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Captain America: A Conservative Review

July 25, 2011July 27, 2011by Douglas Ernst1 Comment

Howling Commandos Captain America — How can you go wrong with a guy dressed in the America flag busting down doors, weilding weapons, and cracking Nazi heads? You can't. His "Howling Commando" friend with the derby hat, crazy mustache, and shotgun? Also very cool.

Captain America could have been bad. In fact, it probably should have been bad based on many of the director’s comments leading up to its release. Marvel’s decision to weirdly title the film “The First Avenger” in South Korea and Russia was also a PR blunder. But, in spite of the studio’s liberal tendencies, it’s been a financial success.

As it turns out, the grenade scene first witnessed in the full trailer was indeed a harbinger of good things to come! Want some honor, integrity, personal courage, and selfless service on a Saturday night? This is your movie. Captain America is by no means a perfect film, but it is good, solid family entertainment—the hero is wholesome, the good guys win, the bad guys lose, and it’s not necessary to shield (no pun intended) the kiddie’s eyes.

The biggest complaint conservatives should have about Captain America is that director Joe Johnson put together a good movie when he could have made a great one—if he had a better understanding of what makes America great:

“But I think that as far as good vs. evil, it’s something that is such a universal theme and there are translations of that good vs. evil theme in all times, and in all cultures, and all situations…but I think that it’s really more about the spirit of this guy, of our main character more than anything. And that spirit of determination and wanting to do the right thing is translatable into any nationality and any period really – it’s just sort of a universal theme.”

Joe is right, in that good and evil exist. There are universal truths. But this movie wasn’t about “this guy”—it was about Captain freakin’ America. And what makes America exceptional is that it’s one of the few nations throughout the history of the world with a respectable run on recognizing universal truths. It’s one of the few nations with an honorable human rights record. How disappointing is it that X-Men: First Class did a better job juxtaposing human beings’ dual nature than a superhero movie that takes place during World War II? (i.e., a young—innocent—Magneto must bring his nascent powers to the surface or watch his mother die if he fails, courtesy of the Nazi regime).

The Red Skull could have been Darth Vader evil. He should have been Darth Vader evil. Instead, he was this kind of cool, underdeveloped red and black guy with a lot of potential who got killed at the end of the movie—like Darth Maul. Joe Johnson went for a muted color palette when it came to Captain America’s final costume, but he also muted the good vs. evil dichotomy he wanted to highlight! It’s great that Steve Rogers was allowed to kill Nazis on screen, but even their nature was downplayed; Hydra is a splinter group of the Nazis shrouded in mystery. The Red Skull may have sought to take over the world, but at least he really did have superior genes, even if it was accomplished through the world’s first forays into gene therapy. Doesn’t his somewhat legitimate claim make him less evil than Hitler? If the guy in front of you has the strength and speed of a dozen soldiers it’s hard to argue with him when he says he’s a superior human specimen. But Joe Johnson doesn’t want you to think about it because you’re supposed to just think about “evil.”

Fair enough, but if Joe Johnson wanted a movie completely devoid of politics, perhaps Captain America’s World War II origin story wasn’t for him. Regardless, Kudos to the man for making a fun summer movie despite his best efforts at self-sabotage.

DC and Marvel Use Letters to The Editor to Control Content, Liberal Editors Loathe Conservative Bloggers.

January 7, 2011January 8, 2011by Douglas Ernst54 Comments

One More Day Spider-Man — DC Comics has returned their Letters to the Editor page. Like Joe Quesada when he turned Marvel's Letter's to the Editor page into a scripted joke only Kim Jong Il would be proud of, I'm inclined to believe they're doing it because it's the one vehicle for information that allows them total control in the age of Facebook, Twitter, and Blogs (Glorious Blogs)!

Agence France-Presse thinks I, as a conservative comic book nerd, am going to take their bait on the French Muslim Batman ally, Nightrunner. They write:

Batman has battled many enemies but now has to face the anger of rightwing US bloggers furious that the comic book caped crusader has recruited a Muslim to run his crime-fighting franchise in Paris…

The hero he picks in France is called Nightrunner, the alter ego of a 22-year-old from Clichy-sous-Bois, a tough Paris suburb where urban unrest sparked riots in immigrant districts across France in 2005.

Bilal Asselah, a Frenchman of Algerian origin, was caught up in that unrest and at one point he and his friend got beaten up by police who mistook them for rioters.

