Marvel universe summary Videos

Hey Marines! Thank you so much for your reply! I'm sorry if I sounded too hyphy in my defense. I was simply pointing out that Marvel, specifically Marvel Studios and not Fox, were definitely winning out, as you probably agreed, on the quality debate. The ladies that the MCU do have are great characters. That said,  I hope Fox will turn things around with Apocalypse.As I mentioned in my comment, I totally agree with pretty much everything that you said. We need more women in Marvel. As I also mentioned, the future is looking good. If you look at the new heroes that are going to be introduced - Doctor Strange, Black Panther, The Wasp, Captain Marvel and (if the Inhumans movie happens) Black Bolt and Medusa. That's a decent split. So Marvel Studios are clearly listening. I don't think it's going to be too long when more female than male heroes and characters are being introduced. There are still many great characters that haven't been introduced yet like Hawkeye Kate Bishop, Spider-Woman and my personal favorite, the new Thor. I'm optimistic. Once again, thank you so much for replying, it's always great to talk about these issues.

+Fahim Ahmed Thank you for watching and for your comment! I started my video with a discussion about how progress is a thing that can be acknowledged without discounting the arguments for where we still need to go. Marvel IS doing some things right... but women are still underrepresented in the MCU. This video could've been about Disney, or DC or any number of franchises and many of the arguments would've stayed the same. The fact is that the original video spoke about Marvel coming from a place of fandom. She loves Marvel (and X-Men in particular), so she spoke about what she loved and what she knew. I picked up the conversation from there. So it is "flak" in a sense that we are looking critically at something Marvel is doing, but it is borne out of a place where fans, people who invest time and money into Marvel, would like to see something they appreciate improve. To point elsewhere is to minimize that and to again distract from the argument at hand. If someone else who loves DC wants to talk about DC, that would be a valid argument as well and I wouldn't go into those comments and say, "let's not talk about DC. Let's talk about how women are portrayed and treated in the porn industry." What's the point of that and how is it useful? If someone wanted to compare studies and franchises and decide who was doing under representation best, well, I guess that could also be a thing you do. That wasn't this video. Again, I would caution the arguments that contain "but at least." This is not looking for at least. This is looking for what needs to be improved. That the one female that is portrayed is portrayed well (in your opinion) still doesn't answer any of these questions: Why should we be satisfied for one female for every five males? Why can't we ask for more representation? What does it say about how society views females that means that we should be looking on the bright side of a handful of female characters? Why should I have to credit a studio for doing the bare minimum of including one important, though not usually main, female character in a movie? Why is asking for more female characters considered talking smack about a very successful and very rich movie studio? Why, when there are tons and tons and tons of other materials out there singing the praises of Marvel, do I HAVE TO give them credit when I feel they need to fix certain things? I appreciate your fan view and your desire to protect the studio, but I don't think they need protection from me or anyone else involved in this conversation. They'd do better to listen. And to realize that you can both be a fan of a thing and critical of it's more problematic aspects. I think the best criticisms, in fact, are from people who want to feel good about the investment they make. Yes, Marvel may be leading the pack here, but that means the pressure is on THEM to improve and not to isolate fans with their portrayals or under representation of women.

+snazzydarcyreads Thank you so much! That's the important distinction. It isn't that the characters cannot be sexy. This is still Hollywood, home of the attractive. It really starts to be a problem when SEXY is ever shown as the main thing. I don't think that happens for Black Widow per se, until you look at advertisements and things, where it's clear she's being used for the male gaze. I think the reason that it doesn't always come off as empowerment is the fact that these are women in male-centric stories.

+mynameismarines Yeah, I think they're real problem lies in not casting unknowns for the movies, because they're female characters on TV and Netflix (which is also a part of the MCU) are much better developed and utilized. With the exception of her being the only female Avenger (hopefully, they'll use Elizabeth Olsen as much now that they have Scarlet Witch), I've never seen that much of a problem with how they've portrayed Black Widow in the MCU, 'cause from what I've read of the comics, it all seems pretty in character for her. My biggest gripe was when she was suddenly turned into a love interest for Banner in Age of Ultron, when there was absolutely now previous intention anywhere else. That entire plot line, to me at least, seems like the most out of character thing they've had her do.Although, I will forever love the Chrises (Evans and Hemsworth) for taking the sexists questions that Scarlett Johansson gets asked in interviews and on panels.

+claudi.day This is an interesting double edged sword. Someone else in these comments brought up the point of having a smaller actress pool to work with for these movies and then the idea that Marvel isn't into casting unknowns. So they don't cast unknowns because they won't get the big name pull, but then they are dealing with huge salaries that may be limiting how they use the women they do have. BIG SIGH.

+mynameismarinesLegalistic fallacy, I will remember that, thank you! And absolutely agree with you re importance of media representation. It can either confirm and strengthen gender steroetypes or set new examples which help to see the gender role differently and therefore  encourage change.

+Britta Böhler Beautifully said. This is something that is talked about when you study/consider racism in society. It's called legalistic fallacy and it basically assumes that abolishing of racists laws lead to abolishing racism at large. And that concept applies to any underrepresented or discriminated against group. I think this is another reason that media is important. It serves as a sort of barometer for cultural and societal ideas, values and norms. It isn't "normal" quite yet to see as many women saving the world as men, to see them as heading their own stories and independent of the plot of men. That to me is both indicative of a bigger, structural problem and a piece of what continues to support the structure.

+Gaia Steinbuch Thank you!

+Metal and the Geek Little boys probably don't play with female character toys BECAUSE THERE AREN'T MANY OUT THERE LIKE REY.

+Literally Tara That idea that adding women would somehow make the movies less successful or cheapen them just points back to the misogynistic ideas that keep women out of film in the first place. And the not-so-funny thing is that misogynists will ask why women can't just relate to the male superheroes and be satisfied with it? God forbid we turn that logic around and ask them why they wouldn't be able to relate to some women superheroes on screen...