Issue #15: Sandy's Reflections on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)

I have many memories of watching this film at my local cinema where I sometimes volunteer. I would have it timed right to sneak in to watch the Baby Groot-Opening Credits dance sequence several times each week. I mean, it's Baby Groot. Dancing.

All kidding aside, I enjoyed this film immensely, and I looked forward to watching it again for our blog. It just turned out that, with Gian's library board meetings, my grading piles, and our conflicting schedules, we had a few weeks where we couldn't meet--placing this movie on the day-after-elections. We watched the film after a long day of result-watching, and not knowing the outcome, we decided to still go ahead and do our scheduled movie watching.

This film really was a balm on the day. It's the perfect film to watch at this point. There are rainbow-colored bubbles, comedic exchanges, amazing music montages, an adorable almost-love story between the heroes, and, of course, Baby Groot. 

The main theme of the story is family. "There has to be more out there, than just me, I thought," Ego explains as he woos Peter. The first act of the film showcased how the GOTG often got on each others' nerves, their quirks on full display, a stark contrast to the fairy tale that Ego presents as he offers Peter the fantasy family that the thought he was always searching for.

As we thought of the election, as we watched the film, the United States was deeply divided. In a way, any election is like the theme of this film. We have to sort through the fantasies to see what we have and what we want. Each member of the team, just like us, has to decide whether to leave their found family or to embrace them, help them, despite their quirks and flaws. 

I find hope in this film, and I think the comedic elements are super funny--and the heartfelt, dramatic moments work to give us a deeper glimpse into beloved characters. I can only hope that we as a nation can learn the lesson of family as one that you make yourself. When Peter eulogizes Yondu, he allows himself to see the good in his life with Yondu. He makes the choice to appreciate the family that he built.  We have a choice with where we want to go after this election, and I hope we can band together to get there, just like the Guardians of the Galaxy.

Issue #15: Alex's Reflections on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)

Before writing this review, I looked at the Rotten Tomatoes score for this film: 85% for critics and 87% for audience. This has been done by my movie watching colleagues and me a few times during our trek through the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, I had to know what other people thought. To be blunt, I think this is the worst Marvel Cinematic Universe film. It is worse than Thor: The Dark World and worse than Iron Man 3. This film is tricky because the opening sequence with Baby Groot dancing to Electric Light Orchestra is fantastic, and all of the joy in that scene almost convinced me to adjust my mind. However, the rest of this film is, as my friend Trevor and I like to say when we do really involved and complicated analyses of various entertainment, a dumpster fire.

The plot, where Peter Quill’s father is revealed to be a “celestial” (a god in Marvel verbiage) named Ego (Kurt Russell), is found wanting. It is difficult to dish out criticism of a film where one of the key themes are family and the coming to terms with emotions, but just because the themes are powerful does not mean it is not an eye rolling roller coaster of overindulgent special effects, a cliché soundtrack, and a ridiculous climactic action sequence.

My identity crisis with this film is really a byproduct of something I have discussed with my moviegoing colleague Gian. Maybe it is my age or maybe it is my self-imposed overexposure to superhero and action films through the years, but I just don’t care. Much of the magic I have felt with these films has dissipated over time, and in trying to be analytical about this, I cannot pinpoint the reason. While watching the movie, I couldn’t help myself from saying things aloud: “How is he still alive?” “This planet has been blowing up for 45 minutes.” “She just dropped out of a spaceship from over 300 feet, landed on her knees, and wasn’t hurt.” Like the proverbial old man yelling at those darn kids to get out of his yard, I couldn’t help myself.

The unfortunate part of this whole reflection is that I am not old. And since that is the case, why was I so annoyed with this film? I think I am jaded by many aspects of the Guardians Vol. 2 including the special effects, the incessant hammer-like reminder of the themes throughout film, and the classic rock FM soundtrack that makes me think of guys playing loud music on a boom box at a construction site.

Yes, Baby Groot is cute. Yes, Rocket Raccoon is funny. But this film was a movie that was made to be made: it exists because it exists. Like Ant-Man, if you skip this film, you will not have missed anything in the totality of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Issue #15: Gian's Reflections on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)

One of the best things about Marvel is that they can take characters you think you don’t like at all and turn them into characters you absolutely love. While I felt Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 (2017) had a lot of weaknesses, the film directed by James Gunn gets one big thing right: Yondu (played to perfection by Michael Rooker).
 
