Where is Captain America's appeal? MOVIE ONLY

[mar4511]

This has been something that has confused me for quite a long time. Why exactly do people like Captain America? I mean, I understand he is supposed to represent a true patriot, (realizing that his country is not perfect, but standing for it anyway. But, honestly, what is his point?

But he has absolutely no arc, in the story, he starts off as a luckless guy who just wants to defend his country, who gets turned into fucking He-Man, before again becoming a guy who always gets the shit end of the stick and just wants to defend his country. Why though? There is no character arc, he isn't selfish, the movie all but forces you to like him and I just never really get why he is considered such a big deal.

Iron Man for example, that movie was pretty much about a rich guy learning to take responsibility for his actions, both direct, and indirect.

Thor's entire plotline, character arc, and main character can be summed up in two words. Grow up.

Incredible Hulk was about anger issues, I think...I am honestly not to sure.

Captain America though? What is the point? I can see him having like this huge arc in the Avengers movie, but why is he considered this huge great character, when really, he doesn't have much of a character?

What do we take away from this film, other than the fact that if you love your country enough you will become a muscle bound super soldier?

Please feel free to misquote, distort, *****, moan, about how I do not get the character, and then proceed to call up references to comics that the people who wrote them don't even care about.

 

[Scarim Coral]

Honestly the only way I can describe why I like Captain America himself without referring to the comicbook was that in my view he's a perfect superhero.

When I mean perfect I mean he act like a genuie and selfless (like when he thrown himself infront of that grenade) hero who wasn't doing it for fame or glory. He's also someone who would uphold justice and cannot be corrupted (like he didn't get seduce from that other woman). I guess I could say he is someone of pure of heart (as corny as it sound).

Yes I'm pretty much summing up Superman but Captain America isn't a god, he's just some super soldier who has prides for his country and truth and justice.

 

[StriderShinryu]

Yeah, like it or not, Cap is just a good guy. That is his character. When everyone around him has moral quandries and comprimises their character, he's just straight up good and honest, sometimes to a fault. He doesn't really have an arc and that's the point. It's even summed up by the doctor who performed the super soldier enhancement on him when he talked to him about being a good man.

 

[Hazy992]

Yeah he's just the archetypal good guy. That's just his thing. I mean what's more righteous than clobbering (I love that word) Nazis?

And before anyone points out he only fights Hydra, you know what I mean. :3

 

[Neverhoodian]

Please feel free to misquote, distort, *****, moan, about how I do not get the character, and then proceed to call up references to comics that the people who wrote them don't even care about.

Well aren't we a ray of sunshine today.

Sometimes people just want a straight-up "good guy" protagonist, i.e. someone that doesn't have personal demons that remind us of our own unpleasant shortcomings. It's why Superman has been around for all these decades, and the same is true for the Cap. Sometimes folks just want to see the bad guys get their lights punched out by a paragon of justice and virtue.

Also, there's the "scrawny guy overcomes the odds" factor for some people, particularly for certain males. There's still a stigma in modern society that looks down on thin men because they don't fit the physical profile for what a "real man" should be (God forbid if he has the gall to be short as well). Steve Rogers had to endure those same prejudices in the film's first act. Indeed, he often got the shit beat out of him by bullies prior to becoming a superhero.

Even though the super soldier serum turned him into a towering pillar of muscle, he didn't suddenly become a macho meat-head. He views his newfound strength as a privilege, not a right. As such, he retains his kind and sensitive demeanor from his earlier experiences. His courage stems not from his muscles, but from his conscience. His physique has changed, but deep down he's still the same scrawny guy fighting the good fight. He fights because he feels he must, not because he can.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

Please feel free to misquote, distort, *****, moan, about how I do not get the character, and then proceed to call up references to comics that the people who wrote them don't even care about.

Spoiler

Well aren't we a ray of sunshine today.

Sometimes people just want a straight-up "good guy" protagonist, i.e. someone that doesn't have personal demons that remind us of our own unpleasant shortcomings. It's why Superman has been around for all these decades, and the same is true for the Cap. Sometimes folks just want to see the bad guys get their lights punched out by a paragon of justice and virtue.

Also, there's the "scrawny guy overcomes the odds" factor for some people, particularly for certain males. There's still a stigma in modern society that looks down on thin men because they don't fit the physical profile for what a "real man" should be (God forbid if he has the gall to be short as well). Steve Rogers had to endure those same prejudices in the film's first act. Indeed, he often got the shit beat out of him by bullies prior to becoming a superhero.

Even though the super soldier serum turned him into a towering pillar of muscle, he didn't suddenly become a macho meat-head. He views his newfound strength as a privilege, not a right. As such, he retains his kind and sensitive demeanor from his earlier experiences. His courage stems not from his muscles, but from his conscience. His physique has changed, but deep down he's still the same scrawny guy fighting the good fight. He fights because he feels he must, not because he can.

So much this. I like grit as much as the next guy but it really is a relief to sometimes see a great guy punch up someone so evil the Nazis wanted to shut him down. I'm not even an American and I like Cap, his appeal is universal. Hell, at one point in the movie he was feeling fed up with the whole Captain America identity because he was needed as a symbol and not an actual weapon.

What else can I say, he's a likable guy.

 

[Cowabungaa]

he's just straight up good and honest, sometimes to a fault. He doesn't really have an arc and that's the point.

Which is a shame, because that exactly could be an awesome character arc in it's own right, how Cap would deal with the obvious lack of a black & white world, being a simple good guy himself. Worth exploring I'd say.

 

[WolfThomas]

Sometimes you want dark and conflicted heroes, othertimes you want truly nice guys who punch Nazis.

 

[smearyllama]

He's just a nice guy. He's not a deep character, really. I mean, he's got a personality and stuff, but he's not really conflicted or anything. He signed up to fight evil, and that's what he wants to do.

"So, you want to kill some Nazis, eh?
"I don't want to kill anyone. I just don't like bullies."

That quote pretty much captures everything he is.
He's sort of what every kid wants to be, and for adults, he's kind of a relief, I suppose, to be able to see someone who's just a good person.

 

[burningdragoon]

You could argue that his "arc" is he's a good guy that doesn't become corrupted when he suddenly becomes super powerful.

 

[Images]

I don't like his solo stuff as much but when he's with The Avengers his goodie two shoes act is a great counterpoint to the more realist or negative outlook of the other team members and shows his great difficulty acclimatizing to a cynical modern world.