Tumblr Cross Post: Why I Love Captain America

So once again I am up later than I want to be, and I want to write something.

I'd like this something to be a story, a poem, something fictional and striking and beautiful. Sadly, whatever angry and bitter muse I got stuck with at birth doesn't feel like letting me do what I want, and seems to will that I suffer writing some thing else. Anything else, really.

So I'm going to write about responsibility and what it means to me. I'm going to write about why I so love both Captain America and Steve Rogers.

Heh, you weren't hoping this would be more serious, were you?

Alright, about Cap—if you didn't already know Captain America's mild-mannered alter ego is known as Steve Rogers—I love him more deeply and more personally than I've ever loved another human being (wow, that doesn't sound creepy at all). But, I don't mean that in a if-he-were-real-I-would-throw-myself-at-him-he-is-sexy-personified kind of way. I mean it in a you-are-the-hero-that-I-most-relate-to-and-so-I-feel-a-personal-connection-to-you-that-I-rarely-feel-for-anything way.

Captain America is pure, noble, brave, strong, the American Ideal made flesh. Steve Rogers is an asthmatic art student from Brooklyn who believes in his country. I hope you've all at least seen the movie and know how those two are connected. Steve's choice to become the super soldier was also the choice to sacrifice the right to assert his personal agendas over the agendas of Captain America. While Cap and Steve are the same man, they are not at all the same person. And this is what causes what is commonly known as conflict.

I've heard it said that people dislike Cap because he is self-righteous, stupidly idealistic, has no compelling personal conflict, is boring or is just plain unlikable. That he is a tool of the government and what he does means nothing because he is what he was created for, or worse, is nothing more than patriotic propaganda. I mean, yes he's a patriot, I mean you'd have to be to undergo huge needles and radiation treatments in the name of serving your country, but patriotism isn't all he is, not in the least. Usually I swear at such people who express these opinions, then proceed to extoll the virtues of Steve Rogers as the freaking perfection that he is. I try not to be a rabid fangirl, but I fear I don't always succeed.

The thing about Steve is that he's not a hero because the government made him one, he's not a hero because the rest of the country viewed him as one, he's not even a hero because he goes around thwarting villainous plots or saving innocent lives. He's a hero because he has the courage to own the label that was placed on him.

Getting a label put on you by another, as I'm sure many of you would agree, is not often a good thing. And the worst thing about it is not that this label might hurt your feelings or make you feel self-conscious or bad about yourself; the worst thing about a label is the obligation to live up to it. It's a stressful process, whether you're just known around tow as a “good guy” or if you are called the “successful one” out of a group, or whether you're the good sibling. Unfortunately, the way other people see us has tremendous influence over us, because one thing each and every person (barring maybe sociopaths and axe-murderers [who are probably sociopaths]) hates to do is to disappoint those he or she loves and respects.

It's not that what people think of you actually matters, it's that what people you care about think of you does matter. And we will spend our entire lives trying to unify what these people think and what we think of ourselves into a single at peace individual, with very little success. I know in my life I've yet to unify anything more significant than butter and toast.

Steve Rogers has the wisdom to realize that the people of his country think a great many things about Captain America.

I've read many of the comics, and there are several points at which Steve considers retiring Cap, considers living his life as Steve. But each and every time he realizes that Captain America is more than a mask and shield. Steve recognizes that Captain America has never been a man. He's always been a symbol that means many things to many different people. Captain America is Steve Rogers' label.

Living up to what others think of us is probably the hardest thing anyone can do. It is hard because we are human. We have flaws, and we are never as good as others think we are.

Steve Rogers has time and again made every personal sacrifice so that Captain America can be as good as the people need him to be.

I use the word sacrifice a lot, not because I lack vocabulary or access to a thesaurus, but because it is the only word that really describes the choice that Steve is always facing. Let me tell you, Steve Rogers is not exactly a happy camper in his everyday life.

He's woken up 70 years (or less depending on your medium) in the future, has lost his dearest friend, lot his love, lost everything that made him Steve Rogers. To simplify an issue, Steve is a little bit depressed.

But despite the fact that being Captain America has been the cause of his greatest pains and losses, every time the question come up, Steve acknowledges the duty and responsibility that Cap has and picks up his shield, puts on that costume. He makes the choice to embrace his label.

Unlike some heroes in this day and age, I don't think Cap and Steve are one and the same. I think that Steve is not Cap, but perhaps Cap is a conscious decision made by Steve.

And that's why I love and respect both Cap and Steve so much. I confidently say that is there is one character I would most want to be like, it's Steve Rogers.

So yeah. This fan opinion/rant/sales pitch thing is over now.