@@basedchimera5859 It's "tone deaf" sir or lady. I don't think you're qualified to talk about tone deafness without actually understanding the phrase though.
@@LtCaveman And if you were qualified to talk on the use of language, you'd have a PHD in Linguistics and/or Applied Language Studies, and then surely know that prescriptive attitudes on how language should be used is frowned upon. :/ In any event, one should feel joy at seeing how language can shift and change via long games of "telephone" through generations. The term might be "tone deaf" initially, but "tone death" could work just as well, if you choose to look at it that way: describing the death of the established tone. Do you lack imagination? At the wonder of how language can shift, change, and adapt? Or are we to be pinned down by the grade school rules and phrases we learn in our flawed school system? Are we to look down on people who didn't receive or don't have the same education as us? What, are you a classist elitist?
Company who owns the Captain America brand asks if the Captain America brand is inextricably tied to the horrors of the American Empire. You'll never guess where they land!
From the makers of 'The Black Panthers were racist actually' and 'I can't believe it's not systemic racism', comes 'Captain Colonialism and the Good Guy with a Gun'!
Man, Falcon giving the international representatives a stern talking to was absolute cringe. Imagine how easy the civil rights movement would have been if someone had just told all of the senators what they were doing was BAD
Really weird how the Marvel show supposedly meant to portray coming to grips with a gritty, morally grey vision of America is less biting a critique than "The Suicide Squad," the R-rated wacky superhero comedy by DC about how the US is perfectly fine with fascist Latin American dictatorships so long as they're pro-US, and where the moral, upstanding "America Good" guy who argues that a true patriot would want the truth about the US to come out is brutally murdered by the other "America Good" guy who is perfectly fine with killing as many innocents as necessary to keep America's image clean in the name of world peace and security.
Lib friend of mine believes that voting exists as a way for the average person to concede authority to professionals, and that issues with politics are caused by the willful act of defiance of this idea.
@@elsanto2401 your friend apparently does not realize that professionals are just as capable of screwing over the people. In fact, I could even argue that professionals are more capable of it because of their expertise being above the average layman.
I remember seeing the first episode of Falcon and the Winter Soldier and immediately watching Falcon go on a military operation and kill like 7 people with the narrative never even acknowledging it and I just went “ah, so it’s going to be like this”
I re-watched the scene just now and counted deaths, just for fun lol. There were (I think) 12 deaths caused by Sam in the opening scene. Not sure the exact number, because it’s unknown how many people were in the exploding helicopters, but it’s around that, I think.
I haven't seen the show, so I can't speak on the actual scene with certainty, but oh my god that clip of Sam bringing Isiah to the museum to show him a statue he made does not make me feel warmhearted at all. Canada has been trying to go about reconciliation to indigenous people mainly via acknowledgment and it's extremely painful, frustrating, and sometimes does nothing to help. I see that scene and can only feel like I can relate through feelings of trauma. My aunt refused to take part in any reconciliation activities because she knew she probably wouldn't live through it. She was medically experimented on in residential schools and she said she would probably relapse into alcoholism and die if she were to participate.
@@seekingabsolution1907 horrific too. They still have compulsory sterilization of indigenous women. Like it seems like I'm being ridiculous, but it's seriously an issue that is for some reason not well known. Check it out.
I'm Native American and my grandma was part of that. She said "Don't point a finger. 3 more will point back." She also told me I wasn't there. Seeing my fellow natives burn down churches is not cool. What they gonna do when they get their way?? They going to "re-educate" the natives who believe?? Don't become what you hate. I felt strongly about the church as well. She said there was some good Christians who helped her survive. Some who risked being there to help. Some who were caught and treated horribly. But they don't want anybody to speak about it. We act like we haven't enslaved Africans. Yes we dealt in slaves as well too. It's why we gotta stop bringing up past transgressions. Nobody is clean. I don't trust any of these "sources." It's all just propaganda to rile my natives up like at Standing Rock. We were used for a narrative. It worked.
@@sgt1terrence I'm sorry but have you asked yourself who else would benefit if you block "others", genuinely concerned for liberation of IPs or otherwise, "use us for a narrative"? Of course I'm not trying to argue to let other people use you as a political soapbox but asserting that people in general only USE you to get across whatever ulterior motives they have is to assume YOUR people don't have that political voice in the first place. What about other Native Americans who continue struggling for liberation and self-determination? Don't you think YOU are trying to use them as being Native Americans to have your point of having your own people take an apolitical stance come across is the same as what "those people" did to bolster their own political agendas that ultimately does not care for your people? I think the sensible thing for us colonized people to do is to recognize our own voices. Not to confuse them with other voices and be silenced.
Pretty much any super hero media these days features "bad guys" who have genuine grievances with the system, but who need to be stopped by the "heroes" because their methods of trying to force the people in power to address them are violent. The heroes then proceeds to do absolutely nothing about the problems that drove the villains to act that way in the first place. I almost wish this show had done that, because the way they chose to have the hero "address the problem" was so half-hearted that it radicalized me more.
not only that, but the heroes also use violence to achieve their goals. I am reminded of Spider-Man: Miles Morales (the PS4 game), in which Miles opposes the Underground because they're too violent, but his methods literally include hacking into devices, invading private property, beating the living shit of both "criminals" and private armies. Like, he's literally helping to bring down a major corporation with violence, just like the Underground! Why doesn't he genuinely join them? And the writing is so lazy that the only reason he has to stop Phin is because maaaaaaybe the nuform will cause colateral damage (he only effectively knew the nuform would vaporize all of Harlem way later in the narrative). My man Spidey is such a pool of contradiction, it's like the story is telling us only Spider-Man can be trusted with the use of violence and that collective struggle is wrong cuz... cuz something I guess lol
I'm not even bothered so much by the vapid centrism of superhero media. I'm just here to watch people in colorful costumes punch each other. Literally all I ask is that they don't raise questions that they're not willing to answer honestly. That's the main problem with this show. It asks questions that Disney was never going to give satisfying answers for. Disney is never going to challenge the status quo. I know that, you know that, Disney knows that. They don't have to insult us by acting like they've got something profound to say.
they have to because the audience for these shows are older. Back in the day these characters were for children but those children grew up and also children don't bring in bank as much so you have to adult things. Being mindless and dumb would not grab viewers with these characters like in the 90s.
This show is made for adults who don't want to feel childish for consuming products like these. Same goes for any blockbuster movie that tries to be "dark", e.g. Rogue One
@@jakubrejak1114 I don’t know that you have to answer serious questions, but you do have to pose those serious questions in a genuine and honest way, which can’t be done while also trying to pander to everyone at the same time.
Didn't watch the show, but the statue thing looks a lot like adding insult to injury. Making him part of a thing that he obviously didn't want to be a part of in the interest of people he hates is such a weird thing to present as this great act of kindness.
In the show, Isaiah wasn’t recognized for his heroic acts like Steve was, the statue is portrayed as a manifestation of Isaiah heroic acts that he never received but ofc it didn’t resolve everything the country did to him but him crying shows he finally received some recognition for his heroism
Technically, the Flagsmashers never actually say "Thanos was right" or "it was better when everyone was dead." We are told that they believe "it was better during the blip," but that was just what the US government had to say to justify taking action against them. The Flagsmashers themselves are mostly just resentful over how people returning has led them to being marginalized. It's a sleight of hand to have relatable antagonists who "have a point" while still painting them as "the villain."
When Hailee (or whatever her name was) blew up that building I realized the flag-smashers were being made out to be the irredeemable ultimate villains of the series and the corrupt world leaders trying to throw them away and get back to the status quo just needed a good stern taking to…I said to myself this is gonna go down as the weakest worst marvel Disney plus series. When they had the chance to make a REAL critique and really shake the table Disney of course chose to bitch out with “ violent retaliation to violent oppression bad, entrenched elite corrupt world leaders just need a stern talking to then everything will be good. The End.”
The flagsmashers were never relatable, they took advantage of the fact that everyone was disappearing and stole their houses but then are mad when people reappeared and went back into their homes to find these rats like Karli Mogenthau using their homes and looting them dry. The government did a good job of taking care of the flag smashers and the flag smashers feeling so entitled to other peoples homes to the point where they commit terrorism isn’t really the governments fault at all.
@@chadzahirshah2588 This actually happen in our world like in cyprus. They ended up leaving their house and live in other people house because of other country intervantion. IF when cyprus finally becomes truly independent and people can go back to their old house, but the other people dont want to leave their new house because they already lived there for a long time too, which one do you think at fault here?
I know it's a bit late, but I would love to see an ideological analysis of Black Panther. It's a perfect example of a superhero film that tries to discredit revolutionary ideas by strawmanning and attacking the character of its proponents, in favor of feel good liberal solutions. Also, I just love how in a film with otherwise strong female characters there's randomly this completely disposal love interest whose entire purpose is to die so we know that the antagonist is a very bad dude.
that is pretty much the typical discourse on twitter. He had to kill the girl and choke out one of the Wakandan women because he had to be a bad guy. Because otherwise he's Thomas Sankara.
I feel like, for me at least, Black panther is one of the rare cases where the villain would still be bad even if he wasn't randomly violent. He's been a tool of american style destabilization. He has good points about black liberation and solidarity but he just wants to replace white america with wakanda as the dominant empire. And Wakanda doesn't return to the status quo, but instead reveals its existence and starts outreach - the "correct" ideo:logy was already expressed by the hero's GF from the start. Like sure, the opening of a community outreach center VS global revolution is pretty weak, but I think that even if it can be read as revolution VS reform, it can also be read as liberation VS supremacy, or more accurately, diplomacy vs imperialism. and while pretty fringe, black nationalism exists and deserves criticism.
@@maximeteppe7627 Indeed, i don't agree with this video when it says that "Killmonger had a point but they needed to show him doing bad things to make him bad" he was extreme from the start.
@@brxnv_ it's not even that. He's extreme AND he's hypocritical. First scene we see him, he "rescues" a wakandian vibranium artifact, then he steals a mask from another ethnic group because it'll look cool next time he does an op. Not that the "bad guy does violence to show his ideology is bad" isn't there, but black panther is a rare effort to show that the ideology of the bad guy is fundamentally wrong and not just "the right idea, except violence bad"
i cant believe ppl say wandavision is the worst out of first three marvel shows. it's the one with the tightest plotline, has an interesting premise and presentation and centers around the strong idea of exploring grief. captain america started good but became watered down when they had to stand against the government and loki was poorly paced and could use a lot of polishing up in execution
@@avrilynravenee5143 I think a show settling on the idea that its okay that the heroine abducted and brainraped several hundred people because she had a sad leaves a bad taste in their mouths.
@@BobExcalibur that was one of my problems with the show, they shied away from making her the villain despite the fact that she was doing a very obviously villainous thing. They had to distract from that by having two other villains, Agatha and military bad man. The rationale goes something like "Wanda is an avenger and therefore a good guy despite this obviously evil thing she is doing, so let's not assassinate her immediately and let her 'fix' this." I think the Geraldine character (forgot what her character's real name) actually says something like this. I think it would have been more interesting and impactful if she actual wad more obviously the villain and there would be an actual conflict of significance between formerly good guys. No need for Agatha or military man to be secretly evil. Have her be the selfish bad guy that eventually has a conflict with Vision and finally realized that what she has done is terrible, decides to shut it down, and the show ends with her being a fugitive from the government and shield snd whatnot. That's how the Hulk used to be, a fugitive that would show up and be tolerated by the powers that be only when some bigger threat manifested itself.
