"I'm Captain Carter!"

(Warning: This piece contains spoilers for recent MCU outings. Proceed with caution.)

Marvel won SDCC 2022. Sure, there were offerings from other studios, but none like those from The MCU. I mean, two Avengers movies in a year? I haven’t seen that much of a gamble since The Avengers: Infinity War ended on a downer! Marvel’s hooked me again!

I could discuss the different announcements from Marvel, but it’s best to zone in on one that caught my attention: What If…?’s getting another season, and its first episode’s on Captain Carter. Considering that the pilot episode in the first season was also about Captain Carter, I’m excited. Perhaps I’m alone here, but Peggy Carter getting the super-soldier serum has plenty of potential, and it makes up for her character getting the shaft for so long. What’s not to love?

Well, there’s the issue of Sam Wilson being given the mantle at the end of The Avengers: Endgame, and there was a Disney+ series dedicated to him accepting it. Essentially, Sam Wilson’s Captain America, not Peggy Carter. And given how Sam hasn’t had a movie in the spotlight yet, that’s, supposedly, cause for annoyance. Why push Peggy to the forefront instead?

I’d talk about sharing, especially in The MCU, but that’s not the point. There’s a Captain America movie in production right now, and it stars Sam Wilson. This feels like grasping for straws. Sam’s still Captain America! Be patient!

The bigger complaint arose from a quote from when Captain Carter’s episode was announced. Initially, there were concerns that this was the same Captain Carter from Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. You know, the one who was impaled with her own shield? Rest assured, she’s not. As was stated:

“Our Captain Carter would have kicked Wanda's ass.”

Far be it from me to dispute that. I’m not a Marvel screenwriter, and the inhabitants of Earth-838, which is where Captain Carter met her demise, are far weaker than those of Earth-199999, where most of The MCU thus far takes place; after all, why else would Earth-838’s Doctor Strange rely on The Darkhold to defeat Thanos? If you subscribe to Marvel’s Multiverse, then there’s clearly more than one Captain Carter. And it’s possible for her to overpower Wanda.

I wish this was more widely-accepted, but alas. Between people claiming it wasn’t possible, and Wanda fans being mad that their Lady and Saviour was done dirty, Captain Carter’s existence was a no-win situation. She was detracting from a black man’s inheriting of the mantle, and she was detracting from a witch’s moment of glory. If we’re being honest here, I think Marvel fans need to get outside more.

Captain Carter’s fairly-recent to The MCU. She was introduced last year, and she hasn’t had much time to warm up to people. Sure, she had a live-action cameo this year, but she didn’t last long. Either way, people need to give her a chance. How do I know this?

Because Captain America had to warm up to people too. Steve Rogers is now one of Marvel’s best, but back in 2011 people were skeptical: a skinny guy with a pure heart becomes a super-soldier? And he never stops being pure? I dug it from the get-go personally, but until Captain America: The Winter Soldier many people considered him one-note and boring. The same could be said of Carol Danvers as Captain Marvel, except with added sexism.

People should be more open-minded about unestablished characters in fiction. Captain Carter’s no different. Yes, Sam Wilson’s the new Captain America. And yes, I don’t want to detract from that. But it doesn’t automatically negate Captain Carter, especially with The Multiverse. That goes without saying.

Then there’s Captain Carter “winning” against Wanda Maximoff. To that, I defer to the late-Stan Lee:

“So one Question I'm always asked. Who would win in a fight? Who would win in a fight if Galactus fought The Hulk, or if Thor fought Iron Man? And there's one answer to all of that. It's so simple, anyone should know this. The person who'd win in a fight is the person that the scriptwriter wants to win! If I'm writing a story, about The Thing, from the Fantastic Four, and he gets into a big fight with Spider-Man, and millions of people out there say Who Would Win? Well, it depends on who I want to win if I'm writing the script. If I want Spider-Man to win, he'll win. If I want the Thing to win, he'll win. These are fictitious characters, the writer can do whatever he wants with them! So stop asking those questions, 'cause I've had it with that.”

Superheroes aren’t real people, and they lack agency. It’s up to the writers determine the winner. We saw that when Wanda fought The Illuminati in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness: Black Bolt could’ve wiped the floor with Wanda with one whisper from his mouth. Remember, he killed Doctor Strange with “I’m sorry”! But because the movie needed Wanda to survive, the writers had her remove his mouth, making his skull implode.

