Brie Larson, the Oscar-winning actor tapped to play Captain Marvel on the big screen, has responded to an online troll who appeared to take issue with the film’s first trailer – and its lack of big, beaming smiles.
The commotion started when some sad sack processed stills from the Captain Marvel trailer through a FaceApp filter in order to “fix” Larson’s face.
https://twitter.com/TFMonkeyYouTube/status/1042171852221763584
There’s more where that came from, too, with folks getting real mad about her supposed lack of acting range.
Brie Larson needs a nap. pic.twitter.com/XZOkEfMKOA
— ETHAN VAN SCIVER (@EthanVanSciver) September 20, 2018
That criticism drew a hell of a lot of backlash, which eventually found its way to Larson herself.
Taking to Instagram, Larson posted a Story explaining that not every single woman on a screen needs to flash their chompers to seek the approval of the movie-going public.
“Breaking news: You can be you,” she wrote.
“That means you can smile or not. You can be strong in the ways you want to be. You can own who you are. If anyone tells you different don’t trust them.”
Larson then countered the hypocrisy of the original tweet by showing how ridiculous it’d be if male heroes in the Marvel canon – heroes like Captain America, Iron Man, and Doctor Strange – grinned like goons in their own movie posters.
It’s hardly the first time a woman in the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been singled out in such a transparently sexist way, nor is it the first time that weird double-standard has been addressed.
Captain Marvel, goofy smiles or no, arrives March 8 next year.
