Ms Marvel (4/5)
...so if Kamala marries someone, does she end up as Mrs Marvel? Think about it...
Snark and shipping aside, I did like this series, and it's one of the rare cases where I've read some of the comics the show was based on rather than going into it as a first exposure to the character. The TL, DR version is that the show is good, but it's good despite its issues. Or rather, it's better than the sum of its parts. Because while there's a lot the show does well, it's far from perfect.
I'm going to try and avoid summarizing the show, but basically, think of its tone like a bell curve. It starts off light-hearted with excellent directing, drawings and grafitti coming to life to represent Kamala's overactive imagination. This style and tone just stops as Kamala travels to Pakistan and things get slightly grittier (key word "slightly") as the show looks at the partition of India. Then we get back to New Jersey for the final episode and the tone reverts to what it was. This isn't the worst sequence of events in the world, but at six episodes long, the curve's uneven, and I'm really not sure if it works. For instance, it's common for a story to start light-hearted and get more serious, it's rare for a story to start off whimsical, then get serious, then get whimsical again.
This issue also extends to the antagonists. There's basically two groups of antagonists - the "Clandestines," who want to get back to their dimension and are willing to destroy Earth to do it, and Damage Control which does, um, damage control in New Jersey. You'd think that the Clandestines would be the big bad, right? Well, no - the fight for the fate of the world occurs in a back alley in Karachi, and the head Clandestines just decides to...not destroy the world? Really, it's pretty vague as to what actually happens. After that, final episode with Damage Control hunting one of the Clandestines in what you might be able to see as a look at police brutality, but really, the whole thing's played for laughs. It's the same problem that the X-Men have when used as a vector for prejudice, that non-mutants have good reason to fear mutants, yet are portrayed as being bigots for doing so.
Also, the show looks at Partition, and I debated whether to really get into its stance on events and the blame game. That said, I'm going to give this a wide berth, because a) I'd be here all day, b) actual historians can do a better job than I can, and c) I've often maintained that the MCU should be treated as its own universe rather than being analagous to ours, so any historical inaccuracies/omissions can't be considered errors by that criteria because the IP ultimately follows its own history and rules.
So, yeah. The show does have issues. However, I still think this is "good" as the show remains strong in areas where it counts, namely its characters. Kamala's adorkable (even if her hero worship of Carol Danvers is never really explained), her family's fun, there's a lot of good humour, etc. Honestly, this is when the show's at its best - when Kamala and her friend(s) are just being dorky teenagers, that's when the show's at its best. I really don't want to go too deep into the well of this, but it does provide an interesting look at someone who's grown up in a world where heroes actually exists, and the resulting fan-followings that would result, but without the cynicism of The Boys.
Speaking of friends, is Bruno living alone or something? He's sixteen, his parents are "no longer around" (it's vague as to whether this means they're dead, or if they just buggered off), and while there's a reference to what I assume is his grandma, no family of his is ever seen. So when his shop gets destroyed, um, how does granny feel about that? I know he's not the main character, but it's like the writers forgot that 16 year olds usually have at least one family around. Also, this isn't really a plot hole, but it's clear that Bruno has a thing for Kamala, whereas she regards him purely platonicly, but there's no denouement in regards to this.
Also, since I brought it up with Moon Knight, I may as well mention it here - Moon Knight has a single scene where Marc Spector being Jewish is even hinted at, Kamala being Muslim is ingratiated into every episode. Make of that what you will.
Overall, neat little show.
...so if Kamala marries someone, does she end up as Mrs Marvel? Think about it...
Snark and shipping aside, I did like this series, and it's one of the rare cases where I've read some of the comics the show was based on rather than going into it as a first exposure to the character. The TL, DR version is that the show is good, but it's good despite its issues. Or rather, it's better than the sum of its parts. Because while there's a lot the show does well, it's far from perfect.
I'm going to try and avoid summarizing the show, but basically, think of its tone like a bell curve. It starts off light-hearted with excellent directing, drawings and grafitti coming to life to represent Kamala's overactive imagination. This style and tone just stops as Kamala travels to Pakistan and things get slightly grittier (key word "slightly") as the show looks at the partition of India. Then we get back to New Jersey for the final episode and the tone reverts to what it was. This isn't the worst sequence of events in the world, but at six episodes long, the curve's uneven, and I'm really not sure if it works. For instance, it's common for a story to start light-hearted and get more serious, it's rare for a story to start off whimsical, then get serious, then get whimsical again.
This issue also extends to the antagonists. There's basically two groups of antagonists - the "Clandestines," who want to get back to their dimension and are willing to destroy Earth to do it, and Damage Control which does, um, damage control in New Jersey. You'd think that the Clandestines would be the big bad, right? Well, no - the fight for the fate of the world occurs in a back alley in Karachi, and the head Clandestines just decides to...not destroy the world? Really, it's pretty vague as to what actually happens. After that, final episode with Damage Control hunting one of the Clandestines in what you might be able to see as a look at police brutality, but really, the whole thing's played for laughs. It's the same problem that the X-Men have when used as a vector for prejudice, that non-mutants have good reason to fear mutants, yet are portrayed as being bigots for doing so.
Also, the show looks at Partition, and I debated whether to really get into its stance on events and the blame game. That said, I'm going to give this a wide berth, because a) I'd be here all day, b) actual historians can do a better job than I can, and c) I've often maintained that the MCU should be treated as its own universe rather than being analagous to ours, so any historical inaccuracies/omissions can't be considered errors by that criteria because the IP ultimately follows its own history and rules.
So, yeah. The show does have issues. However, I still think this is "good" as the show remains strong in areas where it counts, namely its characters. Kamala's adorkable (even if her hero worship of Carol Danvers is never really explained), her family's fun, there's a lot of good humour, etc. Honestly, this is when the show's at its best - when Kamala and her friend(s) are just being dorky teenagers, that's when the show's at its best. I really don't want to go too deep into the well of this, but it does provide an interesting look at someone who's grown up in a world where heroes actually exists, and the resulting fan-followings that would result, but without the cynicism of The Boys.
Speaking of friends, is Bruno living alone or something? He's sixteen, his parents are "no longer around" (it's vague as to whether this means they're dead, or if they just buggered off), and while there's a reference to what I assume is his grandma, no family of his is ever seen. So when his shop gets destroyed, um, how does granny feel about that? I know he's not the main character, but it's like the writers forgot that 16 year olds usually have at least one family around. Also, this isn't really a plot hole, but it's clear that Bruno has a thing for Kamala, whereas she regards him purely platonicly, but there's no denouement in regards to this.
Also, since I brought it up with Moon Knight, I may as well mention it here - Moon Knight has a single scene where Marc Spector being Jewish is even hinted at, Kamala being Muslim is ingratiated into every episode. Make of that what you will.
Overall, neat little show.
