The Subtle Cultural Laws of Religiosity and Seculosity

And why I’m actively not watching Avengers: Endgame

Photo by Sven Scheuermeier on Unsplash

We’re really fortunate...

Our downstairs neighbors watch Dagny, our Shih Tzu Terrier pooch, when we’re out of town. They have a similar-looking mixed-breed type dog named Charlie and the two get along like brother and sister (or boyfriend and girlfriend — though they’re both fixed, so I’m not sure if the whole attraction thing is there, but anyhow…).

When we came home from vacation the other day and went to pick Dagny up, they were watching the latest (I think) Avengers movie.

Their TV is really big and awesome unlike our tiny imitation of a TV (okay, I actually like the fact that our TV is small, but there’s nothing like a good action flick on a giant screen). Obviously, I ignored every human in the room and latched onto what was happening in the movie.

Now, this is a big point of contention for me. I’m not a big action movie kinda guy. But the Marvel movies (particularly Iron Man and The Avengers series) that I’ve seen are incredible. Every time one comes out, I tell myself, I HAVE to watch this one and get caught up!

But a couple of things have been happening that have prevented me from doing this…

I haven’t seen a proper Marvel movie in probably six or seven years (at least five). As I was watching that movie the other day, I had no idea what was going on. There were characters I didn’t recognize and epic antagonists (and protagonists) I didn’t know existed.

I gave up on catching up several years ago. If it was just Iron Man, it’d be one thing. But when it comes to The Avengers, that’s an umbrella that includes Captain America, Black Panther, Spiderman, The Incredible Hulk, and more.

Apparently, there have been 22 movies made since 2007 making the most recent Marvel Cinematic Universe…

There’s no. Way.

As I write this, I can feel the anxiety welling up. Isn’t that weird? Why is that?

Well, as a starter, it’s because I really like the movies and am bummed I’m missing out. So there’s a level of angst there. But there’s also a deeper cultural dynamic happening.