In the original comics, Yondu had a super bright costume and what looked like a rooster-plume on his head. In fact, the whole team looked kind of silly when they first appeared in Marvel Super-Heroes #18.

Having read a number of those early stories, I have to say I was pretty shocked when I heard they were making the Guardians part of the MCU. I certainly didn’t expect they could translate Yondu into a great character on screen. Luckily, they gave Yondu a respectable Mohawk which lets him control an incredibly deadly flying arrow. and even more respectable personality.

 
While Yondu comes across as menacing, we slowly learn that he has become an outcast from the Ravagers. This is one of the cores of the MCU. Many of its characters are lost souls. Captain America is a man out of time. The Winter Solider has been brainwashed. Black Panther watches his father get killed before his eyes. Gamora’s people are slaughtered by Thanos. For all their power, the heroes of the MCU struggle with incredible loss, loss that might overwhelm anyone.
 
Yondu has become an outcast because he refused to deliver Peter Quill (again played to comedic perfection by Chris Pratt) to the god-like Ego (played larger than life by Kurt Russell). Yondu had had actually delivered a number of Ego's other offspring to Ego, but when he learned that Ego subsequently killed those children, Yondu refused to give over Peter. Instead he hid Peter away and, for failing to honor his contract with Ego, the Ravagers exiled Yondu from their group. Yondu does what the best fathers always do if they must, sacrifice they own good for their children.

But Yondu lies to Peter about why he kept Peter. He tells Peter he kept him because he was small and skinny and could sneak into places to steal things. Yondu poses as loner and an outlaw. He acts like he only loves himself, and we can't be sure what Yondu thinks beyond what he has told Peter. And Peter accepts this coldness from Yondu as real. Perhaps Yondu never planned to be a father, so he didn't want to take credit for that fatherly act of saving Peter. There's a long, sad tradition of fathers and sons not being able to communicated and express their love for each other, and Yondu and Peter certainly fall into this trap.

In Peter's case, this leaves him searching for a father figure. As we know from the original Guardians of the Galaxy film, Peter lost his mother as a child. He never learned who his real father was, so he has spent much of his life searching for that father. In Guardians 2, Peter learns that Ego is his biological father and the source of Peter's own powers. Peter is quickly seduced by Ego's power, despite Gamora (played superbly as always by Zoe Saldana) try to warn him that Ego is not who he seems to be. Of course, Gamora is right and Ego actually plans to destroy the universe and remake it in Ego's own image.

But as the movie rolls along, we also learn that there is more to Yondu than meets the eye. In a particularly important exchange between Yondu and Rocket (voiced by wonderfully by Bradley Cooper):

Yondu : You can fool yourself and everyone else, but you can't fool me. I know who you are.

Rocket : You don't know anything about me, loser.

Yondu : I know everything about you. I know you play like you're the meanest and the hardest but actually you're the most scared of all.

Rocket : Shut up!

Yondu : I know you steal batteries you don't need and you push away anyone who's willing to put up with you 'cause just a little bit of love reminds you of how big and empty that hole inside you actually is.

Rocket : I said shut up!

Yondu : I know them scientists what made you, never gave a rat's ass about you!

Rocket : I'm serious, dude!

Yondu : Just like my own damn parents who sold me, their own little baby, into slavery. I know who you are, boy. Because you're me!

Rocket : ...What kind of a pair are we?

Yondu : The kind that's about to go fight a planet, I reckon.

Rocket : All right, okay! Good, that's... Wait. Fight a what?

In the final climactic battle of the film, Peter plans to stay behind to blow up the world which is Ego, an action which would result in Peter's death too. Rather than let Peter die, Yondu saves Peter and sacrifices himself to destroy Ego. It's an old storyline that we all know: Two characters are faced with self-sacrifice in order to save the universe and only one of the two characters can survive. So they nobly fight over the right to sacrifice themselves to save their friend.

We certainly can't miss that message about fatherhood. Yondu is Peter's real father, not Ego, and heart matters more than blood. Gunn makes sure we get the point of the film. But I think he actually delivers a more interesting message about fatherhood in that earlier exchange between Yondu and Rocket. Fathers need to be devoted to their children, not only blood relations but those raise as our own. But, beyond that, fathers also have a role to help other "children" if you will. In a way, Rocket is a lost child too. Perhaps the most orphaned child in all the MCU. Yondu, in the role of a father, offers Rocket a moment of understanding. He hears not what Rocket says but what the message underneath the surly statements Rocket makes. That's what the best fathers do: They listen, hear, understand, and offer a little advice. As a father myself, that's the message I'll try to remember.

