The Captain America problem
If this superhero performs badly due to anti-American feeling it will be a pity, because it’s starting to look rather decent There’s nothing like a good comic book origins story to ramp up excitement levels. The moment where Superman first outpaces a speeding train in Richard Donner’s 1978 film; the bit in Spider-Man where Tobey Maguire stands in front of the mirror and flexes his new-found muscles; the segue in Daredevil where Ben Affleck first dons that purple gimp suit (OK, maybe not so much the latter). Superhero stories speak to the child in all of us, the small boy or girl dreaming of growing up to be something bigger and better. The sense of anticipation that adulthood may open up boundless possibilities is at the heart of our fascination with the form. Captain America: The First Avenger, for which the first full trailer dropped this morning, wisely pitches its own moment of metamorphosis. Steve Rogers (a digitally shrunken Chris Evans) is introduced as a scrawny weakling turned down by the US army, before being transformed into the world’s first “super soldier” via a serum developed by German scientist Stanley Tucci (who seems to be channelling Werner Herzog) to help him fight the Nazis. Riffing off the aspects of Captain America’s origins story, which speak to the universal desire within all of us to be special, was always going to be a smart move for Marvel and director Joe Johnston. And yet if the film’s producers hope to really engage worldwide audiences, they are going to need to sidestep something we’ll call the “Captain America problem”. It ought not to be all that difficult. Put simply, it’s the name. Try as one might to ignore it, it hints at the worst reaches of US nationalism, the gung-ho attitude parodied in films such as Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s wonderful Team America . After eight years of Dubya, the world at large is not exactly primed to wrap itself up in the old red, white and blue, and Captain America is even being titled The First Avenger in some territories in an attempt to sidestep anti-US sentiment. Yet it’s worth remembering that historically the character is no rightwing stooge. Captain America was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby partly as a polemical device to argue for the US intervention in the second world war at a time prior to Pearl Harbor, when many were arguing that the country should avoid fighting the Nazis. The first instalment even featured Rogers punching Hitler in the face – Quentin Tarantino, eat your heart out. While the 1950s Captain America did briefly get caught up in the anti-communist fervour of the time as “Captain America: Commie Smasher”, Marvel later “ret-conned” the entire period to suggest that an insane imposter had been wearing Rogers’ costume, a move that mimicked America’s own shame over McCarthy-era persecution. Later on, Rogers almost hung up his suit following the Watergate scandals, and, recently, Marvel has been accused of leftwing bias by the likes of Fox News, following an edition of the comic book in which a raging mob were apparently compared to the Tea Party movement . If Johnston is looking to avoid upsetting those with anti-American sentiments, he ought to keep the character’s liberal origins in mind, because nobody wants “Captain America: fuck yeah!” Thanks to the period setting, it should not be too hard to play down his “Americanness” as a product of wartime patriotic fervour, rather than a conduit for the grimmer realms of US nationalism. In many ways, Rogers is more a man of the people than, say, Superman or Batman, because in theory he might easily have been any one of us. Simon and Kirby conceived him as a character who would fight for all those who believe in what is right and true, not just the Sarah Palin brigade. If the movie does end up performing weakly outside the US due to anti-American sensibilities, it might just be a pity, because Johnson’s film is starting to look rather decent. While it’s always hard to judge these things based on a trailer, I’m liking the heavily filtered, stylised look (even if it screams Zack Snyder’s Watchmen ). It used to be that period movies were shot in black and white in an attempt at authenticity: these days it seems that boosting the teal and tan in post-production is the accepted method for convincing us we’ve slipped back in time. Furthermore, who wouldn’t enjoy Tommy Lee Jones’s gruff and grizzled US army officer – the veteran actor doing a far better job of that particular Hollywood cliche than Brad Pitt ever managed in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds . Based on the new trailer, how does Captain America: The First Avenger strike you? And would the name put you off? Action and adventure Comics and graphic novels Ben Child guardian.co.uk
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on March 24, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News.
