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Recently watched Spider-Man (2002) for the first time in 10 years probably and it holds up better than most modern superhero films. It's damn near perfect, especially considering when it came out the genre was barren. We gotta talk about Mary Jane though. Holy shit, you guys lol
I have never seen a fictional character have a more miserable arc. Hamlet was less depressing. In almost every single scene she appears, Mary Jane is either being abused by her father, her boyfriend, her boss, or her new boyfriend and his father, or she's being assaulted.
Every single person in her life is a giant piece of shit who tells her that she's nothing and will always be nothing. Twice, Green Goblin tries to kill her. A group of muggers attempt to assault her. She gets rejected at every acting audition and told her she sucks at acting.
At Thanksgiving dinner with her friends (not her family because her father hates her) MJ's boyfriend Harry and his dad Norman (who twice tries to kill Mary Jane) get into a loud discussion that everyone hears about how Mary Jane is worthless and only good for being used.
Harry doesn't stand up for her at all, then yells at her when she's upset by that and defends his father. This is in front of Peter and Aunt May, so you know, nothing like a little bit of humiliation with your cranberry sauce and turkey. Happy fucking Thanksgiving.
By the end of this film Mary Jane is just completely beaten down by life, she probably didn't even give a shit if Green Goblin killed her ass or not, but in surviving her second attempted murder, she has a revelation: she's in love with Peter Parker. Good old Peter fucking Parker
The one guy in her entire life that hasn't treated her like a giant piece of shit. They hardly know each other. but whatever, she's in love with Peter Parker and he's been in love with her his whole life. What could go wrong? Everything. Everything goes wrong.
At the funeral for Norman, Mary Jane confesses her love to Peter. She pours her fucking heart out right there in the cemetery. And what does this man she loves do? This man she was sure was the only person to ever care about her? FUCKING REJECTS HER ASS.
And he doesn't even explain it! He doesn't say, "hey I'm Spider-man and I don't want my enemies to try to kill you (even though his enemy twice tried to kill her)." He just says some vague ass shit and peaces the fuck out. Literally rejects her and walks off.
Mind you, Mary Jane doesn't know this mother fucker is Spider-Man. All she knows is that at every possible turn, he's been hinting at his love for her and then when she finally reciprocates, he couldn't seem more disinterested in her romantically.
And that's it. That's Mary Jane's whole fucking movie. She doesn't get ANYTHING. As far as 2002 is concerned, Mary Jane is broke, can't act, has no friends, family, or lovers, is constantly abused and humiliated. She suffered three major traumas and was nearly killed twice,
It's okay though because in the sequel she's on Broadway now. Of course, Peter fucks with her brain relentlessly before being forced to reveal he's Spider-Man to her even though yet again she is nearly killed because everybody knows his ass knows Spider-Man or is Spider-Man.
And in the third movie Peter treats her like shit and literally hits her! Mary Jane cannot catch a fucking break, holy shit. Just had to share that observation.
