Captain Marvel‘s serious expressions have been controversial since the first trailer arrived in September. Some fans went so far that they digitally added a smile on her face in the official photos and posters. Recently, Captain Marvel star Brie Larson revealed that the script actually predicted this backlash. There is even a scene in the movie where someone asks Carol Danvers to smile more. According to Larson, this wasn’t in response to the fan reactions.
“No, that was just in the movie already,” said Larson. “We’d already shot that. That’s just a depiction of the female experience. That’s just what it’s like. So it didn’t really both me that much when I saw that that was the reaction because that’s just how it goes.”
“It happens,” she added. “This is part of why art that depicts the female experience is so important because on one hand, for women and girls it allows us to go, ‘Oh, I have that experience, too.’ And those that aren’t in our bodies can go, ‘Wait, that happens to you? We’ve gotta do better.'”
Here's Brie Larson on that dumb #CaptainMarvel smiling controversy, and how the movie itself actually predicted it. pic.twitter.com/7B2uYpEqQf
— Kevin Polowy (@djkevlar) February 27, 2019
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During the same interview, Marvel Studios’ first female co-director. Anna Boden. revealed that the online backlash didn’t surprise her. Additionally, she confirmed that the scene wasn’t a response to the “smiling” controversy.
“It was always in the script” said Boden. “It’s not an uncommon thing for women to hear. So it doesn’t surprise me at all that it was in social media, but I think a lot of women can relate to that moment.”
Captain Marvel will hit theaters on March 8. What’s your position on the smiling controversy? Let us know in the comment section below!
