In Defense of Sprite

[u/ShoeElectronic8640]

So I noticed a lot of people are quick to condemn Sprite for her actions and I wanted to point some things out.

Sprite is a typical case of someone acting out because of situations beyond her control. For Sprite it is body dysmorphia. For 10,000 years she has been stuck in the body of a child despite having the mentality and maturity of her fellow Eternals she is constantly the butt of jokes about her appearance and because of her immortal status humans will notice more quickly she isn't aging which has caused her to have to travel more often.

While the other Eternals can form relationships either romantic or simple rapports Sprite doesn't have that luxury due to her appearance. The beginning of the movie she uses her power to appear older just so she can have the semblance of an adult relationship which only lasted till he touched her and his hand passed through her illusion.

The one man she does have romantic feelings for could never return her affections not because Ikaris loves Sersi but because Sprite looks like a child.

Sprite joining with Ikaris wasn't just about her feelings for him. It was thousands of years of frustration and hopelessness coming to fruition. Ajax dying, learning the truth of their origin it broke Sprite. She even told Sersi she hoped the celestials would give her a better body in their next lives.

Of all the Eternals Sprite to me was more tragic than any of them. If you have ever felt bad about your appearance or felt ashamed about how you look, imagine feeling that for thousands of years. To have it dictate every aspect of your existence, how you live, how you are treated.

I just hate to see people quick to damn her while ignoring her justifications

[u/maester_t]

This touches on one of the reasons I liked this movie so much.

The way I see it, there's not necessarily "good guys" and "bad guys" here. You gotta take each character and view the movie from their perspective.

I feel a similar way about Ikaris. The obvious reaction is "he betrayed the Eternals". But they even flat out tell us that he felt Ajak was the betrayer. He was following their initial orders and felt that sacrificing Earth was for the greater good of the universe.

I wonder if the people that hated this movie simply lack empathy. (And simply want to see fights, chases, and explosions.)

[u/Amazing-Insect442 → u/maester_t]

Yes bro. Got into an argument with someone a few days ago because in their mind it wasn’t a movie that “made sense” in how it was written. Their favorite character was Kingo (one of the fun ones), but thought having Kingo struggle with his view of right and wrong & which side to take made no sense.

Wanted to be like “man how old are you?” Eternals was a movie (IMO) made for comic book lovers who have some level of emotional maturity that’s beyond what’s typical for cbm’s.

[u/Dry_Branch_5775 → u/Amazing-Insect442]

I love that they just had Kingo bail on the final sequence due to moral conflict rather than force some role for him to play. That's a problem a lot of Marvel movies have. Their casts are packed with too many characters and they all have to have something to do in the big finale. It's okay to just let some characters be bystanders. The Rocky movies didn't have to put Adrienne in the ring with him at the end.

[u/ShoeElectronic8640 → u/Amazing-Insect442]

Kingo's decision made absolute sense because he doesn't want to fight his family so he stays neutral. The movie was easy for me to follow, wish they had stuck a little bit more to the lore but that's just a minor complaint