Reasons Why I Loved “Captain America: The First Avenger”

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authors, brian jacques, c.s. lewis, captain america, captain america: the first avenger, characters, confusing nonsense, cressida cowell, editor, how to train your dragon, marvel superheroes, movie reviews, movies, nazi germany, rambling musings, redwall, science, science fiction, small rants, star wars, story dynamics, theoretic science, world war II, writer, writing

Hello, dear readers, and sorry about the absence. I really shouldn’t have an excuse and if I do have one, it’s 1) college, 2) rough transfers, and 3) poor time management. So, really my fault this time, and I hope you enjoy the post.

Now, on to the point! I’ve probably told everyone about how I saw Captain America: The First Avenger on Sunday and absolutely loved it. I’ll probably review it once I have the chance to see it twice (I make it a rule not to review anything until the second watching, for obvious reasons; not that the second watch often changes my initial opinion), but for now I’m making a list of reasons why I loved it and why you should go see it if you haven’t yet. 😉 So, without further ado (and in no particular order):

1. Because underdogs. Everyone cheers for an underdog in a story, though it’s sometimes different in real life (because people in real life want to be on the winning side. Why else would Italy change sides halfway through WWII?) But more than just having an underdog-becomes-awesome story, The First Avenger also gives us a few reasons why it’s an underdog story. Because, as the nice scientist whose name I can’t remember states, a weak man appreciates what strength can do and, if his heart is in the right place, he won’t misuse it.
2. It has a good portrayal of hero vs. villain. Rather than having all Germans be the bad guys, it is a German scientist who didn’t agree with Hitler (they don’t mention anything about him being Jewish, which in my opinion adds to the character dynamic) and fled the country who first sees something in the young Steven Rogers. Also, to be historically accurate, there were cowardly followers and Nazis who were the spawn of darkness (because. They were.) If this movie lacked anything, it was the nice Goring brother. 😛 (Yes, Herman Goring had a brother who could not agree less with his philosophy! Look it up! 😉 )
3. Patriotism. And what’s more, a balanced portrayal of patriotism vs. nationalism. The Nazis were not patriotic. They were nationalistic. And the guys who repeatedly talk about killing Nazis? They’re nationalistic, too. Also ethnocentrist, but that’s occasionally justified. Steve just wants to get out there and fight for his country. And he’s not just fighting for his country, but he’s fighting for an ideal, which is basically what patriotism is and why patriotism is a Christian virtue. There have always been Americans who were also America-haters out there, but Steve puts these guys to shame. He’s not just fighting for his country. He’s fighting so that Nazi Germany can’t enslave more places (which is also technically ethnocentric, but this is one of ethnocentrism’s proper places, since the Nazi “ideal” was wholly evil.) He’s fighting for those back home. He’s fighting for those who can’t fight, too–especially since, at first, he was one of those.
4. This brings me to reason #4. Here we have a guy in the public spotlight after becoming a folk hero, being used as an advertising gimmick. Basically, he has attention, but he doesn’t want it. We know that he really hates this and only goes along with it because it’s for the war effort. He really wants to be over there with the soldiers who are fighting and dying. He’s a symbol, and he never particularly wanted to be one. He’s also bad at keeping up the troops’ morale (when he’s not on the field). Yet, when he gets the chance to fight, he’s not disobeying the people higher up until his friend’s life is at stake.
5. This movie is pretty darn funny! It’s great to watch, has humor, and can make you cry in places. It’s pretty well-balanced, in my opinion.
6. The protagonist feels pretty helpless around girls. 😛 I think it’s charming, and pretty funny, but it does lead to some awkward moments. Basically what I’m trying to say here is he’s not a flirt, which in my opinion is the bane of the new Spiderman movies.
7. Steve is really against violence. This is made, in my opinion, pretty clear when he makes the distinction between fighting for his country and killing Nazis. Not only is he against violence, but he also understands that sometimes–sometimes–violence is the only way to protect yourself, your friends, and your country. Also, in this occasion, he’s protecting others around the world from being overrun by Nazi Germany. (I believe C.S. Lewis made the point why he wasn’t a pacifist, and that’s what I’m talking about here.)
8. Last, but certainly not least, he has a shield. No, I’m not going to rave about superhero weaponry… okay. Maybe a little bit. Because you’ve got to admit, that buckler of his is pretty darn cool. It operates on a similar principle to a bulletproof vest, for goodness’ sake! Anyway, though a shield can be used as a weapon (thank you, Roughnut and Toughnut, for that marvelous exhibition), it’s primarily a defensive one. You use it to keep arrows, pikes, lances, and swords (and in this case, bullets and knives) from hitting you. Though it can be thrown like a discus, the edges aren’t sharp like the edges of Racketty Tam MacBurl’s buckler, so it’s mainly used to stun rather than to kill. Like Obi-Wan Kenobi choosing to use Soresu rather than Ataru later in life, Captain America’s fighting style and weaponry are the ultimate statement of his life philosophy. Be ready to defend yourself when necessary; do not attack when not provoked. As Obi-Wan puts it, “There are alternatives to fighting.”

