A tough fight, fairly won.

Friday, May 05, 2006

I took the quiz linked below and got good old Cap as a result. Full disclosure; Cap was my favorite comic book growing up. And, after looking at the severely limited choices for a result, there was really no one else who would be close. Not a survey full of nuance. Also, I really didn't know some of the other characters who were listed as possible results, it's been (wow) almost 15 years since I collected comic books.

Anyway, I started to think about why I liked Cap so much as a kid. I was patriotic. I liked the idea of clear cut good versus evil. I liked to see someone stick by their ideals. Also, I was a bit of a contrarian - most of my friends thought Cap was not a good comic and also thought Cap was out of date. So, as a contrarian, that made me like him all the more. It was like an extra bonus.

Of course, it was all make believe. The stories always put Cap in a tough fight that he could win fairly; idealistic situations for an idealistic character.

In the way of idealism, I still identify with Cap. Of course, I left the service by resigning, not by being shot off on a rocket and plummeted into the Arctic. In the real world, however, I was an idealistic person in not so idealistic situations. There was no maniacal Red Skull to fight, just a George Bush to try to deal with. Evil doesn't really create super secret compounds filled with goons. Real evil has a smiling face and tells you how good it is and how good you are for supporting it. Turns out, the only way I could fight evil was by refusing to take it's paycheck anymore.

Throwing a shield would have been much more satisfying.