Why I Love Captain America and the Top Ten Things I Learned from Captain America: The Winter Soldier
In the Marvel Universe, there has never been any hero that has made me contemplate my existence more than Peter Parker/ Spiderman. How can you not love him? A lovable slightly broken down-on-his-luck orphan blessed with an abundance of smarts and cursed with the contempt of his less enlightened peers. Then the a spider bite changes his life, and Peter Parker gets heroic abilities to match his heroic heart. Did I mention he's the most awesome things to come out of Queens, New York? The Tobey McGuire-Spiderman films captured this nicely, and I fell in love with the meek slightly awkward and snarky boy trapped behind the mask.
I was never conflicted until, Marvel vexed my heart with Captain America. At the risk of sounding like a complete nincompoop, I didn't really have any respect for the Captain America story until I saw it captured on film. I couldn't just get behind a story behind a hero that was old enough to be my grandfather. But then they got me. Who doesn't love a hero trapped in a too short asthmatic body who wants to serve his country? This borough hero is Brooklyn's nobody until the super soldier serum changes his life. What I love most is that Steve Rogers/Captain America never fought with the decision to live heroically. (Admittedly, Peter Parker was a teenager when he got blessed with his gifts.) But Steve was a product of his generation, a time when people didn't really have grey areas. Every man wanted to be a hero. To be decent. To treat women with respect. Yes, Captain America is what Edward Cullen wishes he could be. Except Captain America doesn't brood, glow, or insist on a Svengali-like control over the women in his life. (It's a generalization, I know. No debates over Sharon or Peg Carter versus (sighing with annoyance) Bella.
Anyway, this post is prompted by a pleasant surprise of a film that I saw today Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Maybe it's because I don't do to enough movies (two active boys who pee every 20 minutes will do that), or maybe I'm getting old. I was floored by the sheer scale of S.H.E.I.L.D. on the screen. I need a job with this agency. I imagine there's a clothing allowance and a fantastic health plan. If only my tax dollars were spent this way, I'd be delighted. I will try not to spoil the film for the one or two people who haven't yet had the chance to see it, but dang. Just dang. This film was so good, even the closing credits blew my mind. (Silhouettes are extremely powerful when I comes to iconic images.) As I "oohed", "ahhhed" and "no he didn't"-ed my way through the movie, I kept having these random thoughts about the world of Captain America and S.H.I.E.L.D. I'll share in a minute. With all the so-called entertainment that barely manages to entertain, I am touched to the core when I see a movie that actually attempts to teach something valuable. In a time or moral ambiguity (which wrong is more right, dirty cops who do the wrong thing for the right reason, shades of grey, yada, yada, etc.), it was refreshing to see a hero who was unafraid to choose integrity over convenience. Even more refreshing was watching a hero bravely deal with the consequences of making the unpopular but right choice.
Yeah, I kind of like this Captain America.
So what random wacky thoughts were running through my mind as I watched the film? Some ruminations completely belong in the Marvel Universe others were just random observations that had broader implications.
1. Captain America might need to run for president. (My husband got upset over this. He firmly told me that Captain America is an Independent.) Let me explain. In the early portion of The Winter Soldier, Nick Fury and Captain America are in the bowels of the Triskelion discussion S.H.I.E.L.D.'s newest weapon meant to hunt baddies out by spying their DNA from space. Nick Fury explains that the world changed and conquering evil must be proactive rather than reactive. Captain America explains that when he fought evil in World War II, he fought to give freedom. Captain America told Nick Fury, that S.H.I.E.L.D. was giving people fear. (This early realization by Captain America gives us a fantastic a-ha moment.) I'll just say that good people give freedom. Bad people sell fear and take advantage of the environment of fear. Those willing to give up their freedom for the illusion of security, deserve neither freedom or security.
2. The EPA needs a far bigger budget in the Marvel Universe. With S.H.I.E.L.D. building all of this ginormous ships and what-not, you'd think they'd learn to build something that couldn't be blown up. Once again giant S.H.I.E.L.D. ships and carriers fall from the sky and land all over the place, including the Potomac and Washington, D.C. You know these things aren't fueled by gasoline, right? When the credits are over, who's cleaning that up? Who's dealing with the newest Brownfield courtesy of Hydra? The EPA needs a line item in it's budget names Avengers, S.H.I.E.L.D. or Fury. Don't tell me that can't get Tony Stark to get those Iron Men of his to help in the clean up. All I'm saying, with all the destruction and explosions, the EPA need its financial respect. (What about the ozone layer when those things came flying through the atmosphere in the Avengers movie?!)
