I’m sorry the more I think about this the more it genuinely pisses me off.//
Honestly, this is what was always going to happen. Yall have been dramatic for absolutely nothing. This is what marvel does. They don't care as much as y'all do. Let's remember everybody was fighting against everybody in civil war and then they were working together in iw/eg🙄🤷🏽♀️. This is their thing, the same story over and over again. And years after the movie is done, you'll be like those team tony/team Steve stans who can't let go of a fucking movie that was just made for entertainment, not to be a thinker piece.
Honestly I was thinking about deleting this ask all together, but I’m beginning to worry that people have lost the ability to understand the bridge between art, media, and real life. Especially with the growing apathy and desensitization of violence towards minorities. Most of this rant won’t be directed solely at you, anon, but you’ve given me the floor so I’m going to take it. Just know that I understand why you feel the way that you do about marvel.
I’m an optimist, but that doesn’t make me naive. Growing up Afro-Latina in the south taught me my fair share of what the world is. Some people get fed up with fighting, I see it everyday, and I understand how life beats people down into becoming numb and accepting that this is just how the world is. I know you can’t trust people in power to do the right thing, I know marvel will always follow the money first instead of good story telling. But I don’t think that means we are “being dramatic for nothing.”
There’s a reason I gravitate so heavily towards Sam Wilson. He reflects everything I’ve ever seen on myself, my view of the world, and a hope for a better tomorrow. And why wouldn’t you try your hardest to hope things can get better?
Passion is a big thing that fuels me. And that’s not something to be ashamed of. If you are passionate about something, shouldn’t you want it to get better, shouldn’t you demand more? Why not use your voice to expect more from corporations or media pieces that you enjoy?
When we become silent, when we simply shrug it off, we end up unconsciously co-signing that poor behavior and allowing it to continue. And this can apply to anything, not just media consumption but real life movements too.
So why can’t both things be true? Why do you assume I can’t know how marvel operates while also demanding more out of them? I don’t think anyone can afford to be silent anymore when bigotry is on the rise and being far too normalized.
I am so heavy on my defense for Sam Wilson and my dislike of thunderbolts because it mirrors so much of what we see in the real world. The arts often reflect life and can feed into biases of our own perception of reality. When the art is more comfortable appeasing white audiences and allowing for dude bro fans to continue spewing “finally no more DEI”, that then does not become just a marvel issue. It simply validates the feelings of bigoted assholes who hold these racist ideals.
To conflate this to just being another Steve/tony thing, completely disregards the very real undertones of race that play into the current dilemma we find ourselves in. It’s not just a dispute between 2 characters, it becomes a broader issue that permits the racism in this fandom to show itself front and center because they believe they finally have a valid reason to hate a black character who they have waited years to discredit. When slurs are hurled at you left and right for calling out the BS for what it is; It. Is. No. Longer. Just. A. Marvel. Issue.
I guarantee you, the people who are so comfortable being openly racist online because it gives them a sense of anonymity, hold those same racist beliefs IRL. They just might be more subtle about it. But given the state of the world rn and our rapid slow fall into facism, I wouldn’t be surprised if they were comfortable being just as racist in person.
This is how we loose the arts, thinking that it’s impact on culture doesn’t matter and therefore we shouldn’t care. Or thinking that just because things have always been this way, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t fight for things to change. And right now we can’t afford to think that way.
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
✓ Live Streaming✓ Interactive Chat✓ Private Shows✓ HD Quality✓ Free Actions
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
I do love seeing Nicque Marina telling the internet that she was right to hate Thunderbolts, and that she'd predicted the fact that the movie was an intentional step back from the diversity push of the last few years. It sucks to know how she was isolated by her fan creator peers over that fact, because she was spot on with each of her critiques!
So its actually pleasantly surprising to see the amount of positive traction her posts on the subject are, lots of people agreeing with her completely. I also had a shockingly high amount of likes on my own thread talking about some of my issues with the movie.
And I can't help but wonder, like, where were y'all a year ago? First of all it almost feels like, since fans of the movie were so loud and shouted down any criticism (which Nicque Marina talks about), people with dissenting opinions kinda just kept it to themselves. Or joined the twelve of us haters on Tumblr lmao.
Now that there's this backlash against the MCU in general for how it's been treating Black characters (as well as other POC characters in general), it seems like people are taking the opportunity to pull out receipts. Thunderbolts and its white cast along with its many instances of anti Blackness being one of them.
I also wonder if the fact that the movie had such a low viewership in theaters had anything to do with it. Maybe the whole "indie darling" shtick the marketing went for got the relatively few people who did see it in theaters extra invested. I think there's some special term for this phenomenon but I can't think of it right now.
Maybe if the movie had done better in the box office, its reception would be paradoxically worse because there would be more eyeballs with brains and opinions attached, y'know?
Finally I think, as I predicted months ago, people who skipped the movie when it came out are watching it now to prepare for Doomsday and finding it lacking. That combined with the amount of negativity around Doomsday and the racist actions of the studio is maybe making hating on Thunderbolts a little more acceptable online.
