MovieChat Forums > Spider-Man 2 (2004) Discussion > Something I never understood

Something I never understood

posted 6 years ago by realbullet1 (101)
16 replies | jump to latest

Having recently watched this movie for the first time in years, there is one scene in particular which I never completely understood. So in the scene where Peter is outside waiting for MJ after her play rehearsal, they catch up and start talking.

The scene is within the dialogue, Peter asks MJ about getting food "chow mein", then she turns at him in disgust and says she can't because she's getting married. I never understood this. Was she on some sort of diet where she can't have chow mein before getting married (sort of like how there are certain foods pregnant women can't have)?? Did she not like chow mein and Peter forgot? What exactly was her reason? And the way she looked at Peter made it seem like he would know she can't have chow mein.

[–] Otter (24464) 6 years ago

She's an actress, if an actress is ever seen to eat carbs in public she's banned from her profession and has to wait tables as long as she lives! Don't you know that? Everyone knows that!

[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

It would give her diarrhea. You don't want that while wearing a wedding dress.

[–] DracTarashV2 (4493) 6 years ago

The problem is he wanted to take her out to dinner — a date! She immediately saw what he was trying to do (i.e. win her back) and so she turned him down. It wasn’t exactly the chow mein’s fault. :)

[–] AP (5288) 6 years ago

^ Exactly this.

Peter wanted her back and she reminded him that she was getting married.

[–] realbullet1 (101) 6 years ago

Are you sure? Maybe that could be the case but I could never tell with her character. She rarely ever gave straight forward answers. Maybe poor writing?

[–] DracTarashV2 (4493) 6 years ago

Yea, I’m pretty sure. I mean, how idk how else you can interpret that scene (I thought she was pretty direct there). Her being on a diet or simply not being a fan of chow mein isn’t something that was alluded to at all. But poor writing? Yeah, some people will agree with that actually. As much as I like MJ’s presence in these films, the writing for her character wasn’t the best.

[–] TaRaNRoD (1579) 5 years ago

"She rarely ever gave straight forward answers."

In my experience, this characterize modt women. They rarely really say what they think or really want.

Just look at all the women who instead of saying that they are not interested, they simply hint at it and not always in an obvious way. So sick and tired of women's bullshit.

[–] AmeriGirl26 (14381) 6 years ago

I think she was also disgusted that he was still trying to date her, despite her being engaged.

[–] hurricane (1959) 5 years ago

I always thought this was slightly badly done. She seems to still be on friendly terms with him, so asking if she wants to grab something to eat seemed innocuous enough.

I know that in context, Peter could've perceived it as a romantic dinner, and MJ knew that so shot him down. So, it's not like I didn't understand what was happening.

But they were standing there talking, seemingly friendly, then he says; "Want to grab some chow-mein?" and she was like; "Ugggh. I'm getting married...." First time I saw this film, I was like; "Married people are still allowed to eat."

[–] GreenGoblinsOck8 (7699) 5 years ago

I frankly hated how MJ was written in this movie and that John Jameson who has had good stories was written as just some random guy Mary Jane just decides to date. I am in the minority hating this movie.

[–] punkrockgirl (1269) 2 years ago

I don't think that should be a reason to hate the movie. I agree with you that MJ is terrible as a character and I dislike the way she was written, but I still love this movie

[–] BurningSun (717) 5 years ago

Seriously? Some of y’all are looking too hard into this. She reacts that way because Peter asked her out on a date, even though she’s engaged. Nothing to do with the food or being on a diet. She’s in a relationship and another man is trying to suit her. Not complicated.

[–] GreenGoblinsOck8 (7699) 4 years ago

I'm not even talking this scene. I hate how she commits to marry a man she doesn't love and also how she doesn't break up with him at the end til the day of the wedding.

[–] dominate426 (51) 4 years ago

Peter turned her down in the previous movie. What else did you expect her to do? Wait for Peter to change his mind? Keep in mind, two years had already past and Peter was still distant towards her (for obvious reasons).

[–] GreenGoblinsOck8 (7699) 4 years ago

That's just it though. That whole thing of him rejecting her cause he's scared of his enemies finding out his identity was not in the 60s and 70s comics that Raimi based his movies off of. It's all a bunch of made up Bologna. Then again so is Peter Parker being like Clark Kent. Personally I wish Raimi could have been allowed to do the first movie like how he wanted to with Gwen being in it instead of MJ and having her get killed by the Green Goblin at the end. And then the moron Avi Arad convinced him not to do it because people would expect it. Which is bullcrap. Only the minority of people familiar with comics would have expected it. The majority of the audience would have been shocked by it.

Not to mention no Superhero movie had killed off the love interest (Superman 1 doesn't count) before and it would've been a unique thing to do. Actually, that would've fixed both Spider-Man 2 and 3 for me. I wish that had been the way it was and that Spider-Man 2 and 3 hadn't been so repeatitive. But that's just me. And now Sony is going as far from the basis of the comics as possible in the new movies to the point where his supporting cast is a bunch of a made up bologna. It really sucks.

[–] millsey72 (10243) 2 years ago

Eating chow mein before your wedding gives you bad luck. I'm sure MJ would have gone if Peter offered to take somewhere for pizza