And then I babble about the Avengers some more, OR: ALL THE LOKI AND NATASHA FEELS.
So, firstly, here's some great Loki meta here and here.
I've seen several different interpretations of Coulson's "You lack conviction" line, that A) he's the all-seeing, all-perceptive super agent and knew damned well that Loki didn't like Team Thanos by that point, that B) he's the all-seeing, all-perceptive super agent and is digging at Loki's near-bottomless inferiority complex where Thor is concerned, or C) he was about to die, anyway, so the script gave him one more chance to be cool. Frankly, I think all of the above is true. Loki was acting physically sick/pained and very strange at the start of the movie, and I'm pretty sure he got plucked out of space half-crazy and without a lot of options when he became the Chitauris' "ally" (as the spear mostly seemed to be affecting gamma-sensitive Bruce--everyone else really does have just a touch of the yelly asshole about them--I don't think it crossed the line into outright coercion, as has been suggested a few times). He tells the truth with affect while lying with words, and sometimes he tells the truth with words while hiding his affect.
And none of this makes him the woobie that fandom wants him to be. He could have heel-faced turned as soon as he was out of the Chitauris' immediate grasp, but he didn't, because he's too proud to admit that he screwed up/needed help. Like, dude, even as a matter of enlightened self-interest, just punch Thor in the groin and flounce off to hang on Earth for awhile. I refuse to speak to one full half of my family tree, too. I simultaneously love Loki while wanting to shake him (and, since pride and wrath are my two biggest flaws, as well, there's a fair amount of cringing at moments), 'cause dude. Be a snarky asshole for chaotic neutral at the very least so Hulk doesn't have to kick your ass any longer. The film drew parallels between Loki and Natasha&Tony as two other people who have a lot of his personality traits and yet use them for great justice for a reason. (Fandom, get on that for me, will you?)
Speaking of Natasha, she already has an awesome, asskicking vid full of awesome asskicking out. (Spoilers for the whole movie.) I've seen a few commentaries to the effect that Natasha's sole purpose in the movie was to be the hotass (really, were you watching the same loving close-ups of Chris Evans' posterior?), and I'm sorry, but no. My feels are not your feels, and that's okay, but Joss Whedon did Natasha a major solid and didn't eroticize her any further than the male characters got, so if you seriously think that her job was to be hot and nothing else, I frankly think that you have different standards of competency for female characters. And that's some bullshit.
This entry was originally posted at Eatsscissors on Dreamwidth. Please comment there using OpenID.
I've seen several different interpretations of Coulson's "You lack conviction" line, that A) he's the all-seeing, all-perceptive super agent and knew damned well that Loki didn't like Team Thanos by that point, that B) he's the all-seeing, all-perceptive super agent and is digging at Loki's near-bottomless inferiority complex where Thor is concerned, or C) he was about to die, anyway, so the script gave him one more chance to be cool. Frankly, I think all of the above is true. Loki was acting physically sick/pained and very strange at the start of the movie, and I'm pretty sure he got plucked out of space half-crazy and without a lot of options when he became the Chitauris' "ally" (as the spear mostly seemed to be affecting gamma-sensitive Bruce--everyone else really does have just a touch of the yelly asshole about them--I don't think it crossed the line into outright coercion, as has been suggested a few times). He tells the truth with affect while lying with words, and sometimes he tells the truth with words while hiding his affect.
And none of this makes him the woobie that fandom wants him to be. He could have heel-faced turned as soon as he was out of the Chitauris' immediate grasp, but he didn't, because he's too proud to admit that he screwed up/needed help. Like, dude, even as a matter of enlightened self-interest, just punch Thor in the groin and flounce off to hang on Earth for awhile. I refuse to speak to one full half of my family tree, too. I simultaneously love Loki while wanting to shake him (and, since pride and wrath are my two biggest flaws, as well, there's a fair amount of cringing at moments), 'cause dude. Be a snarky asshole for chaotic neutral at the very least so Hulk doesn't have to kick your ass any longer. The film drew parallels between Loki and Natasha&Tony as two other people who have a lot of his personality traits and yet use them for great justice for a reason. (Fandom, get on that for me, will you?)
Speaking of Natasha, she already has an awesome, asskicking vid full of awesome asskicking out. (Spoilers for the whole movie.) I've seen a few commentaries to the effect that Natasha's sole purpose in the movie was to be the hotass (really, were you watching the same loving close-ups of Chris Evans' posterior?), and I'm sorry, but no. My feels are not your feels, and that's okay, but Joss Whedon did Natasha a major solid and didn't eroticize her any further than the male characters got, so if you seriously think that her job was to be hot and nothing else, I frankly think that you have different standards of competency for female characters. And that's some bullshit.
This entry was originally posted at Eatsscissors on Dreamwidth. Please comment there using OpenID.