If Marvel wanted Captain Carter to win against Wanda, then it could’ve easily happened. Is it likely? I don’t know, but it’s not up to me! I wish more people remembered that. I also wish people would stop being overly-possessive of a fictional character…

So that’s what I think of this dilemma. Will Captain Carter disappoint? It’s not impossible, but I don’t have a crystal ball. Regardless, everyone needs to touch grass. If we’re accepting that The MCU has a multiverse, one where variants of characters exist, then we have to also accept that not all of them will be equal in strength. It’s a double-edged sword.

The Magneto Problem

Every so often, this scene from X-Men: First Class resurges in film discourse:

This is intense. (Courtesy of YouTuber Danielle King.)

This is a great scene: it’s well-written, well-acted, well-scored and incredibly suspenseful. It’s also lots of fun. It’s a mini-movie, and while tied to a superhero film, director Matthew Vaughn didn’t need to go this hard. But he did. Still, I have issues with how it’s framed as a “great Jewish moment in film”. Let me explain:

A while back, I wrote about my frustrations with Inglourious Basterds. I won’t retread my points, as I don’t agree with some of them anymore, but Hollywood fetishizing Nazi hunting porn is disturbing. The US, for one, wasn’t guiltless in The Holocaust, supplying equipment for marking Jews and turning down The MS St. Louis. And two, while it eventually turned the tide post-Pearl Harbour bombing, it only got involved because of that. Hollywood routinely “atoning” for its actions in a milquetoast way, without actually atoning for its complicity, is tone-deaf, quality of its films aside.

But we’re not talking about Inglourious Basterds. Instead, I’d like to focus on “The Magneto Problem” and why it bugs me. I won’t delve into why idolizing Magneto is a problem too extensively, but there are three issues I have with this scene. And yes, some feel pettier than others, but I don’t care. I need to get them off my chest.

The first is incredibly-subjective: this isn’t the only scene in X-Men: First Class. It’s a great moment, but the movie has more. It has the moment where Charles and Erik interrogate Emma Frost, and how Erik’s determination for answers almost shatters her neck. It has the moment where Sebastian Shaw murders Darwin, something that, while interesting, raises questions of racism. It has the moment where Erik shoves a coin through Sebastian Shaw’s forehead, while Charles tries-in vain-to convince him not to. And it has the moment where Erik and Charles fight on the beach while missiles from The Soviets and The American Navy dance in the air.

These are great, but the movie also feels lopsided. Moments like Hank’s transformation into The Beast feel forced and rushed, while Raven’s love-triangle with Charles and Erik is awkward and creepy. It makes sense that the movie’s messy, it was rushed into production, but even a well-made mess is still a mess. And that these moments are talked about less-frequently shows that, like Up’s opening montage, the movie as a whole can’t compare. Except that, unlike Up, I actually think that’s true here.

The second issue’s more obvious and troubling: Magneto’s not played by a Jewish actor. It’s the same issue I had with Moon Knight, in that Michael Fassbender’s not even remotely Jewish. He’s German-Irish of Catholic upbringing. That’s a form of Christian Supersessionism, and it’s upsetting that Hollywood keeps doing this with characters who are Jewish-coded. It makes being Jewish look performative, and Jews deserve better. True, you can convert if you so desire. But as a minority consisting of roughly 14.5 million individuals, that so much of our on-screen representation is shown through a Christian/Christian-esque lens says less about Jews and more about the rest of the world.

The third and final issue I have is the most-telling, but also the hardest to appreciate if you’re not Jewish: The Holocaust isn’t where Jewish identity stops.

Jews have a multifaceted and complex history. We’ve been around longer than Christianity and Islam, making us the oldest surviving monotheists. We have a national homeland with a rich history, a national language (Hebrew) and diverse interests. We’ve been valuable contributors to Western history for as long as it’s existed. We’ve seen the best and the worst, and we’ve even suffered at times. The Holocaust is part of that, but it’s one part.

