Megamind Commentary
The announcement of the new Megamind sequel got me thinking again about one of my favorite superhero trope movies. The sequel itself looks like trash, which is very tragic, but not really what I'm on about at this moment.
I love Megamind, I love a lot of things about it. But what's interesting to me is Tighten as a 'Twist Villain.' I've seen commentaries about what a surprise it was that Hal became the primary antagonist of the film... pretty strictly from amab creators. I wondered if it was really that surprising, however, to afab viewers like myself. I'm not the type to pick up on story beats quickly. I usually need a couple watches to really fully comprehend the intentions in a film.
I never thought Hal was going to be anything but trouble. As soon as he got Metromans powers I knew it was only a matter of time. To me, who, again, tends to be slow on the uptake, this was not a twist. It was an inevitability. And I guess this leads me to wonder if other afab people also got that impression right off the bat?
I have no doubt that MANY, if not most, afab people recognized the warning signs from the very first scene that Hal appears in. Hell, the very first lines we get from his character display two things,
A) He doesn't ACTUALLY like Roxanne. She finishes reading the lines that SHE WROTE for the Metroman celebration, her earnest true feelings on the matter, and Hal immediately derides it.
B) That is UNTIL Roxy corrects him that no, SHE wrote that, and he immediately backpedals, displaying how disingenuous he is.
That is literally the very first thing we see of him. I think anyone who has had to live for a week in our society as a person perceived to be femme would recognize Hal as a dangerous type of person from this interaction alone. But maybe I'm wrong? I'm just shocked at how many people seemed to be very genuinely surprised that Hal turned out to be the real villain. Was it clear to anyone else that he was a bad egg from the get go?? Or am I just outta my head? I'd actually really love to hear some other perspectives on this.
Anyhow thank you for comin to my TED talk.
