Few things grind my gears as much as men having ridiculously specific standards for women they don’t even know, so it makes sense that this viral clip of a Marvel fan brutally rejecting a woman because she doesn’t watch Marvel movies made me cringe so hard it undid my scoliosis.
If you’re on TikTok as much as I am, chances are you’ve come across plenty of clips from The Cut’s speed dating series The Button.
Basically, the episodes involve singles sitting across from each other in a speed dating setting with a button between them. When the button lights up red, either person on the date can slam it to swap out their date for someone else. If the two potential love birds get through 10 minutes without hitting the button, they get an all expenses paid date.
Of course this has led to all kinds of tomfoolery because no one wants to be the person rejected, so they slam the button first like it’s a competition. There’s a lot of brutal rejections on this show, but few more cringe than the following.
DonnyMariaThe collective shock among the women over Maria’s rejection actually gives me life. The solidarity!!!!isshe’s
In the now infamous video (I’ve time-stamped it above for your viewing displeasure), a guy called is introduced as a Marvel fan. Which, honestly, if that’s the first thing you want to talk about on a first date with a stranger who you only know the first name of, then that’s probably a red flag in and of itself. But I digress.
Donny is matched with , who is immediately asked if she’s into Marvel.
“You know what, no, my brother watches [Marvel shows and movies] but I just can’t get into anime, like..” Maria begins, not even finishing her sentence before Donny slams the red button with the speed you would expect of someone who has just been called a slur.
Maria, the polite lass that she is, just gave an awkward laugh and said “okay…”
After giving Maria a total 11 seconds before he decidedly rejected her, Donny then explained that “you can’t not like Marvel”.
“It’s amazing,” he told her, as if this is the most undisputed truth in the world.
“There’s so many different things and it’s not anime, it’s just like, a bunch of superheroes who try to save everybody.”
If I was in this video, I’d be BURNING. But Maria said she would give it a go, said it was nice to meet him, and left with her head held high. A queen.
Honestly, look, it kind of wild that she didn’t know what Marvel was and mixed it up with anime. But also she wasn’t even given the chance to discuss it. Like, wouldn’t you just offer to watch one of the movies with her some time and move on to questions about what into, before you reject her? Maybe that’s something you can do together as a second date, if you end up having a good chat???
Rejecting someone purely for not having the same hyper specific interest as you before even giving them a chance to know what those interests are (and potentially develop them!) seems bonkers to me. You literally do not have to be obsessed with every single thing your partner is also obsessed with. People can be different! Shocking, I know.
Anyway, if you need me, I will be sliding into Maria’s DMs and becoming her friend because she actually seems lovely.
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