Captain America: Brave New World entered movie theaters five weeks ago. I grew up a comic fan and still dabble. I even went out to catch many of the Marvel movies on release.
I saw Black Panther twice. How could I not? It was a Black man getting to do all the cool superhero stuff, not as a side kick, but as the guy.
So, why am I not excited for a Black Captain America? It's certainly more than superhero burnout.
I’ve learned to not hope for the radical politics necessary to sell me on Sam Wilson as Captain America in the current climate. Even the politics of Black Panther was problematic at the time but easier to dismiss.
Superheroes, especially superhero movies, are nothing but mainstream propaganda for maintaining the status quo, or worse, rolling things backwards to a whiter time.
In 2017, Alan Moore, one of the most heralded comic book creators, was asked about the impact of comic books in the modern world. He said the following:
“I think the impact of superheroes on popular culture is both tremendously embarrassing and not a little worrying. While these characters were originally perfectly suited to stimulating the imaginations of their twelve or thirteen year-old audience, today’s franchised übermenschen, aimed at a supposedly adult audience, seem to be serving some kind of different function, and fulfilling different needs.
"Primarily, mass-market superhero movies seem to be abetting an audience who do not wish to relinquish their grip on (a) their relatively reassuring childhoods, or (b) the relatively reassuring 20th century. The continuing popularity of these movies to me suggests some kind of deliberate, self-imposed state of emotional arrest, combined with an numbing condition of cultural stasis that can be witnessed in comics, movies, popular music and, indeed, right across the cultural spectrum. The superheroes themselves — largely written and drawn by creators who have never stood up for their own rights against the companies that employ them, much less the rights of a Jack Kirby or Jerry Siegel or Joe Schuster — would seem to be largely employed as cowardice compensators, perhaps a bit like the handgun on the nightstand.
"I would also remark that save for a smattering of non-white characters (and non-white creators) these books and these iconic characters are still very much white supremacist dreams of the master race. In fact, I think that a good argument can be made for D.W. Griffith’s Birth of a Nation as the first American superhero movie, and the point of origin for all those capes and masks.”
Moore, one of the most influential comic creators, dismissed the entire superhero genre. I remember mostly chalking this quote up to someone who was rightfully disillusioned with the industry. Now with a little more age and a lot more wisdom, it is possible to see the accuracy in his words.
Nostalgia is conservatism’s most potent weapon outside of hate. Make America Great Again is an effective slogan because it hits all the nostalgic buttons for a certain type of person.
I admit when I need a break from reality, I bathe myself in nostalgia. I listen to old music. I watch shows and movies from my childhood, and yes, I read comic books.
People who read superhero comics are very familiar with the characters’ stasis. No matter how much a character changes, they always return to the status quo.
Despite being married, a teacher, a scientist, a business owner, and so on, if someone were to open a comic book today, Peter Parker, Spider-Man, would still somehow be barely out of college struggling to make it. He is single, constantly making horrible decisions, and worried about his sick aunt. It is the same Peter Parker from the 60s and 70s.
Although harsh, Moore's critiques of the creators are also important here. Many of these stories were created by Jewish people who were used and abused by their employers. Although creators are sometimes able to sneak in powerful messages, think about Claremont’s X-Men run, the mainstream audience must be blind to these hints or they will be removed. The creators have no real control.
The propaganda machine must keep moving.
This brings us to what is Moore’s seemingly most outrageous claim. Superheroes are still a white supremacist dream of a master race and Birth of a Nation is the first superhero movie.
The first Superman comics were created in the early 1930s by Jerry Siegal and Joe Shuster, two young Jewish men who eventually sold their character to DC Comics.
I don’t believe these men created Superman to be a symbol of white supremacy, especially if we consider the creation coincided with the rise of Hitler.
Unfortunately, Superman went corporate, and his stories became part of the American propaganda machine. He is, in many ways, ideal white masculinity. He is strong, rural, and decked out in American colors. There are many comics with him fighting America’s “enemies.” I especially remember seeing a racist cover targeting and encouraging violence toward Japanese people.
Although Shuster and Siegal were not trying to create the paragon of white supremacy, the idea of the superman precedes the superhero.
People like Babe Ruth and Ben Franklin were called superman well before the superhero’s debut. According to superhero and comic book expert Chris Gavaler, the idea of the superman is directly related to eugenics.
What do you think of when you think of eugenics? I imagine most people think of the nazis trying to build their version of the superman through breeding and genocide. Here is one of those little American secrets that should probably be obvious when thinking of American history.
Americans did it first. This may surprise some people, but America is very racist. It was even more racist in 1916 when The Passing of the Great Race was published. It is as racist as it sounds, using pseudoscience to explain why white people are superior. It was a best seller. Teddy Roosevelt loved it. Oh, and Hitler loved it. He called it his bible.
In the original comic strips, just as Hitler gained power, Superman is not an alien, but a man from the future. It is implied he is the result of careful breeding. He is a superman. He is the result of eugenics.