@@21Arrozito If you're familiar with the House Of M storyline that inspired Wandavision, the story is almost exclusviely focused on other characters dealing with the aftermath of Wanda changing reality. Wanda initiated the change because she was provoked to by her brother, who was exploiting her vulnerable state for his own agenda. They changed the locus of responsibility so that Wanda would have more agency in what is happening, but insodoing made her culpable for the cruelty of her actions. They wanted her to be a "protagonist" not a "prop", but the problem is that they didn't want to confront what we call people who kidnap, brainwash and gaslight innocent people even if its over trauma. Thus she sails out of the experience without any kind of atonement on her mind, just how NICE she was to give her victims back the lives SHE stole from them.
The part where Captain America, at least hypothetically, represents America *as it should be* rather than America *as it is* really ought to have been a bigger part of this story.
@@warmachine5835 Exactly, that he represents the Platonic ideal of what a young impressionable but good natured man sees America as representing. Not that America is infalliable but that it learns from its mistakes and strives to improve in pursuit of that ideal. Not a utopian aspiration but a commitment to seek improvement. Throughout the history of the character that aspiration has jacknifed into every aspect of American society and Steve made dozens of enemies within the government, corporate and civil systems of the country. However if you're an Anarchist and you resent the existence of nations altogether you see this aspiration as evil, and YOUR aspiration of abolishing all hierarchal structures as entirely reachable and not insane...
@@BobExcalibur Lmao, what the fuck? Captain America can wish whatever he wants, but he is *inextricable* from America at large. He can represent what America "should be", but HE CANNOT disentangle his symbols from the sins of its past. People harmed by America will always see him in the light of their cultural experience. There will always be that baggage. It's also disingenuous for him to claim "freedom, and equality, and all that jazz" as exclusively American ideals... Just as Christianity appropriates and claims it owns all that is good.
I've grown tired of Marvel's easy to shallow moral quandaries and discussions. I've loved the MCU for years, but now as an adult I see how surface level many of these stories are. This show was a real letdown for me, I found the "villains" much more interesting than the "heroes". They stood up for themselves and made some good arguments for their cause. Violence wouldn't have been their answer if this was a different show, where violence wasn't the only way to solve problems for the heroes.
I honestly kept waiting for someone else to be revealed as the "real" antagonists of the show. I was stunned when I realized that, no, these were actually the big bad evil guys we're supposed to be cheering for our heroes to beat up. I wasn't expecting the show to say anything controversial (this is Disney we're talking about), but even from a simple narrative angle, they did a TERRIBLE job writing the Flagsmashers as antagonists. They're literally just good guys except that they have to occasionally do a murder because evil.
This is why I was disappointed with Wandavision. It was a great story for the first 3 episodes, but then Marvel had to step in and remind us that this was still part of a multibillion dollar franchise. It was a perfectly fine story about how people cope with grief and PTSD. Then Marvel just had shoehorn in the military. It also didn’t help that the only black character with more than 1 speaking line was used as the show’s mammy. She had no wants of desires outside of helping the white woman who enslaved an entire city, and had no problems dealing with the mental labor of being placed in a mind prison for days on end.
And like... Violence isn't even "bad"? It has always been a necessary means to force change or to protect the oppressed, and it's not like we don't see "condoned" violence portrayed as "good actually" ALL THE TIME when the protagonist is a cop or military person. The only truly effective civil rights movements have all had a component of violence and/or obstruction. Hell, most socialist societies are FORCED to militarize intensely and shoot first, ask questions later because they're otherwise wiped off the map either by the US directly, or by intense US financial and military support of their opposition...
Consider these stories aren’t surface level at all, no you most certainly don’t. And it seems clear you are not an adult yet. And even clearer you didn’t watch the show
@@FlorenceFox So in other words, you didn’t watch the show. Because no. We weren’t supposed to cheer for out heroes to beat up these guys at all. Literally the opposite.
Much of this show's - and much of general American media - message is that things are just fine, we don't need change, and any ideology that challenges the status quo will be represented by characters with huge character flaws to make those ideologies as unappealing as possible. It's entirely uncritical of systems that take advantage of massive amounts of people and entire nations, and maybe we should do something to teach people that the status quo isn't a great thing.
There's also the message that change IS necessary, but it must be done on a completely individual level. imo it's more insidious than saying that everything's fine because it redirects people's desire for justice into actions that are ineffective at best and outright contributing to the problem at worst. Like all the marketing campaigns trying to fool people into thinking that global warming can be solved if consumers switched to paper straws and electric cars. Or that racism would end if people were just nice to each other.
@@guy-sl3kr yep, look at all the libs that think their individual right to vote is powerful as if it will change anything. Giving people the perception of having power through individualism is enough it seems.
@@theblackestvoid I love the insidious fascism that leaks through some of these commentators. "Conform to my ideology to solve X problem, otherwise you're a part of the problem that can't say crap against my violent lashing out." It's like watching a bunch of misogynist abusers justify their abuse.
I vaguely remember that the building the flag smashers was also an actual orphanage, I think they literally had their villain blow up an orphanage, the whole meme
@@ripyungbruh8157 I can't think of many capitalist governments who have done things that compare to the Khmer Rouge deciding to kill everyone who wears glasses. Then again, REAL Capitalism has never been tried.
The problem with Kill Monger is that he wanted to just replace one empire, America, with another, Wakanda. As he put it "I learn from my enemies". He just wanted to continue the cycle of violence rather than fix it.. That said your criticism with Falcon and The Winter Soldier is spot on.
Yeah, he wanted to deliver weapons to black people all over the world not so that they could protect themselves, but to stage a violent revolt where they kill everyone the see as oppressors as well as anyone that gets in their way.
@@bigbadbob7070 yeah I always found that weird. maybe I'm bias as a white brit. but when he said "there are 2 billion people who look just like us [...] I'm gonna' wage a war and this time we're gonna' be on top" made me seriously uncomfortable as he is stright up saying he wants a race war.
@@luigiwoo4469 It should make anyone uncomfortable. His whole plan is black supremacy at its core where he gets to be the oppressor. While he did bring some good points about Wakanda’s isolationism when it could have prevented so many evils, he’s still a monster.
@@luigiwoo4469 Isn't it supposed to make you uncomfortable since he's the villain? As said in the video it's illustrated that way so that the audience doesn't question who the good guys and bad guys are. Don't know what you being a white brit has to do with it though.
@@slothful2039 the white brit part was more a joke than anything. but I agree; what made me uncomfortable was how many people totally missed that extreme sentiment. many of my room mates love the MCU movies and when I brought up that Kill Monger wanted a race war they were extremely confused and this isn't the first time I've encountered somthing like that.
I kept thinking of Disco Elysium and the Kingdom of Conscience thought cabinet project (the Moralist/Centrist thought project) during this video, and thinking how neatly it fits with the MCU's 'ideology.' The Kingdom of Conscience will be exactly as it is now. Moralists don't really _have_ beliefs. Sometimes they stumble on one, like on a child's toy left on the carpet. The toy must be put away immediately. And the child reprimanded. Centrism isn't change -- not even incremental change. It is _control_ . Over yourself and the world. Exercise it. Look up at the sky, at the dark shapes of Coalition airships hanging there. Ask yourself: is there something sinister in moralism? And then answer: no. God is in his heaven. Everything is normal on Earth.
Centrism is the true conservatism, they oppose any sort of change once so ever, conservatives(as they identify themselvs) are more like regressives, they want to regress society to a point where they think society was great.
This is a great observation! Completely agree. "Reprimand", in fact, seems to have now been set up as Sam's modus operandi, as is treating everyone around him who is motivated by emotion about anything as a child, which is actually really funny as defining characteristics for a superhero. This quote also helps contextualise what I found so jarring about the amends plotline for Bucky in this show - which is that the script basically treated his inability to entirely control his own emotions about what happened to him, and to be somewhat unstable/unconsidered in his actions, as a moral failing that had to be repeatedly and harshly corrected rather than a completely normal response, then tried to persuade us this correction was his best possible route to recovery. It was really maddening to watch!
With regards to Kilmonger, I actually think that's one of the instances where "The Swerve" is actually used appropriately. His actions and ideology parallels a common ideology that many African Americans adopt, where they're solution to white imperialism/ capitalism/nationalism/patriarchy is black imperialism/capitalism/nationalism/patriarchy. I find this kind of criticism very pointed because a lot of the time black Americans are so fixated on their status as black people that they become ignorant or obstinate to recognizing their own privileges and biases as Americans.
Yeah. I always felt it was weird that people said killmongerr was right when he advocated for genocide. Was that not his plan? Genocide is bad!! Stop saying killmonger is right and stop saying thanos is right!!.
Most race grifters get into it for the sake of aquiring more power to themselves and riding roughshod over the very people they once claimed to advocate for. Anarcho-communists intentionally exaggerate and exploit racial tensions for the sake of using black people as a human wall between them and just reprisal, both ideologically and literally. Like they used to with the white poor. Same with François Duvalier. Same with dozens of socialist African dictators. Same as it ever was.
He was the only character in that story who advocated for black revolution. His portrayal wasn’t just a criticism of the pitfalls black revolutionaries sometimes fall into, it was an outright condemnation of black revolutionaries. The writers chose to make Kilmonger a misogynist and a power-hungry hypocrite. They chose to have the “heroes” stop him from arming oppressed people around the world. They chose to portray Kilmonger as a irredeemable monster who had to be put down like a rabid dog at the end of the film. I understand a lot of people adore Marvel’s Black Panther, but let’s pretend the movie is something it’s not. It is definitely NOT anti-imperialism.
@@jimbrody4945 Yes, he was a misogynist. I hate to break it to you but a lot of "black revolutionary" circles are really REALLY misogynistic. No, he wasn't a hypocrite and the film certainly did not portrayed him as an "irredeemable monster who had to be put down like a rabid dog,". Anyone who read the story like that just has bad media literacy. T'challa explicitly gives credence to Kilmonger's beef with Wakanda when he chews out his ancestors, then changes his entire approach as a leader. When Kilmonger dies it's in the background of a setting sun with profound last words and T'challa crying for him. In what world is that being "put down like a rabid dog,"?
You (correctly) point out that the show is originally rather coy about why Sam doesn't want to be Captain America, something I think is actually handled rather well. I think it's important to note however that the show is also, throughout its length, also not very clear on what being Captain America specifically means. Does it mean to be an agent of the state, as Rogers originally was and Walker is? Or does it mean that you stand for some external ideal of what America represents, as Steve believes he does when opposing the Sokovia Accords? It's been a while since I watched the show, but I don't remember Sam at any point indicating that as Captain America he would be working with the US government (or, within the context of the show, the GRC). Or rather he doesn't indicate that he believes this is a necessary part of being Captain America, even if he does personally work with the US government frequently. As an aside, the point of the opening scene was that Sam specifically cannot enter Libyan airspace. He is told to turn back before crossing the border, and does so right at the last moment. In fact I would argue that this is the show subtly setting up that the Flag Smashers are not entirely wrong, albeit in a very confused way. This scene is literally the protagonist of the show potentially being stopped from doing something good - presumably, stopping Batroc from smuggling weapons or whatever is a good thing - by an arbitrary border enforced by both Libya itself and the US pressuring Sam not to break that treaty. That said, the fact that the Flag Smashers are treated as bad for killing people in a franchise that largely has no problem with killing those committing violence is indeed a travesty of writing. As is the fact that Walker is... redeemed? I think? I'm genuinely not sure what happened with him at the end.