Issue #14: Sandy's Reflections on Doctor Strange (2016)

I have to say…I liked this film much more this time around. It helps to have built up my knowledge of Doctor Strange’s character, and I did really like his arc for Infinity War/Endgame. If I had to say what I thought was missing in the film, it was that I wanted more Rachel McAdams, and I admit this, too: I like a love story and a couple to root for.
 
In many of the reviews, most critics felt like I did: we like Rachel McAdams, but there wasn’t much for her to do in Doctor Strange.  Take this very pointed analysis from Vulture:
 
It’s hard to figure out what Rachel McAdams’s standout scene in Doctor Strange is. Maybe it’s the one where she offers Benedict Cumberbatch emotional support while he performs a surgery. Possibly it’s the one where she performs surgery on Benedict Cumberbatch and offers him emotional support. My personal favorite, though, is the one where she brings Benedict Cumberbatch some fancy wine and cheese while she offers him emotional support, all of which he refuses to accept. McAdams, a recent Oscar nominee, is technically playing Doctor Christine Palmer in the film, but her actual role is to be the latest in a long line of Underutilized Marvel Love Interests, or UMLIs (https://www.vulture.com/2016/11/rachel-mcadams-doctor-strange-marvel-love-interest.html).
 
So, while I enjoyed seeing her in the film, my hopes for a juicy leading-lady or kick-ass role was dashed at my first viewing. Who doesn’t love Rachel McAdams.
 
However, this time around, I noticed something else: this film is a very good love story. Let me explain, as I’m not going where you think I am. Ha.
 
When we meet Stephen Strange, he is at the top of his game as a surgeon. He’s charming, a little bit sexy, and a lot overbearing. He’s obsessed with his own abilities and puts down others who don’t match his prowess in the operating room. We get a glimpse from Christine’s gift to him, the watch that is engraved with “Time will tell how much I love you—Christine.” Yet we are a little bit perplexed by the fact that she loved (or loves) him. We can tell they are an on-again/off-again couple who are currently in an “off” stage, but he can’t be grateful to her for her care during his recovery from the car accident—and his cutting words to her are downright cruel. Later, he asks why she never returned his emails…and we in the audience were left saying to ourselves, “Why, honestly, would she?”
 
But all of this back-and-forth is a bait and switch, really. Because she isn’t really the person that he needs to learn how to love—though his apology to her is lovely.
 
His journey forces him to confront the ugly parts of himself, to learn how to be humble, to truly see himself as he is: a vain, heartless, and ego-centric man. And he is all but broken by the middle of the film. Yet, it is only now that he can truly grow.
 
The film is sneaky in that it starts off with the formulaic plot that sets up a gorgeous former lover and the hope that by the end, they reunite and fall back in love. But that wasn’t the point of the film. The real love story is the one where Stephen Strange has to learn how to love himself.
 
Only then is he worthy of his new-found abilities. Only then can he grow and become a better man.
 
I read that Rachel McAdams’s Christine might not be in Doctor Strange 2, but I can wait. Let’s let him grow a bit more, and maybe we’ll see her again. When he’s ready.
 
And now that I’ve written this entry, I can honestly say that I like the film even more—and I look forward to more Doctor Strange in the future.

Issue #14: Alex's Reflections on Doctor Strange (2016)

This was the Marvel Cinematic Universe film I was the most excited about seeing once again. When I first saw it in the theaters in 2016, it was an underwhelming experience, but I truly wanted to like it. The MC Escher style cinematography coupled with Benedict Cumberbatch being the Sorcerer Supreme was genuinely appealing. In short, I wanted to love this film, and I went into with a preconceived level of admiration that could never conceivably be met.

My second viewing helped me come to a realization that I had not considered beforehand: Doctor Strange, throughout the course of the film, becomes the most self-actualized superhero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The tragedy of his origin story is a deconstruction of hubris that may be one of the most compelling in literary history. One of the running jokes among us is that I do not like origin movies, and I stand by that. I hold this opinion because I have read a lot of the comics these stories are based on and am familiar with a lot of the origin stories. Movie studios seem to have caught on to the fact that the general public is familiar with origin stories as evidenced by recent movies such as Spider-Man: Homecoming and Batman V Superman skipping the origins of Spider-Man and Batman respectively. However, it is important to note that characters such as Spider-Man and Batman, who are cultural touchstones at this point, need no introduction. Doctor Strange, an obscure 1960s Stan Lee and Steve Ditko creation, does.

