Hollywood’s recent obsession with “smug and mean” characters is ruining films including the disappointing box office hit “The Marvels”, an author claims.
The article, written by Daily Beast contributor Fredrik deBoer, claims that the archetype is ruining publications like The Marvels. The film reportedly grossed less than $40 million at the box office as of Sunday, the lowest ever for a film from Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe.
This is despite a star-studded female cast led by leading lady Brie Larson, as well as a series of extensive pivots following the domestic violence case involving fellow star Jonathan Majors.
That, in turn, caused Disney to rethink its plans for the next “phase” of inherent – and often loosely linked – sequels, culminating with the current 2019 sequel to “Captain Marvel,” which deBoer wrote it points to something bigger.
“While Hollywood has made strides in portraying women in genre films, the industry has also developed a strong tendency to write the same type of female characters, a set of tired tropes that inevitably leave us with women who insult everyone and never betray their vulnerability “real people own and drop one tired joke after another instead of having real dialogue,” he wrote.
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Hollywood’s recent obsession with “smug and mean” characters is ruining films, including Brie Larson’s disappointing box office hit The Marvels, an author claims.
The article, written by Daily Beast contributor Fredrik deBoer, claims that the archetype is ruining releases like The Marvels, which opened over the weekend to underwhelming results.
Titled “We’re Still Stuck with “Strong Female Characters,” Who Are Smug, Mean, & Reducing,” deBoer – an outspoken Marxist – criticized Disney for its leniency on the new release and also criticized other studios like Warner Bros for much of the same .
deBoer expressed his biggest concern with the new film – the persona of the character front and center, portrayed by Larson.
“I don’t like the portrayal of Captain Marvel in the original and therefore I’m not particularly interested in the new film,” he wrote. “I find the way they characterize her really annoying, and this is not an isolated problem.”
“I’m tired of the Larsen archetype.”[sic] character, which is a parody of what female strength looks like.’
He continued: “Movies led by women, female characters who are competent and confident, female characters who are funny, female characters who are not afraid to mix with the men, female characters who are excellence and demonstrate pride.”
“We need more of all of these things in Hollywood,” he concluded.
“What we don’t need is the stereotype that Captain Marvel represents and has become inescapable, the woman who only utters insults, who condescends to everyone around her, who is constantly unimpressed.”
“That’s not progress,” which is always unimpressed. This is not progress.”
“The Marvels,” which hit theaters Friday, is currently streaming in theaters across the country. Full box office results will be available next Monday.
It turns out that advance ticket sales for the almost all-female film were lower than two recent high-profile bombs, The Flash and Black Adam. Both came from the rival DC Extended Universe, with the Ezra Miller film only grossing $55 million and The Rock’s superhero film grossing $67 million
Both films were considered failures at the box office in addition to having astronomical budgets, and “The Marvels” after grossing $21.5 million on Friday and just $15.3 million on Saturday , is ready to oust them in their status as underachievers
deBoer added on the day of the film’s release: “Early evidence suggested that the box office was less than half that of Captain Marvel” – a pre-pandemic success that the critic was not quite as shy about as “the ( so to speak) a precursor to the film.’
This swipe arose from recent comments from Larson – who got her big break as the female version of the historically male Captain Marvel – in which she suggested she was done with Marvel after this mess
deBoer attributed this decision to rumors that the 34-year-old “[had been] upset by the (admittedly odd) decision to turn the sequel to a movie about a superhero into a showcase for three,” citing tie-ins that saw stars from WandaVision and Ms. Marvel take prime roles
He also noted the film’s financial prospects.
“Things are looking bleak for The Marvels, the latest Marvel film to hit theaters today,” he wrote Friday, after advance ticket sales for the almost all-female film were lower than two recent high-profile bombs, The Flash and Black Adam.
Both came from the rival DC Extended Universe, with Ezra Miller’s famously struggling production grossing just $55 million in three days and The Rock’s latest superhero film grossing $67 million.
