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> Startlingly, the moral authority of the security forces is never challenged in the film. Far from being villains, they help save the world. You mean, the Chi

> Startlingly, the moral authority of the security forces is never challenged in the film. Far from being villains, they help save the world. You mean, the Chinese adopted Marvel's not-so-stealthy glorification of the American military complex (Capitan America, iron Man, Wolverine,....)

Animats 7y ago
Wolverine?
- writepub 7y ago
  He served in the US armed forces. Check out his origin story
  - DoreenMichele 7y ago
    He was also tortured by the military and given his metal skeleton and claws against his will, killed people to escape iirc, etc. He hates the people who did that to him and understandably has a chip on his shoulder a mile wide.
    - Apocryphon 7y ago
      Also, he's Canadian.
      - DoreenMichele 7y ago
        Yes, true. I didn't remember that. Thank you. But even if you don't remember that, I can't fathom anyone seeing his origin story as somehow pro military. It's quite critical of the military. He continues to have nightmares about what was done to him. This is why he stabs Rogue, who really should have died from it and only didn't because she is able to "borrow" his powers to heal herself. She was trying to wake him up from a nightmare. And his ongoing hatred of the military and the people who did that to him shows up as plot points in various stories. So it isn't simply his backstory I the past. This is part of the ongoing storyline. So how anyone can say "He was in the military once -- check his origin story" as evidence that his story is highly pro military is beyond me.
ralusek 7y ago
Doesn't Captain America specifically question the authority and morality of the state, and their own Avengers initiative? Doesn't Tony Stark dismantle his father's arms company? I wouldn't say the military industrial complex is just presented as some kind of unwaveringly benevolent entity.
- writepub 7y ago
  That's our perception as Americans. I wonder if the Chinese consider the occasional bad apples weaved into an otherwise savior narrative of the emphatically American superheros any differently than the economist views their heros. After all, he's Captain America perennially wrapped in red, white and blue. How'd you interpret a captain China wrapped in the communist party red, replete with the sickle, backed by the might of the People's army, saving the world from tyranny?
  - scotty79 7y ago
    You don't even know how funny Captain America name is for people from the rest of the world. It sounds like Middle Manager Kazakhstan.
  - krapp 7y ago
    The movies seem to do well in China. Endgame well enough to break box office records there, and according to this site at least[0] the other Captain America movies didn't exactly bomb. That would seem to suggest (albeit anecdotally) that there isn't a widespread mistrust or distate for Captain America as a character in China. [0]https://www.boxofficemojo.com/intl/china/opening/ https://www.boxofficemojo.com/intl/china/opening/
- chibg10 7y ago
  The CIA is given a gray-area treatment in Black Panther as well.
stareatgoats 7y ago
American popular culture does not idolize the state or state related institutions; on the contrary, as a rule it idolizes the lone rebel, the plight of the outsider who makes a stand for personal liberty against some big institution (state or corporation). That is, American pop culture does not challenge the foundation of the American society: individualism and the American dream. In that respect (in its support of the underpinnings of its home society) it is really similar to Chinese pop culture ...
- fellellor 7y ago
  I am from India and I love big Hollywood movies, but I never got the impression that American military and state are presented in a negative, or even a dim light. There is nuance, that may be more apparent to Americans themselves. In these movies, Americans are never all bad. Because even if there are American villains, the answer is always the presence of American heroes. Even though the films are great, they come pretty close to state propaganda. Only the quality is much better, because unlike other authoritarian projects from other countries, Americans actually believe their propaganda. It's so effective that so many countries across the world are trying to copy it, my own country included. But we have a long long way to go in terms of quality.
  - lozenge 7y ago
    The US Army and other government agencies collaborate with, advise and fund film makers to produce the kind of film you're talking about.
  - krapp 7y ago
    > Because even if there are American villains, the answer is always the presence of American heroes. I mean, these are American movies. How often are the heroes in Indian movies not Indian, as opposed to American? The heroes are almost always local.

Animats 7y ago

Wolverine?

writepub 7y ago
He served in the US armed forces. Check out his origin story
- DoreenMichele 7y ago
  He was also tortured by the military and given his metal skeleton and claws against his will, killed people to escape iirc, etc. He hates the people who did that to him and understandably has a chip on his shoulder a mile wide.
  - Apocryphon 7y ago
    Also, he's Canadian.
    - DoreenMichele 7y ago
      Yes, true. I didn't remember that. Thank you. But even if you don't remember that, I can't fathom anyone seeing his origin story as somehow pro military. It's quite critical of the military. He continues to have nightmares about what was done to him. This is why he stabs Rogue, who really should have died from it and only didn't because she is able to "borrow" his powers to heal herself. She was trying to wake him up from a nightmare. And his ongoing hatred of the military and the people who did that to him shows up as plot points in various stories. So it isn't simply his backstory I the past. This is part of the ongoing storyline. So how anyone can say "He was in the military once -- check his origin story" as evidence that his story is highly pro military is beyond me.

ralusek 7y ago

Doesn't Captain America specifically question the authority and morality of the state, and their own Avengers initiative? Doesn't Tony Stark dismantle his father's arms company? I wouldn't say the military industrial complex is just presented as some kind of unwaveringly benevolent entity.

writepub 7y ago
That's our perception as Americans. I wonder if the Chinese consider the occasional bad apples weaved into an otherwise savior narrative of the emphatically American superheros any differently than the economist views their heros. After all, he's Captain America perennially wrapped in red, white and blue. How'd you interpret a captain China wrapped in the communist party red, replete with the sickle, backed by the might of the People's army, saving the world from tyranny?
- scotty79 7y ago
  You don't even know how funny Captain America name is for people from the rest of the world. It sounds like Middle Manager Kazakhstan.
- krapp 7y ago
  The movies seem to do well in China. Endgame well enough to break box office records there, and according to this site at least[0] the other Captain America movies didn't exactly bomb. That would seem to suggest (albeit anecdotally) that there isn't a widespread mistrust or distate for Captain America as a character in China. [0]https://www.boxofficemojo.com/intl/china/opening/ https://www.boxofficemojo.com/intl/china/opening/
chibg10 7y ago
The CIA is given a gray-area treatment in Black Panther as well.

stareatgoats 7y ago

American popular culture does not idolize the state or state related institutions; on the contrary, as a rule it idolizes the lone rebel, the plight of the outsider who makes a stand for personal liberty against some big institution (state or corporation). That is, American pop culture does not challenge the foundation of the American society: individualism and the American dream. In that respect (in its support of the underpinnings of its home society) it is really similar to Chinese pop culture ...

fellellor 7y ago
I am from India and I love big Hollywood movies, but I never got the impression that American military and state are presented in a negative, or even a dim light. There is nuance, that may be more apparent to Americans themselves. In these movies, Americans are never all bad. Because even if there are American villains, the answer is always the presence of American heroes. Even though the films are great, they come pretty close to state propaganda. Only the quality is much better, because unlike other authoritarian projects from other countries, Americans actually believe their propaganda. It's so effective that so many countries across the world are trying to copy it, my own country included. But we have a long long way to go in terms of quality.
- lozenge 7y ago
  The US Army and other government agencies collaborate with, advise and fund film makers to produce the kind of film you're talking about.
- krapp 7y ago
  > Because even if there are American villains, the answer is always the presence of American heroes. I mean, these are American movies. How often are the heroes in Indian movies not Indian, as opposed to American? The heroes are almost always local.