Captain Marvel

Captain Marvel was a film that not only was very entertaining and full of action, but also it held a lot of heart and was personally important as well. The themes that this film had are significant and relevant. Memory, Identity, and agency were the themes that prevailed in this film and are easy to connect with our class.
        Carol’s relationship with her memories shaped her identity. When she was a part of the Kree Starforce, Carol’s lack of memory was a foundational part of her thoughts and some of her motivation in the beginning. This hole in her mind was held over her head by her “saviors” the Kree as some sort of gift that she should be grateful for since from her point of view they saved her and gave her powers. Continuing with the themes of memory and identity, the plot truly begins when the Skrull start trying to access her mind and memories to help their own cause, unknowingly accessing memories that Carol didn’t even know she has and bringing all the questions she has up to the forefront.
        Carol’s memories are accessed because the Skrull want to find a location of what is apparently a weapon. By the end of the film this location is actually a hideout where the Skrulls’ families are. Place also has a connection to identity and memory. At first, to Carol personally, all she has access to in her memories are places, and maybe quick flashes of people. First she goes to the bar and then to Maria’s home. In reality, Maria and Monica are the most important missing pieces in her memories. Like the Skrull, Carol was simply looking for her family, even if she wasn’t aware of it. Finding out about the truth of her past breaks Carol down, but Maria reminds her of how she used to be, and so does Monica with her box of pictures and memories of their life with Carol.

        Another theme in this film that was significant was agency and subsequently control, especially of emotions. The Kree had almost complete control over Carol with the chip on her neck controlling her powers. The one wild card they couldn’t completely control was her emotions, although her mentor tried. Eventually, Carol was able to lean that the Kree was holding her back and that he was more powerful without their control over her and with her own emotions. Her angry as well as her empathy helped her along her path to beating her old mentor who kept telling her over and over that her emotions were a bad thing.

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