Hollywood tends to be bastion of trendy liberalism, but every now and again, they make a film that is just so blatantly a fascist's wet dream that I seriously wonder what sort of thought process went into making it. However, Captain America: The Winter Soldier is also something of a libertarian's wet dream. It manages to straddle this strange line between being incredibly jingoistic and chest-thumpingly militant while also promoting the virtues of freedom from oppressive state power and espionage. There is even a jab at Hugo Chavez, in which he is portrayed as a minion of a Nazi conspiracy, to fully round things out. This is the type of movie that the guy my ex-girlfriend left me for, one of those guys that spends his time watching videos of soldiers dancing with Iraqi children, would (and most certainly does) love. Not to say that I completely hated this one; as a Hollywood blockbuster, it very much accomplishes what it sets out to do, and it is entertaining, and grandiose, and full of balls-to-the-walls action. And the film's more upbeat tone is a welcome departure from the grim Nolanesque style that superhero movies have taken on recently, despite the fact that Falcon does not talk to birds, but is instead a guy with a jetpack. But ideologically, this is a very concerning movie. One certainly expects a helping of naive patriotism from a movie titled Captain America, and while the movie is more ambiguous and less flag-waving than I expected, the message here is extremely problematic. It condemns the military-industrial complex and police state while also celebrating a more mild version of it. And if Captain America really stands up for freedom and democracy, then he would support Chavez. Just like the country he is named after, Captain America is a contradictory hypocrite, but perhaps there is some consistency and righteousness left in there, if it ever existed to begin with.
The Chavez thing was indeed ridiculous, but is it really any wonder that movies like this are successful, when the entire English-speaking world in general has not been able to tell the difference between a communist, a liberal and a fascist for decades? Instead of engaging their brains, people in the English speaking world would rather let their leaders tell them who the bad guys are. They're even happier when movies do it for them.
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