SNEAKO - September 10, 2022Why SHE HULK Is My New Favorite Show!
Episode Stats
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Summary
The first episode of Marvel's She-Hulk is here, and it's a lesson in terrible writing. Or at least that's what I thought it was, until I watched the pilot episode and realized it's actually a lesson about how not to write a character.
Transcript
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This is, uh, She-Hulk, a lesson in terrible writing.
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Like a lot of people, I tuned in to the first episode of She-Hulk last week with,
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how can I put this, somewhat modest expectations.
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Basically, I expected the show to be just another lazy Marvel TV product,
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written and shot as quickly and cheaply as possible to keep the content sludgepipe flowing,
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with lame attempts at witty humor and an extra large helping of complaints
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about how generally awful and stupid men are and well that's exactly what we got and i think one
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particular scene towards the end of the first episode pretty much encapsulates everything the
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writers wanted to accomplish with this show i'm great at controlling my anger i do it all the time
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when i'm catcalled in the street okay that makes no sense if you were great at controlling your
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anger you wouldn't be hulk that's the whole point of the superhero is that he can't control his
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anger and then he turns into the hulk and incompetent men explain my own area of expertise
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to me because if i don't i will get called emotional or difficult or i might just literally
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get murdered so i'm an expert controlling my anger because i do it infinitely more than you
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you serious oh no this is actually jideon's favorite movie he called me up yesterday and
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Bro, She-Hulk? This is the first movie that wasn't toxic in a long time.
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My goodness, whatever could they be trying to tell me here?
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Now, as tempting as it is to sit and mock She-Hulk for its awful writing,
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cringey dialogue, flaccid CGI, heavy-handed gender politics,
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amateur acting, nonsensical editing, and terrible pacing,
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but don't worry, I'll come back to that in another video.
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I actually wanted to use this show for something positive for a change.
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Because the more I think about it, the more I realise it's basically a textbook example of how not to structure a story and how not to develop a protagonist.
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So why not turn it into a bit of a learning experience for all of us?
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Grab your pens and notebooks, dear viewer, because it's schooling time!
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Now, as hard as it may be to believe, it is actually possible to make Jen's infamous rant function in context.
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One, it doesn't actually show us any of the things she's complaining about
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and two, it fails to establish Jen as a sympathetic, likable character that we care about.
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The writers wanted a big emotional payoff with this scene
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but they were either unable or unwilling to give us the setup that it needs to work.
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So let's explore how and why they failed and how they could have done it better.
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where Jen's rehearsing a speech that she's about to give in court
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Now naturally her female companion is positively brimming with praise
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And the other guy's mansplainer right, that's the premise of the movie
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I mean this girl just can't say enough good things about her
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Because this is the very first time we meet our protagonist
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It's the first chance we get to assess her demeanor
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Her personality, her mannerisms and even her work environments
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This is where the writers need to establish her as someone likable
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Someone relatable, someone the audience can become invested in
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A witty, fun, charming personality that you can't help but warm to?
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And shortcomings to make her more human and relatable
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Nope, they just have another character straight up tell us how amazing and smart and capable she is
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She's fierce, she's a girl boss, she's crushing it
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The script doesn't trust the audience to form their own opinions about this character
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so it just straight up tells you what to think about her.
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This kind of thing is a hallmark of weak, insecure writers
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and it's happening more and more in Marvel projects these days.
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Like Maria in Captain Marvel who feels the need to tell the audience
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despite the movie showing us the exact opposite.
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that this is the most successful fucking movie franchise of all time how amazing she is because
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otherwise we might not figure it out for ourselves you did it on your own you ran rings around you're
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amazing this is not how writing is supposed to work the only voice of contention in the room
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comes courtesy of a man but that's okay because he's quickly silenced and sent away with his tail
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between his legs yep it's a marvel show all right but let's take a step back from that
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And think what this does for Jen's character development
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And that all-important scene later in the episodes
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What it tells me is that Jen is already firmly in control of her life
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She's able to quickly and easily deal with objections
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Dissenting voices and challenges to her authority
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Keep in mind the conversation later in the episode
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where she complains about men constantly questioning her judgement, holding her back
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and generally making her life so difficult that she has to constantly hold in the rage that builds inside her.
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That's telling us one thing, but the episode itself is showing us the exact opposite.
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She easily deflects her male colleagues' doubts and sends him on his way without the least difficulty
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and there's no indication that she's even particularly bothered by it.
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If anything, she seems mildly amused by the whole thing.
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She just blows him off and then gets right back to being showered with praise and adoration.
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And this is a real wasted opportunity to develop sympathy towards the character.
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Imagine this same scene where Jen recites her big elaborate closing argument,
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only for her more senior male partner to overrule her and flatly state that he's the one who's going to be delivering it.
