Let's All Go To The Lobby

Let's get a couple of things straight. First of all, I'm not a comic book fan. (At least, not anymore - in my youth I spent my dimes on Superman and Archie. In fact, I can recall how upset I was when the price went from a dime to 12¢. And when it skyrocketed to 15¢?  Fuggetaboutit.)

Anyway...

I'm also not a movie fan. I get all the film kicks I need from reruns on cable. IMO there hasn't been a decent flick made since the days of the Duke and Clint (well, maybe with the exception of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies).

Anyway, again...

Which brings me to a movie review in yesterday's San Antonio newspaper. I could care less about the new breed of movies about comic book heroes, but I found what the reviewer had to say concerning the latest Captain America movie intriguing, to say the least.

...(who) Captain America is fighting isn't some outside power but factions within the United States government. If you think of popular movies as takers of the national pulse, that's an interesting development.

Following 9/11, our action movies were authoritarian. Now with “Captain America,” as with “Robocop,” we're seeing a new strain...

These ideas make particular sense within the Captain America framework. For those who didn't see the first installment, he's an American soldier from World War II (scientifically enhanced but still human and vulnerable) who was frozen for almost 70 years. Now, at 95, he looks no more than 30, but he has the sensibility of a man from another generation. Coming from a world in which bad guys conveniently wore swastikas and goose-stepped down the street, he finds himself puzzled by modern shades of gray.

How should he feel about people who tell him they just want to keep us safe? How should he feel about people scanning your emails, phone calls, SAT scores and employment history, all for the greater good? How should he feel about security technology that can predict dangerous activity before the perpetrator even gets the idea? And how should we feel about that?

Excellent points. I'm glad to see a film critic with a social conscience. And one who also asks what I think are insightful, relevant, and penetrating questions about these troubling times we find ourselves in. Regardless of your political leanings, I would hope that all true lovers of liberty find themselves concerned about the egregious invasion of privacy we're experiencing today.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go come to terms with the fact that I just said something positive about a liberal arts major who works for the legacy media.

Egads. What is this world coming to...?