Woman of the Month: Captain Marvel

Carol Danvers from Captain Marvel

Well, this was a bit of a no-brainer. 

Captain Marvel is to Marvel Studios what Wonder Woman was to DC back in 2017: the studio's first headlining female superhero. Whatever DC's faults, they beat Marvel to the punch when it came to pulling this off, ensuring that comparisons between Diana Prince and Carol Danvers (and their respective stories) are inevitable. 

What I appreciate is that despite the fact both are warrior women, they are clearly very different people, with contrasting personalities, development, and outlooks on life. Carol is more jaded and battle-worn than Diana, and has a much more complicated relationship with her preternatural abilities. Whereas Diana has total confidence and control, Carol still has to learn the full extent of her potential. 

Another interesting thing about Captain Marvel is that she's actually two characters throughout the film: the Kree soldier known as "Vers" and the human woman called Carol Danvers. The former is steely and unflappable, the latter is warm and driven - yet Brie Larson keeps the portrayal consistent, carrying across the character's sardonic sense of humour from one identity to the other, as well as visceral enjoyment of her physicality. 

There are times when the character could have done with a few moments of fear and confusion - after all, losing one's memories and realizing you've been on the wrong side of a war are a pretty big deals that the story chooses to gloss over, but more than anything else, Carol embodies the power of not giving a shit.  

As I mentioned in my review, the film's best scene is when she's confronted by her mentor Yon-Rogg, who challenges her to a fight while demanding she be less than she really is, insisting that it has to be on his terms if it's to be fair. She effortlessly blasts him out of her way and says: "I have nothing to prove to you." 

There is so much power in not giving a damn... yet it can't be a perfect response to the real-world struggle of ignoring entitled people who demand one's time and attention. Sometimes threats are impossible to ignore, for sometimes they spill over into real physical violence - and unlike Carol, ordinary women have to do without photon blasts shooting from their fists to protect themselves. 

But then that's the other purpose of stories like Captain Marvel: not only to teach us lessons, but offer us an escape from reality.