View Item 
        •   Utrecht University Student Theses Repository Home
        • UU Theses Repository
        • Theses
        • View Item
        •   Utrecht University Student Theses Repository Home
        • UU Theses Repository
        • Theses
        • View Item
        JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

        Browse

        All of UU Student Theses RepositoryBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjects

        That Makes Them Us: A Film Analytical Approach to the Dark Fantastic in Marvel's Eternals

        Thumbnail
        View/Open
        That Makes Them Us, Sophie Smeets.pdf (433.3Kb)
        Publication date
        2023
        Author
        Smeets, Sophie
        Metadata
        Show full item record
        Summary
        In a time that sees entries into the fantasy genre grow exponentially, a genre whose most essential premise it is to make nonfact appear as fact, it is of the utmost importance to take the potentially injurious social power of the fantasy genre seriously. This power shelters in the socially alienating practices that, according to Joshua David Bellin, make up the fabric of the fantasy tradition. In this thesis, I review Bellin's theory of alienating social practices, which involves framing marginalized groups as monstrous threats to the established social hierarchy, using Ebony Elizabeth Thomas' framework of the Dark Fantastic to provide a contemporary case study. As one of the biggest producers of fantasy today, my case comes from Marvel Studios’ Marvel Cinematic Universe, in the film Eternals, which is praised for being the most diverse entry into the MCU to date. However, despite its promising cast, a deconstruction of the film’s monsters reveals the film as a project of tokenism that uses an intersectionally diverse cast and crew members as a stand-in for structural change to genre conventions.
        URI
        https://studenttheses.uu.nl/handle/20.500.12932/44940
        Collections
        • Theses
        Utrecht university logo