I don't think your last point is a travesty of writing when Americans genuinely feel this way. (violence from the status quo = good, violence against = bad) Example, to most Americans even liberals, Fidel was a brutal genocidal dictator, even though he was opposed to torture and Obama killed more people in his first term than people killed under Fidel in his entire life.
The end of Walker's story (is he redeemed? What?) Is confusing because it's literally just done to set up future Marvel projects (Thunderbolts I am guessing). It doesn't fit into the narrative of the show because that's not what it's there for. It's there to fit into the narrative of a future show/movie.
@@CandyCinema I think they're skipping Thunderbolts. In the last few shows and movies we've had US Agent (Walker), Abomination, Agitha Harkness, and Evil Dr. Strange is slated to appear in his next movie. I think they're aiming to go directly for the Dark Avengers plot.
@@theblackestvoid Fidel wasn't a genocide, just a king with a crown in a totalitarian regime with a cult to his figure. He tortured people too, at least under his regime and command, but not by his hand. Not for nothing many Cubans flood of Cuba to the USA and in case of some of my family, to Spain. Don't get it wrong, Fidel if didn't kill anything is because he had pressure of the US to not do a bad move, but that never stop him to back up revolutions and conflicts to spread his communism, even to guerrillas that were far away to be Marxist just to piss of Uuncle Sam.
Just found this video. I agree with you with everything. The only thing I'd like to point out that at 7:46 you say "The half of life on Earth was blipped." Well, it wasn't just Earth, it was half of the life in the entire universe, not just Earth.
One thing that I noticed is that in the ending speech Sam specifically cites the extreme measures the flag smashers used to achieve what they wanted as evidence that it matter a lot to them and must be important. This could be read as implying that the violent tactics that the flag smashers went to were infact useful to them because they ultimately led to Sam seeing how much they wanted their vision and advocating for them in that speech. In some sense this could be seen as justifying the flag smashers' actions as it actually leads to them accomplishing (at least some of) what they wanted. Though I do admit that I don't think this was the intent of the text but rather an interesting reading of it
@@RM-cn8pw How do you know what the authors intended? And I really doubt that they were trying to tell people that political violence/ terrorism can be a useful tool
@moosemangarfield9650 *3 years later* In the scene, Sam says to stop calling them terrorists....after they committed terrorism. They paint the flag smashers to be sympathetic even though they kill innocents. When John Walker kills one of them (which, as a soldier, he had to), they make it seem like an evil act. Sam carries out Carly's (I think that's her name) body out, but not Sharon as she is bleeding out. Point is, they make it seem like the flag smashers weren't that bad
The problem with many mainstream, serial, superhero media is that they endorse the status quo of the world to keep the setting familiar. But the fact that Disney even touched these issues at all was more than I expected. They didn't do it well, but hey, we shouldn't expect any commercially mainstream genre to really push any envelopes.
Stretch Armstrong and the Flex Fighters on Netflix went to some surprising places with that despite being a children’s superhero cartoon. It’s not a leftist masterpiece, but its heroes end up fighting a neoliberal nightmare where they are branded as terrorists by corporate propaganda, the “status quo” they initially tried to uphold.
This was a really great video and I'm glad to see someone talking about this on yt because I saw too much of marvel fandom getting swept up in the idea of Sam as Cap and not a lot of interrogation of the actual content of the show. I actually think there's a lot of added context from the other movies that proves your point and actually makes Sam's characterization...even worse? The way I saw it, the reason Sam chose to pick up the shield at the end wasn't just in opposition to Isaiah, but also to act as an echo of Steve (or at least Steve between Winter Soldier and Infinity War). When Sam meets Steve, he's a veteran who connects with Steve because they both lost people they loved to the violence of war (Riley and Bucky respectively). When Steve calls on Sam to help him, it's to take down the mcu's own para-military organization that Steve was integral to the formation of, and not only that, they go out of their way to steal back the technology (the wings) that were taken from Sam by the government after he was discharged. He's reclaiming the use of force and helping Steve dismantle the status quo. After that, Sam watches Steve challenge the status quo again in Age of Ultron and Civil War. In both movies (just like in WS), he's opposed to government and corporate surveillance (Tony's ultron security system and the Sokovia Accords). We see how that surveillance negatively affects characters like Wanda and Bucky, and Sam is literally almost loses his life trying to protect Steve and Bucky (if Vision had actually landed his shot on Sam instead of Rhoades, Sam absolutely would have died). He ends the movie getting rescued from underwater hyper prison by Steve, and the two of them along with Black Widow become rogue superheroes for 2 years, working under no government (and we also now know that Natasha spent some of that time ending the black widow program and freeing fellow victims of the red room). When we meet back up with them in infinity war, Steve is, I'd argue, the only character that makes any ideological stance against Thanos, even if it's not in words. He firmly believes that they should avoid sacrificing Vision for as long as they possibly can, because unlike Thanos, he believes in the value of individual lives. Basically, I think Sam's clearest memories of Steve were not as the face of the American government, but as the face of a more nebulous idea of America and its people. John Walker is absolutely the face of the American government, without question. But Sam's choices in this show also contradict the Steve Rogers that HE last saw (not the one the audience last saw in endgame). That Steve Rogers served no country, he was literally on the run because they effectively criminalized his free existence (just like Wanda, he can't take off his superpowers and put them on a shelf). I really liked Isaiah's character because he challenged even the basic tenants of Steve Rogers' own beliefs: that there is some core inherent good in the American experiment that needs to be protected by the people and against the government. Isaiah reveals the true underbelly of America: that it is rotten to the core. That most radical version of Steve may have been closer to doing good than he ever was when he was wearing the stars and stripes. But there's nothing this reveal about Isaiah can do for Sam at this point, because even the previous films were too afraid to touch that version of Steve Rogers. We only got 6 minutes of him in infinity war, and in endgame, he had transformed into a cynic who accepted the world as it was, and was only spurred to action by the most miraculous possible turn of events. He sat by and let Natasha run what was left of the avengers while he ran small group therapy sessions and remarked at how eco fascism sure did bring the whales back to the Hudson Bay! I wasn't expecting this show to turn Sam Wilson into some radical or anything, especially seeing how they nerfed Steve in the previous films, but they flagrantly misunderstood the character of Sam Wilson that had been built up before now, and the inclusion of Isaiah's storyline was like an extra punch to the gut. You open this show with Sam literally rejoining the military, the institution that he left after one of his fellow soldiers was KIA, and you end it with him donning the stars and stripes and politely asking some politicians on TV to do their jobs. I mean, inside the narrative it tracks, and Steve Rogers was certainly know for giving speeches. But the last speech we heard him give to a government official was in infinity war when he told Secretary Ross to fuck off, so there was no way they were gonna keep that character on the trajectory he was on, and as such, Sam also had to be ideologically reset. I kinda just wish they'd left well enough alone and told a fun action story instead, because this attempt at political commentary was offensive not just as a piece of neoliberal propaganda, but to the stories and characters that came before it. Basically, IW Steve would've agreed with the flag smashers even more than they let Sam do in this show, and if his character had any real continuity between IW and EG, he would've been on the ground with them helping people instead of going to the avengers compound once a week to do laundry (and so would Sam in his own show). (sorry for writing an essay in your comments, I just really enjoyed the commentary in this video lol
Captain America always fascinated me. He was born and raised in the 1920s, yet shows no signs of prejudice towards non-white people, queer people, or women. As I grew up, I eventually understood that this is because Captain America is a boomer's wet dream. He's the perfect ideal representation of the past and why it was so great. Often I hear boomers and older gen Xs talk about "the good old days." As a black girl, I always think, "What good old days?" Do they mean the days when people like me wouldn't even have the opportunity to go to college, get a job, or even be allowed into the same bathroom as white people? Another part of longing for the past is boomer saying Millenials and gen z are too sensitive. We're not. Unlike them, we realize that tolerating and normalizing bad behavior (racism, sexism, queerphobia, xenophobia) directly negatively affects people. Having Sam as the New Captain America would've been a golden opportunity to reveal the darker and uglier side of American history that boomers and jingoists like to pretend either didn't happen or aren't a big deal anymore. I would've loved to see old people complain to the news and social media about Sam, and praise John Walker as the true ideal Captain America. Maybe some Proud Boys type of group could form and try to kill Sam and conspire with John Walker.
Yeah exactly we never get to know how the (American) people feel about this situation. I think John Walker as the only antagonist would have been enough
If you're gonna talk about the uglier side of America, you may as well also include certain radicals that would spit at Sam for daring to wear those colors as a "traitor" and "rejecting his blackness". May as well go full "bad side of American society" while you're at it.
Captain America isnt racist and doesnt shown any bias towards LGBTQA+ people for two reasons. The first is because of characterization, because he is presented as a good person (no need to formulate that more). The second motive, is more about the movie age classification. Imagine trying to make a family friendly superheroe movie when the protagonist is acting the way a american from the 40s. Imagine how unconfortable would be the experience if he constatly complained about todays acceptance of gays and reffered to black people as n**roes and acted mean to then all the time. No, better yet, imagine how disrespectful it would be to the core message of captain america if he was simply like every other 40s american man. I dont speak about the message given to him by his creators, he was created to be america's "representation". I mean the meaning that WE give to him, the world, not only the americans. People from out of america do not seen him as a symbol of american patriotism, we seen him as a symbol of morality, goodness, fairness and morality, he exists as a reminder of what america isnt, how their position as a world power and interventionism made then betray their ideals, those ideals being solidified in Steve Rogers (at least its how I, a non american, came to admire that character).
Also, the insane way they try to make Zemo a voice of reason- ignoring his actions in Civil War, his history as a mercenary and the fact he's a baron. But no. He does a lil jig at a club, so we're supposed to like him now.
Exactly. No one ever offered an argument in opposition to Thanos's ideology. That's why Ta'challa was the only one to get him to reconsider his plan because he provided a proper argument against his. Of course this was in a different universe but still.
Wow...just...WOW!! This might be the single best video essay I've ever seen on this show. Thank you for putting into words how I've been feeling about FATWS & many other MCU installments as a whole. You just earned yourself a new sub!
"Blow up a building full of civilians" this whole scapegoat strat was seen in avatar season 3 too, i guess people keep falling for it? Like, darn, too bad they had a valid point but they did a bad thing that totally contradicts everything they were talking about so we can hate them again.