3. Nick Fury is a baaaaaaaad shut-yo-mouth. I don't know about you, but when double agents try to kill me in my government issued bad-ass SUV, I'm peeing on myself. Not Nick. He's calling people. He's turning on the air conditioning. He's doesn't curse, sweat, or scream. And when Nick Fury gets trapped, he pulls out a blowtorch and goes through stone. He laughs in the face of danger.
4. Black characters can be cast in a film without having to utter stereotypically black phrases. Thank you for not serving stereotypes with my popcorn.
5. The government is using my tax dollars wrong. If they can build an underwater hangar to hold a super secret spy organization's toys, put a man in suspended animation, and download a man's consciousness on to a jump drive, then the government can find the money to make every weekend a three-day weekend.
6. There is nothing like a high-speed car chase to make you want to break the speed limit. Next time I get pulled over, I'm going to tell the state police that Hydra agents were chasing me to get access to the encrypted file.
7. There is nothing scary about French Algerian terrorists. I'm sorry. French accent+bad guy=giggles. "Would you like a Cabernet with your hostage situation?" "Zey weel ne-go-zee-eight!" (They will negotiate.)
8. Agent Romanov is my she-ro. Not only is she brilliant, but her face is always perfect. Who jumps off a bridge and roundhouse kicks a bad guy while managing to keep her lip gloss perfect? Before you get mad, let me just say, I love a heroine who shows young women that strong and smart are truly beautiful.
9. Captain America's shield need to be in my zombie apocalypse kit. Someone needs to get it for me STAT. It cuts through steel cans, ship hulls, yet it can still delicately slice a tomato for your BLT.
10. I am an unapologetic comic book nerd/ fan/ fanatic and cinema-phile with a love for true heroes. Everyone can be saved. No should ever be left behind. The responsibility of making the dream of a better world rests with each one of us, but we need to be committed to doing the right thing even if everyone else cowers in fear of the consequences. That's the lesson I want to teach my sons. If I can do that, then I've given the world two men with unlimited power.
I was never conflicted until, Marvel vexed my heart with Captain America. At the risk of sounding like a complete nincompoop, I didn't really have any respect for the Captain America story until I saw it captured on film. I couldn't just get behind a story behind a hero that was old enough to be my grandfather. But then they got me. Who doesn't love a hero trapped in a too short asthmatic body who wants to serve his country? This borough hero is Brooklyn's nobody until the super soldier serum changes his life. What I love most is that Steve Rogers/Captain America never fought with the decision to live heroically. (Admittedly, Peter Parker was a teenager when he got blessed with his gifts.) But Steve was a product of his generation, a time when people didn't really have grey areas. Every man wanted to be a hero. To be decent. To treat women with respect. Yes, Captain America is what Edward Cullen wishes he could be. Except Captain America doesn't brood, glow, or insist on a Svengali-like control over the women in his life. (It's a generalization, I know. No debates over Sharon or Peg Carter versus (sighing with annoyance) Bella.
Anyway, this post is prompted by a pleasant surprise of a film that I saw today Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Maybe it's because I don't do to enough movies (two active boys who pee every 20 minutes will do that), or maybe I'm getting old. I was floored by the sheer scale of S.H.E.I.L.D. on the screen. I need a job with this agency. I imagine there's a clothing allowance and a fantastic health plan. If only my tax dollars were spent this way, I'd be delighted. I will try not to spoil the film for the one or two people who haven't yet had the chance to see it, but dang. Just dang. This film was so good, even the closing credits blew my mind. (Silhouettes are extremely powerful when I comes to iconic images.) As I "oohed", "ahhhed" and "no he didn't"-ed my way through the movie, I kept having these random thoughts about the world of Captain America and S.H.I.E.L.D. I'll share in a minute. With all the so-called entertainment that barely manages to entertain, I am touched to the core when I see a movie that actually attempts to teach something valuable. In a time or moral ambiguity (which wrong is more right, dirty cops who do the wrong thing for the right reason, shades of grey, yada, yada, etc.), it was refreshing to see a hero who was unafraid to choose integrity over convenience. Even more refreshing was watching a hero bravely deal with the consequences of making the unpopular but right choice.
