Welcome to another edition of our recurring feature here at FilmGoblin: NERD FIGHT!
How it works is really simple: A movie-related central supposition or motion is proposed, and then everyone everywhere can go full geek and debate that motion.
The only rules are:
- Stay on topic.
- No personal attacks / don’t be a dick!
- Have fun.
The Motion
Avengers: Endgame was the end of an era. The original Avengers are gone, pushed aside or made into a punchline.
Captain Marvel allegedly introduced us to the new “face of the Marvel Cinematic Universe”, which just so happened to be played by a self-proclaimed “activist” actress who has no problem castigating a vast amount of the audience.
We all witnessed the debacle at Comic-Con this past weekend where Marvel descending further into the retrograde celebration of identity politics.
And as sure as night follows day, Marvel Studios will go broke after getting woke.
Right?
The Specific Supposition Is This:
THE MCU WILL AVOID THE FATE OF STAR WARS AND PULL OFF THE IMPOSSIBLE: IT WILL GET WOKE WITHOUT LOSING A STEP!
Wait… what?
Allow Me To Explain
A Winner Is A Winner
23 Films in 11 years and none of them are have been flops. In fact, with the exception of the first couple of Thor movies and Captain America movies, they have all made massive profits. Going to see an MCU movie seems to have become the equivalent of buying a new hit album was in the 1980s. They are part of the cultural experience for a lot of people.
Volume & Genre Diversity
The MCU is mixing up both the new and the old. There seems to be something for everyone in the new rollout: horror, kung-fu, vampires, spy movie and some of the good old Marvel Space Adventure™.
Laughs Go A Long Way
These movies are light-entertainment. Unlike Star Wars, they really didn’t have much of a personal impact on the lives and childhoods of the current audience. Plus, jokes help the medicine of social justice go down easier.
Expanding International Markets
No one in other countries recognize, understand or care about the American cultural machinations.
There are 20% more active movie theaters in China for Far From Home then there was for Homecoming just two years ago. This is the same across the board for Japan, South Korea, Mexico and Russia.
As more theaters spin up in small towns and rural areas across the world, every MCU movie will now make at least $1B worldwide.
Everyone Gets Paid
Disney dominated the global box office. They have four mini-studios which are making more revenue per year than studios like Sony or Paramount. This creates two synergistic effects:
- Entertainment journalists will “play ball” and talk up a bad movie to maintain their good standing with Disney
- Talking about these movies drives eyeballs and clicks which in turn powers the perpetual motion device of hype
Positivity drives profits!
Woke In Name Only
The identity politics will, for the most part, kept out of the movies and only in the mouths of the players and members of the media.
There will be occasional throwaway scenes like the “Girl Fight” scene in Endgame but there will be no lecturing, no soapboxing, no Mary Sues, no lessons in the MCU product itself. It will be window-dressing to be used in the marketing materials.
BEG TO DIFFER?
Get your fight on in the Disqus below.
Got a movie-related topic that you want to see debated on FilmGoblin? You have? Excellent! Put it into the form of a statement or motion and email it to thefilmgoblin@gmail.com with “Debate Suggestion” in the subject line. We’ll be picking from suggestions for our regular debate topics.