I haven't watched the video yet but since i finished watching the show I've talked to legit anyone who mentions this show about the immense shortcomings of the themes of the show. So I have been waiting on videos like theseee
Loved the video! It's sad to think that, due to the way the movie's arguments are made and the way they appeal to feelings, people who aren't all that politically or economically literate will come away from the film thinking, "This just FEELS right." This will especially be the case with the anarchists because people have been primed not only to fear the term "anarchy" or "anarchist," but they have been primed to misunderstand the ideology altogether, so when an ideologically inconsistent representation is made, they won't be capable of perceiving the contradictions.
Oh, we understand anarchism. We understand that anarchists when they get violent just do mindless terrorist attacks, or when they try a revolution and succeed they leave the door wide open for Stalinists to hang them and then kill the rest of us in mass murder-y policies for the sake of "Revolution". So basically the rest of us "centrists" have little reason to like anarchists as anything more than a door to violent totalitarianism.
@@stephenjenkins7971 So violence for the system and status quo = good, but violence against it = bad. You do realize that the system is more than willing to kill marginalized groups of people, right?
@@mikeykitty1235 Reasonable amount of violence to maintain the status quo is generally good. Violence against it in the name of a worse system = bad, yes. The system kills far less marginalized people than the proposed system by people against it. In fact, the repression of democratic practices is the destruction of the very protection of marginalized peoples. Marginalized people are marginalized because they're a minority in a majority-"other" country, they're always gonna be at a disadvantage for the most part. If not, then it's a minority-"powered" country like for example Bolivia...but that's an even more terrible country in terms of using violence to maintain the status quo. So the answer is to maintain a balance, and especially democratic practices so that fewest amount of people are hurt in the system. Current system can be improved, but replacing it entirely is like putting a gun to the minority's head. And that makes such people monsters to be fought, not tolerated.
@@stephenjenkins7971 So it's better to maintain a system that hurts and oppresses people than it is to invoke change. It's better to let marginalized groups to be oppressed for the sake of the status quo.
@@A.B.-ub9un Firstly; what constitutes a system that oppresses people? Because 9/10 it seems like the very nature of gathering resources to survive, a basic necessity of all life, is "oppression" to you people. Besides, despite what anarchists claim, their "solution", even if perfect, is literally nothing different to what we have now except even more fragile and prone to warlords/famine/extreme poverty. And when it's not perfect, we get literal fascists/Stalinist dictatorships. So from the standpoint of anyone with half a brain; you lot are no different to fascists. Crying about the current system while agitating for something infinitely worse. Excuse me if I don't have a high opinion of that.
Damn good stuff. Thanks for putting my feelings into words. I’d add that the replacement captain America character appears to be something that existed before the original script was changed to what we got. He represented the justification of violence via American exceptionalism but his storyline was essentially fizzled to nothing by the end
Another important point is how the show portraits Jhon Walker, a violent far right extremist white nationalist as redeemable at the end of the show, but Karli Morgenthau and all the rest of the flag smashers are disposable, beyond salvation because they were blinded by their radical ideological beliefs (which, mind you, weren't even bad to begin with (except the "everything was better when the bleep happened" part, but I'm not so sure this was something they really thought)). It goes to show which part of the political spectrum the writers think the heroes are allowed to work with/for. During one part of the show, Karli tries to convince Sam to help their cause. Sam seems reluctant enough to consider the idea, but the show never dwells into this, nor here nor in other movies/shows. But the far right cop/soldier is allowed to play with the good guys!
Except the show doesn't say that; it explicitly states that she wasn't at all beyond redemption... And they don't like Walker, they tolerate his existence for like a day while they deal with a terrorist threat.
@@PlatinumAltaria I don't know, the final reluctancy of Sam to working with them (due to all the "kick the puppy/they're obviously bad people" trope events); the killing of ALL the rest of the flag smashers at the end with no one interested on investigating their deaths, not Sam nor Bucky (i.e. they were disposable); the fact they gave space for Walker to be "tolerated" for a day so he could get a future reappearence in the MCU, but not the same with any of the flag smashers (the deaths of them for me says the writers were tying up loose ends so they don't have to deal with them in the future). For me, all this is telling that the writers never considered Kari or the flag smashers as interesting political characters that could reaper and collaborate with the protagonists... But that's not the case for the far right guy.
@@DiegoCandel Well... they aren't all that interesting. Anarchism as an ideology is extremely shallow. At least fascists have cool hats. In any case they weren't killed based on their own ideology, they were killed based on Zemo's ideology; which this video really ought to have mentioned.
This is a wonderful video! I'm familiar with Isaiah from the comics and his story still breaks my heart. The way that he gets dismissed (by the series *and* the comics) reminds me why I'm glad I dropped the MCU completely
The classic "and then they killed babies" approach to constructing villains that Marvel loves so much. Where the bad guys make too much sense to service a traditional good/evil dichotomy and begin to seriously threaten the status quo so they have to immediately do some random act of extreme and senseless violence to justify their villain status. "Oh shit the villains make too much sense quick make them kill people"
US GOV: we tortured you, experimented on you and beat the shit out of people that look like you Isaiah Bradley: indeed US GOV: you think if we make you an statue and give you a free turkey you can forgive us? Isaiah Bradley: … muh nigga
When this came out I watched it at first cause I enjoy the MCU. That lasted for about 20 minutes into the first episode. Then I finished watching it because my friend would not stop talking about how good it was, and I figured I should actually watch the thing entirely before raving about how much I hate it. Thank you for giving me well spoken ammo I can send to her about why this show sucked.
The show wasn't bad because its supports the capitalist system; the show was bad because it was written by pulling plot elements out of a hat, and the director worked from a base on Mars.
@@janedoe4929 It does make a lot more sense that there's an international conspiracy to destroy you personally, compared with someone being bad at their job.
As milquetoast as the show was, it makes me laugh to see people cry "WOKE" because it merely mentions racial issues. Watching those babies throw tantrums was more amusing than the show was.
That to me was a good part of the show. This TH-cam bruh, is making a childish mistake. He thinks everyone thinks like him. Alot of ppl especially white ppl have never been even remotely exposed to these issues. Disney, in my opinion, was a good place to start conversations. That was the message. Alotof white friends and family asked me questions about black history because of the show. Unlike black panther they had to think about black americans. That's a plus to me. But yeah writing was kinda dumb at times but the cinematography was amazing and the actors where good. Was pretty good with great parts. Like what had happened to Cap. When he stayed back in time with Peggy.
Honestly fail to understand how the world was better during the "blip" because millions of the world's workforce suddenly disappearing would have doomed the global economy into crisis.
Remember the times, when MCU's America wasn't seen only as clearly good or clearly evil and the morality was very grey? Like in, you know... previous Captain America movies?
Isaiah Bradley at the end of the show be like “I get to be a literal footnote in Steve Rodgers museum exhibit? This is all I’ve ever wanted!!!”
I remember thinking that at the end of the show. Talk about tone death
@@basedchimera5859 It's "tone deaf" sir or lady. I don't think you're qualified to talk about tone deafness without actually understanding the phrase though.
@@LtCaveman And if you were qualified to talk on the use of language, you'd have a PHD in Linguistics and/or Applied Language Studies, and then surely know that prescriptive attitudes on how language should be used is frowned upon. :/
In any event, one should feel joy at seeing how language can shift and change via long games of "telephone" through generations. The term might be "tone deaf" initially, but "tone death" could work just as well, if you choose to look at it that way: describing the death of the established tone. Do you lack imagination? At the wonder of how language can shift, change, and adapt?
Or are we to be pinned down by the grade school rules and phrases we learn in our flawed school system? Are we to look down on people who didn't receive or don't have the same education as us?
What, are you a classist elitist?
I think the point was he was proud to be recognized after being erased
Congratulations! You neither watched or understood that scene
"I was kidnapped and tortured"
"Elevate BIPOC voices!!!"
More BIPOC black ops operatives!
god, the language has already been co-opted.
The funny thing about "people of colour" is that if you look on space, it will be most clear that lack of colour is not white. It is black.
@@ГригорийГ-ч4н yeah, "white" and "black" are both not colors.
@@isdel9474 everything just keeps happening faster and faster. The End of History Machine go BRR
Company who owns the Captain America brand asks if the Captain America brand is inextricably tied to the horrors of the American Empire. You'll never guess where they land!
From the makers of 'The Black Panthers were racist actually' and 'I can't believe it's not systemic racism', comes 'Captain Colonialism and the Good Guy with a Gun'!
Probably in WW2, but after that , don’t think so
"We have investigated ourselves and found we have done nothing wrong"
@@daneofducks6601
when did they ever say or show that
And you’ve clearly guessed wrong.
Man, Falcon giving the international representatives a stern talking to was absolute cringe. Imagine how easy the civil rights movement would have been if someone had just told all of the senators what they were doing was BAD
Yeah it was hard to sit through
It was awful.
@Maximum Carnage yes.
@Maximum Carnage what do you think ppl have been saying. Talking does work.
@Maximum Carnage change your name you digrace it. That was an awesome game.
Really weird how the Marvel show supposedly meant to portray coming to grips with a gritty, morally grey vision of America is less biting a critique than "The Suicide Squad," the R-rated wacky superhero comedy by DC about how the US is perfectly fine with fascist Latin American dictatorships so long as they're pro-US, and where the moral, upstanding "America Good" guy who argues that a true patriot would want the truth about the US to come out is brutally murdered by the other "America Good" guy who is perfectly fine with killing as many innocents as necessary to keep America's image clean in the name of world peace and security.
Amen
Thats because Disney is puritan family friendly
Fr, I was honestly taken a back by how low-key based The Suicide Squad in tackling U.S. imperialism/intervention
Agreed. I was pleasantly surprised by where that movie went. Good times.
so weird coming from Gunn because he generally has such milquetoast neolib politics.
"Just vote harder lol"
The show's message
Lib friend of mine believes that voting exists as a way for the average person to concede authority to professionals, and that issues with politics are caused by the willful act of defiance of this idea.
Not even somewhat what the show’s message is
@@elsanto2401 your friend apparently does not realize that professionals are just as capable of screwing over the people. In fact, I could even argue that professionals are more capable of it because of their expertise being above the average layman.
i wish i had someone to discuss this show with beyond my friends and family all just saying they thought it was entertaining.
@@RM-cn8pw So what *is* the show’s message?
I remember seeing the first episode of Falcon and the Winter Soldier and immediately watching Falcon go on a military operation and kill like 7 people with the narrative never even acknowledging it and I just went “ah, so it’s going to be like this”
So you didn’t watch it then. You can’t just ignore things and then say “ah, so it’s going to be like this.”
@@RM-cn8pw why are you so mad? You seriously think anyone who criticized the show probably didn't watch it or didn't get it?
@@YoureRightIThink No. I think that because these “criticisms” are so mind-numbingly stupid
I re-watched the scene just now and counted deaths, just for fun lol. There were (I think) 12 deaths caused by Sam in the opening scene. Not sure the exact number, because it’s unknown how many people were in the exploding helicopters, but it’s around that, I think.
@@moosemangarfield9650 You really are a walking contradiction
“You guys know how much anarchists love leaders and hierarchical structures, right?” That actually made me laugh out loud lmao.
Me too :D just discovered this channel and he's sharp and great!
It's in the fucking name ΑΝ-ΑΡΧΗ
That's actually the big problem with that ideology. Leaders and hierarchy is absolutely necessary for a functioning society.
