I just finished watching Spider-man Homecoming, and I have to say, this movie is NOT for children. Oh, it certainly is targeted at children, but it isn't for children. Why? Three scenes.
The first scene involves Flash and Peter. Flash passes Peter as he is walking to class at their school. As Flash passes Peter, he calls him "Penis Parker." I remember being 15, and I don't ever remember penis being used a derogatory nickname. Could it have happened? Yes. Could times have changed and now kids use such language? Yes. Do I think it's good? No.
The next scene, Flash is a DJ at a house party, and gets all of the kids to start chanting Penis Parker. What the fuck is wrong with these kids? Peter isn't even there to defend himself when this is happening, so it's straight up cowardly of Flash.
The last scene, Ned is in the school's computer lab, and he gets caught by one of the teachers. When asked why he's there, Ned replies that he's watching porn. What the fuck? Imagine you took your child to this movie, and he/she hear's that line, and later asks you: "What's porn?" Imagine your child hears that line, doesn't bother to ask you, and just looks it up online later? This line was completely inappropriate, and could've been easily replaced with: "Playing video games."
These three scenes are just gross. Sadly, it's not surprising considering all of the sexual impropriety in Hollywood that is being revealed and everyone has known about. From a certain perspective, these scenes could be considered grooming. I certainly consider it grooming.
The three scenes aside, there is some strong messaging going on in this film.
All of the relationships are interracial. Peter is attracted to Liz, who is half-black. Michelle (Mary Jane's replacement) is some sort of ethnic, and she's attracted to Peter. Ned is Asian and Peter's best friend. Flash is no longer a white guy, but now a brown kid - possibly Middle Eastern, or Indian. Flash is with a white girl. Toomes (Keaton), is married to a black women - the only successful relationship in the film. Tony Stark has a semi-successful relationship with Pepper Pots still, but it's one scene at the end, and very small.
Why is it wrong to white wash characters, but it's fine to replace white characters with people of color?
Using a younger actress to portray Aunt May was quite likely intentional as well. I think it's intended to positively portray single-mothers. Aunt May behaves like a bad mom, taking Peter to his first house party (with likely under-age drinking), demonstrating she doesn't know how to tie a tie, and just trying too hard to cool. There is a scene, where May is comforting Peter, holding his head against her stomach. This scene is incredibly infantilizing, somewhat sexual, and again, I remember being 15 and I never wanted to be treated that way by my mother. So there's a bit of Oedipus Complex in that relationship with how dependent she is on Peter.
Ben Parker is completely absent. He's not even mentioned. So Disney/Marvel has fucked off with the most important lesson in the Spider-man cannon: "With great power, comes great responsibility." Ben is replaced with Tony Stark, he's not a good replacement.
Finally, at the very end of the credits, there is a scene from Captain America about patience. It's supposed to be funny, but essentially comes off as: "Don't be patient. Patience is for suckers." Thanks for spitting in the face of your fans who patiently wait for the end of the credits for any possible Easter eggs, and teaching kids that patience is dumb.
If it weren't for these three scenes and the underlying messaging, this would've been a good movie. It has all of the qualities of a good Marvel movie. Tom Holland is a good Spider-Man. Keaton is a great villain, and the Vulture costume is great. It's shot well, well acted, well paced, and the action scenes are good and many of the action scenes challenge Spider-man.
Don't watch this with your kids. Don't let children watch this movie. They don't need to be introduced to pornography through a super-hero film.
The author always bleeds into their work. What do these messages say about the author? What does this say about Disney, Marvel, and Hollywood?
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them."
Matthew 7:15-20
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