why are you crying?
10
Mar
2010
I’ll start by professing, in case it wasn’t obvious from the art and theme of this site, that I’m a geek. I enjoy myths and legends. I read as often as I can, and on a variety of subjects and not just sparkly vampires. I used to read comics the way some people go to church. I have played Dungeons and Dragons with real dice and pencils and paper, not a computer. I have ranted for more than twenty minutes at a time about the behavior of fictional characters, be they television, superhero, or cinema in origin. I once wrote fanfiction, and graduated to stories of my own making.
I admit this to you because I want you to know where I’m coming from. Heroes are important to me, and not real life ones like firefighters, police officers, doctors et cetera but the super ones. Archetypes and abstractions, modern variations of Arthurian knights and Norse gods.
Superheroes.
I’ll cop to having ranted until red in the face about specific characters arcs, storylines or even whole comics I didn’t agree with. That said, I don’t see what the big deal is with John Krasinski’s possible role as Captain America. Maybe it’s because it’s because Cap represents an American ideal that I feel is getting farther and farther from the truth of things and it bums me out. I just don’t think Krasinski is a deal breaker. I think he’s a reason to watch.
Making Captain America into a steely, square-jawed heartthrob (and I shudder at some of the actors in the running, actual physical spasms) from the START would be a mistake. The things that inspire me about Captain America’s story are the things that make him normal, not incredible. He started as a soldier like any other. That’s what he’s about, essentially. Every American is(was) heroic in a way, and if we aren’t anymore we ought to look carefully at our lives and start acting like heroes.
Casting some spray-on-abs prettyboy as a guy who’s supposed to represent the best of our military and our country’s ideals sends a message. It suggests the American ideal isn’t dignified struggle against our numerous foes and inner demons, but some genetic mistake or science project that cost millions of dollars.
Not that Captain America shouldn’t be good looking. I’m just saying my fellow geeks are getting upset because Krasinski doesn’t fit the “look” of Captain America. Krasinski’s not even a lock for the role yet! Whoever does get the role has a much bigger responsibility than just flexing muscles and gazing seriously into the distance. I was kinda hoping they’d dig up some complete unknown who’d only done a cell phone commercial before for it, but I’m not going to dismiss the studio’s choice with a knee-jerk reaction.