So why does The West constantly use The Holocaust in storytelling? I get that Holocaust stories are important, but even tying us down to Nazi hunting is a manifestation of that. This isn’t to downplay hunting Nazis, they’re scum, but why stop there? Better yet, why only focus on our vengeful rage? Don’t we have other stories to tell? (I’m looking at you too, Munich! Don’t think you’re guiltless!)

I’d be less salty if Jewish representation didn’t end at Nazi hunting/surviving Nazis. And even when it involves fighting Nazis, fighting them with aggression. Yes, Jews stood up to Nazis during The Holocaust frequently. But it wasn’t only through Partisans, much of it was more subtle. Some of it didn’t involve violence, but rather maintaining Jewish beliefs and customs. That’s something Maus would teach people if there weren’t attempts at banning the book.

While Magneto killing Nazis is fun to watch, not to mention satisfying, I wish movies would show Jews in other ways. I want to see Jews having weddings, Bar/Bat Mitzvahs and funerals. I want to see Jews celebrating Jewish holidays. I’d even settle for Jews discovering/rediscovering their roots! And all of this without Christians as catalysts.

Non-Jews, and even some Jews, need to treat us as more than vehicles for violence. Because we’re more than that. It doesn’t help that idolizing Magneto, a character who believes in a form of eugenics called “Mutant Supremacy”, because he murders Nazis is weird and disgusting. Think about it: he disowned Mystique when she lost her powers because she wasn’t a mutant anymore. How thick can you get?

This is a tough line to walk, especially when it comes to presenting Jews equitably. It doesn’t stop at Jews either, and I have my own blind-spots with other minorities. But it’s an issue regardless. Making us bloodthirsty killers essentially ignores our other attributes, leading to the world making unfair assumptions. And having us played by non-Jews, well…that speaks for itself.

As a side-note, I wish people wouldn’t clump Holocaust trauma together. Survivors aren’t monolithic, and not all of them were saints. Ignoring the creepy obsession Antisemites have with George Soros, the namesake of The Simon Wiesenthal Centre and the founder of Barrick Gold were both Holocaust survivors. One of them also has blood on their hands. I’ll let you figure out which one…

That said, I’d definitely be down for a Magneto movie where he hunts Nazis. So long as his Mutant Supremacy eventually gets called out, it’d make for a really interesting experience!

A CGI Pickle

CGI is one of cinema’s most undervalued components. Despite being ubiquitous with modern-day film, thanks to ease of use and relative affordability, it often feels overused and misused. It doesn’t help that its artists have a history of being treated poorly, such that this was called out at The Oscars. And the situation hasn’t improved since.

It’s now reached a breaking point, with many VFX artists expressing disdain with film studios, particularly Marvel, about their abusive behaviour. Many no longer wish to work on MCU ventures, and some have announced a boycott. I don’t blame them, but it’s left me torn. Because while the complaints are legitimate, the internet film community has used this to unfairly pin the blame on Marvel alone. Especially when this is systemic.

Now, I don’t want to use this piece to express my thoughts on The MCU’s latest. I’ve liked Phase 4 quite a bit (with one exception), but focusing on it here is selfish. I also don’t want to detract from the grievances of the mega-franchise, even if many of them feel petty. Rather, this is me pontificating about the problem, as well as how to fix it. Okay?

Firstly, how did we get here? Despite CGI having its roots in the 1950’s, it didn’t see a surge in popularity until the 1990’s. With computers catching on, Hollywood took note. What once required intense makeup, sculpting and planning with practical effects teams, at the expense of time and money, had become streamlined. You could create, recreate and duplicate something for a fraction of the effort! It was almost too easy!

The keyword is “almost”. While practical effects work was time-consuming and costly, it was proven. The crew who worked on them were also unionized, so they were ensured better pay and hours. VFX teams, however, were easier to use, but also easier to exploit. And while CGI has improved over the decades, thanks to advances in technology, the conditions of its workers haven’t. And it's showing.

You read that correctly. I don’t know the full details of the VFX industry, since I’m not in the field, but I know that its workers have been complaining for a while. Crunch, rushed deadlines, subpar pay and employee burnout were known for years, and job retention’s suffering. Who wants to do something that’s always draining, even if it’s something you love? I don’t!

