Hidden Meanings Behind the
"Captain Marvel" Movie 
(Spoilers)
Reviewed by Joy Davis

Synopsis: "Captain Marvel" is a superhero, action and adventure drama.  Suffering from recurrent dreams of a familiar past and bouts of anger, Vers was reprimanded by Supreme Intelligence to either put her emotions in check or face some serious consequences.  She must conduct herself as a noble warrior for the Krees in a Cold War against their enemy, the evil, shape-shifting Skrulls.  During a secret mission with the Starforce team, Vers was captured by Skrulls to access her memories.  She fled in their space pod that was headed for Earth.  S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Fury crossed paths with Vers and the shape-shifters following their wild chase on a train.  With his help, she was able to discover her true identity at a secret air force installation called Project Pegasus.  They located a file identifying Vers as a former military pilot named Carol Danvers who was assigned to test a plane with an engine created by Dr. Lawson that crashed.  The information was a breakthrough to understand that her recurring dreams were really memories.  More answers were needed to explain how she survived to fight for the Krees.  

Warning: Spoilers within the Presentation

Haunted by Memories

Welcome to "Conscious Movie Reviews."  I'm your host Joy Davis and here to review "Captain Marvel," a sci-fi, action and adventure drama.

I'll be explaining two major themes woven throughout the film: Soul Power over Mind Power and the Art of Deception.

On the Kree planet of Hala, Starforce member Vers suffered from recurring nightmares that were more like scant memories of a past as a pilot in a plane crash.  

During combat training with Yon-Rogg, her mentor and commander, Vers was reminded to keep her anger in check.  Anger is the enemy, he explained.  She needed to meet with their A.I. leader, known as Supreme Intelligence, for help with the powers she's been given.

Kree Mind Power

For the first time, Vers stood before Supreme Intelligence, appearing as a mocked up, virtual image of an older woman that was drawn from her mental files of someone she most admires, but couldn't quite place. 

Vers was told by Supreme intelligence to use her mind for emotional control.  She must conduct herself as a noble warrior and hero.  Their kind is in a galactic war with the evil, shape-shifting Skrulls who are expanding their reach to other planets.

As technologically advanced warmongers, Supreme Intelligence is the collective embodiment of the Kree race.  Their alien culture represents Mind Power that's humorless, unemotional and calculating in a controlling way. 

Past Life Revealed

The Krees also symbolize a hyper-masculine culture that's very left-brained in their thinking with zero tolerance for emotional outbursts, which is a feminine tendency.  She's been warned: either keep the anger in check or be left powerless. 

When a secret mission to infiltrate an enemy compound on a border planet had failed, Vers was taken captive by Skrull commander Talos.  Probing her memories, they saw images of an emotional and determined young girl, then military pilot in a dog fight.  She was associated with Dr. Wendy Lawson and her cat, Goose, that was the valuable information they were seeking, but needed more.  

Being a pilot is often associated with feeling up in the air about an inner conflict and needing to go higher for better understanding from a holistic, Soul perspective.

The adorable feline represented Vers' independent spirit and the feminine aspect of herself.  Because Goose can be highly aggressive, it reflected how she tends to fight back her own powerful, female energies.  

Feminist Social Warriors

When Vers escaped in a Skrull pod that was headed straight for Earth, she crashed through the roof of a Blockbuster video store.

Set in 1995, this was during a time when feminism was highly unpopular.  Supporters of it were seen as man-hating women with hairy legs.  The "Girl Power" mantra from punk music was just gaining momentum as a counter-culture movement for girls to act like a boy by being bold, brash and loud like them.   

Getting caught up in a fight for female power through feminism keeps you in limited, dualistic thinking from taking sides in a social battle.  The true equality and power that men and women ultimately seeks is Soul power that's gender neutral.   

For followers of the feminist agenda to mature, they must get beyond their idea of being a social warrior to see themselves as Soul because we all carry both the masculine and feminine energies within ourselves and can draw from either one for healthy, balanced expression.  A concentration of Soul power, not feminist power, began to rise within Carol that threatened the Mind power of Kree authorities.  

Balance of Male & Female Energies Within

Michael Katz of Gemisphere Luminary teaches that "for centuries, the feminine aspect of the domineering male was suppressed and therefore weakened.  Yet, because the male's feminine aspect is part of him, by dominating the female, he only weakened himself.  Also, while the male was dominating, the feminine and masculine aspects of the female were learning to become strong."

Like many women, Carol gained strength the hard way with each major fall.  Since childhood, her ongoing life lesson was to get back up again and persevere.   

Meaning Behind Nine Inch Nails

S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Nick Fury helped Vers escape capture by the Skrulls on the train and acquire the crystal that was used to extract her memories.  She headed out with him to a secret air force installation called Project Pegasus for answers. 

