We’ve had way too many posts today about a superhero movie that’s coming out this weekend; we honestly don’t get how women have adopted “Captain Marvel” as a feminist statement when DC’s “Wonder Woman” — which was a good movie — already featured a female lead. Maybe things were stirred up when star Brie Larson made it a point of making sure her press tour wasn’t dominated by white men.
As Twitchy reported, The Mary Sue flat-out lied in stating that all of the negative reviews of “Captain Marvel” had been written by men — something that could be fact-checked in 10 seconds. But now film journalist and proud blue-check bearer Alyssa Klein is asking media outlets to bench their male critics to make room for female voices.
I'm so excited to finally see Marvel's first woman superhero movie. I'm less excited about the fact that many of the biggest publications are having men write their #CaptainMarvel reviews. Want proof? Here's a thread of Captain Marvel reviews written by men.#WomensHistoryMonth
— Alyssa Klein (@dj_diabeatic) March 5, 2019
No doubt it’s a long list (of left-leaning outlets), from The New York Times to Vanity Fair to NPR and Variety — and we’re not going to paste in all 17 tweets calling out the publications who allowed men to review the film; they know who they are.
This is a much longer thread than I was anticipating! Think I'm gonna take a break.
One thing to note — all is not lost. There are a ton of brilliant women who have already reviewed #CaptainMarvel, and I'm sure many more to come. Men, try to prioritize reading theirs!
— Alyssa Klein (@dj_diabeatic) March 5, 2019
Also, @brielarson pledging to make sure the #CaptainMarvel press tour isn't overwhelmingly white and male is super inspiring. We just need publications to follow suit! After all, it is #WomensHistoryMonth 🙂 https://t.co/kYZ5hFODTE
— Alyssa Klein (@dj_diabeatic) March 5, 2019
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Another very important point: this happens ALL THE TIME with films by people of color, in which every white male critic in the universe usually has something to say and most often gets commissioned to write reviews for the biggest publications.
— Alyssa Klein (@dj_diabeatic) March 5, 2019
What can we say? Hollywood and the people who write about Hollywood sure are racist and sexist.
So if you're a male critic reading this thread and you're asked to write a review of #CaptainMarvel for a major publication, consider saying "You know, I think I should sit this one out and make room for women's voices."
— Alyssa Klein (@dj_diabeatic) March 5, 2019
Or if you're a publication or editor reading this thread, I'll hope you'll challenge yourself to commission women to write your #CaptainMarvel reviews.
— Alyssa Klein (@dj_diabeatic) March 6, 2019
If a movie is moving the needle forward in terms of representation, you have a role to play too! You too can move the needle forward as an editor, a publication, or even a prominent man writer simply by making room for new voices.
— Alyssa Klein (@dj_diabeatic) March 6, 2019
If there’s a movie that’s destined to move the needle forward in terms of representation, we doubt that it’s “Captain Marvel.” Maybe it’ll be great, maybe it’ll be average, maybe it’ll suck — but all the hype seems to be setting the movie up for a backlash. Hey, maybe it will be nominated for Best Picture like “Black Panther.”
I really want to like this movie. But this stuff is really getting in the way… https://t.co/bqF9hMqSwT
— Larry O'Connor (@LarryOConnor) March 6, 2019
Maybe men shouldn’t see it either…. since they are evil and stuff
— Bryan Jones (@bpjauburn) March 6, 2019
Men should probably let women have the opening weekend to themselves so men don’t suck all the female joy out of the theater.
Did you think people didn't believe you that actual men write movie reviews?
— -theYeti (@TheSmokingYeti) March 6, 2019
Captain Marvel’s superpower is patronizing people to death.
— I GAVE UP TWEETING FOR LENT (@BridgetPhetasy) March 5, 2019
Bridget’s a woman, so we have to respect her opinion. These guys? Not so much:
I need to apologize. I wrote this article today praising “Captain Marvel” as the greatest cinematic achievement. I have since been criticized for implicitly diminishing “Black Panther.” I am deeply sorry for my unintentional racism. Please forgive me. https://t.co/KN7FxphmUw
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) March 5, 2019
An online rumor suggests that Marvel is on the hunt for its first gay superhero for The Eternals. https://t.co/rLIR0qv1bs
— Esquire (@esquire) March 5, 2019
That film will be even better than "Captain Marvel." It doesn't even have to be made or be good. It is already the best Marvel movie ever, except for "Black Panther," which is the greatest film ever made. https://t.co/78CEj9NCqk
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) March 5, 2019
Obviously.
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Update:
This will surely sell some tickets:
Captain Marvel star Brie Larson: I don't need a white dude to tell me what didn't work. It wasn't made for him! I want to know what it meant for women of colorpic.twitter.com/gBJuAvTRhF
— Israel & USA forever (@IsraelUSAforevr) March 5, 2019
Related:
FAKE NEWS: Notice how all the negative reviews of ‘Captain Marvel’ are written by men? https://t.co/XdGO1HuUYS
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) March 5, 2019
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