“Ms. Marvel”: Why Is It a Miss for Many?
Addressing the conundrum of Ms. Marvel.
Ms. Marvel is the hot new addition to a growing list of Disney+ Marvel shows and introduces to us another character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe! Kamala Khan, who goes by the moniker Ms. Marvel, played by newcomer Iman Vellani, is making her debut as a Pakistani-American Muslim teenager obsessed with superheroes (as most of us are). Kamala fantasizes about being one of them as she unlocks the true power within herself. She goes on adventures in her home city of Jersey, as well as the mesmerizing city of Karachi, as she deals with issues in her own family. She’s really on a quest to find out her true self.
The show has struck a chord with not only Pakistanis, but with the entire South Asian subcontinent. Viewers are praising the accurate representation of their culture, religion and society. There’s also the amazing soundtrack with new hits like “Pasoori”, nostalgic tunes from Nazia Hassan, and how relatable the families depicted are (we see you, Illumin-aunties). Pakistan got a theatrical release for the show as well.
That being said, the viewership for the show in the US ended up low compared to other projects released by the studio. It rung up at about 775K households watching the premiere. In comparison, there were an average 2.04 million premiere views for the rest of the Disney+ MCU shows, comprising hits such as Wandavision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki, Hawkeye, and another newcomer, Moon Knight.
That’s where the problem lies: a coming-of-age show involving a brown, Muslim teen and her journey to self-discovery. You can wonder why it would be naturally unappealing to much of the Western audience.
Some must surely be saying, “Kamala is a new addition to the MCU so not many people know Ms. Marvel. Iman is a rookie who made her debut; its natural for the show to receive low viewings, right?”
No.
Moon Knight, a show involving Egyptian Mythology in the MCU, introducing another new, previously-unintroduced character, which released in March, got an opening viewership of 1.8 million.
Yeah.
And despite the pretty high critic ratings the show received, it majorly lacked in audience ratings, caused by a very unfortunate phenomenon known as ‘Review Bombing.’
‘Review-Bombing’ is when a group of people, or one person with multiple accounts, leaves negative ratings/reviews. Review-Bombing for Ms. Marvel was especially seen on the IMDB site. In the site’s useful feature to review and analyze the statistics of ratings given by users: including gender and age range, we notice the demographic of these Review-Bombers.
Males, aged 30–44. About 7088 of them.
Shocked? Honestly, neither am I.
A mere difference of 1.9% in the 10 and 1 ratings.
If we compare the difference of this shockingly small number to the female demographic of the same age category, the difference between the percentage of ratings between 10 and 1, is a staggering 34.6%.
Thirty-four point 6 percent.
Compared to a 1.9% difference.
What could be a reason for a demographic of males, aged 30–44, to review-bomb such a well represented, creative, informative project, quoted by Rotten Tomatoes as, “a genuinely fresh addition to the MCU — both stylistically and substantively…”?
Review-Bombing is not an unknown incident faced by Marvel Studios projects. Eternals, released in 2021, directed by Academy Award winner Chloé Zhao, with an array of diverse supernatural beings, casting including: African American LGBTQ+ character Phastos, Asian character Sersi, Indian character Kingo, Latino character Ajak as well as Marvel’s first deaf superhero, Makkari, faced Review Bombing on IMDB even before release. Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, also released in 2021 and was one of the highest grossing post-pandemic movies. A visual masterpiece, the movie explores Shang Chi who has to face his dark past as an accomplice to the notorious organization, The Ten Rings. The movie, which featured a majority of Asian cast, also faced Review-Bombing on Rotten Tomatoes and Google. Captain Marvel, which passed the $1 billion mark at the box office, also got Review-Bombed on IMDB at the time of release. More recently, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, was also review-bombed.
Do you see a trend?
African American. Asian. South Asian. Latino. Asian. Undoubtedly one of the most powerful female characters (Alongside Wanda, obviously).
And now South Asian, once again.
Just because these characters are different than what people have read about and idolized in the comics back in the ’80s and ‘90s.
Producer and YouTuber, Jessi Earl, gives us a possible explanation for the Review-Bombing Ms. Marvel faces:
People are getting away by blaming negative reviews on their dislike of how they changed Kamala’s powers from the comics and say that the show does not pursue the ‘Inhumans’ concept, which it actually might. Surely that cannot be a reason for such a large amount of people to negatively rate the show, right?
Many people are still finding it hard to believe that people of color, different races and religion can be a symbol of power — a symbol that is loved and appreciated by all, a symbol of hope, a symbol which we can collectively fanboy/fangirl over. But, who can we blame, honestly? This is how society was and still is. A Caucasian male, fighting bad guys and saving the day.
Batman, Superman, Iron Man. ’80s comics.
And while that’s not a bad thing at all, it has really blocked the minds of so many people- maybe these people are the males aged 30–44, who grew up reading these comics. Even if people acknowledge the presence of a culturally diverse superhero, they don’t even want to make an effort at understanding and learning about them. It’s this mind-block which is causing appalling incidents such as Review-Bombing and hate comments. We are so deeply shrouded in the stereotypes in society, we forget what makes these different cultures so unique. And this mindset is being passed down from generation to generation. We want to keep the positivity of these cultures alive, and the concept of “Anyone can do anything” — and that is exactly what these movies and shows are trying to do.
This is what makes Ms. Marvel special. It is not a white-washed show that has been crafted to appeal to the Western audience. It is a show which, as an Indian myself, relate to on a multiversal level, and if that does the trick for me as a legit Indian with 0% Western DNA, I cannot believe what multitudes of South Asian people feel while watching this show. Alongside being such an amazing representation, it is educational to audiences as well, depicting the Partition of India in 1947, heartbreakingly. I, as an avid Marvel fan, would have never imagined seeing something like this in an MCU project.
It also does a great job at being inclusive to the entire subcontinent. All the way from Karachi and Amritsar to Chennai, Dhaka and Kolkata to Ahmedabad.
This is what I appreciate greatly.
Entertainment companies such as Warner Brothers, Disney, Paramount — they have a golden opportunity to allow so many cultures to shine through in their true, raw form, especially with so many people around the world working in the industry, knowing they can make a change. Breaking stereotypes and showing the the diversity of different cultures and ideologies. And we’re really seeing a change.
The only change we need is from the audience. A change that will not only motivate the people who have worked tirelessly to make a project for us to enjoy while giving us a look into different heritages, but motivate entire communities as well. Open your minds. Open your minds, and you will not miss out on gems such as this.
Go watch Ms. Marvel, y’all.
-From, a truly appreciative Desi.
All episodes of Ms. Marvel are now streaming on Disney+
