The Seed of Hope

This week in class we read two prologues from The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison.  In the second prologue, it explains the important details of the story so the readers can focus of the novel and not on their emotions.  The second prologue also talks about hope which reminded me of how Captain America is the "seed" of hope when an evil organization with intentions of taking over the world, HYDRA, plans to take over SHIELD.

When HYDRA is about to take over SHIELD, everything is in chaos.  HYDRA is about to win and all the SHIELD agents have lost all hope.  When everything looks grim, Captain America comes along and delivers a really inspiring speech that gives the agents confidence that they have a chance of defeating HYDRA.

The two sisters in the prologue have also lost all hope, except no one is there to bring that hope back.  The word "seed" in this passage represents hope. They said they searched everywhere but the seeds "did not sprout."  After a while, they came to a conclusion that it was not the seeds fault that they didn't grow, but the Earth's.  They believed that no matter how much hope for change they have, it will never grow because society is unwilling to accept it.

I don't believe that is true.  No one has really stood up to the societal standard of beauty so it is unfair to say that society won't accept this change.  One of the sisters even says that "if we planted the seeds, and said the right words over them, they would blossom, and everything would be all right."  This is exactly what Captain America did during the HYDRA attack and this is exactly what we as a society need to do in order to make a change in the way we see beauty. 

Spider-Man

This weekend, we read a piece by Toni Morrison called "[This Amazing, Troubling Book]".  In this piece, Morrison analyzes Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn through her perspective.  We read Huck Finn over the summer; however, after revisiting this novel through Morrison's piece, I have discovered many similarities between Spider-Man and Huck Finn.

First, they both have a fatherly figure other than their actual dad.  For Huck it is Jim and for Peter (Spider-Man) it is his Uncle Ben.  It is because of their fatherly figures that both Huck and Peter become the heroes we know and love.  Because Jim is captured and is brought back into slavery, Huck finally overcomes all his doubts and sets a moral code for himself which leads him to rescuing Jim.  Since Peter indirectly caused his uncle's death by not stopping the thief who then goes on and kills Uncle Ben, Peter decides that he will only use his powers for good and not for selfish reasons.

Second, even though society puts all this peer pressure on them to change or to stop doing what they are doing, they always follow their conscience because they know what they are doing is right.  Everything in Huck's society has influenced him to believe that he should return Jim to slavery; but, in his heart, he knows slavery is wrong and will do anything to keep his friend and fatherly figure out of slavery.  In Spider-Man's society, everyone thinks he is a menace.  They think he should stop terrorizing the city, even though he is actually trying to help.  This doesn't faze Spider-Man, however, because he knows what he is doing is for the greater good and intends to protect New York and everyone in it.

The X-Men and Hester

This week, we finished reading The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne.  In the novel, Hester has committed adultery and is forever labeled as an outcast in her society.  This particular aspect of the book reminded me of how the X-Men are also outcasts in their society.

Since Hester isn't accepted in her society, she lives in a cottage in the woods.  Similarly, the X-Men live in a secluded house under the name of "Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters" so no one will know that mutants live there.  In the beginning of the book, Hester spends most of her time helping the less fortunate; however, this doesn't change the views of society towards her.  The X-Men are a superhero group whose goal is to protect the citizens of their city. Yet despite all their efforts, the people still view them as dangerous outcasts.  Over time, people start to view the X-Men as heroes just like the citizens in Hester's town start to view the scarlet "A" as "able" instead of adulterer; but they can never escape the fact that they are outcasts.  

Under all the similarities between Hester and the X-Men is one difference; Hester defies the stereotype that men are stronger than women while the X-Men embrace it.  Hester, a woman, is portrayed as being very strong while Dimmesdale, the partner in her sin and a man, is portrayed as very weak.  He even goes to Hester for support because he can't handle all the guilt as well as Hester can.  On the other hand, the X-Men support this stereotype because even though there are woman in the team, they still call themselves the X-Men.  They want to seem strong, so they do this by using the word "men" and not "group" or "people".  Even though they differ in this stereotype, Hester and the X-Men's lives are very similar. 

Agent Peggy Carter

This week, we read a story called "There Is No Unmarked Woman" by Deborah Tannen.  In this story, Tannen explained how women are marked no matter what they do.  There is no standard style or way of life a woman can have without being judged.  This piece reminded me of Peggy Carter's situation because she is marked for being one of the only women in the U.S. Army during World War II.

