This is a tough and sensitive one.
Right off the bat, I want to make it very clear I am not attempting to offend anyone, make a political stance, or do anything else of the sort. The objective of this article is to explore what Anthony Mackie was truly trying to say whether it be the literal meaning of the words that came out of his mouth or something behind them. I am not attacking or defending Mackie. I am simply analyzing his words and providing speculation.
Let’s review his comments:
“Captain America represents a lot of different things, and I don’t think the term ‘America’ should be one of those representations. It’s about a man who keeps his word, who has honor, dignity and integrity. Someone who is trustworthy and dependable. It's kind of like an aspect of a dream come true. All of us as actors want to get back to that day before someone told you 'no.' When you look out your window, and you see a five-year-old kid with a stick, and he's slaying dragons to save the princess in the tower, the kid really believes there are dragons out there, the kid really believes the stick is a sword, and he's really trying to save that princess. And then one day, someone told him, 'No, there are no dragons, that's not a sword, and that princess is not there.' And all of his little dreams were dashed, so as an actor I think our job is to get back to that day where we see that dragon, and we slay that dragon to save that princess and that's kind of what that movie was for me."
These comments have sparked quite a bit of backlash and outrage. Some are defending Mackie, some are attacking him, and some seem to be separating the artist from the art and keeping their excitement for the movie. Some people are calling for boycotts of the movie entirely.
At least at first glance, it is a bit odd to say a character shouldn’t represent something that is in their name.
The first idea that comes to mind is this: maybe he simply meant Captain America shouldn’t only represent just the country of the United States of America. Captain America can be representative of “...a man who keeps his word, who has honor, dignity and integrity. Someone who is trustworthy and dependable,” as well as the country that man comes from. Playing off that idea, the concepts of honor, dignity, integrity, and keeping one’s word are not exclusively American. Maybe, if Mackie meant that Captain America shouldn’t just represent America, he meant the ideals of Captain America should be applicable to more than just Americans and that he is a character more people around the world can identify with.
Mackie could have said that Captain America shouldn’t represent America, because Cap is frequently portrayed as morally incorruptible, something no country as a whole truly is. Unfortunately, there is no large organization of any kind in the entire world that is truly morally incorruptible as what makes up every organization, human beings, all have the potential to be morally corrupt. Captain America does not let his morals be corrupted save for multiversal variants like Captain Hydra and a few stories here and there. Maybe Mackie meant that Cap is completely incorruptible and, therefore, should not directly represent any country in that way. He could have intended this simply as a statement of fact, it is indeed factual that no country has no corruption whatsoever, or as a criticism.
Thinking about Mackie’s statements after he said Cap shouldn’t represent the term America, he may have meant Cap shouldn’t represent all of America or its history. Just like any place in the world, the United States isn’t one hundred percent full of perfect people. There are problems that the US faces, that, of course, aren’t exclusive to the US, that Mackie may not want represented in the character Captain America. He wouldn’t want the character to represent racism, division, greed, or anything else negative that is present in the US. He could have intended to say that Captain America should represent only the good parts of America.
Of course, he could have meant exactly what he said. Regardless of what he meant, he certainly could have worded it better. Considering he is on a press tour for a movie about Captain America, with a huge percentage of its market being America, and the companies that own the character and funded the movie are American, you’d think he’d be a bit more careful with his words. We’ll likely get a clarifying statement from him soon, so maybe he’ll clear things up.
What do you think of Mackie’s comments? Did he mean well but delivered the message poorly, or is truly trying to separate the character from its namesake? Let me know!