Page 30 - ARUBA TODAY

A30 PEOPLE & ARTS
Friday 15 March 2019
In success for 'Captain Marvel,' a defeat for trolls

By JAKE COYLE So when Johnson and Feig to Larson's advocacy for
Associated Press saw similar attempts being diversity in film and in those
NEW YORK (AP) — Captain made ahead of the re- who write about it. A USC
Marvel possesses super- lease of "Captain Marvel," Annenberg Inclusion Initia-
human strength, cosmic they recognized the handi- tive study last year found
awareness and, it turns out, work. that, for the 100 top gross-
the ability to vanquish trolls. "Pretty much the new 'Cer- ing films in 2017, 77.8 per-
Marvel's "Captain Marvel," tified Fresh' badge," said cent of the critics counted
the superhero factory's first Johnson , linking to an arti- on Rotten Tomatoes were
movie fronted solely by a cle about review bombing male and 86 percent were
female hero, last weekend on "Captain Marvel." ''What white.
notched the sixth largest a sad, sad pathetic group At the time of the study's
This image released by Disney-Marvel Studios shows Brie Larson global opening ever and of people are who orga- release, Larson said: "I do
in a scene from "Captain Marvel." in five days of release has nize to do things like this," not need a 40-year-old
Associated Press already sold $524.1 mil- said Feig . white dude to tell me what
lion tickets worldwide, Dis- The amplified backlash- didn't work for him about
ney said Wednesday. That es to both "The Last Jedi" 'A Wrinkle in Time.'" Larson
was despite the efforts of (which opened strong but later said she, after noticing
a vocal minority to sabo- faded) and "Ghostbusters" that critics reviewing mov-
tage the movie's release (which disappointed alto- ies "appeared to be over-
in a campaign to lower gether) appeared to hurt whelmingly white male"
audience scores and dis- the films' bottom lines. decided to make her press
seminate false information But the tide may be turning. interviews "more inclusive."
about the film's star, Brie The same Facebook group "This film is about trying to
Larson. that organized to vote put in as many little revolu-
It's a playbook borrowed down "The Last Jedi" also tions as possible," she told
from the political realm went after Ryan Coogler's AV Club. "And as many lit-
and brought into the mov- "Black Panther." That time, tle nods to what that expe-
ie theater. And the movies though, both Facebook rience is like, being a wom-
that have drawn such at- and Rotten Tomatoes an, so that other people
tention have, more times moved to counter the could feel less alone."
than not, starred women in group, which was removed Online critics exaggerat-
franchises previously domi- from Facebook. "Black ed her words in videos like
nated by males. But after Panther" became the third one titled "Brie Larson hates
similar campaigns against highest grossing film of all white men." Others said
"Ghostbusters" and "The time domestically, not ac- her character didn't smile
Last Jedi," Hollywood stu- counting for inflation. enough in promotional ma-
dios are fighting back, as And "Captain Marvel," terials. Larson responded
are sites like Rotten Toma- which drew a majority male with a photo of giant grins
toes and YouTube. audience (55 percent), superimposed on previous
Paul Feig's 2016 female- similarly showed no signs of male Marvel heroes.
led "Ghostbusters" remake, any ill effect . But perhaps more impor-
which Donald Trump him- "If those trolls had any neg- tantly, steps were taken to
self spoke out against, was ative impact on the box mitigate any troll effect on
among the first films to be office, somebody point it "Captain Marvel." Two stu-
targeted by users rating out to me because I just dio executives who spoke
it lowly on sites like the In- don't see it," said Paul Der- anonymously because
ternet Movie Database garabedian, senior media they weren't authorized to
(IMDb) before the film was analyst for Comscore. "The speak about their about
even released. On You- trolls, they're not going de- their anti-troll efforts, said
Tube, it was the most dis- rail a movie like this. For the they've become more ad-
liked trailer ever. fans, they love Marvel, they ept and prepared for com-
A similar strategy was em- love the brand. Other than bating organized negativ-
ployed on Rian Johnson's a terrible movie, nothing ity around a release. There
"Star Wars Episode VII: The would dissuade the Marvel are no more sneak attacks.
Last Jedi," which — like fans and the movie fans And the avenues for ma-
"Ghostbusters" — had, and from coming out and see- nipulating audience per-
continues to have, genu- ing a film." ception are dwindling.
ine detractors who simply Marvel, whose 21 films YouTube, where anti-Larson
didn't like the movie. But have earned a combined videos proliferated ahead
there were concerted ef- $18 billion in global box of the film's opening, chose
forts to amplify criticism of office, is indeed about as to categorize "Brie Larson"
"The Last Jedi," which no- unassailable as any studio as a news search, not a
tably expanded the "Star ever has been. "Captain general one. The algorithm
Wars" universe with new Marvel" was also cunningly tweak, first initiated to com-
heroes like Laura Dern's re- positioned as a need-to- bat conspiracy videos after
sistance leader and Kelly see appetizer to "Avengers: the 2017 Las Vegas music
Marie Tran's maintenance Endgame," due out April festival shooting, pushed
worker. Tran eventually 26. videos from news and en-
deleted her Instagram ac- But "Captain Marvel" found tertainment outlets up, and
count after months of ha- itself in the crosshairs with rants like "Brie Larson is Ruin-
rassment. some largely in response ing Marvel!" down.q