One Of The Things I Love About Steve Rogers Is That He Goes Against The Archetype Of Good/optimistic

One of the things I love about Steve Rogers is that he goes against the archetype of good/optimistic characters only being – and deriving their goodness/optimism from being – innocent and naïve.

Steve isn’t naïve. Steve grew up in hardship. In the comics, he was abused and watched his mother be beaten by his father. In the movies, he had no father, but was violently bullied and dirt poor. Steve grew up in the school of hard knocks, in the middle of the Depression; any naïveté about how cruel the world could be got beaten out of him as a child.

And then, Steve signed up to go to war. He fought on the front lines of WWII, and witnessed untold violence. Some comics and cartoons show him helping to free concentration camps. And he fought – Steve never had the luxury, as Cap, of having a “no killing” rule like Superman. He’s never relished taking lives, but he’s done it when necessary. Steve is no unsullied innocent.

From all this hardship, all this violence, Steve could easily be a character who has a grim, cynical outlook on the world. He’s seen and experienced the absolute worst of humanity; he’s borne witness to genocide, after all, and horrors of war. And usually, the characters who have endured brutality are the ones who are the bitter anti-heroes, or dark and angsty heroes – the Batmans and Daredevils, the Wolverines and Punishers. Meanwhile the hopeful, optimistic heroes are often the ones who have had warm and loving homes, and who haven’t been broken yet by the world.

But Steve, despite everything, stays hopeful. Steve believes in the best of humanity, in spite of having seen it at its worst. Steve believes in the importance of Good, because he has looked deep into the heart of Evil.

Steve has suffered all his life, but he refuses to let the world break him.

That refusal, that strength of outlook and principle, and that subversion of archetype with a rejection of the increasingly popular grimdark hero narrative, are all reasons I love Captain America, and find Steve Rogers a truly interesting and inspiring hero.

More Posts from Rocketbabyworld and Others

rocketbabyworld

7 years ago

Just to put this out there for other Cap fans, this week (8/16/2017) Marvel is re-releasing the first ever Captain America comic and the Cap story from Tales of Suspense #63 in honor of what would have been Jack Kirby’s 100th birthday this year…

As we all know Jack Kirby, aka the King of Comics, was Cap’s co-creator and also a real-life Captain America who fought in WW2 in the Army in Company F of the 11th Infantry Regiment and served as a scout, it was while scouting that he found and helped to liberate a concentration camp. During his service he, unfortunately, came down with severe frostbite and almost lost both legs. Afterwards he was honorably discharged as a Private First Class and was awarded a Combat Infantryman Badge and a Bronze Star Medal.

The price of this comic honoring Kirby and one of his greatest creations is $1.00 for anyone interested in acquiring it.

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rocketbabyworld

6 years ago

*adjusts glasses* I’m sorry, Mr. Evans, but it appears that your request to conclude your run as Steve Rogers has been denied due to *highlights portion of document* the lack of a legitimate Captain America 3 film. Please re-submit your request when said movie has been filmed and completed, thank you 👍🏻

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rocketbabyworld

6 years ago

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rocketbabyworld

8 years ago

So, today, Marvel published issues of comics revealing that in fact the Nazis were always supposed to win World War 2, and the Allies invented the Cosmic Cube to rewrite history to prevent that from happening.

That was released today. April 19th.

The anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, the largest Jewish revolt during World War 2, the first urban uprising in Nazi-occupied Europe, begun when the Nazis decided to completely wipe out the Warsaw Jews on Passover eve. Instead, the Jews held out for nearly a month, with whatever they could fight with. They’re honored to this day.

And Marvel published their Nazi-stanning dumpster fire of a retcon today.

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rocketbabyworld

7 years ago

Been linked to the joke of leaving out milk and cookies for Cap on this day, the 4th of July. I’d like to take it a step further and believe Cap comes out of our grills to collect his tribute of hot dogs and apple pie. It’s the American way.

Happy 99th Birthday, Steve Rogers!!

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rocketbabyworld

8 years ago

i love how bucky is like “i know two things about you: ur mom existed and ur shoes were always garbage” and that’s it, that’s all it takes, steve is ready to fistfight the fucking moon

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rocketbabyworld

7 years ago

raise your hand if you will never not be salty about the lack of development of a friendship between Steve Rogers and Tony Stark in the MCU

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rocketbabyworld

5 years ago

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rocketbabyworld

6 years ago

exactly

Fans: We didn’t like X-Men The Last Stand because it didn’t focus on Jean Grey or the Phoenix force and just made it about Xavier’s guilt and her love interests’ grief, there was no need for Jean to join Magneto, and the movies didn’t set up a team dynamic with any history that was sad to watch be tested.

Fox Executives: