Captain America the Nazi Crusher
During the late 1930's early 1940's, Captain America was the depiction of the American people. He was strong, powerful, courageous, and knew their identity as an American People. Notice how our eyes are drawn to his costume. He is the embodiment of the American people in his Red,White, and Blue uniform. He is punching Hitler in the face, as America has always been against countries who look to overpower the weak, and we come in as the hero. In the 1940's, Captain America knew who he was. He was the symbol of the American people and everything that America stood for and stood against.
Captain America the Nomadic Vagabond
Jump almost 75 years, and the image of Captain America is very different. He is without his mask in the following image. This is crucial because it was important that no one knew who the identity of Captain America was. Yet, in the following image, Captain is without his mask. Also, the colors of the red,white, and blue are not clearly seen. What we see is a dark ominous shadow over Captain as he looks down upon the Capital. This is significant because in the recent films, Captain America has been facing an Identity crisis. He doesn't know what he fights for, or what he should believe in, or who to even trust. It is interesting to see how in the 1940's he knew who he was fighting and who he was fighting for, but in the movies, the lines that distinct these two concepts seems to clump together in a very blurry image.
I really really like this topic, and the differences you point out are very interesting! For one you are right about the differences in what he is fighting for, back then it was pretty straight forward what he was fighting for. Now it is hard to see what he is fighting for, because he does not know. I really like how you pointed this out because it would have never became aware to me! Good topic and really good analysis!
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting argument you have. Like Orlando, this never crossed my mind. To me, he was still just Captain America, adapting to today's times and what people want to see now a days. At the time, America was fighting Germany during WWII, trying to defeat Hitler. There was a lot of patriotism at the time, yet nowadays this isn't the case anymore. Just like you mentioned, Captain America is having an identity crisis; just like America today. No longer is the United States looked at as a powerhouse, and most of our actions are not seen as "good" anymore.
ReplyDeleteThere isn't a ton I can say that the two above me haven't already added; you do a really good job with this, and I like how you can do it without changing up the image. However, I feel like your argument could be stronger if you did mess with the second image a bit. What would the image be if he was looking down on any other American symbol? What would it be if he was looking down on a Middle Eastern person? Would that make it seem like he knew his identity a little more? There's a ton you've got to work with here, and I can't wait to see how deep you go.
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