Fictional characters who shaped my life (not in any order): Harry Osborn
Bein’ all mental (accompanied by incredibly elaborate bouts of self-harm) is a pretty big part of my life, although it’s lessed a lot now. Anyway, it so happens that during the time all that was going on, I was working my way through the Spiderverse, and you know what, I pretty much felt like Harry looks in the fifth image up there.
Anyway, the ironic thing is, a guy made out of ink (and occasionally personified by James Franco) actually helped me a hell of a lot more than the people who were actually supposed to/being paid to. Turns out that no matter how freaky and horrible the voices in your head get, they can eventually be beaten back, especially if you have the right people around. Harry managed it, after all, albeit with several bumps along the way.
And, perhaps most important to me at least, you can be a dick and alienate everyone and you’re still worth saving. (Straight out of one of the many, many Spider-Man companion books: “Peter Parker always believes Harry Osborn is worth saving.”) Always a handy thing to remember.
A very handy thing. So thanks, Harry, sincerely, you and your creators did good. Now go help somebody else.
I had a sudden realization after watching all the Spiderman movies that starred Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst.. Mary Jane Watson is a slut. I mean like, on Spider 3; when she got all prissy on Peter Parker for doing “their kiss” with some other chick? She did the same with that astronaut dude she was suppose to marry then left at the alter for Parker. Quite an envious bitch. Way to be unconditional. In addition, she flirted with Parker back when she was still in a relationship with Harry Osborn and shit. I did notice how she likes to just dodge the guys in her life around and joggles them as she please. Harry’s dad was totally right about her not being worth his time. Harry did deserve better and he should’ve listened. She makes a classic bitch for breaking such a great friendship apart like that between Harry and Peter. And I never really appreciated her purpose in the movie in the first place, to be honest.
Yes. I’m that affected by this.
I too am affected by this.
Because none of it is true. And one’s worth as a character, one’s worth as a person, is not dictated by how many guys you sleep with. Let’s go through all this:
Mary Jane Watson is a slut.
The Spider-Man movies take place over roughly three years, and in that time MJ has four relationships- Flash, Harry, John and Peter. And you know what? There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. Nothing wrong with trying to find the right guy- nothing wrong with a woman having sex, even! An amazing concept, I know, but true.
I mean like, on Spider 3; when she got all prissy on Peter Parker for doing “their kiss” with some other chick? She did the same with that astronaut dude she was suppose to marry then left at the alter for Parker.
Apart from the fact that Peter was in a relationship with MJ when he kissed Gwen. MJ wasn’t in a relationship with Peter when she kissed John. Doesn’t matter what sort of kiss it was.
In addition, she flirted with Parker back when she was still in a relationship with Harry Osborn and shit.
No she didn’t. She only ever treated Peter like a friend. She kissed Spider-Man, true, and she probably shouldn’t have done that even though she was having doubts about Harry at that point- but one snog in the heat of the moment does not a ‘slut’ make.
Harry’s dad was totally right about her not being worth his time.
Harry’s dad called his own wife, Harry’s mother, a gold-digger! And, you know…implied to Peter that he was going to rape his girlfriend.
So. Yeah.
Harry did deserve better and he should’ve listened.
Well he didn’t think so, since he risked his life to save her and asked her to stay with him when he was dying.
She makes a classic bitch for breaking such a great friendship apart like that between Harry and Peter.
WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT?
Harry and Peter were doing a perfectly good job of breaking their friendship apart in the first place- she didn’t even know what was going on til halfway through the last movie! Then Harry used her as a pawn to get to Peter, she complied because she thought she was saving his life and…that’s pretty much it. She had nothing to do with it, she wanted them to be friends! She probably shouldn’t have kissed Harry, but she was in despair because she thought her life and relationship was falling apart, and she ran away as soon as she realised what she’d done.
Anyway, look at what we know about movie!MJ. Men have let her down all her life. Her father calls her ‘trash’ to her face! Then she goes out with Flash, who’s a bullying jerk, then she goes out with Harry whose father loudly implies in front of everyone that she’s a slut- it’s a miracle she doesn’t have more difficulties with relationships.