(More about the shield. Apparently, rather than hardening up to absorb impacts, thus spreading the impact around a larger area, like a bulletproof vest or liquid armor do, vibranium actually absorbs the kinetic energy of anything coming at it, keeping shock waves running through the shield virtually nil. For instance, if the shield were somehow merely hard enough to stop bullets and other objects at high velocity from penetrating it, the vibrations throughout the shield would be enough to actually break the bones in Cap’s arm and hand. However, since vibranium actually absorbs those shock waves, this is not a problem at all. This is one incidence in which I will not question Marvel pseudo-science, because though this has not theoretically been proven possible yet, it pushes the boundaries and is innovative, like good science fiction should be. I will, however, question the portrayal–if vibranium really absorbs all the kinetic energy, then why do things make noise when they hit it? And why does Steve sometimes stagger backward upon an impact? I know this is to make it look realistic in the film, but it does call the physics into question a little bit, doesn’t it?!)

The one thing that I did not particularly care for was the wording that the scientist uses to describe what happens to the personalities of those who receive the serum he created. Though I suppose we could attribute it to English being (probably) his second language. 😛 I don’t think the serum actually changes someone’s personality, per se. It merely underscores, magnifies, or works on what is already there. It gives a good man the opportunity to do great things, and gives a bad man the power to do worse evil. I don’t think it changes people’s personalities. In my experience, most of the time it’s only time and circumstances to do that, and with the serum, time is a factor that doesn’t really play in, since the transformation is relatively quick.

So there you have it, a quick critique and a short post on theoretic science all in one. ;-P

That much said, go watch the movie! 😛

Theoretic Science: Pandemics and Nuclear Warfare: How to Prepare for a Zombie Apocalypse

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disaster preparedness, drugs, ethnobotany, geekness, humor, john flanagan, medicine, nerdiness, ranger's apprentice, spiderman, theoretic science, volunteering, wilderness survival, zombies

Warning: This post is intended for humor and pseudo-scientific postulation purposes ONLY. The author neither endorses a belief in zombies, nor does she believe herself. Neither does the author intend to attack believers in the Voodoo religion; she intends merely to cast light on a historical religious practice that she believes unethical. She apologizes in advance for her very Western, Christian, white-middle-class-American tendencies and narrow worldview. The following post’s practical value is only in preparedness for worldwide epidemics, natural disasters, and nuclear threats. Thank you for your attention.

She also apologizes for speaking about herself in third person for two whole paragraphs. Haha, she does love bold-face font…

Good, now that we’ve got that out of the way, here we go. (You can find the first two posts of the Theoretic Science series here and here.

I am known far and wide for being both a nerd and a geek, with a tendency to over-think magic systems, theoretic technology, etc. And I tend to have thoughts that other people don’t ever seem to think. It is most emphatically not my fault. I read too much fiction, maybe.

Anyway, one of my more celebrated exploits occurred not because I thought it was “cool”, but because I was volunteering for summer camps at a local nature center. Basically, I dressed up as a zombie to help out with a summer camp. The idea was to study ethnobotany (basically, the traditional uses of plants in medicine, arts and crafts, and food), wilderness survival, emergency response, disaster recovery, that sort of thing. Don’t worry, no one went too wild with it! But there was a pizza party at the end… just saying. 😛

But while I was there, I mentioned to some of the other volunteers (as we got flour put in our hair) that if we were actually a threat, then bug spray, of all things, would be among the campers’ best weapons.

“Don’t you mean zombie repellent?” another volunteer asked.

I said, “No, I mean bug spray.”

(Yes, for those who were wondering, they did manage to “cure” us. The cure was jewelweed pounded in water. Which also works for poison ivy, incidentally… But not diluted.