You know how bad it’s gotten? “Bad” effects have a history of being hidden with poor lighting, so to camouflage them. It’s a trick digital artists have used for decades, especially given restrictions of technology. But that’s not working anymore. Mistakes and unfinished details are bleeding through, and it’s noticeable. And while I can excuse most of these mistakes if the writing and characters are good, I have limits.

I’ll address the elephant in the room: yes, this is a problem with The MCU. For the budgets these movies have, you’d expect pedestrian errors to not keep surfacing. But it’s not exclusive to The MCU. Plenty of big-budget films have these errors. Like I said, it’s systemic.

Either way, this is why many artists are burnt out. It’s one issue meeting a schedule, but it’s another meeting two in a row. Or three. Or four, or more. When you combine these with the lack of reasonable pay, it’s no wonder so many have reached their breaking point.

I feel dirty writing this. The MCU takes so much undeserved flak that ceding to the detractors is gross. But I must. I enjoy The MCU and don’t find it tiresome yet, but I’m also an artist. And I’m human. When you put those together, it’s hard not to care.

What can we do? I won’t suggest dumping The MCU altogether, as it’s largely keeping movie theatre chains alive right now. But ignoring the problem won’t make it disappear. Marvel’s a corporate entity, as are other studios. And by not being critical when there are obvious problems, you perpetuate the cycle of abuse.

Instead, I’ll suggest some tangible solutions. For instance, pay VFX artists better. They need to finish their projects, and money helps. If anything, money’s a great motivator! Seriously!

Another one is reducing demands. Going back to The MCU, there were 9 projects from last year. And we’ve already had 4 this year. Ignoring the varying quality, that’s a lot. Considering that we were getting 3 a year before the pandemic, 9 projects is a massive jump. It also makes them feel less-special.

Then there’s unionizing. I’m sure VFX has a union, but it’s not strong right now. It needs a bigger and louder voice, as that’s been proven to help workers. Sure, not all unions are equal. And sure, unions can abuse power too. But the benefits outweigh the pitfalls, so I’d call it an overall gain.

Finally, listening to VFX workers is crucial. Remember that Oscars speech? It was drowned out by the theme to Jaws, demonstrating that no one really cared. But they should, or more mistakes and burnout will happen. So long as the industry exists, its grievances need validation.

Bottom line, we need to respect CGI’s existence more. It’s fun to watch and exciting to discuss, but it has limitations. It also needs to be better maintained and credited. And I don’t mean adding people’s names to the credits of movies. I’m talking better pay, better hours and not blowing off employees. These complaints didn’t materialize overnight, and they won’t simply “go away” overnight either.

GamerGate: An Autopsy

The Summer of 2014 was a literal nightmare. In early-June, hours before Shavuot, I received a call from a friend of my dad informing me he’d had a massive heart attack. As that was starting to sink in, the news of three Israeli teens being kidnapped and murdered became the talk in Jewish circles. It didn’t take long for a war to break out soon after in that region. Factor in the Ferguson riots, and I thought it couldn’t possibly get worse.

I was wrong.

This August marks the 8-year anniversary of GamerGate. Some of you are probably wondering why I’ve waited so long to discuss this, while others are probably wondering what that even is. Either way, GamerGate was a contentious issue for almost 3 years. It was nasty, aggressive and spiteful, and while much of its presence no longer exists, its shadow remains large and can be felt in various political movements. It also, even now, fills me with dread mentioning it, as I never know if someone will attack me over it.

What’s GamerGate? It began with a rumour that a then-female game developer had slept around with reviewers to boost her game’s morale. The rumour became so widespread that it led to harassment and doxing, to the point where she had to move. It culminated in a disgraced actor coining the term to model after Watergate. The rest is history.

Yes, this is an oversimplification of what transpired. But it doesn’t matter. What does matter is the malicious nature of the rumour and how it turned into a movement. For one, what a woman does in the bedroom is none of my business. (Unless she’s married to me and is having an affair, in which case it’s totally my business.) And two, even if that happened, it didn’t work. The game’s reception, supposedly, didn’t change.

I’d like to clarify that I’m talking in past-tense. The individual has since come out as non-binary, so it’s inappropriate to call them a woman. But given that this was a snapshot of history, it’s the only way to accurately discuss this controversy and its ripple effects. Especially since it swelled to include other individuals, mostly women, too. In particular, three people were targeted, all advocates for better representation in gaming.