 
The peace that Stephen Strange finds upon learning the mystic arts is satisfying. As a world renowned surgeon who is supremely arrogant, Dr. Strange loses a great deal of motor-function in his hands due to a car accident. Not only does Strange lose the delicate use of his hands, he loses his identity and sacrifices all of his wealth to find a cure for his hands. However, in his quest to physically fix his hands, he finds his inner peace through learning about the Mystic Arts.
 
There is a whole plot that revolves around a shadow dimension and Dormamu trying to invade Earth, yada, yada, yada. But the soul of this film, is the transition that Benedict Cumberbatch has from arrogant surgeon to humble sorcerer. Christine Palmer (played by Rachel McAdams) was the only person in the world who saw the good in Stephen Strange from the beginning, and the one belonging Strange has left when he meets The Ancient One (Tilda Swinton) is the watch Christine gave him which has an inscription: “Time will tell how much I love you.”
 
In the end, the story of Doctor Strange is more than cool MC Escher action sequences and trippy kaleidoscope effects. It is the story of finding peace when everything is lost. Of all the superheroes in the MCU thus far, he seemed the happiest and most content at the end.

Issue #14: Gian's Reflections on Doctor Strange (2016)

When I was a kid, I never really liked Dr. Strange. His costume seemed to goofy to me, which is funny considering that I loved superhero costumes which, in the early days with their underwear on the outside, could have all been considered pretty goofy. But to Dr. Strange just didn’t look right. He first appeared in Strange Tales #110, and Stan Lee noted, he was meant to be “a different kind of super-hero”:
 
 

I definitely thought he was different and too “weird” for me to like as a kid. I think, too, that I didn’t care for the gray streaks in Dr. Strang’s hair. (Let’s just say I’m a lot more accepting of gray hair now than I was at age 6!) At any rate, all of this reticence toward Dr. Strange made me a bit skeptical when Marvel decided to introduce the master of the mystic arts to the MCU. But as usual, Marvel knew exactly what it was doing when it released Doctor Strange in 2016 from director Scott Derrickson and staring the fantastic Benedict Cumberbatch.
 
The film goes for lots of laugh as well as some cool special effects. The lightness of Doctor Strange felt needed after the anguish left in viewers watching Captain America and Iron Man battle almost to the death in the previous MCU installment, Captain America: Civil War.
 
What interests me, though, is Marvel’s attempt to weave some religious themes into this film. Prior to Doctor Strange, there has not been any exploration of religion or philosophy in the MCU except, perhaps, for Loki in Avengers telling people to bow down to him like a god, which, of course, one brave man refuses to do.
 
At the beginning of the film, Stephen Strange has it all. As a top-notch surgeon, he has wealth, a beautiful girl friend, and so much ego that his head he can barely enter a room. But after recklessly speeding and crashing his sports car, his nerves are injured too badly to ever perform surgery again. Strange spends his fortune chasing one experimental cure after another, but all of those prove to be dead ends. In the end, broke and having cruelly driven his lover away, he stumbles upon a man whose paralysis was cured by some sort of mysticism. Strange goes to Tibet in search of this dream of a cure.
 
But instead of a cure, Dr. Strange finds religion and magic or, put another way, he finds faith. At first, Strange can’t accept things beyond his understanding of the physical realm. Strange is a doctor, after all, a man of science. He even shouts at the Ancient One (played with cool reserve by Tilda Swinton), “There is no such thing as spirit! We are matter and nothing more!” The Ancient One responds by pushing Strange’s spirit right out of his body, offering him startling proof of the existence of magic.

In “Doctor Strange Is The Most Religious Superhero Movie Ever,” a post for the website Watching God, Paul Asay discusses how Doctor Strange breaks new ground for the MCU:
 

There’s an undeniable aspect of faith to it all, even beyond the obvious occult trappings in which these spells are used. Strange is forced to embrace spiritual paradoxes, to relinquish his idea of control, to set aside the very things that made him so great at his job. “Your intellect has taken you far in life,” the Ancient One says, “but it can take you no farther.” At another juncture, she tells Strange one of the secrets of faith, particularly Christian faith. “It’s not about you.