“Furious”? Umm…no. While I would normally revel in the chance to grab the hook you’re dangling into conservative waters, intellectually pull you into the deep, chew you up, and then spit you out as chum for another blogger…I’ll pass today, AFP. Instead, there’s a different angle I’d like to take, which is DC’s decision to reinstate their Letters to the Editor section:

Posting comments via Facebook or Twitter seems faster than a speeding bullet, but DC Comics is going back to its Silver and Bronze Age ways, returning readers’ letters to the pages of its comic books…

Letters pages were once common in comic books and gave far-flung readers the chance to weigh in on stories, heroes, villains and make requests about what should happen next. Those pages gradually disappeared not only in DC’s comics, but those of other companies, too, as the Internet, e-mail and the rise of Facebook and Twitter all but rendered them obsolete.

David Hyde, DC Comics’ vice president of publicity, quietly announced the change on Monday, in DC’s own blog, The Source. Reaction was positive with one reader remarking that “as a fan of DC Comics since boyhood (more years than I care to remember), one of the things I looked most forward to was the letter page, so very excited.”

Someone needs to ask this anonymous reader what he thinks of Nightrunner, or Wonder World Consensus Woman, or Superman: Earth One. Then they need to ask him whether or not he thinks DC’s Letters to the Editor page would ever print his point of view if it differed in an intelligent way with the powers that be in their corporate offices. My guess is, they wouldn’t.

Robert Gibbs recently tried to make the claim that the White House was somehow more transparent due to Twitter. This is a blatantly misleading statement, as it confuses information with the vehicle that provides it! Some DC readers might think the company is doing a great thing, but I’m inclined to believe one reason they’re doing it is because in the age of Facebook and Twitter it’s the one area where they have total control over the feedback readers see.

Don’t believe me? Anyone who read Marvel’s One More Day, in which liberal Joe Quesada destroyed Spider-Man for tens of thousands of fans by allowing the character to make a deal with the Devil, knows what I’m talking about.* In the wake of One More Day they’ve filled their Letters to the Editor page with reviews from readers who are giddy over the direction of the book. As I said my nerd-tastic response at the time, (jump in at 3:20 if you’re not an uber-nerd) it was as if the editors of Marvel went to the Kim Jong Il School of Journalism. Reading the page was often hilarious, as it was 180 degrees from reality: readers left the book in droves.

If the editors at Marvel and DC can get you looking at their hand picked (and perhaps hand-written?) responses to controversial story lines or creative missteps instead of online—where “right wing bloggers” give you a heads up that stories like Marvel’s Fear Itself might be more liberal claptrap—they’ll be happy. New technology has destroyed liberalism’s ability to silence the conservative point of view, whether it’s on the radio, television, or in print. Conservatism, honestly articulated, is always a winner. They hate that. And they really don’t like to have the spotlight (or was that the Bat Signal?) shown on them. But if we don’t want to keep shelling out money for tales that tell us our worldview is beneath theirs, we need to redouble our efforts.

I’ll see you in DC’s Letters to the Editor page, dear reader…and if I don’t, I’ll see you here!

*I’m sorry, my fan boy friends, but for all intents and purposes Mephisto is the Devil.

Captain America: Courting Jihadi Film Clubs and Euro-Wonder Weenies?

July 21, 2010November 3, 2015by Douglas Ernst3 Comments

cap — Dear Marvel: American Exceptionalism is real. Courting Jihadi movie goers, Euro-weenies, and moral relativists to make a few extra bucks is the wrong answer.

Regular readers know that I’ve been exposing Captain Liberal America and the hypocrisy of liberal writers at Marvel whenever I get a chance. That’s why it comes as no surprise that the guy at the helm of the new Captain America movie is setting the moral relativist tone early:

“He wants to serve his country, but he’s not this sort of jingoistic American flag-waver,” Johnston said. “He’s just a good person. We make a point of that in the script: Don’t change who you are once you go from Steve Rogers to this super-soldier, you have to stay who you are inside, that’s really what’s important more than your strength and everything. It’ll be interesting and fun to put a different spin on the character and one that the fans are really going to appreciate.”

Congratulations, Joe Johnson, you’re making Captain America without the American Exceptionalism. You’re giving the fans a “spin” they’ll “appreciate”? Well, I’m a fan and I don’t appreciate Captain America hollowed out and watered down into a United Nations Smurf Blue version of his former self so you can make a few extra bucks overseas. We already have DC turning Wonder Woman into World Community Consensus Woman in order to make an extra dollar when her movie finally gets the green light—we don’t need Marvel courting American Jihad sympathizers, terrorist wannabes, and the South Park meltdown extremists in the Middle East.

