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this was the only steve icon I had but dang I want one of sam wilson now
So I saw Captain America 2 on opening night! And then I ... did not post about it, because it's been wall-to-wall houseguests all this week, but I did manage to see the movie a second time as well.
Before I get to anything else, I want to talk about how weird and uncomfortable I feel with Hydra as a bad guy. I've felt weird and uncomfortable about it since the first Captain America film, but this one sort of cemented it; I totally understand how narratively convenient it is to have a tangible bad guy instead of just going, "Well, there's the official work SHIELD does and then there's a subset within it who really believe that nuking the fuck out of everyone on a hit list is going to bring about world peace," because that's a lot harder to root out than something as Obviously Evil as Hydra. But the thing is -- okay, the first Cap film was really good about setting down the fact that Hydra started as a science division within the Nazi regime and broke away, but ... even with the schism from actual Nazis, they're BASICALLY NAZI SCIENTISTS. To then transpose them seventy years on and have them just be convenient Eastern European baddies is -- well, tied up in lots of things the comics have already done, but also both lazy and deeply creepy. I don't know, divorcing Nazis of their context and making them Generically Evil is really upsetting to me? (Making Sitwell secretly one of them was also really upsetting to me, like, seriously you're gonna work for the offshoot Nazis??) Oh, and divorcing NAZI SCIENTISTS from their context and then giving them a tag where they're HOLDING MAGNETO'S KIDS is just ... the most upsetting. Even if I guess in the MCU they're not Magneto's kids. Idk, it just leaves a really bad taste in my mouth, especially when they could've gone a much more subtle, and indeed topical, route.
That said, I loved computer!Zola, and I'm really enjoying the "hail Hydra" meme that seems to be springing up.
Things I liked: BASICALLY EVERYTHING ELSE! I even liked all the action sequences! Much like porn, action sequences are deeply better when [a] you care about the characters involved and [b] lots of the action actually furthers characterization as well as plot. I was on the edge of my seat for the car chase with Fury! Which is really impressive; a dozen superhero movies in and I'm still usually bored by action sequences.
FURY THOUGH, gosh I really love him, and MARIA HILL (who surprised me by agreeing that SHIELD needed to be thoroughly destroyed instead of just retooled; I deeply suspect her and Fury of having several contingency plans); and Sharon Carter, who I may have liked mostly on the strength of loving Emily from Revenge; and PEGGY, sweet god just leave me here to die, every time I think of that scene with her and Steve I start tearing up again.
Sam was PERFECT, and Natasha was possibly EVEN BETTER, and while I kind of wish we'd had the Bucky reveal earlier, Bucky's TRAGIC FACE was indeed pretty great for the remainder. I'm ... really baffled by what the fuck MCU Natasha's timeline is (...if she meant the actual KGB, her being born in 1984 makes zero sense?? so I'm going to pretend that she, like Bucky, has memory gaps and is much older than she looks and when she goes off to find a new cover she -- does things that I am probably going to fic about, okay). But I don't mind that they didn't go into the Black Widow/Winter Soldier storyline, because I like so much what they did with Natasha instead. All the lovely spy work! All the deliberate positioning of Steve and Natasha as friends, which, incidentally, made me ship it SO HARD.
Seriously, the amount of shipping I want to do now. Natasha/Steve! Steve/Bucky! Natasha/Steve/Bucky! SAM/STEVE, dear god SAM WILSON IS SO WONDERFUL, HE IS SO CHILL AND SO GOOD WITH STEVE AND HE WANTS TO HELP BECAUSE CAPTAIN AMERICA'S ASKING BUT HE DOESN'T TREAT STEVE LIKE CAPTAIN AMERICA MOST OF THE TIME AND CAN WE TALK ABOUT HOW COMPLETELY FUCKING SEXY HE IS IN THE FALCON SUIT AND AHHHHHH.