Stephen Strange thought he had everything: Money, prestige, a beautiful lover, intellect. He was on top of the world, and that made him arrogant, self-righteous, and sometimes cruel. But everything we have can be taken from us in an instant. Strange learns this all too hard lesson, and then he has to learn that when the trappings of the world desert us, we must rely on faith and love to get us through.

 

Strange does not know everything, as the Ancient One shows him. And, eventually, this leads Strange toward humility, understanding, and finally courage. While he gains great mystical power, he also has to come to trust that there are things greater than himself. He must trust in others, for it is not only about him.

 

The other day, in yet another argument with my 17-year-old son, I found myself saying, “I remember when I was seventeen and knew everything, too. How I miss those days.” When I was 17, I didn’t care for that gray hair at Dr. Strange’s temples, but little did I know that I would find myself in the Ancient One’s shoes soon enough.

 
 
 

Issue #13: Sandy's Reflections on Captain America: Civil War (2016)

Of course this film is #13—a number that is often disliked for fear of bad karma or evil spirits. And we kind of have both in Captain America: Civil War. What makes this film uncomfortable is the fact that we’ve had 12 films that build two main characters’ arcs as heroes, and now we have to choose a side—meaning that one of our heroes is wrong.
 
I honestly haven’t watched Civil War other than once in the theater and then a few parts for chapters that I write about Pepper Potts. It hurts me, and I can’t bear to actually watch the brutal way that—emotionally—Tony and Steve pummel each other in the final battle sequence. Bruises on the skin will fade, but the bruises on their hearts will take much longer to heal.
 
This time around, though, I had no choice but to watch, as that is part of this process of our blog creation. I talked endlessly about the fact that I didn’t want to watch the film, and I was more and more vocal as I saw the film creep up closer and closer on our list.
 
Watching the film right now, in the political climate that we’re in, really lends itself to an analysis of the film as a metaphor for the depressing mess that we’re in as a country. We have two sides, and the divide grows larger rather than smaller. 
 
On one side, the film focuses on how Tony is rudderless without Pepper. He can’t finish a speech when her name appears on a teleprompter. He has regressed after making such progress at the end of Iron Man 3, destroying his excess suits and vowing to be more present in their lives. Instead, he is still traumatized by the events of Avengers and takes the news hard of how many people have died as a result of Ultron’s attempt to “save” the world. After the devastation that happened in Sokovia, shouldn’t there be some accountability for the loss of life? Part of Tony's thinking is regret for his part in Ultron’s creation, but part of his decision is that he is fueled by the idea that the Accords might help him “split the difference” in world view that he has with Pepper. He’s not wrong.  
 
On the other side, we have Steve, a man also lost without his love, Peggy. What crushes him even more is that she dies—and he, like Tony, feels rudderless. I wrote about how in Winter Soldier, Steve visits the museum to see those he knew, frozen in images and statues and interviews on a loop. He wants that connection to what he had, badly, and when he realizes Bucky is out there and could be killed, Steve not only wants to do the right thing, he also wants to get back one piece of what made him who he is. He also has an internal sense of what he believes is right. Sharon’s words at Peggy’s funeral cement his thoughts that the Accords are wrong: “Compromise where you can. Where you can't, don't. Even if everyone is telling you that something wrong is something right. Even if the whole world is telling you to move, it is your duty to plant yourself like a tree, look them in the eye, and say 'No, you move.’” Steve isn’t wrong either.
 
In “Red and Blue: An Analysis of Captain America: Civil War,” the author argues that “Tony Stark and Steve Rogers have good points, and both are making these good points for bad reasons” (https://observationdeck.kinja.com/red-and-blue-an-analysis-of-captain-america-civil-war-1775265715). Both are working off of their emotions, and they are trying their best. I feel for Tony’s loss, and I hurt for Cap as he struggles to stay true to his ideals that make him feel like a square peg in a round hole.
 
That’s what makes this film interesting to study in the context of our current election. We have two sides, both with positives and negatives. We have two candidates—and honestly, no debating specifics here; I’m not even naming them for a reason—and we can see that there is only one outcome from all this fighting: more separation and distance.
 
In Civil War, the end isn’t a sunset and a clear resolution that brings everyone back together again. The moral of the story is that when we are separated, when we increase the divide, it’s never good.
 
Let’s hope that we as a country can narrow the divide and work together to avoid our own war. Because, as the film painfully reveals, when war erupts, no one ever wins.

Issue #13: Alex's Reflections on Captain America: Civil War (2016)

There is a point in the Harry Potter story where the events of that world become more “real.” Yes, the books and films within that universe are rooted in magic which makes any discourse about “real” seem ridiculous. The “real” that I refer to could be interpreted as a “loss of innocence” or the narrative becoming serious. For Harry Potter that moment occurs during the The Goblet of Fire when Harry and Cedric Diggory are teleported to a cemetery for the first full and physical appearance of Voldemort. Up until that point in the story, much of the narrative in Harry Potter was whimsical with elements of danger throughout, but nothing ever felt truly dire until that encounter in the graveyard. If one is familiar with the books, this transition is a literal page turn: On one page the story is at the celebrated Tri-Wizard Tournament and the next page is a dark cemetery. For the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Captain America: Civil War is that page turn.
 
Throughout Civil War, the heroes debate (and physically fight) about the role of a superpowered team in a modern world. Should superheroes be regulated by a governing body that deems whether or not their services are required during a given crisis? Citing events from past films where the Avengers caused countless deaths and billions of dollars in damage, the Avengers are asked to sign the Sokovia Accords which would require the Avengers to act only upon the approval of a United Nations committee. For Captain America, this is an unacceptable limitation on the heroes which impedes on their liberties. For Iron Man, the idea of regulation is not so egregious and may have merit. Add to this a vengeful Baron Zemo who is behind the scenes orchestrating the destruction of the Avengers and the film becomes a deconstruction of the Avengers. 
 
The “page turn” that was referenced earlier occurs at the end of this film when it is revealed that The Winter Soldier was responsible for the murder of Tony Stark’s parents, and that revelation plays out in real time with Tony Stark watching a surveillance video of the event with Steve Rogers. When Tony asks Steve, “Did you know?” and Steve answers, “Yes,” the entire film series flips. The brutal battle that ensues between Iron Man and Captain America is visually excellent, but the emotion behind the fight makes it all the more engrossing. Many times throughout this blogging project I’ve undertaken with Sandy and Gian, I’ve referenced how absurd and bloated the final fight sequences are in these Marvel films. At this point in the series, this is the best final fighting sequence. The emotions are intense, the stakes are high, and it is a genuine fight between two combatants: no buildings falling, no planets exploding, no flying aircraft carriers falling out of the sky. It is just two good men fighting for their beliefs. 
 
This is where the “real” I was referring to comes into play. All of the Marvel Cinematic films have been celebratory to some degree, and this is the first one where it doesn’t end on a high note. In essence, this is the Marvel film that reminds us that the heroes are flawed and don’t always win.
 

Issue #13: Gian's Reflections on Captain America: Civil War (2016)

"One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." Every American knows the Pledge of Allegiance, and the history of the pledge, originally written by socialist minister Francis Bellamy in 1892, is quite interesting (including the fact that Bellamy’s daughter objected to the words “under God” being added by President Eisenhower in 1954).
 
Most states require the recitation of the pledge in public schools, but although Americans all know the pledge, it’s easy to forget that it contains the word “indivisible.” Having been written not long after the Civil War, it’s not surprising that Bellamy included the word “indivisible.” That word recalls Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address from 1864 in which he so eloquently stated:
 

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

 

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.

 
Civil wars tear nations, and people, apart. Which brings me not only to Captain America: Civil War (2016, directed by Anthony and Joe Russo) but the very divided American nation. Most Americans were shocked by the attack on the nation’s capital as Congress was in the process of certifying President Biden’s electoral college victory. The attack emerged from an initially peaceful protest by Americans who felt that the 2020 presidential election had been rigged (despite there being no hard evidence to support that claim) and that President Trump was the rightful winner. The attackers hoped to stop Biden from being confirmed as the 45th U.S. President.
 
Civil wars have real costs. Five people died in the capital attack and dozens more were injured. America is, fortunately, not in a civil war, though many of people feared it might come to that. And if you drive around western Pennsylvania, where I teach at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, you will still see Trump flags waving proudly from many homes. Americans are not at war, but they are divided, perhaps more so than ever in the country's history since the Civil War.

