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I have no intention of watching the new Marvel/Disney+ mini-series Agatha All Along. There are a lot of reasons for this.

The first is that I haven’t seen ANY of the Disney+ Marvel shows, not even the very popular Loki series. I’ve mentioned before somewhere that I don’t particularly enjoy most television produced in the 2020s and don’t see myself subscribing to one or more streaming services just to watch a few shows I might (or might not) like.

Of course, I’m aware of these programs because you can’t be on social media for ten seconds without tripping all over them, or at least the latest ones. This is especially true of the responses to said-shows, both for and against. There really does seem to be some sort of war going on between those who like these series and those who don’t.

I’ve tried to watch and enjoy modern television. My most recent outing was the 21st century revamping of Quantum Leap. For a variety of reasons which I’ve already written about, it didn’t work for me. I bailed just a few short months before it was cancelled.

But, as I’ve already said, the issue these days is more than just liking one show and not liking another. Back in the 1960s and onward, popular shows were well-watched and renewed for additional seasons. Shows not that popular were canceled and everyone moved on. I wasn’t aware of much drama being involved.

But not so today, or at least not for shows with certain “themes.” The idea from the showrunners and the fans (shows have fans even before they are released) is that you MUST absolutely LOVE and adore the new show and if you don’t, you’re a bad person (Nazi, bigot, incel, whatever).

Take this video from Variety for example (all of these have been pulled off of X, formerly known a twitter):

https://x.com/Variety/status/1835880976179720261

If I knew nothing else about this show (I pretty much don’t actually), I’d know that this is (supposedly) the gayest TV show Marvel has ever produced.

I’m not sure I’ve actually seen this marketing, but some pundit said that one of the advertising points is that the show isn’t written for straight white males. Well, that’s certainly not much of an inducement for me, a straight white male, to want to watch it, even if I didn’t have all the other reasons I’ve cited above.

Also, let’s say that for whatever reason or no reason at all, I didn’t want to watch the “gayest show Marvel has ever produced.” Why should I have to?

This is a free country. I have free will. I’ll watch what I want to watch and not watch what I don’t care for. Simple.

But it’s apparently not so simple.

If you don’t like or want to watch the show you are criticized thus:

https://x.com/CovenofChaoss/status/1835903577409417402

Meanwhile, here’s a fairly typical criticism of the show:

https://x.com/thatstarwarsgrl/status/1836133912629870940

There are a lot more commentaries about this small series, but I won’t bombard you with them. The main reason I’m writing this blog post is to be able to have a reference for my lengthy opinion I can insert into a social media setting with a limited word count.

It’s also a way to process my thoughts about this lunacy regarding all these intense personal opinions for a show that is going to come and go in a few weeks or a few months. In a year, hardly anyone will remember it.

How much buzz is She-Hulk getting anymore? What about Echo or Ms. Marvel?

Actually, as far as the latter’s main character is concerned, she did get a lot of coverage in the 2023 movie The Marvels (you can read my review of that film for more). I don’t know if it helped.

One interesting aside is the main character Agatha Harkness, played by Kathryn Hahn. In the old Fantastic Four comic books, Harkness was quite elderly. However, modern Marvel has reimaged her a bit younger (Hahn is only 51 years old). Reminds me of the recent Madame Web (2024) film. Again, the comic book character is extremely old, but in the movie, Dakota Johnson who plays the titular character is only 34.

You’d think Marvel and Disney had a thing against older characters/actresses as heroes (or anti-heroes, or just plain straight up villains).

Bottom line is that I don’t have to watch anything I don’t want to. That doesn’t make me a bad person. It doesn’t make me a bigot or phobic. If you tell me the show wasn’t made for me, then I’ll believe you and not waste my time. Let the people it is made for watch the program and (supposedly) enjoy it. Or, if it doesn’t attain the desired popularity, let it fold up like a pup tent in a hurricane the way The Acolyte did.

I’m sure I’ll find something to watch or read that will interest me. After all, I’ve got decades and decades of television and movies to choose from and centuries of literature.