In case you thought we were finally past the point of having to deal with men’s overzealous scrutiny of Captain Marvel, the consensus is now that she’s unlikable and a “villain,” all because of a recently released deleted scene.
In the scene, Carol is approached by a gross man, and when he tries to come on to her, she uses her power to take his bike and leaves. Because she almost “maims” him, people (primarily men) are angry, which just shows that you guys have never been cornered by a man with no feasible means of escape.
As a woman in the 21st century, I’d give nothing more than to have powers that would let me escape from a man in the way that Captain Marvel does in this scene. I’d love to be able to scare someone out of touching me against my will. But I guess then that that would make a villain, right?
Marvel has created the worst/most unlikeable HERo ever pic.twitter.com/imxGyFnQSh
— Saladino for Congress (@JoeySalads) May 24, 2019
Woah I never saw this clip but damn…
Captain Marvel is a villain. She straight hurts and robs a dude because he was a jerk to her. Thats a villain https://t.co/nRmiwKaQmE
— Tim Pool (@Timcast) May 24, 2019
I feel like I have to start off every article defending a female character by qualifying it with the fact that she isn’t my favorite and I don’t just like her because she’s a woman, which isn’t fair to me because what man has to do that if they’re writing about Thor or the Hulk? None, but here I am, defending Carol Danvers, a character I admire but one who doesn’t necessarily make my top-five list.
And that’s okay; I’m allowed to love her a little bit less than my faves. Or, at least, it should be okay, but with how much men hate her, I feel like I have to defend her to my last, dying breath. Here’s the thing about Carol Danvers: She’s strong, she’s confident, and she doesn’t take nonsense from anyone.
You know who else is that way? Half the Avengers, but because she’s a woman, some people see it as a major problem. I guess she has to be in the corner crying for half her movie in order for her to be a completely well-rounded character in their eyes. What’s fun about the Avengers is that everyone is over-confident, almost to a fault. Carol just happens to be coming in when all the other Avengers have realized, in universe-halving fashion, what their overconfidence got them.
But still, they’re all that way. Stephen Strange and Tony Stark are literally two of the most confident men to ever walk the planet, but people praise them, so what’s the deal?
Is it just because Carol is a woman? Or because her “overconfidence” is warranted? Whatever the case is, all the tweets bashing her for qualities that other Avengers have shows that their hatred of her doesn’t come from a place of genuine criticism, but from a place of sexism.
Y’all gon stop talking about how overconfident and arrogant #CaptainMarvel is like dis guy doesn’t exist. pic.twitter.com/x7nbjIe5Xj
— I Bomb Atomically. #StillWorthy (@UpToTASK) May 27, 2019
The problem isn’t that she’s cocky or overconfident; it’s that she is a woman with these attributes, and as much as these men don’t want to realize that they’re being sexist, they are. Hating a female character is totally okay. Hating her for the same characteristics you love in Tony Stark and Stephen Strange? Definitely showing your true colors.
(image: Marvel Entertainment)
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