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The Captain America problem
If this superhero performs badly due to anti-American feeling it will be a pity, because it’s starting to look rather decent There’s nothing like a good comic book origins story to ramp up excitement levels. The moment where Superman first outpaces a speeding train in Richard Donner’s 1978 film; the bit in Spider-Man where Tobey Maguire stands in front of the mirror and flexes his new-found muscles; the segue in Daredevil where Ben Affleck first dons that purple gimp suit (OK, maybe not so much the latter). Superhero stories speak to the child in all of us, the small boy or girl dreaming of growing up to be something bigger and better. The sense of anticipation that adulthood may open up boundless possibilities is at the heart of our fascination with the form. Captain America: The First Avenger, for which the first full trailer dropped this morning, wisely pitches its own moment of metamorphosis. Steve Rogers (a digitally shrunken Chris Evans) is introduced as a scrawny weakling turned down by the US army, before being transformed into the world’s first “super soldier” via a serum developed by German scientist Stanley Tucci (who seems to be channelling Werner Herzog) to help him fight the Nazis. Riffing off the aspects of Captain America’s origins story, which speak to the universal desire within all of us to be special, was always going to be a smart move for Marvel and director Joe Johnston. And yet if the film’s producers hope to really engage worldwide audiences, they are going to need to sidestep something we’ll call the “Captain America problem”. It ought not to be all that difficult. Put simply, it’s the name. Try as one might to ignore it, it hints at the worst reaches of US nationalism, the gung-ho attitude parodied in films such as Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s wonderful Team America . After eight years of Dubya, the world at large is not exactly primed to wrap itself up in the old red, white and blue, and Captain America is even being titled The First Avenger in some territories in an attempt to sidestep anti-US sentiment. Yet it’s worth remembering that historically the character is no rightwing stooge. Captain America was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby partly as a polemical device to argue for the US intervention in the second world war at a time prior to Pearl Harbor, when many were arguing that the country should avoid fighting the Nazis. The first instalment even featured Rogers punching Hitler in the face – Quentin Tarantino, eat your heart out. While the 1950s Captain America did briefly get caught up in the anti-communist fervour of the time as “Captain America: Commie Smasher”, Marvel later “ret-conned” the entire period to suggest that an insane imposter had been wearing Rogers’ costume, a move that mimicked America’s own shame over McCarthy-era persecution. Later on, Rogers almost hung up his suit following the Watergate scandals, and, recently, Marvel has been accused of leftwing bias by the likes of Fox News, following an edition of the comic book in which a raging mob were apparently compared to the Tea Party movement . If Johnston is looking to avoid upsetting those with anti-American sentiments, he ought to keep the character’s liberal origins in mind, because nobody wants “Captain America: fuck yeah!” Thanks to the period setting, it should not be too hard to play down his “Americanness” as a product of wartime patriotic fervour, rather than a conduit for the grimmer realms of US nationalism. In many ways, Rogers is more a man of the people than, say, Superman or Batman, because in theory he might easily have been any one of us. Simon and Kirby conceived him as a character who would fight for all those who believe in what is right and true, not just the Sarah Palin brigade. If the movie does end up performing weakly outside the US due to anti-American sensibilities, it might just be a pity, because Johnson’s film is starting to look rather decent. While it’s always hard to judge these things based on a trailer, I’m liking the heavily filtered, stylised look (even if it screams Zack Snyder’s Watchmen ). It used to be that period movies were shot in black and white in an attempt at authenticity: these days it seems that boosting the teal and tan in post-production is the accepted method for convincing us we’ve slipped back in time. Furthermore, who wouldn’t enjoy Tommy Lee Jones’s gruff and grizzled US army officer – the veteran actor doing a far better job of that particular Hollywood cliche than Brad Pitt ever managed in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds . Based on the new trailer, how does Captain America: The First Avenger strike you? And would the name put you off? Action and adventure Comics and graphic novels Ben Child guardian.co.uk
Posted by
on March 24, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News.
