I Love Consuming Media

Just checking in on each other

Both parts together below

there's a certain scene between mj and peter that i haven't seen many people talking about, but has sat with me since seeing the movie. before i get there, though, i want to talk about mj as a character.

mj is a lot of things, but it always leads back to her being incredibly loyal to her people and her beliefs. she has her own way of showing it, and often hides it, but she never hesitates to let her thoughts be known. we see glimpses of it in homecoming & far from home (from light protesting to shutting down brad in front of the class for taking a picture of peter in a bathroom, rightfully so), but it truly comes to a head during no way home, when it would have been easy to leave peter, but she didn't. she continues to defend him, fight for him, and even fight alongside him. hell, they got rejected from mit, and she straight up admits she wouldn't change a thing.

and despite the spell, this doesn't really change. ned and her talk about the interview she had, and how she got the job but declined it because it didn't align with what she believes. how she's waiting for something special (and looks right at peter when she says that, but i digress). she still wears the necklace despite it having little to no emotional connection to her whatsoever. even something as little as taking that energy drink from ned, and her boyfriend telling her she can't save everyone, and she responds "i can try". she loves her people deeply, unapologetically so.

which brings me to the scene in frank's house, where she tells peter if she were to call her boyfriend he'd say she's being "withholding again" (another topic for another day), and peter responds that her boyfriend "kinda sounds like a jerk".

and she didn't fight him on it.

it's established that mj can be introverted, yes, but never to the point where she feels like she should bite her tongue (i mean, she basically told off doctor strange in nwh). which is why i found it so interesting that she didn't stand up for him, considering in no way home, peter was being called much worse for much less, and she never wavered. she's "withholding" with her current boyfriend, and from context clues that causes tension. but if she was too "pragmatic" with peter, it was "one of the things he loved about her".

and look, her reaction to the letter was completely valid. she doesn't know peter anymore. mj has always been the type to hate having something withheld from her, and this was part of her life that she doesn't even remember. it's heartbreaking from peter's point of view, but it's not a reaction i can fault her for. but as he swings her home, she is clearly deep in thought about something. she still invited him inside when she had absolutely no obligation to do so. she was still able to draw him maskless after only seeing his face like, what, three times? and that picture somehow made it into his hospital room?

the last shot we see of her is sitting on their high school rooftop, playing with her necklace, deep in thought. mj doesn't just do things. there's always an intention behind everything she does.

i don't think she loves him again. not yet, at least. she never fell in love with spider-man, mj always fell for peter parker first. and considering ned "remembers" now (whether it's full memory restoration or not), peter is bound to be in her life again.