And, while I’ve said it before I have to ask again: When will the Black Ops Cap pulled off in Afghanistan be told in a Marvel comic? When do we get to see Taliban heads cracked? Wouldn’t it be nice to see Captain America’s shield decapitate terrorist scum just before they were going to chop off an “infidel’s” head (as a propaganda video was streaming online, to boot)? How great would it be if, just as the dull knife drew blood of an innocent Western woman and the hoots and hollers of “Allah Akbar” rang out if a red, white, and blue adamantium disc did what it was meant to do—preserve freedom while protecting the innocent and punishing monsters.

But that will never happen. I love you Marvel, but you’ve fallen on hard times. I always thought Captain America’s greatest enemy was the Red Skull. Who knew he’d be toppled by moral relativism?

Wonder Woman’s Duds Aren’t the Problem: “World Community Woman” Is.

July 3, 2010July 3, 2010by Douglas ErnstLeave a comment

If you’ve read this blog before you know I’m a comic nerd. And you know that I’m a fan of exposing the industry’s liberal bent, usually as it pertains to Marvel Comics. I’m also inclined to point out why certain characters embody the best of America, despite liberal writers’ uncanny ( X-Men-ish?) ability to ignore such traits.

So, although I’m not a “DC” type of guy, I feel as though the Wonder Woman costume hubbub needs to be addressed:

“The American-ness of her costume really dates from World War II, and it feels like it’s part of her roots, even if she is supposed to have come from an island full of Amazons,” Anders told FOX411.com. “I think making her look more ‘globalized’ isn’t necessarily a bad idea, but you have to be careful not to sacrifice what makes her distinctive and thrilling in the process,”…

“This new sleek and fashionable Wonder Woman will translate well to a film franchise centered on a female action hero. That wouldn’t have worked as well with the bright and flashy red, white and blue costume, and it definitely wouldn’t have played in the very lucrative international markets,” said the artist, who wished not to be named because of ties to DC. “

I think the question that needs to be asked is this: As comic books become more popular and are distributed around the globe, how will editorial decisions be affected by concerns of “international” readers?

I’ve talked about this before, but how many Captain America comics are in

lassojihad — Lasso of Truth around a jihadi nut? Naaaah. But Lynda Carter wants one around Bush. What a surprise.

existence of Black Ops in Afghanistan? During World War II Cap was punching Hitler’s lights out. Today? He’s scared of the Tea Party movement. Part of this has to do with the industry’s artists and writers liberal dominance, but over the past few years I think many editorial missteps are due to a desire not to offend the sensibilities of a more “globalized” readership.

One would think that in the wake of the September 11th attacks that Captain America could find some jihadi heads to crack overseas, possibly saving some American servicemen or innocent civilians in the process…but I guess not.

In the case of Wonder Woman’s new duds, I’m willing to cut DC some slack simply because Jim Lee was involved. Wonder Woman’s potential, for whatever reason, has never been realized, and a costume shake-up now and again is an easy way to generate interest (at least in the short term). Spider-Man sometimes dons his black costume—which happens to be very cool—but he always goes back to the classic red and blue. I’m more interested in the quality of the stories than Wonder Woman’s outward appearance…but then again, I am a writer. When the Justice League of America starts wondering if they should get the United Nations’ approval before acting to stop pure evil that threatens the world I’ll be concerned. Oh, wait, that sort of thing already happened…

Finally, the thing that’s most misleading about the Wonder Woman costume story isn’t in the analysis of the character or her history, but the lack of context for Lynda Carter’s attitude toward the controversy in the first place:

Lynda Carter, the actress who portrayed Wonder Woman on TV in the 1970s, declined to answer Fox 411.com’s question about the removal of the American flag from the Wonder Woman costume. In a previous interview, Carter said she thinks Wonder Woman would want all the upset fans to just “get over it.”

“She’s got an attitude, and if this is the new thing she wants to wear, well by God she’s going to wear it,” Carter said. “And I like that. And I hope somewhere in the story someone mentions, where’s the old one? And she says, ‘Get over it.’”

What isn’t noted is that Lynda Carter is a liberal.

Lynda Carter says she’s never used the Wonder Woman Lasso of Truth on her two children, now teens. “I don’t think it would work on them.” But, referring to President Bush, the talkative actress adds, “I’ve often thought how nice it would be during this administration if it worked,” (Heller, Billy. Kicking Heroine: 70’s Star Turns to Cabaret. New York Post.)

