I've always been sort of defensive about Captain America. Of all the comic book heroes out there, I often found that I liked this character the best, and for many reasons.
Cap is one of those characters who seem timeless. He's strong, resilient, a capable leader, and highly principled and liberty-minded. Even when people far more powerful than him have been defeated, he's still standing, not because he has something to prove, but because he has to. He's the only one that can, and even if he's the only one left, he'll keep fighting until he can't.
This is America, and that's part of what makes Cap so timeless. He embodies the American ideal.
Back in 2016, as "Captain America: Civil War" was being released, a strong push from the LGBT activist community and internet leftists came out of the blue to make Steve Rogers gay, or at the very least, bisexual. They wanted this because they believed that his relationship with his best friend, Bucky Barnes, was more than just friendship and that the two should be lovers. I thought it was insulting, and not just to the character, but the men and women who served in our armed forces, many of whom developed very close bonds through the battles they fought alongside each other. Moreover, I made it clear that Cap wasn't gay because he has a very firm moral compass that wouldn't allow him to be.
I wrote an article fending off these attempts to sexualize Captain America at The Federalist then, but I feel like I need to come back and defend him now, almost 10 years later from the man who has taken up the shield, Anthony Mackie.
As Bonchie wrote on Tuesday, Mackie made the mistake of saying Captain America shouldn't represent America:
For me, Captain America represents a lot of different things & I don’t think the term, you know, "America" should be one of those representations. It’s about a man who keeps his word, who has honor, dignity, and integrity. Someone who is trustworthy and dependable.
That's a generic way to describe a lot of heroes, but Captain America is unique in various ways, chief among those ways, is that he is the representation of the ideal of the United States of America.
America is a nation based in Judeo-Christian ideas that values liberty-minded principles, even to the point where it's willing to go against the government to see these ideals upheld. Even before Disney/Marvel went off the rails, they understood this.
Two of my favorite moments from the MCU was Cap just before he confronted Loki in "The Avengers" where, after being informed that Loki was a god by Black Widow, looked at her and said "there's only one God ma'am, and I'm pretty sure He doesn't dress like that."
Funny, but what really solidifies Captain America for me isn't just this moment, it was the moment he argued for keeping The Avengers out of government control, making arguments that you and I would likely use when confronted with the same complications.
"This is run by people with agendas, and agendas change."
This is easily the best Marvel movie, by the way.
This is Captain America because this is what America, if personified, would do and say. If you suddenly strip the character of its American values, or even deny its virtues as American-based, then he stops being Captain America. He is not "Captain Global," nor is he just "Captain." With this character, the base of his personality is literally in his name.
But the thing about Cap is that being who he is naturally makes him a target for deconstruction, and you'll find this happening to characters with a lot of Western importance. Back in 2010, when the Chronicles of Narnia made it to the silver screen, Liam Neeson, who played Aslan in the movie, said that Aslan is also based on other deities such as Mohammed and Buddha, which is absolutely incorrect. Aslan was always an allegory for Christ.
Why do something so ridiculous as this?
Two reasons. Firstly, these ridiculous actors surround themselves with people who hate America and as such, they believe America, or the beliefs widely held therein, aren't that popular. They believe that by denying the root of the character, they'll attract more people to watch the movie. Neeson saying Aslan is also Mohammed was a ham-fisted way of trying to attract, not Muslims, but atheists and lefties to pay for a ticket to watch a movie based on Christian principles.
Mackie is doing this same thing here, attempting to paint the movie as something a wider audience can enjoy, even if you hate America, because Captain America doesn't represent America now! He believes this will make the character appeal to a larger money pool.
Did he see the last election? Has he been paying attention to the box office numbers of woke creations? America is in. Denying it is out.
The other reason has more to do with the fact that Hollywood is, at its core, anti-American. It despises us, especially with this last election showing how much we want to get away from their ideals. Deconstructing Captain America isn't just lucrative, they think it's necessary for a better America.
This breaks the logic of Captain America, making it something other than the character we know and love.
I discuss this concept of logic breaking in more detail in my latest YouTube video.
All in all, Captain America is worth defending as a character because ultimately, Captain America represents the American spirit, and if have that, then he represents you.
