The controversy is brewing on Rotten Tomatoes the Captain Marvel Movie went from 96% who want to see it down to 26% before it was taken down. YouTube shows continue to grow in popularity by bashing Brie Larson and the latest MCU movie; Nerdrotic, Geeks and Gamers, The Dave Cullen show all talking about Brie Larson and taking pot shots at her and the upcoming movie, I have my own show on the subject (though I don’t really take any pot shots at her expense.) Is any of it justified? Is Brie Larson the anti-Christ? Does she deserve the flack she’s getting but most importantly, will this damage the opening weekend box office for the movie?
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It all started when Brie Larson accepted the Crystal Award for excellence in film at the Women in Film Crystal + Lucy Awards. In her speech she felt that there wasn’t enough diversity among film critics and she didn’t care what “old white dudes” thought about the movie A Wrinkle in Time. She repeated three times that she didn’t hate old white dudes but emphasized that she thought a more diverse panel of critics would have boosted the review score. Which isn’t a bad sentiment. It’s simply the way that she said “old white dudes.” that set the fan base off. I just got done watching the Looper version on the Untold Truth of Captain Marvel before writing this article. And this show isn’t praising the movie or denouncing the movie, it simply traces the history of the character in the comic books. Yet in the comments section the fan response is rabidly against this incarnation of the character. They are also talking about Brie Larson. The actress has definitely struck a chord.
Why are so many people up in arms over Brie Larson? She didn’t diss all “old white dudes.” She simply stated that she didn’t trust their review of a Wrinkle in time? Part of it has to do with the way she said it. You can hear a sarcastic tone in her voice if you watch the speech itself. A lot of it also has to do with the way directors, producers and celebrities have been politicizing their entertainment lately. Paul Feig, J.J. Abrams and Rian Johnson among others saying that fan boys can’t deal with a strong female lead, calling them sexist, racist and Misogynist if they dare to criticize their films. The entire Klingon race was compared to Trump Supporters before Star Trek: Discovery even aired for the first time. White males are made to look stupid and villainous (Kylo Ren, Captain Lorca) while all the females and non whites are the heroes. Basically, the reaction from white males has been brewing since these members of the entertainment industry decided to politicize their movies and call the fanboys out. Brie Larson’s comments are just the icing on the cake. What has all this politicizing lead to?
The Backlash!
What it has lead to is a backlash among fans of these movies. The producers want to insult a certain demographic of their fanbase and still expect these fans to buy tickets to their movies and watch their TV shows. Star Wars: The Last Jedi made $700 million less at the box office than The Force Awakens and Solo outright flopped, which is a shame because Solo is a good movie and deserved better box office. Heck, even Paul Feig’s Ghostbusters deserved better box office than it got. But because these film makers decided to politicize their films and insult a certain demographic of the fanbase, that fanbase has decided to retaliate. The people who made Wonder Woman and Black Panther didn’t criticize the fans so their movies made money. Let’s take another example. One that most people agree is a stinker, the star of the film even showed up at the razzie awards to accept her trophy in person: Catwoman. Are the critics who gave this movie a bad review and the fans who made fun of it racist and sexist because they can’t deal with a strong black female lead? No, they simply recognize bad film making when they see it.
Will Captain Marvel lose money over Brie Larson, even though her statements weren’t about Captain Marvel and MCU fans? Judging from what I’ve seen on YouTube and Rotten Tomatoes this film will not make the money that it could have made. I do think it will turn a profit just by virtue of it being in the MCU, which hasn’t had an outright failure of a movie in ten years. Also because it links to Avengers End Game which is the sequel to Infinity War, which, of course made over two billion dollars and people are going to want to know what happened. But I predict Captain Marvel will make between five and ten million less dollars than it could have made if Movie Makers didn’t try to shove their politics down our throats. Hollywood is openly liberal (just watch the Oscars and you’ll see) we’ve all grown to accept that. But that doesn’t mean that they have to insult those who don’t agree with their politics. Movie goers are liberal, moderate and conservative, Democrats, Republicans and Libertarians all go to the movies. The majority of us go to movies to escape the petty partisan politics that invade our everyday lives (especially those crazy memes we see on Facebook.) Fanboys, you have slightly over reacted to Brie’s statements, but I understand why you did. I’m going to see this film on opening weekend simply because I can’t wait for the Kree and Skrull wars. One final note to Hollywood: Please stop polarizing us fans with your politics and just make quality movies that we can all enjoy. You’ll make more money that way.
Author Profile
- Kevin Given has studied with “ Longridge Writers Group †and “ Writer’s Boot Camp †a speech/communications major from the University of Maine Presque-Isle/Orono sites. He has created the “ Karl Vincent Vampire Hunter †franchise which includes novels and comic books. They can be found on amazon, Indyplanet and Kindle. For a limited time you can get digital copies of “ Karl Vincent: Vampire hunter †# 1 and “ Files of Karl Vincent †# 1 for free on Indyplanet. Kevin is producing the third novel in the series “ Dracula Rising †(working title) and developing “ Foul Blood †into comic book form. Don't forget to check out the YouTube show " Comics: Let's Talk " hosted by Kevin Given
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