Costumes

I saw Avengers: Endgame on Saturday. Pretty enjoyable, though they could've pared it down a little, timewise. I'll try not to give any spoilers here. It had all the emotions in it, happy and sad, laugh and cry. Very good stuff. They sure know how to grab your attention and not let go. Been at it for years now.

During the movie, a couple of different ideas went through my mind. One was pretty central to the theme of the movie, the other I think is kinda random, only-Shannyn-would-think-of-this stuff. I have many brain waves. The lengths of these are often short and run in bizarre directions.

The first thing I thought of was how, despite all the characters posessing super powers, how human they are portrayed to be in their emotions and actions away from the Thanos-style fray. There's some definite, "we lost our friends, what do we do now" kinda stuff going on. Pretty understandable. By the way, if that was a spoiler, I sorta-kinda-not really apologize, because you could've seen the other movies by now.

Anyway, especially in the beginning, our heroes are seen in a very human light. Part of that is what they are wearing. They don't always wear their superhero outfits. Sweatpants, jeans, that kinda thing. And while it's pretty normal and not out of place to see them this way, since of course most of them started out as normal humans, it got me to wondering about the costumes they do wear into battle.

I don't think it's too much of a reveal to say that at some point, the Avengers get their heads out of their asses and get down to business. And when they do, COSTUMES! Specifically, the idea struck me when I saw Thor's cape again.

But why these costumes? If you want to think cynically, it's because they are bright, shiny, merchandise-generating cash makers. Or they just look really cool, and that's what superheroes do. I'm thinking more in terms of: what do the costumes actually add to the performance of a superhero?

Yeah, yeah, there are lots of things that help them. Aquaman might not swim as fast in jeans. I get it. And yes, I'll combine DC and Marvel if I want. But would Captain Marvel be any less powerful without her suit? Would Captain America be any less strong in his original green fatigues? Nope.

If I had one question to ask any of these characters, I think I'd ask: "How much more badass do you feel when dressed up, and how much to you think it adds to your state of mind to go about your life/battle?" Ok, that's two questions, or maybe just a two-parter.

We could ask the same of anyone. They say, "dress for the job you want, not the one you have". Does that actually work? I would hope so. I know sometimes if I work at home and am in sweats, I get nothing done because I feel like a fat lump (hey Thor, looking at you here). But if I get dressed as if I was going to the office, sometimes I feel better and get more done.

Same goes for the clothes anyone wears for any occasion. SAME GOES for those of us that feel better overall in the clothes that supposedly are for the "other" gender (as if there is only two genders. Psshhhh).

So, if you read this and didn't understand the crossdress thing before, this is part of the explanation. Especially for those on the trans spectrum. Some costumes feel right, some don't. Some give superpowers, some don't. One size does not fit all.

I didn't forget about the other idea I wanted to write about...I'll write about that later, maybe when the details would be less spoiler-y (is that a word?).

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