Poll: Do you like captain America?

[Ratty]

Most of my experience is from the film, and he just... well, he didn't leave a lasting impression.

Yeah I found his solo movie surprisingly very weak. Kind of ironically director Joe Johnston made a terrific film called "The Rocketeer" in 1991. A WW2 era superhero movie that stomps all of the screen incarnations of Captain America into the ground, Johnston's own included.

"The Rocketeer" is a movie I recommend to everyone with even a passing interest in the superhero genre btw, just don't watch any of the trailers because they all ruin the entire plot for some reason.

 

[Hawk eye1466]

I could see how someone could just think he's a personification of American strength but I quite like how in the newest films he's shown as just a regular guy that wants to do the right thing. He became captain america because that was the only way the army would let him into the fight and then he ran off to actually save people.

I've never read the comic books but I think he'd offer help to anyone regardless of national origin. And who cares that your not american and questioning him? He's a character that's been shown in comic books and movies that are shown through the world you have every right to ask a question if your curious.

 

[ForumSafari]

Yeah, I'm a brit and I quite like him (bear in mind my only real exposure is the films though). He's just an honest, decent guy and compared to how arrogant Thor and Iron Man are, it's pretty refreshing. In context of the film, he's not even that patriotic, he just wants to do the right thing and his country has made him a patriotic icon.

This is why I like him, he's concerned with doing the right thing and not with following a political agenda or showing off. He strikes me as exactly the kind of guy you'd want as a neighbour. He also seems to genuinely respect other people and their choices in life rather than trying to make them conform to his personal ideology.

Also, I reckon chucking a shield at people is a totally badass way to kill them.

This is also a nice touch, he's the only superhero I know whose main (and most of the time only) tool is one hundred percent for self defence. Sure he can chuck it at people but he could probably chuck motorbikes at them just as effectively.

 

[Ieyke]

Captain America is so beneath Superman it hurts, he can't even begin to compare to the man of steel. Superman has for years now outgrown the racist slap a jap war time comic strip deal, and has evolved a beloved icon not just for Americans but for humans everywhere of all nationalities. He is the worlds first Superhero and everyone knows him, people who don't speak English know who he is. Everyone in DC respects him, and the Gods in DC respect him.

Superman can bench press a continent and fly faster than light, and that's just two of his powers. I dont know all of C.A's powers but he's strong enough to lift a car maybe, and has a really hard shield. He may have super reflexes and all that and I admit he could be pretty cool but he isnt superman.

As a character, Superman is as bland and stale as stale dry toast. Everyone knows him since he's been around forever, but other than that he doesn't matter to most people.
Sure, Cap is utterly outgunned by Superman, but that's irrelevant to who he is as a character. Captain America is barely more than a normal human in his powers, but that doesn't even slow him down when it comes to his willingness to face down things that utterly outclass him. He's the leader of the Avengers and the hero every other hero looks up to because of who he is, not what he can do.

His name and costume were originally created to make him a piece of living propaganda during World War II, and then he became a living battlefield icon - a heroic leader and banner to rally around in battle, and finally when he was reawoken into a world where the Nazi evil had been defeated he adapted into being a symbol of the "American" ideal he held as being of utmost importance. Ideals America has never remotely achieved. Ideals intended as the best path for the entire world to follow when America was founded. Captain America is a lighthouse attempting to guide the world to freedom, justice, liberty, equality, etc, and his symbol is that of the first nation to founded primarily with that as its goal.
It doesn't matter how badly America has failed to live up to what it originally set out to do, Captain America exists to keep that goal alive. He exists to remind the whole world of the idea of a world where good prevails, and that no matter the odds against you, you should fight for it. You don't have to be some nonsensical OP alien able to outrun a speeding bullet to stand up for what is right.

 

[verdant monkai]

As a character, Superman is as bland and stale as stale dry toast. Everyone knows him since he's been around forever, but other than that he doesn't matter to most people.
Sure, Cap is utterly outgunned by Superman, but that's irrelevant to who he is as a character. Captain America is barely more than a normal human in his powers, but that doesn't even slow him down when it comes to his willingness to face down things that utterly outclass him. He's the leader of the Avengers and the hero every other hero looks up to because of who he is, not what he can do.

His name and costume were originally created to make him a piece of living propaganda during World War II, and then he became a living battlefield icon - a heroic leader and banner to rally around in battle, and finally when he was reawoken into a world where the Nazi evil had been defeated he adapted into being a symbol of the "American" ideal he held as being of utmost importance. Ideals America has never remotely achieved. Ideals intended as the best path for the entire world to follow when America was founded. Captain America is a lighthouse attempting to guide the world to freedom, justice, liberty, equality, etc, and his symbol is that of the first nation to founded primarily with that as its goal.
It doesn't matter how badly America has failed to live up to what it originally set out to do, Captain America exists to keep that goal alive. He exists to remind the whole world of the idea of a world where good prevails, and that no matter the odds against you, you should fight for it. You don't have to be some nonsensical OP alien able to outrun a speeding bullet to stand up for what is right.