@@flintmillikin3696 source: leaders and people who benefit from hierarchy
@Divine_Retribution hierarchy is inescapable. Harm and benefit are both variable and irrelevant.
I haven't seen the show, so I can't speak on the actual scene with certainty, but oh my god that clip of Sam bringing Isiah to the museum to show him a statue he made does not make me feel warmhearted at all.
Canada has been trying to go about reconciliation to indigenous people mainly via acknowledgment and it's extremely painful, frustrating, and sometimes does nothing to help. I see that scene and can only feel like I can relate through feelings of trauma.
My aunt refused to take part in any reconciliation activities because she knew she probably wouldn't live through it. She was medically experimented on in residential schools and she said she would probably relapse into alcoholism and die if she were to participate.
Yeah, the Canadian government is pretty hypocritical.
@@seekingabsolution1907 horrific too. They still have compulsory sterilization of indigenous women. Like it seems like I'm being ridiculous, but it's seriously an issue that is for some reason not well known. Check it out.
@@brucesnow7125 Hoi, History of sterilization, NOT current. Try google next time. Some depressingly recent, not current.
I'm Native American and my grandma was part of that. She said "Don't point a finger. 3 more will point back." She also told me I wasn't there. Seeing my fellow natives burn down churches is not cool. What they gonna do when they get their way?? They going to "re-educate" the natives who believe?? Don't become what you hate. I felt strongly about the church as well. She said there was some good Christians who helped her survive. Some who risked being there to help. Some who were caught and treated horribly. But they don't want anybody to speak about it. We act like we haven't enslaved Africans. Yes we dealt in slaves as well too. It's why we gotta stop bringing up past transgressions. Nobody is clean. I don't trust any of these "sources." It's all just propaganda to rile my natives up like at Standing Rock. We were used for a narrative. It worked.
@@sgt1terrence I'm sorry but have you asked yourself who else would benefit if you block "others", genuinely concerned for liberation of IPs or otherwise, "use us for a narrative"? Of course I'm not trying to argue to let other people use you as a political soapbox but asserting that people in general only USE you to get across whatever ulterior motives they have is to assume YOUR people don't have that political voice in the first place. What about other Native Americans who continue struggling for liberation and self-determination? Don't you think YOU are trying to use them as being Native Americans to have your point of having your own people take an apolitical stance come across is the same as what "those people" did to bolster their own political agendas that ultimately does not care for your people?
I think the sensible thing for us colonized people to do is to recognize our own voices. Not to confuse them with other voices and be silenced.
Pretty much any super hero media these days features "bad guys" who have genuine grievances with the system, but who need to be stopped by the "heroes" because their methods of trying to force the people in power to address them are violent. The heroes then proceeds to do absolutely nothing about the problems that drove the villains to act that way in the first place.
I almost wish this show had done that, because the way they chose to have the hero "address the problem" was so half-hearted that it radicalized me more.
They also ignore the fact that systems can be violent.
not only that, but the heroes also use violence to achieve their goals. I am reminded of Spider-Man: Miles Morales (the PS4 game), in which Miles opposes the Underground because they're too violent, but his methods literally include hacking into devices, invading private property, beating the living shit of both "criminals" and private armies. Like, he's literally helping to bring down a major corporation with violence, just like the Underground! Why doesn't he genuinely join them? And the writing is so lazy that the only reason he has to stop Phin is because maaaaaaybe the nuform will cause colateral damage (he only effectively knew the nuform would vaporize all of Harlem way later in the narrative). My man Spidey is such a pool of contradiction, it's like the story is telling us only Spider-Man can be trusted with the use of violence and that collective struggle is wrong cuz... cuz something I guess lol
@@SpiderMan-gf1lc yeah. I love spider man, but a lot of spider man fiction feels like it missed its own point.
@@ahumanbeingfromtheearth1502 yeah, he's supposed to be the working class hero, but most of the time he's just a dumb defender of the status quo
This was their way of trying to neutralize these questions but the only thing they could come up with are inept answers.
I'm not even bothered so much by the vapid centrism of superhero media. I'm just here to watch people in colorful costumes punch each other. Literally all I ask is that they don't raise questions that they're not willing to answer honestly. That's the main problem with this show. It asks questions that Disney was never going to give satisfying answers for. Disney is never going to challenge the status quo. I know that, you know that, Disney knows that. They don't have to insult us by acting like they've got something profound to say.
they have to because the audience for these shows are older. Back in the day these characters were for children but those children grew up and also children don't bring in bank as much so you have to adult things. Being mindless and dumb would not grab viewers with these characters like in the 90s.
Yeah I love me some mindless capeshit. My biggest problem with this show honestly is that as an entertainment product, it failed to be entertaining.
This show is made for adults who don't want to feel childish for consuming products like these. Same goes for any blockbuster movie that tries to be "dark", e.g. Rogue One
Oh, but does the answer have to be satisfying?
@@jakubrejak1114 I don’t know that you have to answer serious questions, but you do have to pose those serious questions in a genuine and honest way, which can’t be done while also trying to pander to everyone at the same time.
I like to imagine that Isaiah cries in that statue scene out of misery:
(sobbing) "why the hell would you do this to me Sam"
"You get a statue in a museum devoted to a white guy and we have a week and MLK day now; everything is fine. Stop whinging".
So you like to intentionally be an idiot
@@RM-cn8pw Are you fucking good dude? The hell is your problem?
Didn't watch the show, but the statue thing looks a lot like adding insult to injury. Making him part of a thing that he obviously didn't want to be a part of in the interest of people he hates is such a weird thing to present as this great act of kindness.
In the show, Isaiah wasn’t recognized for his heroic acts like Steve was, the statue is portrayed as a manifestation of Isaiah heroic acts that he never received but ofc it didn’t resolve everything the country did to him but him crying shows he finally received some recognition for his heroism
"You too can orchestrate inclusive coups in South America."
I died
As The Grand Archpriest of The Church of the Algorithm, I bless this video with a comment.
Technically, the Flagsmashers never actually say "Thanos was right" or "it was better when everyone was dead." We are told that they believe "it was better during the blip," but that was just what the US government had to say to justify taking action against them. The Flagsmashers themselves are mostly just resentful over how people returning has led them to being marginalized. It's a sleight of hand to have relatable antagonists who "have a point" while still painting them as "the villain."
When Hailee (or whatever her name was) blew up that building I realized the flag-smashers were being made out to be the irredeemable ultimate villains of the series and the corrupt world leaders trying to throw them away and get back to the status quo just needed a good stern taking to…I said to myself this is gonna go down as the weakest worst marvel Disney plus series. When they had the chance to make a REAL critique and really shake the table Disney of course chose to bitch out with “ violent retaliation to violent oppression bad, entrenched elite corrupt world leaders just need a stern talking to then everything will be good. The End.”
The flagsmashers were never relatable, they took advantage of the fact that everyone was disappearing and stole their houses but then are mad when people reappeared and went back into their homes to find these rats like Karli Mogenthau using their homes and looting them dry.
The government did a good job of taking care of the flag smashers and the flag smashers feeling so entitled to other peoples homes to the point where they commit terrorism isn’t really the governments fault at all.
@@chadzahirshah2588 This actually happen in our world like in cyprus. They ended up leaving their house and live in other people house because of other country intervantion. IF when cyprus finally becomes truly independent and people can go back to their old house, but the other people dont want to leave their new house because they already lived there for a long time too, which one do you think at fault here?
@@kikijihan8316 The new people who decided to settle in the newly occupied Cyprus are at fault. Period.
Just like the flagsmashers
I know it's a bit late, but I would love to see an ideological analysis of Black Panther. It's a perfect example of a superhero film that tries to discredit revolutionary ideas by strawmanning and attacking the character of its proponents, in favor of feel good liberal solutions.
Also, I just love how in a film with otherwise strong female characters there's randomly this completely disposal love interest whose entire purpose is to die so we know that the antagonist is a very bad dude.
that is pretty much the typical discourse on twitter. He had to kill the girl and choke out one of the Wakandan women because he had to be a bad guy. Because otherwise he's Thomas Sankara.
I feel like, for me at least, Black panther is one of the rare cases where the villain would still be bad even if he wasn't randomly violent.
He's been a tool of american style destabilization. He has good points about black liberation and solidarity but he just wants to replace white america with wakanda as the dominant empire.
And Wakanda doesn't return to the status quo, but instead reveals its existence and starts outreach - the "correct" ideo:logy was already expressed by the hero's GF from the start.
Like sure, the opening of a community outreach center VS global revolution is pretty weak, but I think that even if it can be read as revolution VS reform, it can also be read as liberation VS supremacy, or more accurately, diplomacy vs imperialism. and while pretty fringe, black nationalism exists and deserves criticism.
@@theblackestvoid Or he just IS Robert Mugabe.
@@maximeteppe7627 Indeed, i don't agree with this video when it says that "Killmonger had a point but they needed to show him doing bad things to make him bad" he was extreme from the start.
@@brxnv_ it's not even that. He's extreme AND he's hypocritical.
First scene we see him, he "rescues" a wakandian vibranium artifact, then he steals a mask from another ethnic group because it'll look cool next time he does an op.
Not that the "bad guy does violence to show his ideology is bad" isn't there, but black panther is a rare effort to show that the ideology of the bad guy is fundamentally wrong and not just "the right idea, except violence bad"
This show is better reviewed than Wandavision apparently.
Edit: the somber remix of America Fuck Yeah is everything
Nope
i cant believe ppl say wandavision is the worst out of first three marvel shows. it's the one with the tightest plotline, has an interesting premise and presentation and centers around the strong idea of exploring grief. captain america started good but became watered down when they had to stand against the government and loki was poorly paced and could use a lot of polishing up in execution
@@avrilynravenee5143 I think a show settling on the idea that its okay that the heroine abducted and brainraped several hundred people because she had a sad leaves a bad taste in their mouths.
@@BobExcalibur that was one of my problems with the show, they shied away from making her the villain despite the fact that she was doing a very obviously villainous thing. They had to distract from that by having two other villains, Agatha and military bad man.
The rationale goes something like "Wanda is an avenger and therefore a good guy despite this obviously evil thing she is doing, so let's not assassinate her immediately and let her 'fix' this." I think the Geraldine character (forgot what her character's real name) actually says something like this.
I think it would have been more interesting and impactful if she actual wad more obviously the villain and there would be an actual conflict of significance between formerly good guys. No need for Agatha or military man to be secretly evil. Have her be the selfish bad guy that eventually has a conflict with Vision and finally realized that what she has done is terrible, decides to shut it down, and the show ends with her being a fugitive from the government and shield snd whatnot.
That's how the Hulk used to be, a fugitive that would show up and be tolerated by the powers that be only when some bigger threat manifested itself.
@@21Arrozito If you're familiar with the House Of M storyline that inspired Wandavision, the story is almost exclusviely focused on other characters dealing with the aftermath of Wanda changing reality. Wanda initiated the change because she was provoked to by her brother, who was exploiting her vulnerable state for his own agenda.
They changed the locus of responsibility so that Wanda would have more agency in what is happening, but insodoing made her culpable for the cruelty of her actions. They wanted her to be a "protagonist" not a "prop", but the problem is that they didn't want to confront what we call people who kidnap, brainwash and gaslight innocent people even if its over trauma. Thus she sails out of the experience without any kind of atonement on her mind, just how NICE she was to give her victims back the lives SHE stole from them.
