Well, today I had a "that moment when your girlfriend has read further into one of your thesis books than you. For fun". Still cool though, and it yielded a rather nifty fact of the day!
#23: Captain America and Spider-Man were used as icons of overt American military propaganda for the Pentagon in 2005.
"No shit Captain America and the military are connected", you might be saying. But in actuality, both characters (especially Spidey) have had quite convoluted and rocky histories with the American military through comics history - again, no surprise, given the outspokenly liberal Marvel comics that was publishing them.
That's not to say that Marvel Comics never engaged in anything patriotic or related to the military. There was a rather heartbreaking (and very tasteful) post-9/11 edition in The Amazing Spider-Man that rather pointedly conflated the world of the comic with 'the real world' (something I've been rather interested in, research-wise, of late).
This general tendency towards military critique doesn't carry through as much in the Marvel movies, largely because, to procure any kind of military funding/props donations for free, having overt anti-military subtext isn't exactly the most welcome. That said, I still feel that most of the Marvel movies engage in an interesting practice of subtle military satire, especially the Iron Man films, and, yes, Captain America: The First Avenger. I dare you to watch the notorious war bonds montage (one of my favourite sequences ever committed to film) and disagree.
But I digress. Back to the fact in question. The following is an excerpt from John Shelton Lawrence's forward to Captain America and the Struggle of the Superhero: Critical Essays, a rather superb book that I'm sure, someday, I will actually read all of.
"[in 2005] Marvel Comics collaborated with the Pentagon to host a patriotic marketing event for the New Avengers line, which would be distributed free to one million troops, as part of the 'America Supports You' campaign. Donald Rumsfeld posed for photos with Spider-Man and Captain America. A child present was quoted as saying, 'It's good for the superheroes to show support for the troops because some kids want to be like their favourite superheroes.' Army Colonel Joe Mudd, from the Joint Chiefs of Staff, commended the appearance of Cap and Spidey, saying, 'Any show of support is important, and people relate to comics... We like the good guys to win, and we think we're the good guys too.' He added that the narratives of popular comics 'speak to what we strive for as individuals and as a nation.'"
Rumsfeld and his "super friends". Ugh.
Yikes. I could - and basically will - write essays (or even a thesis, perhaps?) on the deeper significance of this. As it stands, I'ma just let it speak for itself. Also, I'm extraordinarily tired. Apparently chowing down on six pieces of pizza and a piece of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles birthday cake at Alex's birthday can leave you feeling rather exhausted and sluggish. Never again will I have green fondant. Bleeeerrrgghh.
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