther, and undoubtedly will keep happening).
I'm also not a big fan of those reviews that wanted more of an agenda in it. In general it's okay to seek meaning, but one had to be willfully blind to consider there was no deeper substance in Captain Marvel. Also I'm wary of people saying there needs to be an agenda, because it's too close to the argument that there has to be a reason for a character to be something other than "default". That the hero can't be a woman, or POC, or LGBTQ+ just because, that there needs to be a reason other than it reflecting real life.
***
For me, this was quite a week at work and I'm tired, but on the other hand the cold I had is fully banished, and I'll finally get to see the Favorite tonight. I've been meaning to catch it ever since it was released here, but I've been too sick or busy or tired before.
no subject
Date: 2019-03-15 08:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-03-16 08:19 am (UTC)However, the gleeful fan reaction is my favorite thing about the surrounding hubbub, Carol has been one of my favorites for years, so it's great to see her fandom grow.