Thursday, 15 September 2022

She-Hulk, Jeans - Sep 15

 Obligatory disclaimer: real life sucks, so let us talk about ‘She-Hulk: the Legal Eagle’ instead.

…Oh, this isn’t how the show is actually called? My bad, and you are right – the show is barely legal either. Pause.

Let us try again. In this week’s episode, we learn that Titania has acquired the rights for the ‘She-Hulk’ brand, and is suing JW for the supposed copyright infringement. JW fights back on the court of law, and with the help of Ms. Book, she wins her right to remain the She-Hulk. That is fair enough, but…

However, the more I watch the ‘She-Hulk’ show, the more I feel that the characters are diminished because of this. In the comics and such cartoon shows as the ‘Agents of S.M.A.S.H.’ (now ended), She-Hulk was a lawyer, (or at least a legal councillor), but she was also a hero who smashed things, and, actually, in the comics? She still does that, while being an Avenger at the same time. Conversely, the show seems to be focusing on her being more of a lawyer, and that is ok, only… She-Hulk the titular character is not really a lawyer, she is a rom-com lawyer, and that makes her show not so much legal drama, but more of a parody of one.

By contrast, something like ‘The Good Place’ has its’ humorous moments, true, but it has serious moments too, and the show feels – even in re-watches – much more well-balanced than ‘She-Hulk’ does. I would like to say that there is drama and stuff in ‘She-Hulk’, but I cannot. Somehow, the way that the show presents itself discredits any possibility of there being actual drama in ‘She-Hulk’, and as for Titania and her character…

In her past incarnations, Titania went from being an outright villain to more of an anti-hero, and from She-Hulk’s enemy to more of a frenemy slash eternal rival. Basically, the two ladies had the better chance of beating each other if and when they went toe to toe, than anyone else would. Here, on ‘She-Hulk’, Titania is not anything but an annoyance; JW does not learn anything, or get anything from their confrontations, and neither does Titania; you could have replaced Titania in this episode with some random character off the top of your head, and the story would’ve remained the same, with JW becoming more confident in being the She-Hulk in the end. Put otherwise, the titular character is not the only one being diminished on the show; everyone else is as well. Sad – and in case of Madisynn, (seriously, that is her name), outright annoying. True, ‘She-Hulk’ is rounding-out the story of Wong and Kamar-Taj in new, unexpected ways, but, again – somehow Wong is being transformed here from a formidable and serious magician into some sort of an irresponsible asshole – while the Abomination, (I’m quite certain that we haven’t seen the last of him yet), has transformed from a monstrous, distorted image of the original Hulk into some sort of a heterosexual cult leader and nothing more. That is… disappointing, if nothing else, but, again, that is what Marvel going for intentionally, so more power for them, I guess. Anything else?

…The funeral of Her Majesty Elizabeth II is proceeding apiece this week, but I frankly have no intent of discussing it, out of the respect for Her Majesty, if nothing else. An epoch did end with her passing and I really do not want to muck around in themes of such epic levels…

Therefore, for now, this is it. See vou all soon!

 

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