Vers changed into more casual clothes to blend in with the locals.  Her t-shirt read N.I. N. that stood for the band, Nine Inch Nails. 

By wearing the band's logo, it reflected Vers' state of being that was full of rage for power to rise up.  Music by Nine Inch Nails imitated industrial noise, representing Carol's troubling, discordant thoughts, that fills the void.  A line from one of their songs expressed that we're a mutation and an accident, not enlightened, benevolent beings who take care of each other.  It can relate to how Vers was a hybrid mix of Kree and human, controlled by the unenlightened, Supreme Intelligence.   

As for the pop music of the 1990s, it was devoid of authenticity.  Musical artists like Britney Spears and The Spice Girls were industry-engineered acts.  This practice relates to how Vers' authentic nature was suppressed and image re-engineered by Supreme Intelligence for control.

The Art of Deception

Vers located a top secret file that revealed her human heritage.  She was a woman named Carol Danvers who had worked as a U.S. pilot at Project Pegasus.  She died in 1989 in a crash from testing a plane equipped with an experimental engine, designed by Dr. Lawson, an alien scientist.  There was also a photo of Carol's fellow pilot and friend, Maria Rambeau, who was part of the test flight.

It's no surprise that Agent Fury was entangled with shape-shifting Skrulls and Supreme Intelligence.  They were all well-versed in the Art of Deception. 

Like any spy for the military, many are suspicious and paranoid.  Agent Fury had bought into the rhetoric about American exceptionalism to serve and protect his country with a moralistic sense of righteous power.  They have to believe that they represent the noble good and their enemy are godless and evil.  So, American exceptionalism is just like Kree exceptionalism to keep a Cold War going.  In the end, all sides just want the same things: shelter, community and safety.  

Rise of Soul Power

Agent Fury helped Carol escape from the Skrulls at the military base.  They headed for Louisiana by plane to see Maria Rambeau.  Goose the cat showed up for the ride. 

At Maria's home, they were greeted by Talos and another Skrull.  Carol learned the truth from them about her human past and ties with Dr. Lawson.

As refugees, the Skrulls needed the Tesseract cube that powered the plane's new engine for their race to relocate on another planet.  Carol was assigned to test the plane that crashed.  Dr. Lawson, a renegade Kree and Skrull sympathizer, was killed by Yon-Ragg for attempting to destroy the engine's core.  When Carol tried to do the same, she absorbed the Tesseract's energies on impact that wiped out her memories.  It's really the Krees posing as noble warriors who are the real enemy.  They've instigated an unnecessary war against the Skrulls for power and control. 

Carol realized she had been lied to the whole time.  She switched sides to help the Skrulls, making a vow to end this unjust war the Krees started.

Supreme Intelligence practiced high-level deception that's similar to what's found on the internet.  Backed by artificial intelligence, they represent Mind Power that's devoid of Soul Power because users of the internet are the collective to represent one mind, but not one heart. Many go online to promote their self-interests and agenda for many to rally around that's a form of tribalism - the same way Supreme Intelligence deceived through propaganda for the Krees to believe in and support.     

 Soul Power Unleashed

The group, along with Goose the cat in tow, headed for Dr. Lawson's cloaked laboratory orbiting Earth where they found Skrull refugees and the Tesseract cube.  Starforce commandos tracked them to capture Carol and bring her before Supreme Intelligence.  She defied its rule to rip out an implant, unleashing the full force of her powers.  

Carol's rage was about having fear and conflict about owning her raw emotions.  When you can reconcile the strengths of your masculine and feminine traits, then align them with the mind and heart, it allows for Soul's power to flow through as a great force in the world. 

Goose, the Devouring Cat

Back at the ship, Goose joined in the fight against the Krees as a Flerken alien with deadly tentacles. Carol returned to give the Tesseract to Fury, but was blinded in one eye by Goose before swallowing the cube for safekeeping within a pocket universe.

By losing his sight, it reflects how Agent Fury has trouble seeing "eye to eye" with many out of mistrust from having a Cold War mentality.

Goose was also showing Fury the devouring side of the female that men dislike, like when they're being seductive, possessive, and bitchy.  These are toxic shows of femininity that are meant to take away a man's personal power if he allows it to.   

Captain Marvel on Call

When ballistic missiles were fired by Ronan for Earth's destruction, Carol took flight to destroy them.  Yon-Ragg also gave up the fight.  He was sent back with a warning for Supreme Intelligence. 

Before leaving with the Skrulls to help them find a new home planet, Carol gave Fury a modified pager that can only be used for emergencies.  His experiences with her motivated him to organize the Avengers Initiative, named after Carol's former codename.  He would find more super beings who can protect Earth from extra-terrestrial threats.  

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