Disclaimer: This may be such a late post to the hype, but this blog was actually triggered by one of Twitter thread that I have seen on Facebook about how Captain Marvel’s story arc seems to have been missed/ignored/misunderstood by a lot of male viewers. I found it funny because I absolutely loved the movie and saw that she probably had one of the coolest transformations and growth in the Marvel universe as a hero.
Captain Marvel was supposed to be the Marvel-verse’s first official foray into a female-led movie. While it came later than Wonder Woman, its ideas were much more valid, if not more important to hear for everyone. What is surprising is how some people seem to have missed her growth as a character and as a hero.
To encapsulate the Twitter thread in brief: a lot of men supposedly criticized Captain Marvel as not having an arc that develops her into a hero. This is because she has been powerful since the beginning, thus there is no progress in her journey unlike her male Marvel counterparts.
In reality, Captain Marvel did have her arc–and a very meaningful one at that, especially for women. She was already strong to begin with, before she was taken captive and brainwashed into believing that her powers were not even hers to begin with. She survived the explosion and gained powers on her own terms, but Jude Law’s character forced her to contain her real self, hiding this in the guise of her emotionality, recklessness, and lack of respect for authority. In addition, the institution headed by the super intelligence kept reminding her that the power that she had was not hers, and that they could easily take away what they had given her.
These two facets were just among the many that were keeping her down and preventing her from reaching her potential as a person, as a woman, and as a hero. This resounded so much when reading the section on gender and leadership. If one were to look at Captain Marvel on these terms, she hardly does not seem fit to be a leader. She may not lack a male authority figure as a mentor (Northouse, 2016) but in reality, there was a disconnect because Law’s character was keeping her down instead of cultivating her potential.
If we could even stretch the conversation further, I would say that Nick Fury’s character would be a great counter to one of the barriers, which is the preference to gender similarity in order to be treated as an equal leader rank. Fury didn’t have a high rank like in the Avengers later on but he did hold some power. And instead of being afraid of Captain Marvel’s powers, he was actually rooting for her. All he wanted was to make sure that she wasn’t an enemy and that she was willing to help take down those who are. It didn’t matter if her power seemed so strong–if she was going to be an ally, Fury was all for making her take the lead in finding the Skrulls.
I feel that women leaders are put on an odd pedestal. I’ve felt the pressure of having to be tough and aggressive just to get what I need done. Because I use the soft approach, it would feel as if I am manipulating the situation to a woman’s favor. What I like about Captain Marvel is that, in the end, she never felt that she needed to prove herself to Jude Law. That last move she did was not a cheap shot–it was the necessary shot to end a stupid and petty fight before it started.
She had her own transformation–from not understanding her power and putting herself on the same playing field as Jude Law and the others, to her understanding her own strengths, and using them to her advantage. Like other transformational leaders, she had moments where she was headstrong and masculine about her decisions, but there were also times when she knew that connection and support. She respected Fury and knew his strengths that could complement hers. She never needed to take the spotlight, thus Fury also didn’t feel the need to compete. In essence, she made use of her own values, beliefs, and expectations in ascertaining how to go about a specific situation (Kawatra & Krishnan, 2004).
I feel like beyond gender equality, we might want to think about our gender differences and how these help each individual. Some women are tougher as nails, some are more hands-on, touchy, and caring, some are in between–and all of those are okay! These differences are what give us a unique flavor in as far as how we will operate as leaders, and there’s no need to prove that one style is better than the others. Our differences are what make leadership better.
References
Kawatra, S. & Krishnan, V. (2004). Impact of gender and transformational leadership on organizational culture. NMIMS Management Review, 16 (1), pp.1-6.
Northouse, P.(2016). Leadership: Theory and Practice (7th ed). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.