I don't know how you can say Superman is as bland as stale toast, when he does things like commute to work from an ice fortress in the Arctic. Superman in terms of DC isn't actually all that OP that's a sign of superman that well, most of his enemies are a lot stronger than he is (movie bob mentions this in one of his episodes), and are quite capable of killing him. Doomsday for example actually does kill him. So to quote you: You have no understanding of Superman. Like, you're literally... just kidding.

As you said he used to be pure motivational propaganda. And as you go on to say he is an idealistic American symbol, and as I said I'm not American so I'm not interested in that. Thats kind of been my point this whole time. As an icon to guide the world, he is without a doubt the worst one you could choose. He is Captain America not Captain Planet Earth. He represents America only, are the people who don't even like America much (Russians for example) supposed to be able to get behind that American icon? No! Superman fills this role far better than C.A ever could. Superman is a benevolent alien who is willing to die for us at a moments notice, and he has the power to protect us. He is as close to a Christ figure as comic books have.

Now I don't want to start a flame war because I will admit Britain has done shit things, especially during the imperial years. But as for America being founded with a goal of having liberty and equality, I think you need to research that a bit better mate. Because I'm 99% sure America still had a big thing for black slaves back when it was founded. So if America was founded on liberty and equality, they probably should have written "for white people only" next to the liberty.

Point being all countries have bloody histories and feuds between them. Superman is the ideal unbiased icon because he isn't even from Earth.

I get Captain America can work for you if you like the whole super human nice guy thing. Or even an icon for U.S and non U.S citizens, if you are willing to look past his aesthetic. I just so happen to not like him or his design, and find him a bit inaccessible as a British person.

 

[Ieyke]

You miss the point. Captain America, in a sense, has nothing to do with America.
Like I said, he represents the notion of what America wanted to be - a notion that reality and the brutality of history has made America fail to ever come close to achieving.

Superman is a more visible but less effective version of the same thing. He's some invincible alien.
Nothing he achieves is human.
He risks almost nothing by throwing himself into battle. The fact that he's basically only threatened by god-like beings...there's a severe disconnect between that and the constant perpetual struggles of ordinary mortals. The fact that it takes villains as over the top as Darkseid and Doomsday to even threaten Superman is just a sign of how OP he is that they had to write his villains that way.
Superman's greatest "accomplishment" is simply not being evil.
And a lot of people don't trust Superman because of what he is. Not necessarily because he might turn evil, but because he has so much power that if anything ever goes wrong (as it so often does) you suddenly have a rampaging unstoppable force on the loose.
When Superman goes home he just takes off his Superman identity and can take comfort in his anonymity.

Captain America is a legend, and rather than being born effortlessly able to become one, he earned it.
An ordinary but weak man so hell-bent on doing good no matter what it cost him that the US military turned him into the perfect human to give him a better chance at doing the good he was fighting for. A man already so heroic that an entire nation acknowledged him and decided to make him a symbol of hope for all of the "good guys" (the Allies) to be inspired by in one of the darkest times of human history.
An ordinary human, transformed by human achievement, and driven by human determination.
Every time he goes into battle he's made the decision to risk everything, and typically it's in the face of odds that are mind-bogglingly against him.
He never gets to stop being Captain America. It's not a superhero persona for him. Steve Rogers and Captain America are the same person, and the public knows it. The uniform is nothing more than a beacon for his allies to rally around and his enemies to focus on. He has a mask only because Steve Rogers is inconsequential to the ideals he fights for. Taking it off doesn't ever give him rest from his enemies or change how he acts. It only means he's hoping not to have to fight anyone.

I don't remember the part about Christ being a super strong being who effortlessly juggled huge wooden crosses and was impervious to nails and thorns. The way I remember it, he was an essentially ordinary man willing to sacrifice everything to do as much good as he could, no matter the risk to his life.
Superman is a very poor Christ figure. Captain America on the other hand...

As with other heroes like Batman, Captain America's such a badass because he's just human and still he never wavers against foes that can kill gods and break worlds.

 

[verdant monkai]

You miss the point. Captain America, in a sense, has nothing to do with America.
Like I said, he represents the notion of what America wanted to be - a notion that reality and the brutality of history has made America fail to ever come close to achieving.

Superman is a more visible but less effective version of the same thing. He's some invincible alien.
Nothing he achieves is human.
He risks almost nothing by throwing himself into battle. The fact that he's basically only threatened by god-like beings...there's a severe disconnect between that and the constant perpetual struggles of ordinary mortals. The fact that it takes villains as over the top as Darkseid and Doomsday to even threaten Superman is just a sign of how OP he is that they had to write his villains that way.
Superman's greatest "accomplishment" is simply not being evil.
And a lot of people don't trust Superman because of what he is. Not necessarily because he might turn evil, but because he has so much power that if anything ever goes wrong (as it so often does) you suddenly have a rampaging unstoppable force on the loose.
When Superman goes home he just takes off his Superman identity and can take comfort in his anonymity.

