
When ‘Captain Marvel’ Became a Target, the Rules Changed - flippyhead
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/13/movies/captain-marvel-brie-larson-rotten-tomatoes.html
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alexandercrohde
I really reject this article. It feels like it has a very strong agenda (I say
this as a liberal).

Though idgaf about Marvel choosing to make a movie the lead actress describes
as a "feminist movie," I entirely understand why that could be offputting to a
lot of people to have moral lessons injected into their comic-book movies.

As a movie, it's your obligation to make an emotional experience that delights
your audience, period. If you turn around and call that audience "trolls" for
feeling preached at, then you're invalidating the experiences of a wide swath
of people, which is wrong, obviously.

~~~
smadge
I have seen absolutely no evidence that “Captain Marvel” is a feminist film or
that there are any more or less moral lessons in this Marvel movie than
others. In fact, the backlash began before people had even seen the movie and
able to make an informed judgement on the feminist or moral content of the
film. The controversy has nothing to do with the actual content of the film.
The article explains it seems to have started because Brie Larson publicly
talked about discrimination and representation in the entertainment industry.

~~~
alexandercrohde
>> I have seen absolutely no evidence that “Captain Marvel” is a feminist film
or that there are any more or less moral lessons in this Marvel movie than
others.

Well I was referring to the article "Before the film’s release, Ms. Larson
told “Entertainment Tonight” that she had spoken with Marvel about making the
film “a big feminist movie.” "

>> The controversy has nothing to do with the actual content of the film.

That's a reasonable point. I agree that it's presumptuous to review a movie
before you see it.

That said, I think that's distinct from the larger point. I imagine most of
those people complaining would still have the same complaint after they saw it
(just like they may have about Ghost Busters 2 or Black Panther).

And if they did see it, and then hate it afterwards, I think that's an
entirely valid personal experience. Or if they refuse to see it (and indicate
they aren't excited to see it), because they felt burned by past movie
experiences, that's a valid choice too.

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gwillz
Maybe I'm desensitised from political agendas in films now, but from Captain
Marvel I really didn't get a overwhelming feminist agenda that I felt impeded
it from being a genuinely entertaining movie.

I'm disappointed about Brie's comment about Wrinkle in Time, however. It
really wasn't a great film. The single feminist angle of 'girl saves boy'
doesn't make it a great film. All I got was an "evil is a alternate entity you
can defeat and bad actions aren't your own fault" lesson. This I thought was
quite dangerous for children.

It's unfair to discard people's opinion just because they're white and 40.
Just as much it's unfair to review bomb a movie because the actor said
something in an interview.

I fully get this article for defending this movie and I'm also upset by the
disproportionate ratings we're seeing from critics and audiences (see Orville
vs Star Trek: Discovery). But something else stinks about this article.

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caprese
Fascinating.

This would have been a great volatile trade with Box Office futures contracts,
if you knew the nuances of why the ratings were fluctuating like this, which
was purely cultural schizophrenia and software updates, while the audience of
actual ticket buyers was still numerous.

(The MPAA got Congress to ban box office futures under Obama, the futures
regulator was all for it. Now the technology enables free trade of
programmatic contracts very easily, and the current composition of the
legislator could also help but they aren't necessary anymore)

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writepub
This reads like rotten tomatoes changed the rules to appease one political
faction. While radical intersectionalists launch mob attacks and review bomb
everything from books to movies that they don't deem kosher [1], [2]...,
companies continually appease only _one_ faction, i.e. radical
intersectionalists. I fully agree with the decision to make reviews fairer,
but completely disagree with the timing - RT only did it because decision
makers in RT are politically resonant with the movie's politics.

Where was RT's response when intersecionalists demonized and review-bombed the
SuperWoman movie, for the lead actress' connection to Israel?

[1]: [https://www.vulture.com/2018/02/keira-drake-the-
continent.ht...](https://www.vulture.com/2018/02/keira-drake-the-
continent.html)

[2]: [https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/08/opinion/teen-fiction-
and-...](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/08/opinion/teen-fiction-and-the-
perils-of-cancel-culture.html)

------
identity_zero
The best movies I saw this year were Bohemian Rhapsody (Critics: 61%,
Audience: 87%) and Alita: Battle Angel (Critics: 60%, Audience: 94%). Maybe
Rotten Tomatoes should be looking into how their critics are reviewing movies
instead of banning "trolls"? If you read some of the critic reviews for the
movies I mentioned, they are equally tinged with cultural and ideological
opinions.

I think this is why conservatives are so up in arms about this movie. The
majority of critics lean left and give high ratings to movies that align with
their values. But when conservatives attempt to promote their own opinions
about a movie, it's censored because "trolls". At this point, I give more
weight to an army of fans, or haters, than a small group of critics.

It's also interesting how the NY Times, New Yorker and The Atlantic will write
an essay afterwards that give "nuance" to the details of these types of
events. Typically with a liberal bias.

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darkarmani
> It's also interesting how the NY Times, New Yorker and The Atlantic will
> write an essay afterwards that give "nuance" to the details of these types
> of events. Typically with a liberal bias.

I think you need to be more specific than liberal or conservative. They way
those terms are used usually correlates highest to "live near a large city" or
"lives in a rural area."

I think it is more useful to break it down further than that to get more
understanding.

~~~
Fjolsvith
Huh. I never before considered that liberal meant "city dweller" and
conservative meant "farm boy". I had always assumed the terms were used to
describe the different ends of a value base continuum.

I stand enlightened.

~~~
darkarmani
> I had always assumed the terms were used to describe the different ends of a
> value base continuum.

Outside the US it has a clearer meaning. Inside the US they have lost their
meaning.

~~~
Fjolsvith
Not to people who value values.

