Just A Kid From Brooklyn

I'm coming late to the party, in terms of seeing "Captain America: The First Avenger." But when I really think about it, that's a little apt. I knew the movie had potential, I just needed to wait for the right break in my schedule to take action and watch it, much as Steve Rogers the ninety-pound weakling just needed the opportunity to prove himself in order to change the world as Captain America.

Hmm, that's a pretty shameless shirtless Chris Evans shot, isn't it? Oh, well. Onward and upward!

I've always wondered myself what it is that draws people to Captain America. I mean, in the movie, he wears a very tailored soldier's armor that just happens to be painted red, white and blue, thanks to a USO debacle (easily the funniest sequence in the movie):

But in the comics, he's historically looked like this:

Watch out, guys! Here's a huge moving target coming right at you! With winged ears, to boot!

Now I realize thinking of this costume as a bit too much is pretty nuts, and at least, hypocritical. I mean, some of my favorite superheroes have dressed like this in the past:





1) Superman Red and Superman Blue, you both look like you stepped out of Tron.
2) Wonder Woman, there is no space in your costume to store that arsenal. Also, watch out for super-wedgies!
3) Green Lantern Kyle, I do not understand that white stripe or your fingerless gloves.

But I digress. Captain America's gaudiness and longevity has always struck me as particularly crazy, given his phenom heyday was as a propaganda comic bolstering American optimism during World War II. I was never sure what it was about him that captivated imaginations so long after Hitler was defeated.

The movie put things into perspective for me, though. Several times, the characters point out that they're not following Captain America, but the kid from Brooklyn who wanted to serve, powers notwithstanding. Steve even points out that when getting the crud kicked out of him by the Red Skull.

And much is made of Steve exceeding expectations before or after becoming a Super Soldier, precisely because he is a good person. That's the basic point of the movie, actually; Steve was always a hero, he just needed the opportunity to take action, and that requires others to believe in his capabilities as a human being. (SPOILER?) Taking this tack, his sacrifice at the end of the movie is sad in that he loses the chance at a happy life with the totally awesome Peggy Carter by making the ultimate sacrifice, a heroic choice that will save millions of people. But it's a happy moment in that he relies on his humanity to do right by others; he fulfills the need to serve and protect he's been nourishing the whole movie. (END SPOILER!)

So, all in all, this movie showed me exactly WHY this character is still popular today. A youngster getting the chance to make good is a typical story in early American fiction, but I'd also argue it's the lens through which we view America throughout history. We were the underdogs who understood we had so much more to offer than imports for our colonial fathers. As a nation, despite growing cynicism over the past thirty years or so, there's still a current of "can-do" spirit surging in non-profit work or even in canny political moves. As Americans, we started as the 90 pound weakling, and then because we believed in ourselves and our scrappy strength, we come out on top as a world power (not always morally, but with the foundation of our country relying on a moral imperative).

Now. What's going to happen to that world power in today's reality is not what was going on in WW II, but what happens in our fantastic belief in our abilities -- well, that's up to each individual, just as it was up to Steve in this movie.

POST-SCRIPT: Captain America is the result of mythologizing, but the complications of what "Man As Symbol" does to a person has been a large part of Ed Brubaker's stunning years-long run on the Captain America comic. Check it out if you want to see America viewed through a variety of lenses, both heroic and compromised.