I am going to veer a bit from the feminist aspect to address
something that is near and dear to my heart: Captain America. More
specifically, the current comic story arc written by Nick Spencer. Several
months ago, Cap uttered those famous words, “Hail Hydra,” sending shockwaves
throughout the comic book community. People were understandably angry and
upset. They felt betrayed. I felt all of those same feelings. I was bewildered
and hurt.
I did stick with the story and breathed a sigh of relief
when it was revealed in the next issue that this version of Captain America was
all the result of Kobik, the young girl who is the embodiment of the Cosmic
Cube, re-writing Cap’s memory. So this wasn’t the real Cap but a product of
Hydra and the Red Skull. This narrative arc intersected with Civil War II. It was a decent, coherent
narrative that had some interesting aspects and ramifications to the Marvel
comic book universe.
Then Secret Empire #0 came out, and it all changed. The
basic gist of this new title is that Kobik was not re-writing Cap’s memory to
make him Hydra. Instead, Kobik was revealing Cap’s real memories as SHIELD had
previously used the cosmic cube to re-write the whole Cap’s history to make him
the hero. In this new world, not only is Captain America a Hydra spy, but he
helped the Axis powers win WWII. Yep, instead of punching Hitler in the face,
Steve Rogers was helping Nazis win the war. Captain America was never part of
the Avengers, fighting alongside them; he was always their enemy.
Of course, there’s the historical ramifications. Captain
America was created as a critique of the US’ non-involvement in WWII. He was
punching Hitler before the face before the US ever entered in the war. When the
predominant feeling of the country was for the US to stay out of the problems
of Europe and the rise of Hitler, Captain America and Marvel took that evil
head on.
Here’s why this hurts me on a profound level. To me, Captain
America has always stood as the embodiment of what America should be. No matter
the challenge; he always stood up for what was right. It didn’t matter what
another person looked like; Captain America was there to serve. Steve Rogers
believed in the best of humanity despite having seen its worst. He was a
reminder that despite our failings, humanity is ultimately good. This is a
message that we need so much today. When we turn on the news every night and
see children from war-torn countries struggling to survive, it is important to
have faith that there is still good in the world. There are still people
willing to stand up and do the right thing no matter the cost.
On another personal note, Captain America has always been a
source of inspiration. Several weeks back as I mentioned, I left a podcast that
meant something to me because I wasn’t free to really speak my truth and call
out the negativity that I saw. When I was trying to decide what I should do,
the words that kept going through my mind were Cap’s from Civil War when he was
speaking to Peter Parker: “…Doesn’t matter if the whole country decides that
something wrong is something right. This nation was founded on one principle
above all else: The requirement that we stand up for what we believe, no matter
the odds or the consequences. When the mob and the press and the whole world
tell you to move, your job is to plant yourself like a tree beside the river of
truth, and tell the whole world – No, YOU move.” This a motto to live by. It’s
what gave me strength in that moment to walk away from something I cared about
because it was the right thing to do.
It’s been a rallying cry to the resistance in the wake of
Trump’s election. When I saw that Donald Trump won in November, I felt like I
didn’t know the country I was living in. I was saddened and disappointed that
fear and hate had won the day. It didn’t feel like the country that I grew up
in. I couldn’t understand how this could happen; I wondered where the goodness
of this country went. I turned to those words of Captain America to fuel my
spirit of dissent. Despite the results, I still knew what was right and what
this country should be. It was now my duty to “plant myself like a tree”
whenever I saw injustice. I had a rallying cry, something to get behind.
Captain America was where I found my strength.
I wasn’t the only one. I saw that familiar panel plastered
across Facebook and Twitter. We knew what we had to do. We couldn’t let hate
and evil win. It’s possible that this current story arc may resolve itself
without destroying all that we hold dear when it comes to Captain America, but
right now, it feels like a punch to the gut. When we needed him the most to
remind us not of what America is but what it should be, Captain America has
been ripped away from us. It may just be a story to some, but to me, it was a
source of power and escape from the despair of the ugliness of the world.
Now, we are left with a world where good doesn’t triumph
over evil. In fact, the most evil enterprise in the world, Nazism (I don’t care
that they are trying to make this more about Hydra and not about the Nazi
party), has triumphed. While this may be the way we feel about the state of the
world, we need to be reminded that goodness can prevail.
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