Ben-
America is a nation of immigrants. A nation of ideals, of freedoms, hopes and dreams.
One soldier knows we can lose it all to the scourge of fascism. One soldier stands ever vigilant, tall, unapologetic ready to wade into battle against our enemies, to come to the aid of our allies, to defend the beliefs that fuel the flames of liberty......His name is a cry to action. His actions are a shining example for the patriot lying dormant in all men.
Okay, its Cap.
RICK
7-24-08
BENITO-
Cap is doing push ups.
As he does each one he counts off with the name of a State, ending with Alaska and Hawaii for forty-nine and fifty.
Next, he is bench pressing several hundred pounds and reciting the Constitution and Declaration.
"...We the people, in order to form a more perfect union...."
Cap is doing kung fu kicks now.
"We hold these truths to be self evident..."
Cap is punching a speed bag.
"Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness..."
Cap is now punching a heavy bag, it is taped up.
"I pledge to protect and defend the constitution of the United States, so help me God."
Cap knocks the heavy bag off it's chain and he stands over it drenched in sweat.
"Fight any foe, support any ally. Defend the torch of freedom where ever it burns."
okay.
the Patriotic Workout.
9-11-08
Rickster,
At first, there were only smatterings of over-the-top government actions. ATF raid in Waco. IRS raids businesses. Establishment of Gitmo. Immigrants disappearing off the street after 9-11. People nabbed in foreign countries and taken to Turkish prisons like in dusty spy novels. Wiretapping. Domestic spying. And now, the government has imprisoned "domestic terrorists" and have suspended Habaes Corpus.
So Cap is unfrozen to battle terrorism... but the real threat is the Red Skull has slowly infiltrating the American government through surrogates. Slowly, he's turning America into a fascist state and now he's put his man in the White House! The Presidency, the Country that Cap loves has now turned against him... and now he has to go underground to stop the madness!
Was just rolling that around :) I hope all is well!
Best,
Ben
"Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one."
-Thomas Paine
"To be honest, when I was writing these stories a million years ago, I never thought about movies at all one way or another. It would have seemed almost miraculous for these things to be movies someday. To me, they were just comic books that I hoped would sell so I could keep my job."
-Stan Lee
"As you get older, it is harder to have heroes, but it is sort of necessary."
-Ernest Hemingway
"Show me a hero and I will write you a tragedy."
-F. Scott Fitzgerald
In email post #4 - Ben writes... "but the real threat is the Red Skull..."
ReplyDeleteCaptain America is just another eager, over achiever without the Red Skull as a foil. I have him counting states and reciting the constitution as he works out because I think that it demonstrates how driven he is. What about his evil counterpart? How driven is he?
We spend a great deal of time delving into the inner workings of Cap here. The Red Skull is also given insidious shape and form. There is a hideousness to his evil. It is not an insane evil or a joking, daring evil but rather a calculating, manipulating, iron willed evil that will test Cap's strength of resolve in ways he can not imagine.
I think that I would like to write their first meeting. In a comic, they can only meet after enough of the exposition is given in order that their introduction is rewarding. In film, it is much easier to play around with the emotional content of scenes by placing them out of order chronologically or jumping in at the middle.
Don't get me wrong. Cap would not have the advantage. Red Skull would easily defeat him having figured out which buttons to push to make the super soldier dance to his tune. Defeat also is an important part of Cap's enduring mythology. He needs to realize that he can not overcome the evil that is the Red Skull alone. He is not strong enough. It is his humbling moment, when all the world seems to be crumbling and running as ash through his fingertips.
Cap must fight on to find the one person able to give him the advice he needs to break the Red Skull. Although cured of sickness and learning how to lead men into battle, the soul of Cap is still young, a teenager a best and unprepared to make his way in the grisly world of men. He is ashamed of failing, of letting down his soldiers and himself.
Talk of government corruption and abuse of power is great but actually pretty hard to show convincingly without seeming overly political or ham handed. Would Cap be prepared to take on these kind of enemies? If Cap were popped out of an ice cube tray as needed to intercede in various conflicts involving U.S. interests around the world, what would his role be? How would you write it? Film it? What is the meat of what you might want to say using Cap as your writing device?