Just like the Avengers are divided in Civil War. Following the death and destruction of Avengers: Age of Ultron, the United Nations is preparing to pass the Sokovia Accords which will establish a U.N. panel to oversee and control the Avengers. Tony Stark (played superbly as always by Robert Downey Jr.) feels this will assure people that the Avengers only intend to serve the common good. Steve Rogers (played to perfection by Chris Evans) no longer trusts any government, especially after having learned how Hydra infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. Stark tries to get Steve to sign the accords, but Steve refuses and the Avengers split up.
 
This leads to a classic superhero battle in Germany with Team Cap fighting against Team Iron Man. It’s a fun battle with a lot of classic Marvel banter spouted by delightful new hero entry Spider-Man (played like a true teenager by Tom Holland). It even includes a terrific moment in which Spidey grabs Cap’s shield, and Cap, despite the fight and the shield swiping, pauses to say:

Captain America: You got heart, kid. Where are you from?

Spider-Man: Queens!

Captain America [with a chuckle]: Brooklyn!

 
If you like superhero battles, you can read all about them in my chapter “Who Is the Greatest Superhero: Using Comics to Explore the Concept of Heroism” in the fabulous book Comic Connections: Analyzing Hero and Identity (Rowman and Littlefield, 2017) edited by the equally fabulous Sandy Eckard. That book also contains a chapter by our third partner in heroism (rather than crime) Alex Romagnoli entitled “The Man with Identities: Utilizing Daredevil as an Artifact for Literary Analysis.”
 
Unfortunately, all the fun banter comes crashing to a halt when James Rhodes/War Machine (played nicely by Don Cheadle) accidentally gets blasted from the sky and nearly killed. Despite the colorful costumes, a civil war is never fun and Rhodes’ near death makes that hit home for every hero at the battle. Cap and his team quickly look to escape, and they only manage to do so because the Black Widow (played wonderfully again by Scarlett Johansson) changes sides.
 
This leads toward the climatic battle that pits Iron Man against Captain America and the Winter Solider/Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan who increasingly embodies the role). Sandy always says she skips that final scene because she can’t bear to watch it. And it’s easy to understand why. This is not the fun-filled sparring of the earlier battle. The final fight is bloody and brutal. It has been carefully orchestrated by Helmut Zemo (played icily by Daniel Brühl) in an attempt to reek revenge upon the Avengers whom he blames for the death of his family. Zemo’s family were killed during the battle between the Avengers and Ultron in Sokovia, though as viewers we see that as Ultron’s fault not theirs. Knowing that he can’t possibly beat the Avengers himself, Zemo leads them into a trap where he shows them a secret videotape which he believes will send the heroes into a deadly battle against each other.

The video is extremely painful to watch, surely the darkest scene in the entire MCU. Having caused their car to crash on a deserted road, a brainwashed Winter Solider approaches the burning vehicle and then kills Tony’s parents, Howard (played by John Slattery) and Maria (played by Hope Davis). While we are not forced to watch the actual killing, we do hear Maria gasp “No.” True to Zemo’s wishes, this sends Tony into a blind rage and he attempts to kill Bucky. Steve tries to help Bucky flee, but Tony blocks his escape. This escalates the fight so that we see Cap and Bucky pound Iron Man over and over in a desperate attempt to subdue him.

But as vicious as the fight is, it’s the words the heroes hurl at each other that are the most vicious of all:
 

Steve: “Tony. Tony. It wasn’t him, Tony. Hydra had control of his mind.”

Tony [to Cap]: “Move.” [Tony flies at Bucky avoiding Cap’s attempt to stop him.]

Steve [calling after Tony]: “It wasn’t him.”

[Then, after more hard fighting:]

Steve: “This isn’t gonna change what happened.”

Tony: “I don’t care. He killed my mom.”

[And finally, after having pounded each other nearly senseless:]

Steve: “He’s my friend.”

Tony: “So was I.”

Lying on the ground where Steve has left him beaten, a bloodied Tony hits Steve with one last blow, the harshest of all:

Tony: “That shield doesn’t belong to you. You don’t deserve it. My father made that shield”

Cap looks upward, in a prayer-like moment, then gives a sad shrug of resignation and tosses the shield backward. It lands, now full of scratches, with a hard clang.

 
No one wins in a civil war. That’s the lesson. And we already know it. We learned it the hard way, long ago, with the deaths of so many Americans. And it’s always the same, no matter where a civil war is fought: Everybody loses.
 
So, as we begin 2021, I call on my fellow Americans to set aside their differences and start working together. We don’t need another civil war. We need to be indivisible.