Anthony Mackie, the star of Captain America: Brave New World and the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s one and only Captain America currently, has spoken with The Pivot on the struggles of parenting, especially the struggles of parenting when you’re a movie star.
He spoke on his methods of keeping his children humble even when their father is obviously quite wealthy.
“I keep my boys humble. Like my boys have never had a pair of Jordans. My boys don’t do all that internet fly s**t. I could be the biggest star in the world. Do not let me catch you being stupid. My oldest gets it, my 15-year-old. He tell the other ones, he’s like, ‘Yo, don’t make dad mad.’ Once you get one that’s right, he’s going to straighten the other ones out.”
Mackie then said that, in the current American landscape, “...In the past 20 years, we’ve been living through the death of the American male. They have literally killed masculinity in our homes, in our communities for one reason or another. But I raise my boys to be young men. And however you feel about that, you feel about that.”
Mackie continued to speak about raising his sons to be polite and respectful. He follows the traditional methods of having his sons open doors for women and take care of and protect their mother. He’s been doing this, he says, since they were two years old or younger. “Every time I left for a job, I tell my 15-year-old, ‘You’re the man of the house. You make sure these doors are locked. Every night this alarm is on. You text me or you call me every night before you go to bed and you wake up.’ I love that because we’re men.”
Mackie continues onward to speak about his role in his house. He says that none of the fame he achieves or the money he earns matters if he’s never at home to raise his sons or protect his family.
"Because we're men. If I'm not there to protect, he got to be there to protect. Because you can have all the money in the world, if a motherf---er climb through the window, that money means nothing. You can have all the ‘celebrity’ in the world, [if a] motherf---er jump through the door, that ‘celebrity’ means nothing. So you got to have a little guard there."
"It's just that.” He continued “That American male masculinity is something I think is very important for boys, because now, our little boys are afraid to fail, so they don't try,"
Mackie’s traditional methods may not sit entirely well with everyone, but he’s clearly open to sharing them and being subject to criticism or praise.
Captain America: Brave New World seems likely to end its box office run as one of the lowest grossing Marvel movies. It’s predicted to land between 400 million dollars and 450 million dollars despite sitting at a 79% Popcornmeter fan response on Rotten Tomatoes as of this writing, but the 48% Tomatometer for critic response likely isn’t helping.
The movie features the debut of several Marvel characters including Red Hulk, Sabra, Sidewinder, and more, but still hasn’t managed to match the financial success of Captain America: The First Avenger, The Winter Soldier, or Civil War.
Captain America: Brave New World stars Anthony Mackie, Danny Ramirez, Shira Haas, Xosha Roquemore, Carl Lumbly, with Giancarlo Esposito, Liv Tyler, Tim Blake Nelson, and Harrison Ford.
What did you think of Captain America: Brave New World? Is the movie being under hyped, or is it about as good as critics say? Let us know in the comments below!