...Basically I just want to write long plotty OT4 fic now. Yep. :DDD
Before I get to anything else, I want to talk about how weird and uncomfortable I feel with Hydra as a bad guy. I've felt weird and uncomfortable about it since the first Captain America film, but this one sort of cemented it; I totally understand how narratively convenient it is to have a tangible bad guy instead of just going, "Well, there's the official work SHIELD does and then there's a subset within it who really believe that nuking the fuck out of everyone on a hit list is going to bring about world peace," because that's a lot harder to root out than something as Obviously Evil as Hydra. But the thing is -- okay, the first Cap film was really good about setting down the fact that Hydra started as a science division within the Nazi regime and broke away, but ... even with the schism from actual Nazis, they're BASICALLY NAZI SCIENTISTS. To then transpose them seventy years on and have them just be convenient Eastern European baddies is -- well, tied up in lots of things the comics have already done, but also both lazy and deeply creepy. I don't know, divorcing Nazis of their context and making them Generically Evil is really upsetting to me? (Making Sitwell secretly one of them was also really upsetting to me, like, seriously you're gonna work for the offshoot Nazis??) Oh, and divorcing NAZI SCIENTISTS from their context and then giving them a tag where they're HOLDING MAGNETO'S KIDS is just ... the most upsetting. Even if I guess in the MCU they're not Magneto's kids. Idk, it just leaves a really bad taste in my mouth, especially when they could've gone a much more subtle, and indeed topical, route.
That said, I loved computer!Zola, and I'm really enjoying the "hail Hydra" meme that seems to be springing up.
Things I liked: BASICALLY EVERYTHING ELSE! I even liked all the action sequences! Much like porn, action sequences are deeply better when [a] you care about the characters involved and [b] lots of the action actually furthers characterization as well as plot. I was on the edge of my seat for the car chase with Fury! Which is really impressive; a dozen superhero movies in and I'm still usually bored by action sequences.
FURY THOUGH, gosh I really love him, and MARIA HILL (who surprised me by agreeing that SHIELD needed to be thoroughly destroyed instead of just retooled; I deeply suspect her and Fury of having several contingency plans); and Sharon Carter, who I may have liked mostly on the strength of loving Emily from Revenge; and PEGGY, sweet god just leave me here to die, every time I think of that scene with her and Steve I start tearing up again.
Sam was PERFECT, and Natasha was possibly EVEN BETTER, and while I kind of wish we'd had the Bucky reveal earlier, Bucky's TRAGIC FACE was indeed pretty great for the remainder. I'm ... really baffled by what the fuck MCU Natasha's timeline is (...if she meant the actual KGB, her being born in 1984 makes zero sense?? so I'm going to pretend that she, like Bucky, has memory gaps and is much older than she looks and when she goes off to find a new cover she -- does things that I am probably going to fic about, okay). But I don't mind that they didn't go into the Black Widow/Winter Soldier storyline, because I like so much what they did with Natasha instead. All the lovely spy work! All the deliberate positioning of Steve and Natasha as friends, which, incidentally, made me ship it SO HARD.
Seriously, the amount of shipping I want to do now. Natasha/Steve! Steve/Bucky! Natasha/Steve/Bucky! SAM/STEVE, dear god SAM WILSON IS SO WONDERFUL, HE IS SO CHILL AND SO GOOD WITH STEVE AND HE WANTS TO HELP BECAUSE CAPTAIN AMERICA'S ASKING BUT HE DOESN'T TREAT STEVE LIKE CAPTAIN AMERICA MOST OF THE TIME AND CAN WE TALK ABOUT HOW COMPLETELY FUCKING SEXY HE IS IN THE FALCON SUIT AND AHHHHHH.
...Basically I just want to write long plotty OT4 fic now. Yep. :DDD
no subject
divorcing Nazis of their context and making them Generically Evil is really upsetting to me?
Oh god yes. THANK YOU.
Seriously, thank you for saying this. This - coupled with the impossibility of ever truly divorcing the modern Captain America from his roots of wartime propaganda, given his tale of origin - is a fundamental problem for me with the entire Captain America franchise.
In a way, the Evil Nazis are part of the propaganda origin of this tale; evil doesn't require context in propaganda. The enemy is Evil because they are Evil, period.
And propaganda of any kind makes me deeply uneasy, suspicious and - depending on the context - upset. It always rings false to me and sends up all kinds of warning signals.
I hope I'm not harshing your squee - that is certainly not my intention! I merely haven't seen anyone else adress the issue, and am glad I'm nnot the only one who is bothered. :-)
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FUUUUCK I DIDN'T EVEN THINK ABOUT THAT ASPECT, UGH, D:
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