Not sure what the term is you’re thinking of, but I’ve got a few. 🤣
‘Motivated reasoning’ i.e. they internalised the marketing narrative into their evaluation of the movie before even seeing it. So then they selectively chose to interpret it in a way to uphold that belief.
Then you’ve got ‘prestige bias’ from the marketing and then the first round of reactions and reviewers doubling down on that (which is also the ‘halo effect’ I guess). It kind of gave them permission to commit to it fully. The whole absolute cinema schtick was just status signalling so that the indie label make them value it more. (Even though it’s the furthest thing from an indie film!)
And then you’ve got good old cognitive dissonance, after they invested their real money, and real time, having bought into the marketing, they can’t actually admit to themselves that they got taken for a ride. 😂
John Walker defenders like this just love rewriting canon events to justify stanning horrible and racist characters.
furthermore, even if that man had just stood by and innocently watched whilst lamar was killed, he is still not innocent. the flag smashers attacked hospitals, a clear violation of the geneva conventions, and knowingly blew up a building full of innocent people. if the man that john walker killed was put on trial in the USA, he likely would have been sentenced to death anyway.
Oh my fucking god. Did you even watch the show?? Since people clearly need a refresh I’ll make it easy. Episode 3, 42 mins in. I’ll even gif it for you.
Notice:
a) not a hospital b) 5 people.
Five people who are notably NOT hospital staff, medics, or any side humanitarian aide personnel. These are GRC agents. The folks forcibly ‘relocating’ displaced people into illness-stricken camps, and doing nothing to help them. Notice the tactical vests and GRC arm patches? Yeah, so not a hospital. Not innocent people.
The dialogue:
“Filthy Flagsmahers.”
“You had six months worth of supplies just sitting there. Don’t you understand? We’re fighting for our lives.
You’re really – REALLY – going to stan and defend a character like John Walker who is complicit in, and happily being the frontman for a militarised organisation who is forcing vulnerable people into camps? Do you people ever take a step back for even a second and ask yourselves WTF??
You people just love LOVE jumping to calling the Flagsmashers terrorists, with zero self awareness or nuance at all. (Hint: if the BAD guys – the GRC – are calling the Flagsmashers ‘terrorists’, maybe that’s your cue to dig a little deeper.)
To draw a real world parallel for a moment, just two months ago the UK court sentenced four Palestine Action protestors as “terrorists” for … *checks notes* “damage to a weapons manufacturers headquarters”.
Yep. The UK decided that “restricting the Israeli government’s access to weapons” merited convicting four protestors as “terrorists”.
Back to the show. Like, these are not subtle metaphors the show is working with here. History time and time again shows how governments and militaries will create an ‘enemy’ to manufacture consent for violence. Andor just spent a whole season explaining that too!
And I just want Walker stans to be real, just for once. If Karli Morgenthau had been a white male character, none you would be calling ‘him’ a terrorist. You’d all be stanning the hell out of him, screaming ‘Yes our revolutionary king! Direct action! Burn it all down!’
But instead, you all choose to bootlick for the least subtle allegorical representation of government corruption and militaristic violence the MCU’s ever given us. It’s pathetic.
All white people. In the words (word) of Simu Liu...
"Typical."
And seriously, this is just another strike on the Does Chris Have It Out For Anthony board. He definitely knows how much hate Anthony/Sam gets and this just has bad vibes all over it.
Chris Evans, you are no Steve Rogers.
Weird that he didn't include Hulk either. I wonder if Chris is one of the marvel people that Mark Ruffalo's said he's no longer friends due to their opinions on Palestine. (Like let's not forget Evans played a Mossad agent in a israeli propaganda film.)
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
✓ Live Streaming✓ Interactive Chat✓ Private Shows✓ HD Quality✓ Free Actions
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
It's good that outlets are discussing this more in the mainstream now, but let me quibble. Why isn't Sam Wilson pictured here? He's mentioned in the article and other slides. Show him some respect pleeeease. 🙄
And Simu liked this post. He's pretty open online about all this stuff Marvel's pulling - at least what he can contractually get away with. I do wonder what his conversations with marvel and other cast members are like...
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
✓ Live Streaming✓ Interactive Chat✓ Private Shows✓ HD Quality✓ Free Actions
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
there is a reason why they give john a black wife.
JD Vance has a Indian wife? And yet...
there is a reson why they put so much focus on his relationship with lemar.
Because "I can't be racist. I have a Black friend." is an age old line recited by every racist who isn't just throwing slurs around.
there is a reason why they portray john as incredibly willing to work with sam.
Because being the entitled white man he is, he expects Sam to fall into line and work FOR him. "It'd help if I had Cap's wingmen beside me."
A sidekick to make him look better by surrounding himself with everything Steve had, including his friends. But people are not possessions.
Seriously that whole post is a goddamn mess. "Sophisticated narrative choice" and yet you come away with the wrong interpretation and every single step. Maybe you do need it spelled out for you.
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
✓ Live Streaming✓ Interactive Chat✓ Private Shows✓ HD Quality✓ Free Actions
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
