Poll: Do you like captain America?

Blow_Pop

Supreme Evil Overlord
Jan 21, 2009
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Hafrael said:
Blow_Pop said:
As far as the movies go? Yes I do like him. As far as the comics? Not particularly. For the exact reason of him being very in your face military kind of guy. And I know the movies if they go on long enough will delve into that but for now I like them as they are. Of course I'm not a big fan of America in general and I, unfortunately, am an american.
Have you read much mainline Cap? The in your face military jingoist has always been Tony Stark, not Captain America.
yes. and it's also a reason I'm not fond of Iron Man comics either. American patriotism in general has always been a turn off for me in all forms of media. I think it's because of how much its shoved down my throat (as I live near an American military base so patriotism all the time).
 

Something Amyss

Aswyng and Amyss
Dec 3, 2008
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verdant monkai said:
This may be just because I am not the target audience for C.A comics, and maybe for Americans the character fills you with pride, and a sense of patriotism. Its just that he seems to be an icon that exclusively caters to Americans and alienates everyone else.
I'm not sure why he'd alienate everyone else. I mean, I get that he's CAPTAIN AMERICA, which means he's American, but beyond the name and the costume I don't think there's much alienating. Have you read the comics? Steve took off the costume in the 80s in protest of the way our nation was behaving. Steve then sided against the central points of the Civil War story line more recently. The Steve Rogers Captain America has long been a good guy. I mean, I'm not big on the history, so maybe he was a douche in early comics (Sort of like the Superman "Slap a Jap" thing), but coming from a hippie pacifist liberal queer American, I don't find him particularly problematic to my very "Unpatriotic" life.

And I was introduced to Cap by my father, a man threatened with deportation for not wanting to go kill people in Vietnam. Not exactly your typical chest thumping patriots.

That being said, he's not my favourite hero, but I don't dislike him.
 

Lunar Templar

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Sep 20, 2009
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???

I don't know this 'in your face military' Cap, nor do I want to.

The Cap I know is basically the one from the movies, A man who will stand up for his beliefs regards of who he's standing against, even if that means standing against the American government (and he has, several times), and who's patriotic costume exists more or less because of 'reasons'.

That's the Cap I know, I like him.
 

MeChaNiZ3D

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Aug 30, 2011
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No. I didn't like him when I didn't know anything about him because it's pretentious as fuck to have a superhero named after a country and them not be satirical in the slightest, and now that I do know somewhat about him, he's a goody-two-shoes and an uninteresting character save for the occasional joke. Full disclosure, now that I know his backstory as essentially war propaganda, I don't hold the name against him.
 

VikingKing

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Sep 5, 2012
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Steve Rodgers as a secret agent has been done. And he's pretty good at it for a guy dressed like a flag.
 

Aris Khandr

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Oct 6, 2010
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Lunar Templar said:
???

I don't know this 'in your face military' Cap, nor do I want to.
He's from The Ultimates. Which is the biggest example of awful writing I've seen in quite some time. Mark Millar shouldn't be allowed to write the contents of a cereal box, much less a superhero comic book.

616 Cap is actually one of my favorite heroes. He's basically Batman if Batman wasn't a fear-mongering ass with "plans" for every contingency. Contrary to the OP, he doesn't put America first, he puts people first. He's out and out told the US government to get stuffed when they were doing the wrong things. He is one of the most moral people in the entire Marvel universe, no small feat when he is literally rubbing shoulders with gods.
 

Eclipse Dragon

Lusty Argonian Maid
Legacy
Jan 23, 2009
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My only knowledge of the character being the newest movie, I like him, he's a breath of fresh air in a sea of cocky
anti-heroes. As others have said, he's just a good guy who doesn't like bullies (he even said so himself in the movie), basically Superman, but not as overpowered. The film does a great job of not making him look like a shameless shill and actually, they make fun of him on more than one occasion. The whole "America needs a symbol" bit in the film it'self and Loki's interpretation of him in Thor: The Dark World.

Also OP you might be interested in this news article.
The World Does Not Hate Captain America [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/112268-The-World-Does-Not-Hate-Captain-America]
 

Redlin5_v1legacy

Better Red than Dead
Aug 5, 2009
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From a design standpoint and as a character, I actually am quite fond of Captain America. As a Canadian I do take issue with some American values (such as privatization of healthcare, etc) but generally I have no problem with him. If he were real, I'm sure he'd come fight to protect Canada in the event of a Red Skull invasion or something.

Not my favorite Marvel hero though. That still goes to the best thing to come out of Alberta. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolverine_%28comics%29#Fictional_character_biography]
 

TehCookie

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Sep 16, 2008
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I'm not a fan of any superheros, but I don't mind stereotypical or patriotic characters even for other countries. Though I'd still vote Senator Armstrong from Metal Gear Rising as best American character.
 

Phasmal

Sailor Jupiter Woman
Jun 10, 2011
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I like him from the films.
He's not all obnoxious about being Captain America, so it's not really a big deal.

I like him enough to have prolonged arguments with the boyfriend about whether he `technically` has superpowers or not.
 

spartan231490

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Jan 14, 2010
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I'm american, and I don't like Cap, or superman. I can't stand goody-two-shoes flawless characters. They're boring and unbelievable.

That said, I think your analysis is a little off. Cap would protect people other than the Americans, he's too obnoxiously goody-goody not to.
 

