Mysterio and the Truth About Gaslighting

Gaslight: (verb) – To Manipulate Someone by psychological means into questioning their own observations, experiences, and reality.

 

We’ve reached the end of this journey. There have been 23 movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to date and now we’ve watched them all. And last week we watched the biggest movie of all time happen before our eyes. So how do you follow that up? Do you simply accept that the follow up will be small and unimpressive or do you make a statement? We have one story left and it may be the MCU’s most relevant story yet. When they could have placed a nice forgettable pallet cleanser of a movie in after Avengers: Endgame, the MCU instead turned Spider-man: Far From Home into a harrowing commentary on the state of our world and what we can do to overcome it.

Far From Home is one part teen vacation comedy and another part warning about the past of the United States. And it all hinges around the relationship between Quentin Beck (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Peter (Tom Holland). Beck enters the movie in a fashion that shows so much promise on the surface. He’s a superhero from another world. He’s got a suit and powers which rival Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) and he’s nice, smart, and passionate about stopping the end of the world. He’s everything Peter has been looking for since Tony Stark died. And Beck even seems to take Peter’s side on all things, over that of Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) So naturally Peter gravitates towards Beck. They come to an understanding and friendship, and Peter comes to believe that Beck is one of the best men that he’s ever met. But that’s a lie.

The thing about Mysterio, as Beck comes to be called, is he’s a manipulator. He’s not actually interested in Peter. Mysterio only wants to use Peter as long as it benefits Beck, but as soon as Peter is no longer useful, Mysterio will toss him aside and even go so far as to harm him if the need arises. We see this a lot in our own world, especially in politics. Politicians make promises with their constituents and then drop them the moment those people no longer fir their agenda. Mysterio is using Peter. He never once genuinely cares about Peter but plays the part of an ally to get Peter’s trust and manipulate him into giving Mysterio what he wants.

And when that twist is revealed where Mysterio isn’t genuine and has been manipulating, not only Peter, but everyone, we get a look into how the world works. And it’s scary. We’re living in a world where every source of information is altered or adjusted to distort our perspective. Where the very people we observe with our own eyes tell us what we have seen is not real. The world is gaslighting us on a daily basis and Mysterio is the most extreme version of this, distorting Peter’s reality until he truly doubts everything he knows. And the farther our own technology advances the more we get deep fakes, soundboards, and so many other devices which can be used to convince us that what we have seen may or may not be real. Mysterio is a fictional character, but there are people like him working to affect us every single day.

So what do we do? How do we resist this gaslighting that is occurring all around us. Well that’s the very same thing that Peter had to wrestle with. And when it comes down to it, he has one thing that gives him a way to see through the lies: His Peter Tingle. Ok. So maybe that name was given to it for the joke but one of the most important Powers the Spider-man has is his Spider Sense as it is called in most other versions of the character. He can sense danger ahead of when it will hit him and he has the reflexed to react before it can get him, and in this he uses it to see through the illusions that Mysterio creates and deciphers the truth in the story he is witnessing. He sees Beck for what he is, a manipulative, lying, sociopath who wants nothing more than to fool the world into believing that he is the greatest savior it has every known. And in the end, he convices the world of such as well, all while demonizing Peter and turning the lies against him.

So what do we do? We obviously don’t have a sixth sense to tell when we are being manipulated. So what do we do? Well, for one we have to know what we believe. We have to understand our own truth and be strong in our personal convictions. Then we have to do what we can to see through the narrative to the truth. That’s not always easy but it is necessary. We have a right to the truth and any attempts to subvert that should be seen for what they are, lies. People will lie, scheme, alter, and do so much more to subvert the truth and make you believe what they want you to believe. But all we have to do to know what is true is trust our instincts and work hard to ensure that we aren’t being gaslit. The world is full of those who would willingly alter our reality, but what they are saying is often not true. And like Mysterio, they can do great damage even though they are in the wrong, but ultimately, hold no true power once we see through their illusions. Trust in your Spider Sense and know that what you think is not always wrong just because people in the world want to not to believe it. And when you call our their lies, they have no leg to stand on and no power to hold.

Just a quick refresher of my MCU ranking criteria.

Cast and Performances
Story and Plot
Best Fight/Action Scene
Rewatchability
Cleverness of the Stan Lee cameo*

Each film will be judged solely by me and then placed against all the other films. And rated on a scale of 10 with a total possible score of 50.

So, here is the quick breakdown of Spider-man: Far From Home:

Cast and Performances: The cast is mostly good, but many characters are added from the first film who feel unnecessary or just there to be an obstacle for the characters that doesn’t really go anywhere. That being said Jake Gyllenhaal’s addition as Mysterio is one of the best MCU villains and he plays the part with grounded ferocity and genuine charm. (8/10)

Story and Plot: The plot feels divided. There are parts where it feels like a really scary story about manipulation and hysteria and other parts that have the feeling of a teen vacation movie. And often one seems far more interesting than the other. This movie could have benefited from some streamlining of the story. (7/10)

Best Fight/Action Scene: Mysterio’s illusionary assault is one of the most visually dynamic nightmares I’ve seen in these movies. The composition, the transitions, and visual wizardry actually works on a level so much that we the audience aren’t even sure what is real or not by the end. (9/10)

Rewatchability: This movie is really fun. It has moments where it is slow and loses some steam but between the clever humor and dynamic visuals the movie is a good watch multiple times, especially after learning the truth about Mysterio and what he is doing. (8/10)

*Cleverness of the Stan Lee Cameo: Unfortunately, due to Stan’s untimely passing in 2018 he was unable to appear in this movie. This category will now be retired and replaced upon subsequent entries. However we do get a wonderful cameo of J.K. Simmons reprising his role as J. Jonah Jameson that made me jump out of my chair. For that I will award some points. (5/10)

Total: 37/50

Current Ranking:
The Avengers
Avengers: Endgame
Black Panther
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Spider-Man: Homecoming
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Avengers: Infinity War
Guardians of the Galaxy
Captain America: The First Avenger
Iron Man
Captain Marvel
Thor: Ragnarok
Spider-Man: Far From Home
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Ant-Man
Thor
Iron Man 3
The Incredible Hulk
Ant-Man and the Wasp
Doctor Strange
Thor: The Dark World
Iron Man 2

And that’s the end. We’ve now explored all of the movies the MCU has blessed us with so far. I’ll add to this ranking as new movies come out in the future and will do a final summary next week. But now that this has run out I have a new series that I’m planning to rewatch and take on starting in September. So come on back to see the very best movies of another Disney owned movie studio. I’ll give you a hint as to what it is.

I hope you enjoyed this journey and as always, thanks for taking the time to get Ploominated!