The one thing I will never understand is why people got so mad at Marinette for winning against Max. Sure, her motive was to spend time with Adrien to practice for the tournament. I feel like people are forgetting that technically Marinette had to earn that spot by beating Max. I also noticed how no one pointed out that Max was ‘reading’ codes or combinations on the game while playing and that is technically cheating. Also, it isn’t Marinette’s fault that Max was akumatized because technically he didn’t lose to just Marinette but Adrien as well.
These are just my thoughts.
That's been a valid counterargument that people have brought up about that episode. Even if Marinette's reason for joining the tournament wasn't "pure", it wasn't like anybody was actually there to compete "for the glory of their school" and it doesn't change the fact that Marinette won the contest fair and square because she was simply better at the game, which was the point of the tournament. Competitions in general are based on ability rather than personal feelings or reasons for competing. It sucks when you're the loser, but that's how it works and if Marinette didn't deserve the spot, she wouldn't have gotten it.
I think the main reason people got mad and blamed her for the whole thing was because the narrative itself was framing Marinette as the jerk in the situation for winning, even if she did it completely fairly and was the better pick for the position based on ability. It's the same sort of lesson like Annie Get Your Gun where the entire point is that while the woman was better than the guy at the specific thing they were competing over, she should have let herself lose to protect the guy's precious feelings because not upsetting the guy is supposed to be the most important thing. And in a city where anyone who gets upset will be turned into some sort of monster, that would understandably be a legitimate concern in Miraculous. But in that case, Marinette might as well just stay in her room and never go out or do anything so she doesn't risk upsetting anyone.
It's a poor lesson, but it's not far from the course with Miraculous.
On the flip side, I've heard arguments of sexism with Max specifically targeting Marinette instead of Adrien. To be fair, I would argue that Marinette may have been Max's target not because she was a girl but possibly because she was the second and final winner that bumped Max to third place instead of second. Hear me out: Psychologically speaking, even if more than one person or thing is responsible for a person getting angry, when they're tipped into a rage, they tend to zero in on the most recent trigger or the current available target. How many of you have seen someone go off on someone else when the truth was they were really mad over something entirely different that happened earlier? Or multiple upsets throughout the day that just led to an explosion at the end over something relatively simple and completely unrelated? It could arguably be sort of like that.
In Max's case, while Adrien did beat him first, he at least still had a chance to compete in the official tournament. As such, while Max may have been unhappy about the loss, it was minor for him because he would still get to play. It wasn't until he was booted out completely from competing that he had an issue, and it's fully possible that he would have been just as angry if the lineup was switched and it had been Adrien or anyone else in Marinette's place. I think this is the case as Max's attitude didn't change when Adrien gave up his spot to Marinette, indicating that Max didn't really care that a girl had beaten him so much as he cared that he'd lost the chance to play altogether.
Of course, I may just be giving Max the benefit of the doubt here. As it is, there are a few of us who noticed he DID have the codes on his glasses, so there's been some question as to whether that was something he actually did or if it was just the show trying to highlight his expertise in gaming, but given the way the show works, that doesn't seem likely.
So yeah, Max lost and he likely cheated. That's not Marinette's fault. Her only "fault" is being insensitive to a friend's feelings, but she didn't actually know just how much Max cared about the competition. Also, the bigger point is it IS a competition and someone was bound to lose. She shouldn't have been made out to be in the wrong over that, especially when she wasn't the one showing off and looking down on her opponent.
Here's the thing: Much like with Reflektdoll, I don't have an issue with Marinette apologizing because she's a good friend who seems very much the sort of person to apologize to a friend if they're upset and if she feels she has had any part in that upset, regardless of whether or not she was actually the one in the wrong. It's less of a "moral of the day says Marinette was wrong so she HAS to apologize" and more of that just being Marinette's personality where she's of course going to feel bad for upsetting a friend even if she wasn't the one who did anything wrong (Reflektdoll) or it was a legitimate win (Gamer).
The problem I have is that the episode ended with Max going to the tournament despite knowing he wouldn't get to take part and instead of either apologizing to Marinette for trying to MURDER HER or doing the sportly thing and congratulating her for her victory or cheering her on, he was acting pretty passive aggressive given his stance and body language—which clearly indicated that he was still holding a grudge and giving the impression that he was likely there to make Marinette feel bad or cheer for the school team to lose out of spite. He was pouting until Marinette tried to give him his spot back...at a point where it really didn't seem like it was any longer her call to make and even if it was, it was a pretty lousy way to for him to treat someone he'd just attacked over it. This episode was primed for a lesson on good sportsmanship, but for that to work, it really needed to be focused on Max and have him being the one to apologize for being a sore loser instead of Marinette for winning.