Coming back from a 10-day vacation to something like this was a shock. It was also a reminder that 2014 was a miserable Summer, and that the internet was largely to blame. These days my Blocklist on Twitter is nonpartisan, but in 2014 it was mostly GamerGate proponents who claimed they were “peaceful debaters tackling the lack of ethics in games journalism”. Except that they called them “journos”, like they were villains in an RPG. They also called their critics “SJWs”, or “Social Justice Warriors”. And while not every “SJW” turned out to be a saint, the scales were largely tipped against GamerGate.

I’d mention some of the conversations I had, but it isn’t worth the pain. Yet the bile and hatred that stemmed from this movement made my life a nightmare. I lost friends from my days as a g1. Conversations about GamerGate had to be censored, and I needed to verify that I wasn’t talking to the wrong groups of people. It wasn’t fun, and while GamerGate, and its offshoot “Not Your Shield”, purported to be sensible, their rhetoric and actions spoke otherwise. Because you can’t claim to be peaceful and openly mock outsiders for speaking up about harassment.

Perhaps the biggest irony was using a fictional teenager as a spokesperson. Not only was Vivian James not real, hence she lacked agency, she wasn’t even consistent. Her presence ignored how women don’t always argue in good-faith, and her credibility was struck a serious blow when, despite her being a teenager, fan porn started circulating online. It was a self-fulfilling dead end, and it helped make GamerGate a further laughing stock. Or, rather, a laughing stock that tormented people for speaking out.

So what quelled GamerGate? A few events. The first was when comedian Stephen Colbert invited Anita Sarkeesian onto his show, The Colbert Report, to discuss GamerGate. Colbert had a reputation for being a faux-Republican mocking American conservatism subtly, and here was a controversial figure being interviewed and portrayed in a sympathetic light. This was seen as a betrayal by GamerGate, but it highlighted how public the movement had become. It turned it into a joke.

The second was when prominent political figures began calling it out. One such figure was then newly-elected Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, a younger politician who understood the internet. Trudeau’s favour has soured since then, but he initially had a lot of support from young, tech-savvy voters. Him condemning GamerGate was an additional blow.

But the third and most-important event wasn’t an event. It was an acknowledgement that GamerGate never really disappeared. It merely blended in with other hate groups. Some of these hate groups were even active in politics, influencing up and coming American politicians. It was through this that the movement gained traction in Fascist circles.

And that’s the biggest tragedy of them all. GamerGate no longer “officially” exists, but its shadow looms large. It made online doxing a real phenomenon. It showed that targeting victims was easy and effective, forcing individuals to go into hiding. And it demonstrated that any toxic movement can mainstream its way into politics.

I get that GamerGate was 8 years ago. I also know that people can change. I’m sure some of GamerGate’s biggest defenders have worked to rehabilitate their image. But it doesn’t matter. The amount of damage the movement did is irreparable, and in some ways it won. Even Comicsgate, its short-lived successor, caused so much hurt to those it deemed unworthy of their hobby. That’s scary and sad.

In some ways, I consider writing this my long-overdue therapy. Talking about seeing people I respected fall victim to hate is upsetting, but it’s my closure. I owe it to myself, and I’m disappointed I didn’t act on it sooner. And yes, it’s likely I’ll receive backlash for Publishing this. But I no longer care as much as I used to.

There are powerful lessons to be learned from GamerGate. It was a hate movement, but it revealed a vulnerability in the gaming community that many had ignored or thought didn’t exist. Personally, it also reconfirmed something I’d known since Nintendo’s E3 2008 conference: that gamers can be self-entitled and nasty. It’s merely too bad this dam didn’t burst for another 6 years, but hindsight is usually 20/20.

Exploring Stranger Things

I got into Stranger Things late. The show was already on its second season, and it took convincing from my dental hygienist to get me to watch it. It’s now one of my favourite Netflix shows, and I anxiously await new seasons. This despite me not being big on horror. That’s right.