Yeah, I kind of like this Captain America.
So what random wacky thoughts were running through my mind as I watched the film? Some ruminations completely belong in the Marvel Universe others were just random observations that had broader implications.
1. Captain America might need to run for president. (My husband got upset over this. He firmly told me that Captain America is an Independent.) Let me explain. In the early portion of The Winter Soldier, Nick Fury and Captain America are in the bowels of the Triskelion discussion S.H.I.E.L.D.'s newest weapon meant to hunt baddies out by spying their DNA from space. Nick Fury explains that the world changed and conquering evil must be proactive rather than reactive. Captain America explains that when he fought evil in World War II, he fought to give freedom. Captain America told Nick Fury, that S.H.I.E.L.D. was giving people fear. (This early realization by Captain America gives us a fantastic a-ha moment.) I'll just say that good people give freedom. Bad people sell fear and take advantage of the environment of fear. Those willing to give up their freedom for the illusion of security, deserve neither freedom or security.
2. The EPA needs a far bigger budget in the Marvel Universe. With S.H.I.E.L.D. building all of this ginormous ships and what-not, you'd think they'd learn to build something that couldn't be blown up. Once again giant S.H.I.E.L.D. ships and carriers fall from the sky and land all over the place, including the Potomac and Washington, D.C. You know these things aren't fueled by gasoline, right? When the credits are over, who's cleaning that up? Who's dealing with the newest Brownfield courtesy of Hydra? The EPA needs a line item in it's budget names Avengers, S.H.I.E.L.D. or Fury. Don't tell me that can't get Tony Stark to get those Iron Men of his to help in the clean up. All I'm saying, with all the destruction and explosions, the EPA need its financial respect. (What about the ozone layer when those things came flying through the atmosphere in the Avengers movie?!)
3. Nick Fury is a baaaaaaaad shut-yo-mouth. I don't know about you, but when double agents try to kill me in my government issued bad-ass SUV, I'm peeing on myself. Not Nick. He's calling people. He's turning on the air conditioning. He's doesn't curse, sweat, or scream. And when Nick Fury gets trapped, he pulls out a blowtorch and goes through stone. He laughs in the face of danger.
4. Black characters can be cast in a film without having to utter stereotypically black phrases. Thank you for not serving stereotypes with my popcorn.
5. The government is using my tax dollars wrong. If they can build an underwater hangar to hold a super secret spy organization's toys, put a man in suspended animation, and download a man's consciousness on to a jump drive, then the government can find the money to make every weekend a three-day weekend.
6. There is nothing like a high-speed car chase to make you want to break the speed limit. Next time I get pulled over, I'm going to tell the state police that Hydra agents were chasing me to get access to the encrypted file.
7. There is nothing scary about French Algerian terrorists. I'm sorry. French accent+bad guy=giggles. "Would you like a Cabernet with your hostage situation?" "Zey weel ne-go-zee-eight!" (They will negotiate.)
8. Agent Romanov is my she-ro. Not only is she brilliant, but her face is always perfect. Who jumps off a bridge and roundhouse kicks a bad guy while managing to keep her lip gloss perfect? Before you get mad, let me just say, I love a heroine who shows young women that strong and smart are truly beautiful.
9. Captain America's shield need to be in my zombie apocalypse kit. Someone needs to get it for me STAT. It cuts through steel cans, ship hulls, yet it can still delicately slice a tomato for your BLT.
10. I am an unapologetic comic book nerd/ fan/ fanatic and cinema-phile with a love for true heroes. Everyone can be saved. No should ever be left behind. The responsibility of making the dream of a better world rests with each one of us, but we need to be committed to doing the right thing even if everyone else cowers in fear of the consequences. That's the lesson I want to teach my sons. If I can do that, then I've given the world two men with unlimited power.
Comments