A Different (Captain) America
Great White Snark notes that Marvel’s replacement to the recently deceased Captain America is now armed with a gun (and seems to be wearing a costume that’s coated in baby oil). GWS also notes that this runs counter to the ideals of the original character:
The original (and the best) Captain America had a strict no-killing policy. It’s what separated him from being a primary-color-clad version of the Punisher.
Is the new Cap operating sans-scruples, or is he just out to kneecap some bitches? Either way, the Captain America mantle and firearms do. Not. Belong. Together.
The original Captain America was created as a symbol of our fight against the Nazis. He was the personification of our ideals; that even in a struggle against a pure and relentless evil we would never cede our beliefs in liberty and justice. He didn’t need guns or knives; all he needed was a shield. Correction, an indestructable shield. The symbolism is as obvious as it is poetic. He was a reflection of the American soul.
Sadly, the new Captain America strikes me as a reflection of the new American soul. He represents an America that believes that we need to be just as vicious as our enemies, that we should hunt down and kill our enemies before they can do us harm, and that we can still maintain moral superiority simply by virtue of who we are, rather than what we do.
This new — “wrong” — Captain America is us. Or more appropriately, he’s everything the new America wants to be. Am I the only one that finds that unfortunate?
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[...] Yousefi of Equinox of Insanity considers symbolism: The original Captain America was created as a symbol of our fight against the Nazis. He was the [...]
You are completely wrong. Captain America has frequently used guns and killed many Nazis. If you had bothered to read many of the Golden Age Captain America comics you would have seen this to be the case, but it seems that your comments are based soley on your own nostalgia from whatever more contemporary Captain America issues you may have read.
The original Captain America is and was a fighting soldier during war. I don’t know what you imagine him being. The Nazis and the even more vicious Japanese Empire weren’t stopped by kind thoughts and platitudes; they had to be killed until they were willing to surrender.
Though I am not a great fan of the current administration, its misguided war in Iraq and most of its policies in general, I do believe our country still has foreign enemies actively seeking to do us harm. We should kill them too not out some presumed innate moral superiority or because of who we are but because of who they are and what they wish to do to democracy, liberty, freedom, and our culture and our country.
A quick search turned up a great example of just how incorrect you are regarding the original “real” Captain America. Check out the cover to Captain America Comics #41 featuring Cap shooting the crap out of the Jap Army. http://www.comics.org/coverview.lasso?id=3777&zoom=4
Hmmm, I thought I mentioned something about Captain America fighting Nazis. Let me go double check… oh look, I did. So I guess I’m not completely wrong.
An image of Captain America kicking a racist depiction of a Japanese soldier in the neck notwithstanding, the character has always been a principled one. That is what I was referring to in my post: our principles.
My point was not that we don’t have enemies, or that we shouldn’t defend ourselves against very real threats, but rather that we, as a society, have taken a dramatically more aggressive position towards what “defense” means. There was a time when we looked at the viciousness of our enemies with horror, while now many believe we should strike back with equal, or greater, viciousness. That is the change: in the name of defense, any cruelty imaginable by us is OK. This is what we see on “24,” and in the Republican debates.
Please note, I said nothing about the Bush administration in my post, because I think this isn’t about them; it’s about us. We’re the ones that have changed. Our definitions of torture have softened. Our commitment to our liberties has eroded. We’ve become, in our hearts and in our minds, very different, and I can’t help but worry that this is exactly what those asshole terrorists wanted.
I do not subscribe to the notion that you must combat fanaticism with more fanaticism, but I fear that’s the direction we’re heading. I think the updated Captain America reflects that. I also fear that the glossy finish on him makes him kind of a metrosexual, which is distressing as well. So not only is the new Captain America more violent, he’s also kind of a pussy. Truly terrible.
The Missing-the-Point Police seem to descend upon you more quickly than most other bloggers I know, Nima.
Very well put, in your post. If I wasn’t prone to wild generalities for the sake of entertainment, my thoughts on the matter would have sounded very similar.
Yeah, I think I’m using my Axe bodyspray incorrectly. Stupid sexy missing-the-point Axe Effect!
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