Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Since I saw Captain America: The Winter Soldier yesterday, naturally I had to work the movie into a blog post. The film actually did spark some reminders about themes that we've talked about in class. Possibly most obviously, I thought of the topic of superheroes being role models. I agree with the issue that movies usually put way too much emphasis on superheroes' physicality, macho-ness, and no-emotion personalities. I've always thought Captain America was an exception to this negative superhero stereotype, but I especially noticed good superhero-role-model qualities in this particular film. These positive qualities weren't just based on Captain America himself, but also on his attitude towards his surroundings. Some might argue that Captain America is just as bad as other superhero movies because his power comes from his strength that was given to him through a very unnatural scientific process. Although he does accomplish his missions because of this physical strength, his true power (repeated again and again in the movies) is in his good heart, powerful mind, and unfailing code of ethics. Without these innate characteristics of Steve Rogers, he wouldn't really be "Captain America;" he'd just be some meathead with big muscles.

This is further proven in the fact that he has to solve his problems using his brain and moral code. Steve Rogers continuously tells people that all his life he's just wanted to do the right thing. He hardly ever puts any emphasis on his physical strength. Even when he loses his sense of path at times, he never turns to just flat out using brute force to get his way. This being said, there is a lot of violence in the movie. Captain America singlehandedly knocks out an absurd amount of men all trying to capture him as the entire group is stuffed in an elevator. If he needs to get a job done, Steve will use his strength. What I think is especially interesting about this aspect, though, is that (as far as I can remember), he never uses a gun...or, for that matter, any weapon besides his shield and his fighting skills. This brings the idea to mind that he's being put into more of a defensive position (defending himself, defending S.H.I.E.L.D., defending the word against evil) because he uses a shield (an object of defense) as his only weapon. He's not the instigator of the violence. Other superheroes might be negative role models for little kids, but I think Steve Rogers can hold his own and definitely deserves the title of Captain America.