Both films, aside from boasting astronomical budgets, were viewed as box office failures, and “The Marvels” after grossing $21.5 million on Friday and just $15.3 million on Saturday , is ready to supplant them in their status as clichés.
Additionally, on the day of The Marvels’ release, deBoer added, “Early observations suggested that the box office was less than half that of Captain Marvel” – a pre-pandemic success that the critic didn’t quite appreciate shy as “the (so to speak) forerunners.”
This swipe arose from recent comments from Larson – who got her big break as the female version of the historically male Captain Marvel – in which she suggested she was done with Marvel after this mess.
Like several other publications, deBoer attributed this decision to rumors that the 34-year-old “[had been] upset by the (admittedly odd) decision to turn the sequel to a movie about one superhero into a showcase for three,” citing hastily made tie-ins that saw actresses from WandaVision and Ms. Marvel take prime roles.
Titled “We’re Still Stuck with “Strong Female Characters,” Who Are Smug, Mean, & Reducing,” deBoer – an outspoken Marxist – criticized Disney for its laxity on the new release, as well as other studios like Warner Bros’ titles like Velma from HBO Max
The film reportedly grossed less than $40 million at the box office as of Sunday, the lowest ever for a film in Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe.
This is despite a star-studded cast led by leading lady Larson, as well as a series of twists and turns following the domestic violence case involving fellow star Jonathan Majors, who played Kang in this year’s Ant-Man and the Wasp had been committed to at least three further projects
“Pre-sales,” the longtime critic continued, “looked even worse” — pointing to the new film’s widely reported “extensive reshoots,” which Variety first reported in a feature that highlighted some of the problems behind it are scenes.
According to the report, the series of reshoots were ordered to “give coherence to a convoluted plot” – an attempt that The Marvels director Nia DaCosta described as a “trial-and-error” process to extract other elements from the to incorporate the studio’s ever-growing oeuvre. It became a continuation of “five different Marvel projects” rather than just one.
“All of this came against a backdrop of serious problems for the “cinematic universe” and for its owner, Disney,” writes deBoer, pointing to the bad press for Majors, which until recently had a series of spin-offs centered around its villainous Kang the Conqueror planned.
He also mentioned that director DaCosta – who also wrote the film’s script – seemed to disapprove of the changes made during this difficult time.
“They have a whole history before that,” DaCosta said of Marvel Studio’s history of upending and changing projects in the 25th hour.
![“I’m tired of the Larsen archetype.”[sic] “The character represents what is a parody of what female strength looks like,” the critic writes at one point in the scathing article](https://www.spamchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/1699824653_779_The-top-writer-says-Hollywoods-obsession-with-smug-mean-and.jpeg "The top writer says Hollywood's obsession with \"smug, mean and reductive\" female characters who never show a softer side is ruining films like The Marvels... as the latest film in the Tanks superhero franchise 14")
“I’m tired of the Larsen archetype.”[sic] “The character represents what is a parody of what female strength looks like,” the critic writes at one point in the scathing article
“Movies with a female lead, female characters who are competent and confident, female characters who are funny…female characters who demonstrate excellence and pride.” “We need more of all of these things in Hollywood,” he explained
The critic concluded: “What we don’t need is the stereotype that Captain Marvel represents and which has become inescapable, the woman who only utters insults, who condescends to everyone around her and who constantly remains unimpressed.” This is not progress’
“We have Ms. Marvel, the TV show, Captain Marvel, WandaVision, and it was kind of a constant negotiation to figure out, ‘Okay, how much information do people need?'” the screenwriter told blutencool.com last week.
“It was a real trial and error,” she continued, speaking about the process that Larson would discuss on late-night television just days later.
“We don’t want people to have to look at anything else, but of course you have to be honest and say, ‘This is this.’ [33rd] Project in this universe.” It’s kind of a continuation of five different things.
“At a certain point you just have to say, ‘Okay, there are some things we can’t get into here, but it’ll be fun.’