Doug: I saw the image below at Comics Continuum Friday morning. Regardless of what you think about the Captain America movie costume, there's really no denying the greatness of this mask - wow! But as Karen has complained often, and I feel the same way, you're going to tell me that a swastika wouldn't have worked better than the Hydra symbol? I mean c'mon -- he looks like some stylized SS officer anyway!
Karen: It looks very cool, but like Doug said, where's the swastika? I'm really annoyed the way the film-makers are pussy-footing around the whole Nazi thing. From some of the rumors I've heard, they're worried about toy sales. Toy sales? For cryin' out loud, it's WWII!! That's like making "Jaws" without a shark!
A few thoughts: Yes, the makeup looks good, better even than a lot of the versions I have seen in the comics. Still, I wonder how well it will look in the film. A lot of things that work on the comics pages don't necessarily translate to the screen. A guy wearing a bright red skull mask just might be one of them. The film might have been better off going with somebody like Baron Strucker.
ReplyDeleteSecond, avoiding Nazi imagery IS pretty craven on the part of the filmmakers. They did the same thing in the Avengers cartoon. Apparently WWII in that series was fought solely against Hydra. So much for educational television ...
Have we really gotten to the point where we cannot portray Nazis as bad guys? Perhaps it would have been okay if Cap was fighting against a hot nekkid illiterate cougar whose superpower involved compelling men to read her stories. Maybe then she could be called a Nazi. Just a thought.
Nice work on the mask, but no Nazis + de-emphasizing the "America" of Capt. America (according to the producer a few months ago) = a movie I won't be seeing.
ReplyDeleteDarpy
How can you de-emphasise the America of Captain America? His entire costume, back story, raison d’etre and NAME are America. In additional to which, the character was always at his best when used as a metaphor to question American values (a la Englehart). Without all that, he’s just another guy running around in spandex and chain mail.
ReplyDeleteRef. The Nazi thing, how ridiculous is that? In these days when ethnic cleansing has (incredibly) become more of a problem, not less of one, the Nazi’s are a huge lesson from history. The WORST thing we can do, in terms of doing honour/justice to their victims is NOT talk about it.
Ref. The Skull mask, cool. Looks like Leinil Yu’s drawings from the Ultimates.
Richard