The part where Captain America, at least hypothetically, represents America *as it should be* rather than America *as it is* really ought to have been a bigger part of this story.
I think a lot of people miss that point of Captain America, much like how they miss a similar point about Superman.
@@warmachine5835 Exactly, that he represents the Platonic ideal of what a young impressionable but good natured man sees America as representing. Not that America is infalliable but that it learns from its mistakes and strives to improve in pursuit of that ideal. Not a utopian aspiration but a commitment to seek improvement.
Throughout the history of the character that aspiration has jacknifed into every aspect of American society and Steve made dozens of enemies within the government, corporate and civil systems of the country.
However if you're an Anarchist and you resent the existence of nations altogether you see this aspiration as evil, and YOUR aspiration of abolishing all hierarchal structures as entirely reachable and not insane...
It was. It was literally THE point of the story. Try watching the show.
@@BobExcalibur Lmao, what the fuck? Captain America can wish whatever he wants, but he is *inextricable* from America at large. He can represent what America "should be", but HE CANNOT disentangle his symbols from the sins of its past. People harmed by America will always see him in the light of their cultural experience. There will always be that baggage.
It's also disingenuous for him to claim "freedom, and equality, and all that jazz" as exclusively American ideals... Just as Christianity appropriates and claims it owns all that is good.
That CIA commercial watches like an SNL skit
I've grown tired of Marvel's easy to shallow moral quandaries and discussions. I've loved the MCU for years, but now as an adult I see how surface level many of these stories are. This show was a real letdown for me, I found the "villains" much more interesting than the "heroes". They stood up for themselves and made some good arguments for their cause. Violence wouldn't have been their answer if this was a different show, where violence wasn't the only way to solve problems for the heroes.
I honestly kept waiting for someone else to be revealed as the "real" antagonists of the show. I was stunned when I realized that, no, these were actually the big bad evil guys we're supposed to be cheering for our heroes to beat up. I wasn't expecting the show to say anything controversial (this is Disney we're talking about), but even from a simple narrative angle, they did a TERRIBLE job writing the Flagsmashers as antagonists. They're literally just good guys except that they have to occasionally do a murder because evil.
This is why I was disappointed with Wandavision. It was a great story for the first 3 episodes, but then Marvel had to step in and remind us that this was still part of a multibillion dollar franchise. It was a perfectly fine story about how people cope with grief and PTSD. Then Marvel just had shoehorn in the military. It also didn’t help that the only black character with more than 1 speaking line was used as the show’s mammy. She had no wants of desires outside of helping the white woman who enslaved an entire city, and had no problems dealing with the mental labor of being placed in a mind prison for days on end.
And like... Violence isn't even "bad"? It has always been a necessary means to force change or to protect the oppressed, and it's not like we don't see "condoned" violence portrayed as "good actually" ALL THE TIME when the protagonist is a cop or military person. The only truly effective civil rights movements have all had a component of violence and/or obstruction. Hell, most socialist societies are FORCED to militarize intensely and shoot first, ask questions later because they're otherwise wiped off the map either by the US directly, or by intense US financial and military support of their opposition...
Consider these stories aren’t surface level at all, no you most certainly don’t. And it seems clear you are not an adult yet.
And even clearer you didn’t watch the show
@@FlorenceFox So in other words, you didn’t watch the show. Because no. We weren’t supposed to cheer for out heroes to beat up these guys at all. Literally the opposite.
Much of this show's - and much of general American media - message is that things are just fine, we don't need change, and any ideology that challenges the status quo will be represented by characters with huge character flaws to make those ideologies as unappealing as possible. It's entirely uncritical of systems that take advantage of massive amounts of people and entire nations, and maybe we should do something to teach people that the status quo isn't a great thing.
There's also the message that change IS necessary, but it must be done on a completely individual level. imo it's more insidious than saying that everything's fine because it redirects people's desire for justice into actions that are ineffective at best and outright contributing to the problem at worst.
Like all the marketing campaigns trying to fool people into thinking that global warming can be solved if consumers switched to paper straws and electric cars. Or that racism would end if people were just nice to each other.
@@guy-sl3kr yep, look at all the libs that think their individual right to vote is powerful as if it will change anything. Giving people the perception of having power through individualism is enough it seems.
@@theblackestvoid I love the insidious fascism that leaks through some of these commentators. "Conform to my ideology to solve X problem, otherwise you're a part of the problem that can't say crap against my violent lashing out."
It's like watching a bunch of misogynist abusers justify their abuse.
@@stephenjenkins7971 "Yes I am justifying it, and?"
This is exactly what happened with Killmonger!
I vaguely remember that the building the flag smashers was also an actual orphanage, I think they literally had their villain blow up an orphanage, the whole meme
There must be a name for the trope of villains with valid points but randomly do evil just because
Communists.
@@BobExcalibur *capitalist
(Nm forgot to remember the valid points part).
@@ripyungbruh8157 I can't think of many capitalist governments who have done things that compare to the Khmer Rouge deciding to kill everyone who wears glasses.
Then again, REAL Capitalism has never been tried.
I think TV Tropes refers to it as "strawman has a point".
"Falcon-Man" "Falcor" "Bird-Man" "Frosty"
"It's just Falcon, kid."
I wanted a videos like this since i watched falcon or korra, really glad i found you
bizarre how Isaiah's reaction to the statue was anything other than 'please leave me alone'
Not bizarre at all if you have a brain that remotely functions.
@@RM-cn8pw cool bro how about you stop going through the comments insulting everyone you disagree with like a loser
@@_Gongola if y’all weren’t so dumb with your comments he probly wouldn’t
Great video man, and super powerful POV for Isiah’s character 💯
The problem with Kill Monger is that he wanted to just replace one empire, America, with another, Wakanda. As he put it "I learn from my enemies". He just wanted to continue the cycle of violence rather than fix it.. That said your criticism with Falcon and The Winter Soldier is spot on.
Yeah, he wanted to deliver weapons to black people all over the world not so that they could protect themselves, but to stage a violent revolt where they kill everyone the see as oppressors as well as anyone that gets in their way.
@@bigbadbob7070 yeah I always found that weird. maybe I'm bias as a white brit. but when he said "there are 2 billion people who look just like us [...] I'm gonna' wage a war and this time we're gonna' be on top" made me seriously uncomfortable as he is stright up saying he wants a race war.
@@luigiwoo4469 It should make anyone uncomfortable. His whole plan is black supremacy at its core where he gets to be the oppressor. While he did bring some good points about Wakanda’s isolationism when it could have prevented so many evils, he’s still a monster.
@@luigiwoo4469 Isn't it supposed to make you uncomfortable since he's the villain? As said in the video it's illustrated that way so that the audience doesn't question who the good guys and bad guys are.
Don't know what you being a white brit has to do with it though.
@@slothful2039 the white brit part was more a joke than anything. but I agree; what made me uncomfortable was how many people totally missed that extreme sentiment. many of my room mates love the MCU movies and when I brought up that Kill Monger wanted a race war they were extremely confused and this isn't the first time I've encountered somthing like that.
The Ideology of Falcon and The Winter Solider Or: Me Saying “Yup, mhm, exactly” for 20 Minutes
Thanos just needed to read some theory.
I kept thinking of Disco Elysium and the Kingdom of Conscience thought cabinet project (the Moralist/Centrist thought project) during this video, and thinking how neatly it fits with the MCU's 'ideology.'
The Kingdom of Conscience will be exactly as it is now. Moralists don't really _have_ beliefs. Sometimes they stumble on one, like on a child's toy left on the carpet. The toy must be put away immediately. And the child reprimanded. Centrism isn't change -- not even incremental change. It is _control_ . Over yourself and the world. Exercise it. Look up at the sky, at the dark shapes of Coalition airships hanging there. Ask yourself: is there something sinister in moralism? And then answer: no. God is in his heaven. Everything is normal on Earth.
Freaking love that game
Actually the best game
Centrism is the true conservatism, they oppose any sort of change once so ever, conservatives(as they identify themselvs) are more like regressives, they want to regress society to a point where they think society was great.
This is a great observation! Completely agree. "Reprimand", in fact, seems to have now been set up as Sam's modus operandi, as is treating everyone around him who is motivated by emotion about anything as a child, which is actually really funny as defining characteristics for a superhero.
This quote also helps contextualise what I found so jarring about the amends plotline for Bucky in this show - which is that the script basically treated his inability to entirely control his own emotions about what happened to him, and to be somewhat unstable/unconsidered in his actions, as a moral failing that had to be repeatedly and harshly corrected rather than a completely normal response, then tried to persuade us this correction was his best possible route to recovery. It was really maddening to watch!
Status quo
With regards to Kilmonger, I actually think that's one of the instances where "The Swerve" is actually used appropriately. His actions and ideology parallels a common ideology that many African Americans adopt, where they're solution to white imperialism/ capitalism/nationalism/patriarchy is black imperialism/capitalism/nationalism/patriarchy. I find this kind of criticism very pointed because a lot of the time black Americans are so fixated on their status as black people that they become ignorant or obstinate to recognizing their own privileges and biases as Americans.
Many were proud when Jay Z became a billionaire.
Yeah. I always felt it was weird that people said killmongerr was right when he advocated for genocide. Was that not his plan? Genocide is bad!! Stop saying killmonger is right and stop saying thanos is right!!.
Most race grifters get into it for the sake of aquiring more power to themselves and riding roughshod over the very people they once claimed to advocate for. Anarcho-communists intentionally exaggerate and exploit racial tensions for the sake of using black people as a human wall between them and just reprisal, both ideologically and literally. Like they used to with the white poor.
Same with François Duvalier. Same with dozens of socialist African dictators. Same as it ever was.
He was the only character in that story who advocated for black revolution. His portrayal wasn’t just a criticism of the pitfalls black revolutionaries sometimes fall into, it was an outright condemnation of black revolutionaries. The writers chose to make Kilmonger a misogynist and a power-hungry hypocrite. They chose to have the “heroes” stop him from arming oppressed people around the world. They chose to portray Kilmonger as a irredeemable monster who had to be put down like a rabid dog at the end of the film.
I understand a lot of people adore Marvel’s Black Panther, but let’s pretend the movie is something it’s not. It is definitely NOT anti-imperialism.
@@jimbrody4945 Yes, he was a misogynist. I hate to break it to you but a lot of "black revolutionary" circles are really REALLY misogynistic. No, he wasn't a hypocrite and the film certainly did not portrayed him as an "irredeemable monster who had to be put down like a rabid dog,". Anyone who read the story like that just has bad media literacy. T'challa explicitly gives credence to Kilmonger's beef with Wakanda when he chews out his ancestors, then changes his entire approach as a leader. When Kilmonger dies it's in the background of a setting sun with profound last words and T'challa crying for him. In what world is that being "put down like a rabid dog,"?
You (correctly) point out that the show is originally rather coy about why Sam doesn't want to be Captain America, something I think is actually handled rather well. I think it's important to note however that the show is also, throughout its length, also not very clear on what being Captain America specifically means. Does it mean to be an agent of the state, as Rogers originally was and Walker is? Or does it mean that you stand for some external ideal of what America represents, as Steve believes he does when opposing the Sokovia Accords?
