Remember 2014 when the idea of our government being taken over by white nationalists, fascists, and, yes, even Nazis seemed so far-fetched that it was the plot of a Marvel Cinematic Universe masterpiece? Well, now we live in a time where such an idea is so realistic the internet has responded with entire reams of memes on Nazi-punching.
See what I mean?
That 2014 MCU offering of which I speak is, naturally, Captain America: The Winter Soldier. I’m sad to say, this movie’s seemingly preposterous plot might just have a lot to say to us in 2017. So go watch it right now. Trust me, it will reward you upon rewatch.
Racism is a fundamental part of American history and culture. That’s not just current events, that’s basically the entire existence of our nation. Sadly, it’s part of the bedrock that formed us. We enshrined in our founding document the belief that some people were less human than others so much that we even got numerically specific: an African American was worth 3/5 of a white American.
This dogged us through a Civil War fought against traitors; brothers and sisters rebelling in order to protect the institution of slavery. In the early 20th century, we had a thriving, organized, and outspoken Nazi Party. In 1927, the Ku Klux Klan rioted in the streets of New York City in solidarity with their brethren who burned crosses and hung African Americans further south. We treated eugenics like real science. We even advertised Los Angeles as “The Great White Spot of America” to entice racists to move out West. It was pretty terrible.
These colors don’t run…together.
But then we had the Civil Rights Movement. Martin Luther King. Malcolm X. Rosa Parks. Everything would be fine now. People of all races are equal in the USA, just like they were always meant to be. Right?!
Eh, not so much. While it’s true that 2017 is neither 1950 nor 1850, it isn’t exactly a racial paradise where equality is a dream come true. Now we have the current administration putting so-called Alt-Right Nazis in high-level positions and emboldening white supremacists to march on Charlottesville in defense of monuments to traitors. Those monuments were purposefully erected in the 1920s to remind African Americans who are in charge south of the Mason-Dixon.
Alt-Right, White Nationalists, Fascists, Nazis – whatever you want to call them – they’re among us and in 2017 they feel increasingly legitimized. They’re so brazen they don’t even bother to wear hoods anymore. And with that boldness comes a renewed sense of both actual and threatened violence. It only makes sense that I’d turn to the most famous Nazi Puncher of all: Steve Rogers, Captain America.
DOIN’ IT SINCE DAY ONE, SON!
In Winter Soldier, much like America in 2017, Captain America is discovering that the institutions he supported were actually rotten. He operates inside SHIELD, an organization without the capacity to trust even a stalwart like Cap. Even before we realize that SHIELD is actually just Hydra with a coat of star spangled paint, Fury is willing to “neutralize a lot of threats before they even happen.”
Torn apart by this information, Steve has some soul searching to do. He does this by returning to a time when things were pure and made sense. Or he gets as close as he can by visiting the one-time love of his life, the now aged master spy Peggy Carter. Peggy advises Cap, “All we can do is our best. And sometimes the best we can do is start over.”
Even these idiots get it.
Cap comes to realize that Hydra is, in fact, at the rotten center of SHIELD. After World War II, Hydra observed that trying to take people’s freedom by force created heroes to fight them. They realized that convincing people they should give away their freedom in the name of security was the wave of the future. And so they infiltrated SHIELD and all levels of several governments – especially the USA – in order to create a shadow of constant and manufactured threat.
For those of us paying attention, this should sound familiar because Hydra, who are all totally Nazis, is pulling straight from the Nazi and Alt-Right playbook. Use propaganda and a diseased sense of entitlement to create a villain –in the real world case, people of color– and make them the terrifying Other so whites feel comfortable declaring war on them for no better reason than their skin color. Fear = Control, either through the creation of a fake threat to the white American or actual violence against the American of color.
It’s also here that Cap gets some advice from Alexander Pierce, the shadowy puppet master within SHIELD who is actively Hydra. Pierce says, “To build a really better world sometimes means having to tear the old one down. And that makes enemies.”