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The Captain America problem
If this superhero performs badly due to anti-American feeling it will be a pity, because it’s starting to look rather decent There’s nothing like a good comic book origins story to ramp up excitement levels. The moment where Superman first outpaces a speeding train in Richard Donner’s 1978 film; the bit in Spider-Man where Tobey Maguire stands in front of the mirror and flexes his new-found muscles; the segue in Daredevil where Ben Affleck first dons that purple gimp suit (OK, maybe not so much the latter). Superhero stories speak to the child in all of us, the small boy or girl dreaming of growing up to be something bigger and better. The sense of anticipation that adulthood may open up boundless possibilities is at the heart of our fascination with the form. Captain America: The First Avenger, for which the first full trailer dropped this morning, wisely pitches its own moment of metamorphosis. Steve Rogers (a digitally shrunken Chris Evans) is introduced as a scrawny weakling turned down by the US army, before being transformed into the world’s first “super soldier” via a serum developed by German scientist Stanley Tucci (who seems to be channelling Werner Herzog) to help him fight the Nazis. Riffing off the aspects of Captain America’s origins story, which speak to the universal desire within all of us to be special, was always going to be a smart move for Marvel and director Joe Johnston. And yet if the film’s producers hope to really engage worldwide audiences, they are going to need to sidestep something we’ll call the “Captain America problem”. It ought not to be all that difficult. Put simply, it’s the name. Try as one might to ignore it, it hints at the worst reaches of US nationalism, the gung-ho attitude parodied in films such as Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s wonderful Team America . After eight years of Dubya, the world at large is not exactly primed to wrap itself up in the old red, white and blue, and Captain America is even being titled The First Avenger in some territories in an attempt to sidestep anti-US sentiment. Yet it’s worth remembering that historically the character is no rightwing stooge. Captain America was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby partly as a polemical device to argue for the US intervention in the second world war at a time prior to Pearl Harbor, when many were arguing that the country should avoid fighting the Nazis. The first instalment even featured Rogers punching Hitler in the face – Quentin Tarantino, eat your heart out. While the 1950s Captain America did briefly get caught up in the anti-communist fervour of the time as “Captain America: Commie Smasher”, Marvel later “ret-conned” the entire period to suggest that an insane imposter had been wearing Rogers’ costume, a move that mimicked America’s own shame over McCarthy-era persecution. Later on, Rogers almost hung up his suit following the Watergate scandals, and, recently, Marvel has been accused of leftwing bias by the likes of Fox News, following an edition of the comic book in which a raging mob were apparently compared to the Tea Party movement . If Johnston is looking to avoid upsetting those with anti-American sentiments, he ought to keep the character’s liberal origins in mind, because nobody wants “Captain America: fuck yeah!” Thanks to the period setting, it should not be too hard to play down his “Americanness” as a product of wartime patriotic fervour, rather than a conduit for the grimmer realms of US nationalism. In many ways, Rogers is more a man of the people than, say, Superman or Batman, because in theory he might easily have been any one of us. Simon and Kirby conceived him as a character who would fight for all those who believe in what is right and true, not just the Sarah Palin brigade. If the movie does end up performing weakly outside the US due to anti-American sensibilities, it might just be a pity, because Johnson’s film is starting to look rather decent. While it’s always hard to judge these things based on a trailer, I’m liking the heavily filtered, stylised look (even if it screams Zack Snyder’s Watchmen ). It used to be that period movies were shot in black and white in an attempt at authenticity: these days it seems that boosting the teal and tan in post-production is the accepted method for convincing us we’ve slipped back in time. Furthermore, who wouldn’t enjoy Tommy Lee Jones’s gruff and grizzled US army officer – the veteran actor doing a far better job of that particular Hollywood cliche than Brad Pitt ever managed in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds . Based on the new trailer, how does Captain America: The First Avenger strike you? And would the name put you off? Action and adventure Comics and graphic novels Ben Child guardian.co.uk
Posted by
on March 24, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News.
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