Jharry5

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Nov 1, 2008
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I never used to like Captain America. I saw him as an overly patriotic, militaristic cultural-imperialist. A guy who'd impress his own ideals on others because America! Though, admittedly, I had never read any of his stories.
Then the Civil War storyline happened.
I loved his part in that story; it made it obvious that he still loved his country but hated what it was doing, what it had become. Throughout that run, he showed that he embodied the better side of 'America' - the whole freedom, liberty etc - and was willing to fight for them. Which is more than the government in the story was doing. And I thought that that idea was really interesting, and it changed my perception of the character entirely.

How he's portrayed in the recent live action films just cemented it for me. He isn't my favourite Marvel character, but I do like him. Hell, and I'm British.
 

Reiper

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Mar 26, 2009
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Zhukov said:
Well, my eyes want to roll clean out of my head at his name and visual design.

However, from what little I understand, his actual character is more representative of the nice liberal side of America. Y'know, freedom and equality and generally being cool about stuff. Not the nasty, republican, gun-toting, let's-bomb-some-third-world-countries-and-fuck-the-poor side of America.

So guess he breaks about even in my view, leaning slightly positive.
Wouldn't "gun-toting" as in "right to bear arms", be something cap would agree with? Y'know, freedom and all...


Aris Khandr said:
He is one of the most moral people in the entire Marvel universe, no small feat when he is literally rubbing shoulders with gods.
Yeah isn't he one of the few people who is "worthy" to wield thor's hammer? Not sure how it defines worthy, I assume pure of heart, good intentions or some such metric



Also another thing I really like about cap its his shield, its almost like a separate superpower in itself
 

Ratty

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Jan 21, 2014
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He's not my favorite but I like him. Like others have pointed out very well I think he shares a rare distinction with Rosie the Riveter[footnote]For those who haven't heard of her http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosie_the_Riveter as I imagine many outside the US probably haven't, at least by name. Though they may have seen the iconic poster.[/footnote] as a WW2 propaganda icon who has since survived and moved on to become both a symbol of an ideal and a commentary on America's consistent failure to live up to that ideal. Someone I don't like so much? Iron Man.
 

verdant monkai

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Oct 30, 2011
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Me55enger said:
I fail to understand how that is representative of anything about Britain.
If you are talking about the lad in the flying pose... his name is captain Britain and his costume is a union jack. I dont see how you can miss the union jack part.

Zachary Amaranth said:
verdant monkai said:
This may be just because I am not the target audience for C.A comics, and maybe for Americans the character fills you with pride, and a sense of patriotism. Its just that he seems to be an icon that exclusively caters to Americans and alienates everyone else.
I'm not sure why he'd alienate everyone else. I mean, I get that he's CAPTAIN AMERICA, which means he's American, but beyond the name and the costume I don't think there's much alienating. Have you read the comics? Steve took off the costume in the 80s in protest of the way our nation was behaving. Steve then sided against the central points of the Civil War story line more recently. The Steve Rogers Captain America has long been a good guy. I mean, I'm not big on the history, so maybe he was a douche in early comics (Sort of like the Superman "Slap a Jap" thing), but coming from a hippie pacifist liberal queer American, I don't find him particularly problematic to my very "Unpatriotic" life.

And I was introduced to Cap by my father, a man threatened with deportation for not wanting to go kill people in Vietnam. Not exactly your typical chest thumping patriots.

That being said, he's not my favourite hero, but I don't dislike him.
I probably should've mentioned I've never read Captain america comics, but I have read a lot of the older Avengers comics where he features heavily and is the leader. I make my judgements on those comics rather than the recent fad of films.

I didn't know he did things like reject his mantle and protest against the government so thanks for bring that up.
 

Olas

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Dec 24, 2011
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As an American, who will defend my country from haters, I don't really like him. It's not just his silly gettup and name, which is blatant and obtuse enough, but it's the functional stuff as well. His only powers are being really athletic, and his only weapon is a shield. Sure it may be one hell of a shield, but it's still just a shield. An ordinary guy with a handgun standing more than a few feet away should have the upper hand on him.
 

Ratty

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Jan 21, 2014
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Oh yeah I forgot to mention that, funnily enough, Captain America's creators Joe Simon and Jack Kirby did create an unironic super patriotic, "cold war commie basher" character... who lasted exactly 1 issue before devolving into self-parody as public opinion turned against McCarthyism in the 1950s http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fighting_American
 

Imperioratorex Caprae

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May 15, 2010
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Never saw anything in Cap to say he was a propaganda machine, though his IMAGE was used as such. The actual character has values and morals that anyone, American or not, should have IMO. He's an ideal, not a representation. He's what we SHOULD strive for, what kids should look up to. Those of you who are taking the costume image or his name into consideration without even bothering to see the actual person are just as bad as any other prejudicial person out there. He's not America, but what America should be and of course also FICTIONAL. But still the Cap I've always known has been a real hero, and a really good guy. Someone I'd be proud to have as a "cultural icon" and AM proud of. I may not like everything this country does but I won't attribute every poor, bad or malicious act done in America, by certain Americans or in the name of America as something EVERY American does. Those of you who see us all as racist redneck flag wavers aren't any better because you choose to view us through the prism of sensationalist prejudice.
The man, Steve Rogers is a hero. A good man, and if that's what the creators thought America's symbol should be then I think they did a good job of it. We need more positive reinforcement like that instead of "anti-heroes" like Walter White or Scarface (no they aren't heroes but people hold them up in the same context).