Posted in: Marvel Studios, Movies | Tagged: captain marvel, film, marvel

'Captain Marvel' Star Brie Larson Addresses the "Smile More" Controversy

Published Fri, 01 Mar 2019 08:15:40 -0600

Last updated Fri, 01 Mar 2019 10:00:50 -0600

When the first images and poster for Captain Marvel were released, something happened that almost every woman could have predicted. A bunch of men decided to say that Captain Marvel needed to smile. This is something that happens to women all the time in the real world so most women didn't blink an eye that it was being projected onto a female superhero. Art has a way of imitating life, and when Yahoo spoke to star Brie Larson they asked her about the fact that a man tells Carol Danvers to smile in the movie.

It turns out that wasn't any sort of "response" to the "controversy" because it had already been shot.

"That was in the movie already, we already shot that. That's just the depiction of the female experience. That's just what it's like. It didn't really bother me that much when I saw those reactions, that's just how it goes. … Yeah, you're being let in. I'm sure you're probably like "people say that?" Yeah, it happens. This is part of why art that depicts the female experience is so important. On one hand, for women and girls, it allows us to go "Oh, I have that experience too." For those who aren't in our bodies, they can look at that and go, "That happens to you? We got to do better."

Co-Director Anna Boden also said that it was always in the script, and that it was one of those moments where all of the women in the audience could relate to Carol. One of the things that makes the Marvel characters so compelling is how human they are.

"That was always in the script, it's not an uncommon thing for women to hear. I think you can ask any woman in this room. It doesn't suprise me at all that it was in social media, but I think a lot of women can releate to that moment."

The best response to the "smiling controversy" were the photoshopped pictures of other heroes smiling on their posters to try and point out that plenty of heroes aren't all smiles.

Summary: Carol Danvers becomes one of the universe's most powerful heroes when Earth is caught in the middle of a galactic war between two alien races.

Captain Marvel, directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, will also star Brie Larson, Jude Law, Gemma Chan, Djimon Hounsou, Lee Pace, Lashana Lynch, Samuel L. Jackson. The film is set for release on March 8th, 2019.

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