Birth of a Nation is Born
Birth of a Nation (1915) is one of the first full-length U.S. movies and one of the most American movies of all time. In it, Black people take over during Reconstruction. They stuff the ballots and deny white people the vote. One of the Black men, all racist caricatures of course, attempts to sexually assault a white woman. She kills herself to escape him, providing the superhero origin story of the Klan.
One man sees white children hiding under sheets to scare Black children, and he gets an idea. (Everyone knows Black people are terrified of ghosts.) The Klan, with their masks, capes, and chest emblems, defeat the evil Black man through the power of lynching.
Of course, the masked heroes are working outside of the law becoming wanted vigilantes. In the end, however, all the white people unite and with the power of the Klan, drive out the evil Black people and reestablish white supremacy in the South. Doesn’t it bring a tear to your eye? (I love you 3000 can’t compete with this cinema!)
Sarcasm aside, I don’t think I need to break down the meaning of this film. It reignited the Ku Klux Klan and membership blossomed. People showed up to watch the movie in costume, an old-school form of cosplaying.
The parallels don’t stop there. The masked vigilante is a common trope in American comics. They are working outside of the law to do what the law can’t do. They are praised even if the law isn’t always on their side. The Klan is motivated by the death of a loved one like so many modern superheroes. Even the capes and chest symbols are part of the Klans ensemble a decade before Superman.
Even better, and possibly the true purpose of the superhero movie (outside of making money) is how well the propaganda worked. Wherever the movie played, violence followed. Lynchings and hate and empowered racists were guaranteed.
Racists really love comic books
Bill Maher said this a few years back:
“Then twenty years or so ago, something happened — adults decided they didn’t have to give up kid stuff….And so they pretended comic books were actually sophisticated literature…. I don’t think it’s a huge stretch to suggest that Donald Trump could only get elected in a country that thinks comic books are important.”-source
Let me start by saying I think comics can be a form of sophisticated literature. I have written many pieces on them myself. Yet, it is also true they can leave the audience wanting. Nevertheless, their audience is diverse. Some people are drawn in by the complex and ever-expanding themes and some people are drawn in by colors smashing against each other.
I disagree with Maher (often) but what he implies here is based on reality. Some of the most racist people I’ve encountered are comic fans and it goes without saying that racists love Trump. When stories actually try to push forward, these fans claw them back into their nostalgic status quo.
Comicsgate was an entire movement about attacking and eliminating any “diverse” person or character in the comics space.
KKK role call:Punisher
Present
The number of people killed by police in America continues to rise every year. Movements like Black Lives Matter attempted to shine a light on this. As a response, some police officers dug into their comic boxes and pulled out Punisher comics.
Punisher is a superhero with a skull emblem on his chest. He is another vigilante who kills criminals instead of letting the law decide their fate. Police officers started sporting this emblem. It became such a problem Marvel Comics temporarily changed the emblem to distance themselves from the violence.
KKK role call:Batman
At this point, most people know it is messed up Batman, a billionaire, is beating up people dealing with mental health or financial strain. He isn’t the only rich superhero. So many have the wealth to solve most of the problems they choose to solve with violence. It reinforces the superhero worship society provides rich people in the real world despite their selfish actions.
Loving the wealthy and loving the “normal” are key parts of the superhero experience. Anyone who is viewed as too other is usually made a villain. Many villains, especially in the early days of comics, were also queer-coded. Superheroes must beat the gay out of them.
Billionaire playboy Batman’s archnemesis is one of these queer-coded villains.
The Joker is one of the most famous villains in comics. Although not always explicit, he has been coded as part of the LGBTQ community since his creation. Everything from his color palette to his lipstick hint at this. Even his lean physical nature, especially when compared to Batman suggests it.
Sadly, all of these traits are presented in a way to turn the audience away from the Joker. He isn’t right. He is off. These traits are bad. The big, strong, masculine Batman needs to solve the problem.
Batman is the man. He is the superman. He is superior.
KKK role call: X-Men
Yep. They are here.
The X-Men may be one of the more surprising names on this list. Their whole thing is the mutant metaphor. They represent minority groups. However, for most of their history, the mainstream message has been “these groups should assimilate, submit, and sacrifice for the majority.”
In recent years I was drawn back into comics because the X-Men were finally doing more than sacrificing themselves to beg the majority (straight white people) to like them.
Unfortunately, with a new editor, the X-Men are back to their 1960s propaganda. This encapsulates the problem with Big 2 comics. Even if a writer tries to break away from the white supremacy tradition, we always wrap right back around to the nostalgic status quo.
At the end of it all I love superheroes.
I also hate them.
I will forever yearn for an impossible evolution from a machine whose job is to only churn dollars and regurgitate nostalgia. Nostalgia, in turn, fuels hatred leading to the world in which we currently live.
The most successful Marvel movies post-Endgame thrive because of white male protagonists and nostalgia. I want to go back to the times when I felt like that!
People said the same thing when watching the Ku Klux Klan save the day. I want to go back to the time when Black people knew their place! I want to go back to a time when killing a Black man was heroic.
Unrelated, a kid recently told me he wanted to be a police officer. When I asked him why, he said he wanted to be a hero.