It's been a while since I watched the show, but I don't remember Sam at any point indicating that as Captain America he would be working with the US government (or, within the context of the show, the GRC). Or rather he doesn't indicate that he believes this is a necessary part of being Captain America, even if he does personally work with the US government frequently.
As an aside, the point of the opening scene was that Sam specifically cannot enter Libyan airspace. He is told to turn back before crossing the border, and does so right at the last moment. In fact I would argue that this is the show subtly setting up that the Flag Smashers are not entirely wrong, albeit in a very confused way. This scene is literally the protagonist of the show potentially being stopped from doing something good - presumably, stopping Batroc from smuggling weapons or whatever is a good thing - by an arbitrary border enforced by both Libya itself and the US pressuring Sam not to break that treaty.
That said, the fact that the Flag Smashers are treated as bad for killing people in a franchise that largely has no problem with killing those committing violence is indeed a travesty of writing. As is the fact that Walker is... redeemed? I think? I'm genuinely not sure what happened with him at the end.
I don't think your last point is a travesty of writing when Americans genuinely feel this way. (violence from the status quo = good, violence against = bad) Example, to most Americans even liberals, Fidel was a brutal genocidal dictator, even though he was opposed to torture and Obama killed more people in his first term than people killed under Fidel in his entire life.
The end of Walker's story (is he redeemed? What?) Is confusing because it's literally just done to set up future Marvel projects (Thunderbolts I am guessing). It doesn't fit into the narrative of the show because that's not what it's there for. It's there to fit into the narrative of a future show/movie.
Do you have something against borders and national sovereignty
@@CandyCinema I think they're skipping Thunderbolts. In the last few shows and movies we've had US Agent (Walker), Abomination, Agitha Harkness, and Evil Dr. Strange is slated to appear in his next movie. I think they're aiming to go directly for the Dark Avengers plot.
@@theblackestvoid Fidel wasn't a genocide, just a king with a crown in a totalitarian regime with a cult to his figure. He tortured people too, at least under his regime and command, but not by his hand. Not for nothing many Cubans flood of Cuba to the USA and in case of some of my family, to Spain. Don't get it wrong, Fidel if didn't kill anything is because he had pressure of the US to not do a bad move, but that never stop him to back up revolutions and conflicts to spread his communism, even to guerrillas that were far away to be Marxist just to piss of Uuncle Sam.
The symbolic gesture at the end really completes this.
Gonna be honest, I hear old timey radio voice and I like and subscribe.
Just found this video. I agree with you with everything. The only thing I'd like to point out that at 7:46 you say "The half of life on Earth was blipped." Well, it wasn't just Earth, it was half of the life in the entire universe, not just Earth.
That has literally no impact on earth tho. Why would earth or any other "non-connected planets" care?
@@KNMRoaldAmundsen
Because the implication is that in the way we had to repopulate the world would end up with us accepting people from other worlds.
One thing that I noticed is that in the ending speech Sam specifically cites the extreme measures the flag smashers used to achieve what they wanted as evidence that it matter a lot to them and must be important. This could be read as implying that the violent tactics that the flag smashers went to were infact useful to them because they ultimately led to Sam seeing how much they wanted their vision and advocating for them in that speech. In some sense this could be seen as justifying the flag smashers' actions as it actually leads to them accomplishing (at least some of) what they wanted. Though I do admit that I don't think this was the intent of the text but rather an interesting reading of it
It literally was the intent.
@@RM-cn8pw How do you know what the authors intended? And I really doubt that they were trying to tell people that political violence/ terrorism can be a useful tool
@@RM-cn8pw It was the intent of the authors to condone terrorism? Elaborate.
@moosemangarfield9650 *3 years later*
In the scene, Sam says to stop calling them terrorists....after they committed terrorism. They paint the flag smashers to be sympathetic even though they kill innocents. When John Walker kills one of them (which, as a soldier, he had to), they make it seem like an evil act. Sam carries out Carly's (I think that's her name) body out, but not Sharon as she is bleeding out. Point is, they make it seem like the flag smashers weren't that bad
The problem with many mainstream, serial, superhero media is that they endorse the status quo of the world to keep the setting familiar. But the fact that Disney even touched these issues at all was more than I expected. They didn't do it well, but hey, we shouldn't expect any commercially mainstream genre to really push any envelopes.
Stretch Armstrong and the Flex Fighters on Netflix went to some surprising places with that despite being a children’s superhero cartoon. It’s not a leftist masterpiece, but its heroes end up fighting a neoliberal nightmare where they are branded as terrorists by corporate propaganda, the “status quo” they initially tried to uphold.
It's why I stay clear of television these days... It's basically ALL advertisements for something at this point.
This was a really great video and I'm glad to see someone talking about this on yt because I saw too much of marvel fandom getting swept up in the idea of Sam as Cap and not a lot of interrogation of the actual content of the show. I actually think there's a lot of added context from the other movies that proves your point and actually makes Sam's characterization...even worse? The way I saw it, the reason Sam chose to pick up the shield at the end wasn't just in opposition to Isaiah, but also to act as an echo of Steve (or at least Steve between Winter Soldier and Infinity War). When Sam meets Steve, he's a veteran who connects with Steve because they both lost people they loved to the violence of war (Riley and Bucky respectively). When Steve calls on Sam to help him, it's to take down the mcu's own para-military organization that Steve was integral to the formation of, and not only that, they go out of their way to steal back the technology (the wings) that were taken from Sam by the government after he was discharged. He's reclaiming the use of force and helping Steve dismantle the status quo. After that, Sam watches Steve challenge the status quo again in Age of Ultron and Civil War. In both movies (just like in WS), he's opposed to government and corporate surveillance (Tony's ultron security system and the Sokovia Accords). We see how that surveillance negatively affects characters like Wanda and Bucky, and Sam is literally almost loses his life trying to protect Steve and Bucky (if Vision had actually landed his shot on Sam instead of Rhoades, Sam absolutely would have died). He ends the movie getting rescued from underwater hyper prison by Steve, and the two of them along with Black Widow become rogue superheroes for 2 years, working under no government (and we also now know that Natasha spent some of that time ending the black widow program and freeing fellow victims of the red room). When we meet back up with them in infinity war, Steve is, I'd argue, the only character that makes any ideological stance against Thanos, even if it's not in words. He firmly believes that they should avoid sacrificing Vision for as long as they possibly can, because unlike Thanos, he believes in the value of individual lives.
Basically, I think Sam's clearest memories of Steve were not as the face of the American government, but as the face of a more nebulous idea of America and its people. John Walker is absolutely the face of the American government, without question. But Sam's choices in this show also contradict the Steve Rogers that HE last saw (not the one the audience last saw in endgame). That Steve Rogers served no country, he was literally on the run because they effectively criminalized his free existence (just like Wanda, he can't take off his superpowers and put them on a shelf). I really liked Isaiah's character because he challenged even the basic tenants of Steve Rogers' own beliefs: that there is some core inherent good in the American experiment that needs to be protected by the people and against the government. Isaiah reveals the true underbelly of America: that it is rotten to the core. That most radical version of Steve may have been closer to doing good than he ever was when he was wearing the stars and stripes. But there's nothing this reveal about Isaiah can do for Sam at this point, because even the previous films were too afraid to touch that version of Steve Rogers. We only got 6 minutes of him in infinity war, and in endgame, he had transformed into a cynic who accepted the world as it was, and was only spurred to action by the most miraculous possible turn of events. He sat by and let Natasha run what was left of the avengers while he ran small group therapy sessions and remarked at how eco fascism sure did bring the whales back to the Hudson Bay!
I wasn't expecting this show to turn Sam Wilson into some radical or anything, especially seeing how they nerfed Steve in the previous films, but they flagrantly misunderstood the character of Sam Wilson that had been built up before now, and the inclusion of Isaiah's storyline was like an extra punch to the gut. You open this show with Sam literally rejoining the military, the institution that he left after one of his fellow soldiers was KIA, and you end it with him donning the stars and stripes and politely asking some politicians on TV to do their jobs. I mean, inside the narrative it tracks, and Steve Rogers was certainly know for giving speeches. But the last speech we heard him give to a government official was in infinity war when he told Secretary Ross to fuck off, so there was no way they were gonna keep that character on the trajectory he was on, and as such, Sam also had to be ideologically reset. I kinda just wish they'd left well enough alone and told a fun action story instead, because this attempt at political commentary was offensive not just as a piece of neoliberal propaganda, but to the stories and characters that came before it. Basically, IW Steve would've agreed with the flag smashers even more than they let Sam do in this show, and if his character had any real continuity between IW and EG, he would've been on the ground with them helping people instead of going to the avengers compound once a week to do laundry (and so would Sam in his own show).
(sorry for writing an essay in your comments, I just really enjoyed the commentary in this video lol
Yo your videos are all bangers. I'm glad I found this channel
Captain America always fascinated me. He was born and raised in the 1920s, yet shows no signs of prejudice towards non-white people, queer people, or women. As I grew up, I eventually understood that this is because Captain America is a boomer's wet dream. He's the perfect ideal representation of the past and why it was so great. Often I hear boomers and older gen Xs talk about "the good old days." As a black girl, I always think, "What good old days?" Do they mean the days when people like me wouldn't even have the opportunity to go to college, get a job, or even be allowed into the same bathroom as white people? Another part of longing for the past is boomer saying Millenials and gen z are too sensitive. We're not. Unlike them, we realize that tolerating and normalizing bad behavior (racism, sexism, queerphobia, xenophobia) directly negatively affects people.
Having Sam as the New Captain America would've been a golden opportunity to reveal the darker and uglier side of American history that boomers and jingoists like to pretend either didn't happen or aren't a big deal anymore. I would've loved to see old people complain to the news and social media about Sam, and praise John Walker as the true ideal Captain America. Maybe some Proud Boys type of group could form and try to kill Sam and conspire with John Walker.
maybe in the next film but in real life i can't wait to see all the ant-pc crowd complain about how woke it is
Yeah exactly we never get to know how the (American) people feel about this situation. I think John Walker as the only antagonist would have been enough
If you're gonna talk about the uglier side of America, you may as well also include certain radicals that would spit at Sam for daring to wear those colors as a "traitor" and "rejecting his blackness". May as well go full "bad side of American society" while you're at it.
Captain America isnt racist and doesnt shown any bias towards LGBTQA+ people for two reasons. The first is because of characterization, because he is presented as a good person (no need to formulate that more). The second motive, is more about the movie age classification. Imagine trying to make a family friendly superheroe movie when the protagonist is acting the way a american from the 40s. Imagine how unconfortable would be the experience if he constatly complained about todays acceptance of gays and reffered to black people as n**roes and acted mean to then all the time.
No, better yet, imagine how disrespectful it would be to the core message of captain america if he was simply like every other 40s american man. I dont speak about the message given to him by his creators, he was created to be america's "representation". I mean the meaning that WE give to him, the world, not only the americans. People from out of america do not seen him as a symbol of american patriotism, we seen him as a symbol of morality, goodness, fairness and morality, he exists as a reminder of what america isnt, how their position as a world power and interventionism made then betray their ideals, those ideals being solidified in Steve Rogers (at least its how I, a non american, came to admire that character).
