This weekend I had the pleasure of seeing Captain Marvel. This movie was highly anticipated, for more than one reason. On the one hand, the addition of Captain Marvel to the Marvel Cinematic Universe is a big step for the universe. On the other hand, the controversy surrounding Brie Larson and therefore Captain Marvel has also peaked my attention.

Most importantly, I don’t think anyone should judge a movie based on the political views of the actors/actresses. Captain Marvel currently has an 80/35 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes, meaning 80% of critics positively reviewed the movie, while only 65% of viewers negatively reviewed it. Many have claimed this discrepancy to be the work of viewers who dislike Brie Larson, and therefore disliked the movie. This is because Brie Larson has become known for her feminism and “anti-men” rhetoric. Whether or not Brie Larson can be considered to have these qualities is beside the point, the point is that hating a film because of the views of the lead actress is ridiculous.

There is another side to this issue, however. At least a portion of people boycotting or disliking Captain Marvel are doing so because they are “sick and tired of SJW politics.” That quote was from Jack Posobiec, a writer who called a boycott on Captain Marvel, instead urging others to go see Alita: Battle Angel, which he claims highlights a strong female lead without pushing politics down the viewers throats. On this, I believe he has a point. Another example is Wonder Woman, which also featured a strong female lead without making it obvious that was the point of the movie. It was also directed by a woman. Despite both of these things, Wonder Woman was reviewed highly by both women and men. The problem I have with this is that, save a few obvious moments in the film, there were hardly any instances of “SJW politics” being shoved down the viewers throat. I think the belief simply stems from Brie Larson’s own ideologies that the viewers are projecting on the movie. To tell the truth, if I hadn’t gone into Captain Marvel expecting politics, I wouldn’t have seen any.

There’s also an overall fire that has been fueled by Captain Marvel and Brie Larson, which is the belief that hollywood is using these SJW politics to sell movies. This is a hard one to prove right or wrong, given that there is a large gray area between pandering and giving the audience what they want. Personally, I don’t think this is true. Champions of this theory use movies like Black Panther and Captain Marvel as examples, but I believe both of these movies were going to happen either way and only became completely political by external forces.

To sum it all up, politics should stay out of Marvel and viewers should try not to look for politics in Marvel. This way the films can focus on writing great stories that everyone can enjoy.