Carol Danvers, AKA Captain Marvel, is a powerful, flawed woman. This template, maddening but honest, is familiar to me and, I imagine, many other women.
The arrival of Captain Marvel is a much-needed breath of fresh air. She has managed to flush out all of the negative feelings caused by seeing the women of the Marvel Cinematic Universe stuck in supportive roles to their male counterparts. She also manages to upend the typical narrative of love, family and strength. In Carol’s world, women won’t need to fall in love, get married, or give up their jobs just because they have kids.
Sadly, Captain Marvel is fighting a gender war on and off screen. On Rotten Tomatoes, sexist trolls are hammering at the movie’s audience rating. And in the film, Carol repeatedly has to tell men she doesn’t need or seek their approval. It is a simple, but surreal thought that goes against a lot of what television and movies have told young women throughout time.
Captain Marvel’s film is set in the 90’s, which makes me think the movie is trying to fix a lot of the flawed storylines that elder millennials like myself were sold in our youth.
Prior to the release of this movie, I went to a birthday lunch for my grandmother at Chevy’s. I was happily sipping my Strawberry margarita when someone at the table inquired about Captain Marvel.
In a very typical, geek-like-way I explained how long my friends and I have been waiting for a female fronted anything in the superhero realm.
“There’s Wonder Woman!” someone suggested.
“That’s D.C…” I quipped back, letting my Marvel fan-girl bias shine through.
But that’s not to say Wonder Woman wasn’t a start. It was. Wonder Woman represented the first go-around. It wasn’t perfect by a long shot, but female audiences and Diana Prince were in step with each other and coming to all these revelations at the same time. It was a collective moment in time where we were seeing pieces of ourselves after a long time of, well, nothing of substance.
Some of the most powerful themes that run throughout Captain Marvel focus on the idea that family doesn’t necessary have to mean bloodline. In this film, family is fluid and crosses boundaries of race and universe.
As in the world, most people don’t fit into cookie cutter lifestyles. Life is often more fluid and complicated, but that’s what makes things interesting. It’s nice to finally have a superhero who reflects that reality.