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He might be superficially polite and consoling,
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maybe even giving her half-hearted platitudes like she's just not ready for this yet,
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but there's a more threat and an undertone to his voice so that we know exactly what he's doing and
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why. We get to see her excitement and enthusiasm turn into crushing disappointment as she realizes
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she's being held back from yet another opportunity. Now imagine how much more sympathy you'd feel
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towards her as a character. I mean, nobody likes to see good people getting crushed and sidelined
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and instinctively you'd want to see her succeed. Now imagine how much more impact her rant later
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in the episode would have if we actually saw the negative impact of what she describes but no the
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writers were so desperate to have their first girl boss moment right off the bat that they had to
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make this a quick and easy victory for jennifer it's just so obvious what the like you could
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always tell nowadays with these movies what the agenda of the scene is exactly what you're
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supposed to feel who's good who's bad yeah what are you gonna tell me but i'm a strong independent
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woman and you can't tell me anything it's just we know from the first the attitude the way they
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close the door it's very predictable movies back in the day movies used to have storylines they
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both used to be engaged not know where it's gonna go but people go to movies now to feel right and
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feel a moral sense of justice just like they do online it's really reflected the new nature of
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social media where people are canceling to get on their moral high ground these movies now are all
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moral high ground this it's you know what the fuck you're walking into when you see she hulk
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The scene feels more like them projecting their own personal gripes, frustrations and
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hang-ups followed by the fantasy resolution they wish they could have had themselves rather
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than a logical component of a bigger narrative.
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It was more important for them to score a quick, eagle-stroking win rather than take
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the smarter option that would deliver bigger and more satisfying payoffs later. And unfortunately,
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that's a common thread in this show. Like in the next scene where Jennifer and Bruce are involved
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in a car wreck. Bruce gets knocked unconscious in the crash and Jen's forced to drag him from
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the wreckage and in the process, some of his blood mixes with hers and she turns into the Hulk.
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Now imagine for a moment how much more impactful this scene might have been if Bruce had been the
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one to survive the crash and Jennifer had been badly injured instead. So bad in fact,
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that conventional medical science could do nothing more for her.
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Faced with a difficult choice, Bruce reluctantly gives her a blood transfusion,
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saving her life at the cost of her humanity by turning her into a Hulk.
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That would open up a lot of pretty interesting possibilities for their relationship.
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On the one hand, Jennifer would be rightly pissed that Bruce performed an invasive
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and life-altering medical procedure without her consent,
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and now she has to live with the long-term consequences.
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And on the other, you could have Bruce wracked with guilt that he basically ruined her life,
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But also defiant because he ultimately took the difficult decision needed to keep her alive
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But also a lot of very emotionally satisfying scenes between the two of them
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But all of that would require time and effort to develop
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It would also mean putting their protagonist at a bit of a disadvantage
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And needing the help of a man to get her out of trouble
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And that's not allowed in modern Marvel writing
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the rules they couldn't have their creation lying helpless and injured on the ground
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they were repulsed at the end wl our movies now propaganda most of these movies just look like
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feminist propaganda that you're supposed to believe in it seems like they're pushing an
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agenda it's very political even superhero movies which is supposed to be fun and wild
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all of them are really pushing this idea that we all see it right in front of our face it seems
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like the news it's not just art they're trying to tell you something believe this this is the
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right opinion what happened to art idea of a strong man pulling her from the wreckage and
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making important decisions about her future without her inputs and so just like the opening
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scene that could have been the setup for a satisfying emotional payoff later they instead
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took the short-sighted option and went for a quick easy and cheap win of course jen doesn't
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need brucey's help of course she wrenches a buckled car door open despite that being almost
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impossible for any human without heavy cutting equipment of course she carries his unconscious
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body away from the wreck despite him weighing 50 or 60 pounds more than her she's awesome she's a
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boss she's killing it like she always does and it's only because of this weak dumb like they
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didn't write this movie to have an original story that was supposed to be unique and different and
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try to showcase this actress they made this movie to make feminists feel good that's why
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do we need to keep watching his injured body that she happens to get some of his blood on her
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what a selfish arsehole anyway so she hulks out and wakes up sometime later in the bushes outside
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a bar in the middle of nowhere and after staggering into the bathroom she immediately
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encounters a group of comically helpful women who slather her in makeup force her into some
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cheap clothes and send her on her way, only for her to run into a group of evil men outside.
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I mean, I assume they're evil because that's clearly what the writer wants us to think.
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The problem is that they don't really do anything all that bad. I mean, they show some mild interest
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in Jen, who's clearly not interested, and when they persist, she hulks up and almost kills all
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of them. And it's only the intervention of Bruce at the last second that saves their lives.
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And that's it. The big payoff here is Jen scaring the crap out of a bunch of dude bros who normally
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would have been scary and intimidating to her, and whose only real crime was being a
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Now, take a moment to think about this for what it really is, a logical building block
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of a larger story. Think about how much more impactful this might have been if it had happened
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earlier in the episode, before Jen's transformation. Imagine she was making her way-
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I'm just not interested in the show at all and I can't believe the guy in this video
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watched this whole thing. I think I'm done with this video. Yeah, we get the point. This