In this GIF set, Peggy is getting fed up with all the soldiers judging her because she is a women. The soldier named Hodge assumes that since she is a women in the army, she is there to hook up with the male soldiers. She is marked because mostly men made up the army at this point in time. Hodge wouldn't treat the other male soldiers like he treated Peggy; he would treat them with respect. He also mocks her British accent by calling her "Queen Victoria" and "your majesty". If a male soldier had an accent, he would not tease him; he would respect it.

In this GIF set, Peggy is offended that Steve Rogers (Captain America) sees her as a "dame" instead of an agent. He assumes that since she is a women, she is crazy to want to be in the army. Steve is marking her because it is unusual for a women to be in Peggy's position. If there was a man sitting next to him, he wouldn't have wondered why he joined the army because it was standard for a man to enlist at this time period. All Peggy wants to do is go about her daily business, but she can't without being judged.

                                                 

                                                         

Iron Man Actually Thinks of Others?

This week, we read a few chapters from The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne.  In those few chapters, we learn that Hester Prynne has been marked with a scarlet "A" on her chest forever serving as a reminder to herself and everyone around her that she has sinned.  Ever since she has worn that "A", no one has looked at her the same.  They only see her for her sin, just like Captain America only sees Iron Man for his narcissism. 

Iron Man's narcissism was first brought up in Iron Man 2 when the Black Widow was sent to see if Iron Man qualified to be in the Avengers.  He was rejected for various reasons, including his narcissism.  He acknowledges that he can be self-obsessed at times, but he has so many other great qualities that had been overlooked.  From then on, he will be marked in SHIELD's files as a narcissist. 

Captain America, who had just woken up from being frozen in ice for 70 years, reads SHIELD's files to catch up on everything that he missed.  When the Avengers finally team up, all Captain America knows about Iron Man is what is written about him in the files.  

During the movie, Captain America and Iron Man get into a fight because Captain America doesn't think he belongs here.  He says, "I've seen the footage. The only thing you really fight for is yourself."  Captain America needs to realize that there is more to Iron Man than his narcissism, just like there is more to Hester than her sin.

Stereotypes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe

This week we read a few stories about stereotypes and it got me thinking about all the stereotypes in movies, specifically stereotypes about women in superhero movies.  Women in superhero movies are usually included for objectification purposes, love interests, and a supporting role for the male characters.

I felt the Marvel Cinematic Universe did a good job steering clear of these stereotypes until I did some further thinking.  The Black Widow , for example, is a very strong female character that I thought defied these stereotypes until I thought back to when she was first introduced in Iron Man 2.  Tony Stark objectified her by saying "I want one" when she walked into the room.  This is extremely demeaning because he refers to her as an object and not a human being.  Even though the Black Widow hasn't been associated with that stereotype since Iron Man 2, she still has yet to be in a role other than a supporting one. 


Another powerful female character that I thought did not fit into any stereotypes is Agent Peggy Carter.  When she is first introduced in Captain America: The First Avenger, she is portrayed as an intelligent and straightforward character.  But as the movie goes on, her primary role shifts from a strong leader to Captain America's love interest. 

Marvel is slowly trying to get rid of these stereotypes by possibly making a Black Widow movie and giving Peggy Carter her own show; but as of right now, these stereotypes still exist in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and many other universes such as DC.  The creators of these movies need to realize that these stereotypes are unfair to women and they need to stop incorporating them into their movies.  

Even Captain America has Survivor Guilt

"'The truth,' Norman Bowker would've said, 'is I let the guy go.'" (O'Brien 147).

Norman Bowker from The Things They Carried reminded me of Captain America in the way that they both suffer from survivor guilt.  Bowker and Captain America both tried to save their friend and both failed; leaving them to watch their friend die and ultimately blaming themselves for their friend’s death.  Bowker couldn't let go of the fact that he couldn't pull his friend Kiowa out of the waste.  He remembers himself thinking "not here...not like this" (O'Brien 143) which is exactly what Captain America was thinking when he watched his best friend Bucky fall from the train.  He tried to pull Bucky up, but the handle broke before Bucky could grab onto his hand. 

After the war, Bowker has a hard time adjusting to everyday life.  He wants to talk about the night Kiowa died, but he can't.  He can't explain his emotions so he spends most of his time driving around wondering what it would be like if he could talk about it.  While Bowker tends to dwell on the past, Captain America tries to take his mind off of the incident by focusing on the war so much that he forgets Bucky's death for a while.  He needs to get keep himself busy because he knows the guilt will eat him alive if he doesn't.