That said, I’ve noticed that the first three seasons began losing their magic. The seams started falling apart, with sub-threads that felt like padding and character inconsistencies between episodes. This is, naturally, somewhat expected when you continue on with the same cast. However, it felt like The Duffer Brothers had an unexpected hit with Season 1, were tasked with recreating lighting in a bottle and kept stumbling. Essentially, Stranger Things wasn’t living up to itself.

Which brings me to the fourth season, and how the gap between it and Season 3 not only enhanced the hype, but also allowed for a complete retooling. To be fair, the pandemic didn’t help matters. Yet as with any lengthy hiatus, time made the heart grow fonder. It also allowed for fresh material, and now Stranger Things is back with 9 new episodes. So how do they fair?

Wonderfully! Sure, the original magic’s gone, but this is an excellent Plan B. I haven’t been this invested since a young Will Byers was abducted by a Demogorgon and taken to The Upside Down, even if I have occasional problems with the execution. But enough of that. Let’s talk about what this season does well. There’ll be spoilers.

Set half a year after the previous season, Season 4 begins with Eleven/Jane writing a letter to Mike. She’s excited to see him on his Spring Break vacation, despite worrying that the time spent apart might’ve ruined their relationship. Back in Hawkins, a new threat has emerged from The Upside Down. A vampire-like being nicknamed Vecna has been preying on trauma survivors in order to connect the two realms. Initially blamed on Hawkins’ D&D group, The Hellfire Club, it’s quickly revealed that something more disturbing is transpiring. But why is Vecna starting his reign of terror now? And how can Eleven, who doesn’t have access to her powers, fight him?

It’s clear that The Duffer Brothers made an excellent decision by hiring Rand Geiger as a creative consultant this time around. Geiger’s resume is impressive, and he has an eye for set design, period accuracy and character consistency. Together with The Duffers Brothers, he brings in lived-in horror vibes and cutting special effects. Stranger Things has never looked this good, or even-dare I say-this creepy. It even blends different genres into its four concurrent storylines while tying them together in the final episode.

I’m not kidding. Between a wacky road-trip, a cerebral sci-fi mystery, a gothic horror tale and a Russian prison escape adventure, Season 4 goes Russo Brothers via The Avengers: Infinity War and splits up its cast. And it all comes together in the finale. This also helps offset the show’s swelled cast by allowing them to bounce off one-another without being upstaged or made irrelevant. That’s not easy when you have a stoner and an eccentric nerd both helping to fight the big-baddie.

Speaking of, Vecna’s the best antagonist to-date. He’s this show’s version of a vampire, attacking guilt-stricken victims and sucking them into his life-force, and he relishes every second of it. Everything from his design resembling a humanoid arachnid, to his voice sounding deep and throaty, to even his connection to Eleven and her friends being four twist-reveals, Vecna’s a major improvement from the faceless, giant beast that was The Mind Flayer. It’s unfortunate that Vecna’s motives are “I’m a nihilist” in execution, but he makes it work to his advantage.

Another aspect that I really like is the use of music to offset the mid-80’s vibe. Stranger Things wears its fondness for the decade on its sleeve, right down to the electronica rendition in the opening credits. Yet the highlight is Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill”, a 1985 hit plucked out of relative obscurity and made popular again thanks to Max’s confrontation with Vecna. Expect a revival of the single as her song goes viral on YouTube and Spotify.

Perhaps the best part, and something that always drew me back to Stranger Things, is its execution of horror. The show understands, as good horror does, that the key is investment in the characters. In particular, the show utilizes trauma and grief, showing that, at the end of the day, horror is tragedy. In a landscape filled with cheap jump-scares and excessive violence, having that balance of violence and character depth feels like a lost art. Perhaps more stories should take note?

Is Stranger Things faultless? Not really. Perhaps its biggest flaw is its episode lengths. You can get away with longer when utilizing your time well, but Stranger Things often pads its scenes out with slow-motion shots and dragged-on conversations. There’s no reason why the shortest episode is 64-minutes, and no amount of character analysis can justify that.

But that’s nitpicking in yet another solid entry. Stranger Things is rooted in a decade I didn’t experience, but its clever writing and engaging characters show that that’s irrelevant if you have a good story to tell. And Season 4 does. It’s unfortunate that its 9 episodes are movie-length, but if you can forgive that, you’re in for a treat. I can’t recommend it enough.