Dan Slott talks MJ @ 52:30. Says 1 dimensional party girl MJ from Romita Sr. is the "real" MJ, and she somehow got less good because of the marriage?
Seriously?! All the depth and backstory that added layers to her character that fans credit to MJ somehow made her less good?! Thats the very reason she is one of the best characters in comics. If she never had that depth, she'd be a one-note bore!
MJ wouldn't have NEAR the fan following and love if not for the marriage years. She'd be another background love interest. She's so embedded in the hearts and minds of fans today because of the marriage years.
Also, he pulls the card that fans who talk about their favorite stories fromt he marraige years can only name few. It's not the stories ABOUT the marriage, it's all the moments that we enjoy that we get to see Peter experience when the stories are not even about that. A Spidey story can be mediocre, unrelated to the topic of Peter's marraige, and you can still have great characer moments in it that make the book great. Sometimes, a single page from the marriage made a otherwise mediocre book a highlight in my collection!
Basically, the marraige was a status quo, it wasn't the focus of the book. It's like asking fans to pinpoint great Daily Bugle stories, or great college stories, etc... What does the era have to do with the stories? How many stories are actually ABOUT the Bugle, or ABOUT high school, etc...?
It was fun to see Peter in those settings, in those scenarios, but it wasn't the reason for good or bad stories, and both good and bad stories can be written regardless of the status quo. You can write characters however you want regardless of whether they are married. MJ doesn't have to be written the way Dan didn't like in the marriage.... in fact, she really hasn't acted that way... there are plenty of times she cut loose. She just had more facets of her personality exposed so we got to see her act different ways at different times, giving her more depth, making her REAL.
Yeah Dan, MJ just totally lost her personality during the marriage. >_>