Brie Larson was told Captain Marvel should “smile more,” so she posted photoshopped pics of male superheroes smiling

By Olivia harvey

September 21, 2018

By Olivia harvey

September 21, 2018

Sure, she can save the world, absorb energy and shoot it back out of her fists, and travel through space and time (NBD). But some sexist internet trolls think Captain Marvel should…smile more. Yep. Brie Larson was criticized for “not smiling” while playing Carol Danvers (aka Captain Marvel). Luckily, she had the best response.

For some context, the first trailer for Captain Marvel was released on September 18th, and in less than three days, it garnered over 30 million views. People are stoked for the first-ever female-led Marvel film, and it’s already predicted to be what Wonder Woman was for DC— aka a huge, groundbreaking success.

But (of course) the regressive comments rolled on in as soon as the trailer dropped. One person even went as far as to to paste a smile on Larson’s Captain Marvel images. false

In true superhero fashion, Larson adeptly called out the inherent sexism in the critique, posting photoshopped images of smiling male superheroes to her Instagram Story.

.@brielarson put these pics on Instagram story. Legend #CaptainMarvel pic.twitter.com/jjSv643I7d

— Geeks of Color (@GeeksOfColor) September 20, 2018

And Larson wasn’t the only one clapping back.

I saw some dude use an app to make Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel smile more, so I thought I’d do the same with the male Marvel superheroes.

I think we can all agree that this is a totally normal, non-creepy thing to do. pic.twitter.com/jLONpjGQch

— David Chen (@davechensky) September 20, 2018

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pic.twitter.com/uXDZEHkARo

— Jose (@JoseSalvadorIII) September 20, 2018

Let’s get one thing straight: Telling women to “smile” is archaic—and it’s a complaint that never gets lobbed at men. It implies that women are here for amusement and to “look cute,” and denies them the basic right to their own emotions.