I was rather uncomfortable, actually, afterwards. I had hid and lain down on a nettle. Ouch. And the face paint was sticky and greasy and not very pleasant to wear.)

Fast forward several weeks. I posted about geek fandomery, and made a mention of the same thought, adding a note about iodine supplements as well. (I didn’t make that up myself. That one is from my volunteer supervisor, actually.) Several people expressed interest in the comments. So, this is my answer.

Zombies originated in the Voodoo religion of Haiti. Basically, they were the mindless servants (sometimes they are actually re-animated corpses; sometimes they are living people who, Voodoo practitioners believe, have had their souls stolen) of anyone who had the know-how to either reanimate zombie servants for themselves or turn living people into zombies. No one believes in the reanimated zombies any more, but it is true that living people were drugged to fake their deaths, then drugged again to keep their minds and intellects from resurfacing, so they could not just walk away from their slavery. (In the third book of the Ranger’s Apprentice series, SPOILER ALERT something similar occurs. END SPOILERS) However, even if the drugs were to stop, very few people, sadly, ever had a chance to return to their homes and families, due to brain damage and memory loss caused by the drugs–in extreme cases, the withdrawal of said drugs could lead to death. (Addicted to what kills you, this is more common than you would like to believe for your peace of mind.)

So much for reality. Now we go to the popular culture side of things. (Yes, I just called pop culture unrealistic. Live with it.)

In popular culture, zombies and the zombie apocalypse are a big thing. In popular culture, though, zombieism is not caused by some machinating Voodoo priest or priestess… We can’t have that! Goodness, no! It’s not politically correct! (Even Disney didn’t dare, they had to level out their precious dark sorcerer by putting in a benevolent one as well.) So, instead, zombieism in popular culture is more like a plague, or is caused by some other meddling with either the human genome or some so-called “miracle serum” or something. (See Norman Osborne. Yoikes.) However, whatever incarnation we’re talking about, normally zombies can transform normal people into zombies by biting them, scratching them, etc. So far so good. The plague doesn’t spread by air. Possibly you could catch it by drinking contaminated water or contact with bodily fluids, but think about it. If there are zombies (which can’t feel pain) out there, they’re going to get bitten by mosquitoes if they still have any circulatory fluids in them. They won’t be slapping the mosquitoes. And then those mosquitoes will become plague carriers, and you won’t just have to defend yourself from zombie bites, you’ll have to protect yourself from zombie mosquito bites, too! Whether the mosquitoes themselves become zombiefied or not, bug spray is still your best friend, since I doubt that a zombie mosquito has any less brains than a non-zombie mosquito. Instinct is still there, probably. Keep the mosquitoes off. Defend yourself from the plague.

(In real life, malaria spreads when mosquitoes bite, too, so in the case of a real pandemic of ANY sort, if there are mosquitoes around, stockpile bug spray and protect yourself. I don’t know if HIV/AIDS can spread from mosquito bites–research in this department seems woefully inadequate–but it could be possible, I suppose, provided the AIDS part didn’t strike the mosquitoes before they could bite another person.)

Now, about the iodine supplements.

If your hypothetical zombie apocalypse is not caused directly by human meddling, but instead becomes widespread due to a nuclear blast (and believe me, most nuclear blasts that have actually occurred, though powerful, have been limited to one area, unlike in fiction,) your best defense against zombieism is to probably keep yourself uncontaminated by radiation. In nature, iodine quickly absorbs a lot of radiation. The human body requires iodine to help regulate the function of the thyroid gland, if I am correct. (That’s why they add it to table salt, to prevent iodine deficiency.) Now, of course, iodine is toxic when consumed in large amounts (as are lots of other things!), but in small doses it’s necessary to keep you healthy. You can absorb natural iodine from the food you eat, but if you don’t need iodine, you won’t absorb it as quickly, protecting you from the radiation-toxic natural iodine. Thus, carefully stored iodine supplements become your best defense in a fallout zone. There are other strategies as well to protect you from stray radiation–look up the research, it’s fascinating–but I just thought I’d mention this one, just because. (All credit goes to my volunteer supervisor for this section. Well, I did the writing. Credit for the idea, that is.)

Hopefully this helps you in your disaster preparedness and such, and gave you some food for thought. (Zombies are unrealistic, really. Unless you happen to be a necromancer and a horrible person. If you are, please don’t comment unless you want a barrage of replies shouting you down in a sadly narrow-minded and politically incorrect manner.) Thanks for reading, and God bless you all! Indiscriminately. 😛