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May. 4th, 2019 10:34 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wildestrangerSo I went to see Avengers: Endgame last night and I had some thoughts.
I have seen discussions elsewhere about the curious absence of interaction between Steve and Bucky - this article being a prime example (https://bamsmackpow.com/2019/04/30/avengers-endgame-lack-of-closure/) although I will admit that I stopped reading it halfway through when the author referred to Bucky as being vulnerable in a feminine way, at which point I figured the writer was too stupid for the rest to be worth my while.
But the main premise is still interesting. The narrative of Steve Rogers, as we have seen it in the films until now, has been comprehensively focused on his relationship with Bucky Barnes: missing Bucky, finding Bucky, losing Bucky (CA: The First Avenger); missing Bucky, finding Bucky, missing Bucky again (Winter Soldier); searching for Bucky in the Age of Ultron; finding Bucky, then pretty much pulling the world apart in order to keep him (Civil War). Yet, in the Endgame, this narrative is suddenly absent. Naturally, they have other things to worry about, but one of Steve's motivations of needing to change history would have been the opportunity to get Bucky back - which could have been grounded in the story and wasn't. Instead, we have Steve being nostalgic about Peggy, which is nice but also entirely irrelevant to the situation created by Thanos and the problem in hand. It does, however, serve to condition the viewers towards an ending where Steve gives up a chance to reunite with his friends, including Bucky, to go back in history and marry Peggy. He doesn't seem to be too bothered about Bucky coming back to life, nor indeed about leaving him to live the rest of his life on his own.
This seems, to put it mildly, uncharacteristic. In previous canon, the greatest tragedy of Steve Rogers's life has been the repeated loss of Bucky Barnes. According to the Endgame, however, it was not getting to marry Peggy Carter. There's also a lot to be said about changing Peggy's narrative from a woman who builds a rich life for herself after dealing with a great loss, to basically becoming the reward for Steve Rogers. But even just in terms of the characterisation of Steve Rogers, this is terrible writing and terrible plotting, and I am struggling to find a rationale for it. Ten years ago I might have thought that they were worried about presenting a narrative that was insufficiently heteronormative, but now, still? Alternatively, are they just that incompetent? Do they believe that since Steve Rogers is a hero, he should therefore get the girl, and anything else doesn't really matter?
Anyway, that was a stupid way of doing things, and certainly one of the reasons why this film will not survive in legacy of the Avengers franchise. Unlike, say, the Winter Soldier.
I have seen discussions elsewhere about the curious absence of interaction between Steve and Bucky - this article being a prime example (https://bamsmackpow.com/2019/04/30/avengers-endgame-lack-of-closure/) although I will admit that I stopped reading it halfway through when the author referred to Bucky as being vulnerable in a feminine way, at which point I figured the writer was too stupid for the rest to be worth my while.
But the main premise is still interesting. The narrative of Steve Rogers, as we have seen it in the films until now, has been comprehensively focused on his relationship with Bucky Barnes: missing Bucky, finding Bucky, losing Bucky (CA: The First Avenger); missing Bucky, finding Bucky, missing Bucky again (Winter Soldier); searching for Bucky in the Age of Ultron; finding Bucky, then pretty much pulling the world apart in order to keep him (Civil War). Yet, in the Endgame, this narrative is suddenly absent. Naturally, they have other things to worry about, but one of Steve's motivations of needing to change history would have been the opportunity to get Bucky back - which could have been grounded in the story and wasn't. Instead, we have Steve being nostalgic about Peggy, which is nice but also entirely irrelevant to the situation created by Thanos and the problem in hand. It does, however, serve to condition the viewers towards an ending where Steve gives up a chance to reunite with his friends, including Bucky, to go back in history and marry Peggy. He doesn't seem to be too bothered about Bucky coming back to life, nor indeed about leaving him to live the rest of his life on his own.
This seems, to put it mildly, uncharacteristic. In previous canon, the greatest tragedy of Steve Rogers's life has been the repeated loss of Bucky Barnes. According to the Endgame, however, it was not getting to marry Peggy Carter. There's also a lot to be said about changing Peggy's narrative from a woman who builds a rich life for herself after dealing with a great loss, to basically becoming the reward for Steve Rogers. But even just in terms of the characterisation of Steve Rogers, this is terrible writing and terrible plotting, and I am struggling to find a rationale for it. Ten years ago I might have thought that they were worried about presenting a narrative that was insufficiently heteronormative, but now, still? Alternatively, are they just that incompetent? Do they believe that since Steve Rogers is a hero, he should therefore get the girl, and anything else doesn't really matter?
Anyway, that was a stupid way of doing things, and certainly one of the reasons why this film will not survive in legacy of the Avengers franchise. Unlike, say, the Winter Soldier.
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Date: 2019-05-04 01:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-05-05 06:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-05-05 06:34 pm (UTC)