Captain America is a legend, and rather than being born effortlessly able to become one, he earned it.
An ordinary but weak man so hell-bent on doing good no matter what it cost him that the US military turned him into the perfect human to give him a better chance at doing the good he was fighting for. A man already so heroic that an entire nation acknowledged him and decided to make him a symbol of hope for all of the "good guys" (the Allies) to be inspired by in one of the darkest times of human history.
An ordinary human, transformed by human achievement, and driven by human determination.
Every time he goes into battle he's made the decision to risk everything, and typically it's in the face of odds that are mind-bogglingly against him.
He never gets to stop being Captain America. It's not a superhero persona for him. Steve Rogers and Captain America are the same person, and the public knows it. The uniform is nothing more than a beacon for his allies to rally around and his enemies to focus on. He has a mask only because Steve Rogers is inconsequential to the ideals he fights for. Taking it off doesn't ever give him rest from his enemies or change how he acts. It only means he's hoping not to have to fight anyone.

I don't remember the part about Christ being a super strong being who effortlessly juggled huge wooden crosses and was impervious to nails and thorns. The way I remember it, he was an essentially ordinary man willing to sacrifice everything to do as much good as he could, no matter the risk to his life.
Superman is a very poor Christ figure. Captain America on the other hand...

As with other heroes like Batman, Captain America's such a badass because he's just human and still he never wavers against foes that can kill gods and break worlds.

You need to quote me mate I only just found this.

Ok so according to you Captain America is really supposed to be a man who isn't all patriotic and AMERICA FUCK YEAH. And he is ideally someone who represents what all humans strive for? Yeah ok that's nice can he lose the stars and stripes? They make him into a very exclusive a visual icon. I get C.A is a great hero like Batman and all that. I really do! Its just that his look holds him back, from being an icon planet earth could accept. I dont think as an American you can grasp just how sickening, a lot of people would find someone who without irony wears an American flag. And then professes to want to be a hero to everyone. It's just stupid to be honest.

I honestly dont know how you can call superman less effective when he firstly isn't held back by any perceived bias (I know C.A isn't but he sure looks like he is). Is stronger than C.A could ever be and stands for the same values.
Superman risks everything on a daily basis because he is dealing with things that can kill him on a daily basis, the fact that he isn't afraid of stuff like bank robbers isn't impressive obviously, but I don't think C.A is either. He is just like C.A except a lot more effective.

Not being evil for Superman is impressive as he could easily rule Earth if he wanted to, but he doesn't give into that temptation. Captain America could maybe become a shit president but not rule the world. As for the whole no secret identity thing. Really? would he care? If he was like Justin Bieber then maybe he would, and whine about his popularity. If he cared about it that much he would get plastic surgery everywhere but his chin, and fuck off to the Bronks and get an apartment. Then go be Captain America in the evening. Superman often says stuff to the Justice league like, stop me if I lose control. Batman wouldn't hesitate to ram kryptonite up his arse if he felt people were in danger. That and the JL has enough power to stop him anyway.

I remember the part where Jesus walked on water, cured blindness and turned water into wine, so yeah saying jesus was a powerless man is bollocks. The way I see it dead is dead and sacrificing yourself if you are great is the same as sacrificing yourself if you are shit. You are still dead.

Jesus came from another world (heaven) had amazing powers and is an icon to everyone on earth. Everyone on earth knows who he is no matter where they are. He even died for people he didn't know (to save everyone from sin) then returned to life.
Superman came from another world (Krypton) has amazing powers and is an to icon everyone on earth. Everyone on earth knows who he is no matter where they are. He even died for people he didn't know (to save everyone from Doomsday) then returned to life.

Captain America came from America (that bit in between Canada and Mexico) has underwhelming powers and is an icon to a lot of people, but they are mostly Americans. He was shot in the face by some woman and not really killed but apparently sent out of sinc with time (because bullets do that).

I don't see why you wouldn't make the same connections I did. Maybe its just because you don't like superman. I think we may just have to agree to disagree dude. You have raised good points which I don't necessarily agree with, but after reading what you have said and watching the Captain america film last night, I agree that there is more to him that meets the eye.

 

[Robert Marrs]

He has always been one of my least favorite super heroes. Right up there with superman. I don't know why and if I really tried to get more into his character there would probably be something worth liking but nothing about him draws me in.

 

[Ryotknife]

Well, my only experience with Captain America is with the movies. While I didn't like him all that much in the first movie or Avengers, ill admit that Captain America 2 actually looks interesting.

He is too much like superman, perfect and boring. Course, I find the Hulk boring as well.

 

[Artina89]

I'm British, and not a huge fan of him, or Captain Britain, I just find him to be a bit bland, especially if you compare him to the other Avengers, but recently I have found that I am getting less and less enjoyment out of comic books and comic book characters in general, even when Iron man 3 came out, I found that I didn't really care, and I would count Iron man as my favourite comic book character.