But you know what? The films themselves don’t condemn her for any of that. If you go into the Spider-Man films and come out agreeing with the supervillain-style misogyny we’re meant to be repulsed by, something’s gone very wrong somewhere…
In MJ’s case I find the backlash against female characters who are coded as traditionally feminine to be particularly gross since — well, since she’s a favorite character and I’m biased, obviously, but also because Mary Jane struggles in-story against people who objectify her, slut shame her, and make snap judgments about her intelligence, skills, and personal character. Why does she get treated this way? Because she’s a beautiful woman who dares to work in the supposedly frivolous, feminized, and sexualized world of entertainment and fashion, dares to have an active social life with people she may or may not want to have sex with, and not only doesn’t apologize for her choices but actively revels in them.
What makes Mary Jane Watson such a great feminist role model, even if she’s not out there taking down supervillains with a baseball bat (not usually, anyway), and even if she does pose in lingerie for a living on and off, is that she will never apologize for who she is, no matter how many people try and shame her for it. And no matter how many readers sail right past the point.
While cleaning up my meta tag I noticed I’d already written one of the topics on my to-do list as part of a longer conversation, so I decided I’d tweak it a bit and repost solo.
Image from Amazing Spider-Man vol II #45 by J. Michael Straczynski (writer) and John Romita, Jr (pencils).
Spider-Man 3 gets very little love, the poor thing, so here’s some reasons to love it:
-The birth of Sandman, a case of CGI done very very right (accompanied by some insanely beautiful music)
-The portrayal and treatment of Gwen: she’s an attractive model who flirts with two different men throughout the film and isn’t shamed, or punished, or fridged. Or killed!
-The potrayal and treatment of MJ: a lesser film might have written her off as an unreasonable harridan, but her problems are given equal weight to Peter’s, she isn’t shamed for turning to another man in a moment of weakness, and we’re told why she reacts to certain things the way she does.
-Harry’s sacrifice mirroring Norman’s death
-The downbeat ending- Peter and MJ will probably be all right, but we can’t be certain
-Aunt May’s monologue about her marriage (which was fantastically acted by Rosemary Harris)
-Harry’s death being a) geniunely sad and b) SO PRETTY with the lighting and the music (that shot up there is one of my favourite shots in any film ever)
-James Franco getting to eat the scenery for a bit
A photoset dedicated to the underrated, unsuperpowered, and often unnamed characters of Marvel movies who either supported others in their times of need, or fought alone for what they thought was right:
The German man (The Avengers): Stood up alone against an Actual God The train passengers (Spider-Man 2): Saved Spider-Man and then defended him, completely unarmed, against a very armed supervillain Christine Everhart (Iron Man): Demanded accountability from Tony Stark, and it was also thanks to her he got to Gulmira as fast as he did Ursula Ditkovich (Spider-Man 2&3): Offered Peter food and friendship at times when he really needed it Mr Ditkovich (Spider-Man 2&3): Not only tolerated, but liked and cared about his difficult tenant Alicia Masters (Fantastic Four): Made Ben Grimm realise he was still human and showed him love and kindness Stanley (The Incredible Hulk): Gave Bruce a room, a job and a friendly ear The old security guard (The Avengers): Helped Bruce out and gave him some (sadly deleted) advice The crane operators (The Amazing Spider-Man): Did what they could to repay the person who helped them The people on the Queensboro Bridge (Spider-Man): Risked their lives to try and stop the Green Goblin Martina (The Incredible Hulk): Didn’t give Bruce away to Blonsky’s men Travis and Heather Hudson (Wolverine): Offered kindness to a stranger and died for it
Oh hey, finally some news on Harry Osborn’s casting for TASM2? I’ve never seen anything any of those three actors have been in (and personally, I was kind of rooting for Anton Yelchin), but my first thought was that I can definitely see the resemblance with Dane DeHaan, though more so in other images. I’m not sure whether I’m surprised or not that it sounds like they’re edging closer to 616 rather than USM for inspiration either.
This reminds me I actually need to (a) watch ‘Chronicle’, and (b) read the Child Within arc from Spectacular Spider-Man that I bought all the issue for ages ago, but never got around to reading.
Ooh, interesting…
He looks like a Harry. I was rooting a little for Anton Yelchin too, but this guy seems good, especially if he’s already played a ‘dark’ role in Chronicle…
