Thoughts on “Ant Man: Quantumania”
Overall, Tananarive’s reaction was “a sad, sad mess.” I agree. But there are deeper problems than just an over-reliance on CGI, narrative bloat, bad editing and simply put, a movie too large with stakes too small.
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When you walk into a movie with a mild curiosity about not "if" but "how" they will render a character (or all characters of a particular type) asexual, it is bleak satisfaction to see that they have, once again, found an approach they probably thought clever.
SPOILERS FOR "ANT MAN"
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So...we know Michelle Pfeiffer was stuck in the Quantum Universe for 30 years. She had "needs" which she satisfied with Bill Murray--they made a point of it.
But she also spent years marooned alone with Jonathan Majors. Intimate years. "It was good to have a friend" she said, as they sat together platonically.
Later, we see that Kang/Majors is apparently of a species that reproduces asexually--a vast crowd of males, no females at all.
And of course, viewed as an individual choice, there is nothing wrong with that. Viewed as part of a pattern where no black man in any of the THIRTY MCU movies or the Disney+ shows has so much as kissed a woman, it is just another part of an obvious pattern.
What's the problem? I don't believe in that world. I can believe in men who turn green when they are angry, shrinking to the size of ants, or swinging hammers to fly, or getting powers from being bitten by radioactive spiders.
But I do not believe in a group of human beings, apparently on Earth, who have no interest in the opposite sex. Any more than I believed in Tribe A dying disproportionately so Tribe Bcould feel noble and be inspired to fight harder, or that the women of tribe A are the only worthy warriors, or whatever other fantasy the males of Tribe B want to masturbate to.
Throws me out of the world. Can't suspend my disbelief. Now, I used to be able to do that. To watch HUNDREDS of movies set in the old west with no black cowboys…when the Smithsonian says that between about 20% of them were black. Or watching "When Worlds Collide" and seeing that all the people thought worthy to be saved were white. Or read "Handmaid's Tale" and see a total genocide that was never commented on by author, critics or fans. The author just threw us away, and I'm supposed to believe that she, or the people who love her work, are in any way allies? Horseshit.
I can deal with it if and only if I simply believe this is what Tribal warfare looks like on the level of culture. The psychological need to believe that you and your concerns are central to reality, and that others aren't as real, as good, as valuable as you and yours.
Seen it all my life. The only problem here is that I got conned into thinking that that corner had been turned. In some ways, it has--but I cannot let myself drop my guard. Total exclusion is no longer an option. But the "breeding circle" concept is still in play: that black men will be shown as too young, too old, too fat, gay, or asexual or DEAD to be reproductive competition. The MCU killed the only two black men who had ever kissed a woman: T'Challa and Killmonger. Hell, they'd tried to kill the King of Wakanda FIVE TIMES before it stuck:
Civil War (T'Chaka)
Black Panther (T'Challa and Killmonger)
Infinity War (T'Challa)
BP2--(T'Challa)
And I watched the intimidation attempt: oh, if you don't swallow this poison pill, YOU HATE WOMEN. Wow. Just…Wow.
I "hate women" if I protest the warriors of their tribe, the PROTECTORS of the feminine energy, being emasculated or stripped away or murdered. Right. And what was sad was seeing how many men bought into that.
Look at it in that "Tribal Warfare" sense for a moment. So Tribe B has killed or emasculated the men of Tribe A, and Tribe B's women are trying to shame B's men into dropping their weapons and putting their women out in the front lines.
While Tribe B's men retain their weapons, and maintain a warlike posture. I don't even want to imagine the battle that follows.
Tribal Warfare acted out on the cultural level. Of course, one might look at things like mortality rates, incarceration rates and infant mortality, and if one believes in equality, then certainly all human beings have the same desire for life, freedom, and the survival of their children. If they have the same basic capacity, then it is outside pressures that create the problem.
Oh, its painfully simple, and that's why all my life, I was lied to that lack of representation on television, film, in politics or law enforcement or industry was irrelevant, right? We should all be able to identify with everyone, right? Are you a racist, Steve..?
So much evil fun. Such lies, as we can easily see once the tables turn even a little. Have Tilde Swinton play The Ancient One? No problem. Have a black Little Mermaid? Horrors!
So that's it. The game is to trade pawns for kings, to distort the basic patterns of survival and reproduction, and then to intimidate anyone who doesn't toe the party line.
(Men will threaten directly, either force or withdrawal of custom. Women will shame, imply withdrawal of affection, or threaten group shunning. And yes, I've been hit with all of this, from either side of the political spectrum)
I can say that yes, I think this is very common, nearly universal human behavior, although different people have different issues they associate with, on the most basic level, the Maslow hierarchy base or the Chakra base, there are three biggies that cover about 80% of this stuff:
Personal survival
Sexual reproduction
Tribal survival
Watching the way this plays out is quite educational, and I can trace one HELL of a lot of racism and sexism directly to these three. Almost all of it. Anyway…."Wakanda Forever" was a perfect example of a community's grief being weaponized to actually DAMAGE that community, while trying to guilt-trip anyone from commenting on it. Screw that.
And "Ant Man: Quantumania" was no major insult, just another brick in the wall, really. Now that I know what they are, its easy to predict what will come next. Oh, probably there will be some black guy who gets a girlfriend in the next cycle. I mean, SURELY they are hearing the whispers, and will want to ease the pressure a bit.
But statistics, the LAST thing they would want applied to this situation, are just what they are. And this is why I know that there will be no change of any substance until the executive suites are fully integrated in a racial AND gender sense. I've experienced having a roomful of executives pushing gently to get the results they want while pretending it was YOUR decision. And push and push and push, while saying "it's your decision, of course…"
And push. And withdraw interest if you don't yield. And if you walk, they'll just get someone a little hungrier. And push and push.
Very old game: there are two ways to move something: push or pull. Carrot or stick. Yang and Yin.
And they really, REALLY, don't want you paying attention to any objective measurements. And if you, subjectively, sense that there is something wrong…why, you're the problem, don't you see.
Wake up.
Steve