On the surface, Pierce’s advice might sound very similar to Peggy’s. But I believe there is a fundamental difference between them that is illustrated in the movie by the introduction of the Winter Soldier, aka Cap’s best friend, Bucky Barnes.
Cap lost Bucky during World War II. We discover that Hydra captured Bucky, physically augmenting and mentally reprogramming him to create the killing machine known as the Winter Soldier. But Cap only sees his friend. He only recognizes the man who saved his life and whose life he saved countless times in ways both big and small, on the battlefield and in the schoolyard. And Cap, despite all odds and, is going to save him again.
How can you say no to those puppy dog eyes?
Cap’s great bid to save Bucky happens alongside the coordinated effort to literally destroy SHIELD. He never hesitates. When Fury isn’t convinced, Cap’s response is “SHIELD. Hydra. It all goes.”
When the core is rotten, even if there are good bits attached to it, you tear down the whole edifice to build a new one. The core of SHIELD is Nazis, so you burn it down.
Which is what Sam, Steve’s new friend, thinks about Bucky. “I don’t know if he’s the kind you save,” Sam says to Cap. “He’s the kind you stop.”
Cap disagrees. Because when the core is good, you strip off the rotten bits and shore up the edifice. The core of Bucky is compassion, so you start over.
Knowing it will take all hands, Cap makes an impassioned plea to whatever people remain in SHIELD that aren’t Hydra.
“Hydra will be able to kill anyone who stands in their way. Unless we stop them. I know I’m asking a lot. The price of freedom is high. Always has been. And it’s a price I’m willing to pay. And if I’m the only one, then so be it. But I’m willing to bet I’m not.”
It’s at this point that what’s left of patriots and good people inside SHIELD stand up to the threat they didn’t know existed until that moment. With the rallying cry of “Captain’s orders,” they refuse to do even the tiniest acts that would aid and abet a cause of fear and evil.
And SHIELD falls, taking Hydra along with it. All the secrets are laid bare. The evil that was this corrupt-from-the-core organization is out in the open. And evil cannot abide the light of truth or the light of people willing to do good.
But what about Bucky? Eventually, even Bucky obeys Captain’s orders. Because while there is still some desire to do evil left in him, the knowledge of his friend calls to the goodness at his core. Bucky does not fall. His secrets are laid bare, but in a way that lets him start over rather than be torn down. He is the kind you save.
The war of ideas dramatized in this movie is happening right now in ways both overt and subtle. Here’s a couple of examples.
As a longtime superhero fan, I’d like to be able to point you to Captain America comics. But I can’t. Some creators who are probably not overt bigots themselves are, however, willing to use hurtful, bigoted ideas to sell a product. Nick Spencer and other creators at Marvel are trying to say something “relevant” by revealing that Captain America is and always has been a Nazi. It’s a childish grab at piquing outrage by using an icon whose creators would not have joined this cause. It’s a fundamental misunderstanding of the ideals on which the character was founded.
Seriously. Fuck this shit forever.
Similarly, mere days ago we witnessed hateful bigots trying desperately to remain “relevant” in Charlottesville by defending a monument of Robert E. Lee, a man who himself would not have joined their cause. This is attaching more putrescence to an already corrupt core. And yet, it is attractive to some who don’t understand the ideals upon which this nation was founded.
This. Is. Happening. Right now. Maybe around your dinner table. Definitely in comic shops and movie theaters, in your neighborhood, in your state, and in our nation.
And here, if I might be a bit dramatic, is where we’re left as a country. Are we the kind you save or the kind you stop? Are our ideas rotten from the core? Or are our ideals still good and pure, though tarnished? Do we need to tear the old us down like Hydra? Or can we start over from what’s best about us and build something better like Bucky?
It’s up to us, individually and collectively, to choose. Now go think deeply. And choose wisely.
Captain’s orders.