We all know how liberals feel about proudly displaying the flag. The ignoramuses (myself included) unabashedly displaying the Stars and Stripes on any old day of the week are a hinderance to the “international community” the Beltway intelligencia believes we should defer to as we chart out our nation’s future. (Because, who doesn’t want dysfunctional nation states essentially run by warlords on equal footing with the United States?)

Of course Lynda Carter doesn’t care about the muted-flag aspect of Wonder Woman’s new costume. Just as there are a lot of liberals who wish Captain America would simply don a smurf blue helmet and call himself Captain Appeasement, there are a lot of liberals who wish Wonder Woman was Moral Relativist Woman, substituting the Lasso of Truth for the Lasso of Whatever.

In the end, I predict the new costume will disappear. Liberal stories, however, aren’t going anywhere…unless more people take notice.

PS: Great PR move, DC, at having this story hit right before the Fourth of July weekend.

wonderwoman — Lynda wishes you would "get over it" when it comes to symbols of American strength and character. I couldn't get hold of her because she was counting the royalty checks her old (flag inspired) costume made possible.

Stallone, Barack Obama, Marvel Comics and the Very Real Secret War.

June 5, 2010June 11, 2014by Douglas ErnstLeave a comment

Do I write a post about Stallone’s new flick The Expendables, or do I cover the Obama administration’s Secret War tactics in the War on Terror? How about…both!

In the new trailer The Expendables, Stallone’s voiceover begins:

“We are the shadows…and the smoke in your eyes. We are the ghosts…that hide in the night.”

What does this mean? It means that the world is a dangerous place, and sometimes we need people to go in an clean up messes the civilized world would like to pretend don’t exist. Think the BP oil spill is a threat to humanity? Okay. But oily terrorists operating in lawless regions around the world can also cause messy explosions, gushers (of blood) on city streets, and black-charred coatings where beautiful things used to stand…

Sometimes, someone like George Bush comes around and is willing to openly talk

about the world’s scum buckets and dirt bags who’d like nothing better than to make Americans take dirt naps in densely populated urban areas. And people get angry, because if you acknowledge how susceptible free societies are to jihad nuts with a desire to return to the dark ages…it means you have a lot of tough decisions to make.

Even liberal writers like Brian Michael Bendis seem to know (really, really, deep down) that we live in a world where a Secret War or two or three or more…is being waged between competing visions for humanity’s future. The only problem is, when guys like George W. Bush are in office, liberal comic book writers come up with weird Bush-Gitmo allegories that inadvertently make the case for conservatism!

Can someone tell me when Brian Michael Bendis is going to lampoon Barack Obama in the comics for the very real “Secret War” that he’s apparently taken to another level? Don’t hold your breath:

Beneath its commitment to soft-spoken diplomacy and beyond the combat zones of Afghanistan and Iraq, the Obama administration has significantly expanded a largely secret U.S. war against al-Qaeda and other radical groups, according to senior military and administration officials..Obama, one senior military official said, has allowed “things that the previous administration did not.”

How many young voters pulled the lever for Barack Obama under the liberal auspices that we can live in harmony with jihadi head choppers if we just try really hard to “understand” and “reach” them? (My favorite is Richard Gere’s infamous post-9/11 suggestion that guys like Osama Bin Laden just need to be loved.)

It’s all a lie. The world is a dangerous place. Evil exists, despite what the Neal Gabler moral relativist Mole Men tell you. And it’s better to be honest and frank about that, because otherwise you create bizarre realities where “peace activists” (who try to slice through your liver with gigantor-knives when their cargo is about to be inspected) can play the victim-card. You also have scenarios play out where young people say, “Umm…what happened to all that hopeandchange?” (Yes, that’s one word):

The Obama administration has rejected the constitutional executive authority claimed by Bush and has based its lethal operations on the authority Congress gave the president in 2001 to use “all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons” he determines “planned, authorized, committed, or aided” the Sept. 11 attacks.

Many of those currently being targeted, Bellinger said, “particularly in places outside Afghanistan,” had nothing to do with the 2001 attacks.

Weren’t there a lot of Democrats that voted for that? Hmmm. Nevermind.

The hopeandchange never materialized because it was never there. I bet the kiddies are feeling pretty numb, right now. It’s okay Thunder Kiss, conservatism will welcome you with open arms when the reality hits that it’s a strange, strange world (incompatible with “planned” economies and Youtube Diplomacy).

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a Stallone trailer to watch.