Yeah like blm did a good job for black pepole?lol fk off
the book reccomendations too 😍😍😍
this is quickly becoming one of my new fav channels :))
Anansi library did a video on this, love to see different perspectives
Also, the insane way they try to make Zemo a voice of reason- ignoring his actions in Civil War, his history as a mercenary and the fact he's a baron. But no. He does a lil jig at a club, so we're supposed to like him now.
As Audre Lorde so brilliantly said, "the master's tools will never dismantle the master's house."
How come I didn't see this masterpiece all these days, great video man.
To me I think Falcon and the winter soldier ask interesting questions, but then proceeds to never answer them properly.
This show is why I love daredevil
The channel Skip Intro has a _wonderful_ video on the copaganda in the MCU films.
You're my favorite content creator.
this commentary is spot on
Another banger! Well edited, thorough, easy to understand, and wrapped up in under 20 minutes. You're really good at this!
Slowed America fuck yeah at the end was perfect and terrifying
Thanks for pointing me to The Swerve article
I'd love a full length soulful ballad version of America sung in the context of Isaiah's imprisonment.
This is your first video I've watched, and I would already lay down my life for Skittles.
Exactly. No one ever offered an argument in opposition to Thanos's ideology. That's why Ta'challa was the only one to get him to reconsider his plan because he provided a proper argument against his. Of course this was in a different universe but still.
"Falcor & King Cold" broke me.
wait so did they just install the statue of Isiah without asking his permission or telling him beforehand?
"Falcor and king cold"- I'm dying
Wow...just...WOW!!
This might be the single best video essay I've ever seen on this show. Thank you for putting into words how I've been feeling about FATWS & many other MCU installments as a whole. You just earned yourself a new sub!
I love your commentary lmaoo. You literally described everything I thought about as I was watching the show
You have outdone yourself - MAGNIFICENT take XOXOXOXO
Bruh the swerve quote with the swerving cars video killed me
Actually makes me excited to see how the MCU will explain the mutants and their treatment.
Finally, the Falcon and the Winter Man video we have all been waiting for!
This is very eye-opening! Thank you so much
thank you for making this
"Blow up a building full of civilians" this whole scapegoat strat was seen in avatar season 3 too, i guess people keep falling for it? Like, darn, too bad they had a valid point but they did a bad thing that totally contradicts everything they were talking about so we can hate them again.
They had been doing it since season 1.
Legend of Korra, you mean?
No, I mean AtLA. In book 1, the Freedom Fighters wanted to raze a village to further their goals.
I'll note those weren't "civilians", those were the decision makers directly to blame for mass starvation tactics and attempted genocide sooooooooo.
So are you OK with political voilance
I haven't watched the video yet but since i finished watching the show I've talked to legit anyone who mentions this show about the immense shortcomings of the themes of the show. So I have been waiting on videos like theseee
Bruh and the head Flag Smasher's name being KARLI Morgenthau... they wanted to name her Karli Marx so bad
Great work Kay!
Nothing quite says Marvel like, “you may have a point, but you’ve gone too far.” So the audience can never concieve any idea of systematic injustice
Excellent analysis!
Loved the video! It's sad to think that, due to the way the movie's arguments are made and the way they appeal to feelings, people who aren't all that politically or economically literate will come away from the film thinking, "This just FEELS right." This will especially be the case with the anarchists because people have been primed not only to fear the term "anarchy" or "anarchist," but they have been primed to misunderstand the ideology altogether, so when an ideologically inconsistent representation is made, they won't be capable of perceiving the contradictions.
Oh, we understand anarchism. We understand that anarchists when they get violent just do mindless terrorist attacks, or when they try a revolution and succeed they leave the door wide open for Stalinists to hang them and then kill the rest of us in mass murder-y policies for the sake of "Revolution".
So basically the rest of us "centrists" have little reason to like anarchists as anything more than a door to violent totalitarianism.
@@stephenjenkins7971 So violence for the system and status quo = good, but violence against it = bad. You do realize that the system is more than willing to kill marginalized groups of people, right?
@@mikeykitty1235 Reasonable amount of violence to maintain the status quo is generally good. Violence against it in the name of a worse system = bad, yes.
The system kills far less marginalized people than the proposed system by people against it. In fact, the repression of democratic practices is the destruction of the very protection of marginalized peoples. Marginalized people are marginalized because they're a minority in a majority-"other" country, they're always gonna be at a disadvantage for the most part. If not, then it's a minority-"powered" country like for example Bolivia...but that's an even more terrible country in terms of using violence to maintain the status quo.
So the answer is to maintain a balance, and especially democratic practices so that fewest amount of people are hurt in the system. Current system can be improved, but replacing it entirely is like putting a gun to the minority's head. And that makes such people monsters to be fought, not tolerated.
@@stephenjenkins7971 So it's better to maintain a system that hurts and oppresses people than it is to invoke change. It's better to let marginalized groups to be oppressed for the sake of the status quo.
@@A.B.-ub9un Firstly; what constitutes a system that oppresses people? Because 9/10 it seems like the very nature of gathering resources to survive, a basic necessity of all life, is "oppression" to you people.
Besides, despite what anarchists claim, their "solution", even if perfect, is literally nothing different to what we have now except even more fragile and prone to warlords/famine/extreme poverty. And when it's not perfect, we get literal fascists/Stalinist dictatorships.
So from the standpoint of anyone with half a brain; you lot are no different to fascists. Crying about the current system while agitating for something infinitely worse. Excuse me if I don't have a high opinion of that.
Damn good stuff. Thanks for putting my feelings into words. I’d add that the replacement captain America character appears to be something that existed before the original script was changed to what we got. He represented the justification of violence via American exceptionalism but his storyline was essentially fizzled to nothing by the end
Another important point is how the show portraits Jhon Walker, a violent far right extremist white nationalist as redeemable at the end of the show, but Karli Morgenthau and all the rest of the flag smashers are disposable, beyond salvation because they were blinded by their radical ideological beliefs (which, mind you, weren't even bad to begin with (except the "everything was better when the bleep happened" part, but I'm not so sure this was something they really thought)).
It goes to show which part of the political spectrum the writers think the heroes are allowed to work with/for.
During one part of the show, Karli tries to convince Sam to help their cause. Sam seems reluctant enough to consider the idea, but the show never dwells into this, nor here nor in other movies/shows.
But the far right cop/soldier is allowed to play with the good guys!
But Walker has a Black Friend™!
Except the show doesn't say that; it explicitly states that she wasn't at all beyond redemption...
And they don't like Walker, they tolerate his existence for like a day while they deal with a terrorist threat.
@@PlatinumAltaria I don't know, the final reluctancy of Sam to working with them (due to all the "kick the puppy/they're obviously bad people" trope events); the killing of ALL the rest of the flag smashers at the end with no one interested on investigating their deaths, not Sam nor Bucky (i.e. they were disposable); the fact they gave space for Walker to be "tolerated" for a day so he could get a future reappearence in the MCU, but not the same with any of the flag smashers (the deaths of them for me says the writers were tying up loose ends so they don't have to deal with them in the future).
For me, all this is telling that the writers never considered Kari or the flag smashers as interesting political characters that could reaper and collaborate with the protagonists... But that's not the case for the far right guy.
@@hollandscottthomas MCU writers tokenizing like a real champ there 😏
@@DiegoCandel Well... they aren't all that interesting. Anarchism as an ideology is extremely shallow. At least fascists have cool hats.
In any case they weren't killed based on their own ideology, they were killed based on Zemo's ideology; which this video really ought to have mentioned.
It’s been a pleasure as always
This is a wonderful video! I'm familiar with Isaiah from the comics and his story still breaks my heart. The way that he gets dismissed (by the series *and* the comics) reminds me why I'm glad I dropped the MCU completely
always a good day when y'all drop a video! now for the serious bit *press play*
Oh God the credits song fills me with some sort of feeling. I can Soldier through it
Whats the name of this song?
@@hurley1516 I only know it from another video titled SFM America from when I was in high school lol
th-cam.com/video/NrjbeE90vVY/w-d-xo.html
I've been waiting for this one.
Thanks for the serious and sincere criticism of pop culture products. Wish more people understood the political relevance of these shows...
Another banger! Great job!
The classic "and then they killed babies" approach to constructing villains that Marvel loves so much. Where the bad guys make too much sense to service a traditional good/evil dichotomy and begin to seriously threaten the status quo so they have to immediately do some random act of extreme and senseless violence to justify their villain status.
"Oh shit the villains make too much sense quick make them kill people"
It's called incompetence and bad writing
The show portrays them as almost the good guys despite making them total monsters
US GOV: we tortured you, experimented on you and beat the shit out of people that look like you
Isaiah Bradley: indeed
US GOV: you think if we make you an statue and give you a free turkey you can forgive us?
Isaiah Bradley: … muh nigga
When this came out I watched it at first cause I enjoy the MCU. That lasted for about 20 minutes into the first episode. Then I finished watching it because my friend would not stop talking about how good it was, and I figured I should actually watch the thing entirely before raving about how much I hate it. Thank you for giving me well spoken ammo I can send to her about why this show sucked.
The show wasn't bad because its supports the capitalist system; the show was bad because it was written by pulling plot elements out of a hat, and the director worked from a base on Mars.
@@PlatinumAltaria That it did to support the capitalist system...
@@janedoe4929 It does make a lot more sense that there's an international conspiracy to destroy you personally, compared with someone being bad at their job.
I mostly watched this show and the others for the sake of watching what the MCU would do next.
@@lukestuhley1510 Turns out it's a bunch of half-baked stuff that clearly wasn't a good enough pitch to be a whole film.
great video essay kay
As milquetoast as the show was, it makes me laugh to see people cry "WOKE" because it merely mentions racial issues. Watching those babies throw tantrums was more amusing than the show was.
That to me was a good part of the show. This TH-cam bruh, is making a childish mistake. He thinks everyone thinks like him. Alot of ppl especially white ppl have never been even remotely exposed to these issues. Disney, in my opinion, was a good place to start conversations. That was the message. Alotof white friends and family asked me questions about black history because of the show. Unlike black panther they had to think about black americans. That's a plus to me. But yeah writing was kinda dumb at times but the cinematography was amazing and the actors where good. Was pretty good with great parts. Like what had happened to Cap. When he stayed back in time with Peggy.
The ending with a slow down version of American Fck Yeah and the picture of sick or sleeping animal is perfect.
Honestly fail to understand how the world was better during the "blip" because millions of the world's workforce suddenly disappearing would have doomed the global economy into crisis.
Welcome back, Skittles! I MISSED YOU! Oh hi kay.
Finally, a name for the trope I've hated for years - HAVWAVPAEGIBTUVSSWMDI
Politics is war without bloodshed
War is politics with bloodshed
Remember the times, when MCU's America wasn't seen only as clearly good or clearly evil and the morality was very grey? Like in, you know... previous Captain America movies?
This is such a great analysis! Thank you!
4.5min in: Well spoken, rightly critical, and citing Fanon.
Subscribed
This video was great. Gave me a good amount of stuff to think about today