Does Captain Marvel’s Success = Failure?

The Possible Fallout for Those Who Aided and Abetted The Marvel Franchise

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is breathing a collective sigh of relief as their latest offspring, Captain Marvel, brought in an estimated $155 million domestic dollars in its opening weekend. It’s an impressive number considering the fact that the film was embracing a strong backlash stemming from controversial comments made by its star, Brie Larson, about 40-year-old white dudes. Disney, the company that owns Marvel, is no stranger to controversy as it sat back very quietly and watched this scenario play out online. After the initial release of the first trailer, the public reaction was not as enthusiastic Disney had envisioned. Brie Larson’s controversial comments began to circulate the rounds on the Internet and the fire was beginning to spread exponentially. Certain poll numbers and financial forecasts were beginning to tumble. So what is a media empire going to do? Well, things were done but at what price?

There have been speculations as to what caused Captain Marvel to turn around from the onset and proliferation of bad press. Every day there was a new online video that showcased Brie Larson as being arrogant and derisive and unapologetic. True or not, Disney was not about to see its investment and franchise go up in flames by the careless outspokenness of its star lead, even if they may have been partially responsible for some of the fallout.

While the Internet was ramping up the vitriol with Brie Larson, the film aggregate website, Rotten Tomatoes, was also caught up in the Captain Marvel controversy. Its polling feature, People Interested versus People Not Interested, was showing numbers never before seen for a Marvel picture and not in a good way. The percentage of People Interested in seeing Captain Marvel had reached a new low of just only 27% and an unofficial recording of 26%. What happened next was unprecedented for a website in business to give data on the film industry, good, bad or indifferent. For the first time in Rotten Tomatoes existence, the 27% figure surreptitiously was removed from public viewing. 

There was an immediate response from users and not in a good way. People who participated in the polling data were accused of being trolls because they left, in Rotten Tomatoes opinion, were called trolls, a disparaging term for merely leaving comments as to why they weren’t interested in seeing this movie.

This too became a point of contention on social media as battle lines were being drawn for calling users trolls, manbabies, misogynists, etc. just for posting negative comments about Captain Marvel. These users became under attack by other media website without any of these media sites offering up any proof that these users fit into any category of being called a troll, etc. Slandering users has now become blood-sport as more and more reputable sites started attacking the users. When Brie Larson made those comments about the white dude, an interesting thing happen, she got backlash from the white dudes and some white chicks and just about everyone from all corners. But why now? Perhaps it was a slow burn and tipping point of the constant berating of the straight white male for just merely existing on this planet. All of the problems of the world is not the direct result of them causing it. As much as Brie Larson had a problem with white males dominating the film critics arena, they weren’t stopping any women from being film critics and there are currently film critics who are women. In their mind, that speech she had given was an unwarranted unjustified attack on them.

The conspiracy merry-go-round started with rumors catching on as to what prompted Rotten Tomatoes to alter their format in such a dramatic and quick manner. Those rumors fell on Disney and Fandango working in concert with one another because Rotten Tomatoes is controlled by Fandango. The person who runs Fandango, Paul Yanover, was a former Disney executive. For some, this connection didn’t pass the smell test and if ever there were a Mueller type investigation, there would be a cause to suspect collusion with Disney and Fandango. But the numbers didn’t just stop there with Rotten Tomatoes.  YouTube changed its algorithm on Brie Larson by manipulating her name to be associated with news event rather than just a generic lookup that connected her name to unfavorable posts attributed to her.

After the film hit the theaters, Rotten Tomatoes return back to their data collection with the lifting of the embargo. The users were free to resume posting but this time the audience score had something similar happen to it again. Over 50,000 users saw their score and comment deleted based on what was considered negative. The audience score was at 31%. By eliminating the 50,000 plus users, the audience score stood at 35%. Why were the users' comments deleted? Who was behind this tactic for a second time. Why was Captain Marvel the film that needed to be saved? Did it really make $155 million on its own or were there outside agents salting the box office just to make this film appear to be doing well?

How did Disney turn this around so fast? One of the things Disney had to do was to reel in their miscast star, Brie Larson. Soon she was giving more interview while methodically sidestepping the controversy that got her on the bad side of fanboys. It was interesting to see that she was being interviewed by a lot of white dudes as the release date got closer and closer. It is also interesting that the very group that she railed against were the ones who made up most of the money for her film. According to Deadline, 61% of males were the ones who made up the bulk of the audience. None of the media outlets who attacked the users by calling them trolls and manbabies are reporting this. And what of the women who weren’t in lockstep agreement with Brie Larson? Do the access media put them down with such vitriol? Why are the stars, directors, studios, media outlets attacking the fan base? Do they think that the fans should accept whatever they give them? Captain Marvel is not a good film. It’s more forgettable than memorable and also the plot-holes are enormous and the comic book purists have issues with so many canon violations.

So, what are we to believe with Captain Marvel? Can we trust Rotten Tomatoes aggregates? Have Rotten Tomatoes been damaged by going along with the Disney narrative? Is free speech under siege where you get punished for having an opinion that some corporation may not like?  What about the critics? Some have admitted to shilling for Disney because they enjoy the perks from Disney and other studios that comes with being a critic. Has the game changed so much so that social media now dictates what is acceptable and what is Star Wars? Gone are the days of snail mail and bags of envelopes. At the end of the day, Captain Marvel is just a movie and its impact on the social fabric of this country and elsewhere will be as forgettable as the movie.