Metaphor
Introduction
An evil empire is out to strike terror on the world and become the number one power of the world. Something our government protects us from every day. When a war on terrorism became a search for weapons of mass destruction. This analysis is going to show how the metaphor in the film Captain America: The First Avenger mirrors that of the first and second world wars. If people watch this film without any idea of the past, the ideology of American heroism is all lost. I will examine the link between Captain America, America itself, Nazi Germany of the 1940s, and the war on terrorism using Greek mythology.Description of Captain America: The First Avenger
Captain America, if you haven't seen it yet, is about a skinny asthmatic boy that wants to join the army and defend America against bullies. Everyone hates being bullied so the audience, anti bullies, really rallies for Captain America. There are some very smart scientists that help develop technologies that will save the world or destroy it. One is a bully and the other got away from the bully before things got too bad.
The time period of the bulk of the film is set in the early 1940s of WWII. Some of the scenes were also set in present day times. The actual time isn't told to us literally but shown to us using costumes from each time period. The picture above from www.themoviedb.org shows the styles of clothing from the 1940s war time. It depicts the ageless style of the American flag on the uniform and the flag in the background. For present day features we are thrown into New York modern day with all the big L.E.D. screens and fancy cars. There is no need to tell the audience the time period. Also the clothing style of Captain America is ageless again in present day wearable in the 40s and this millennium.
I believe the social aspect and cultural aspect of the film is the same. The underdog of the film that cannot talk to a girl let alone dance with one appeals to the regular everyday American boy. The shyness that needs to be overcome. Gathering around in the bar making decisions about the future is what often happens in many countries, that's why Captain Americas's crew of many nationalities is depicted in this social environment.
It's important to know that both time periods are present in this film to show how it all relates. The evil bully depicted in red is also important as we discuss metaphor in this review. The main antagonist in the film is not Hitler, although he is named in the film a few times, it actually is Hydra. There are several references to Hydra the mythical Grecian creature. "Cut off one head, two more grows in its place," is a phrase that is repeated several times in the film.
One other thing to take note is the war room for the Americans. The location of Hydra's forces and the flags used to describe where they are. The flags are red with a capitol "H."
Description of Metaphorical Analysis
The metaphorical analysis can be used for almost anything. This is my favorite rhetorical analysis. By working with the metaphors of artifacts such as this film Captain America, a new admiration of the film ensues. The Meaning of Meaning I. A. Richards talked about metaphor in 1938 in relation to tenor/theme and vehicle/image. The way I'll analyze Captain America will be done based on the way measure was analyzed.
I am going to isolate several metaphors and find their meanings whether they are obvious or subtle. Each metaphor, I'll show the vehicle or the picture of the metaphor then the tenor or the theme of the metaphor. I'll show you how this affects the audience or in this case, anti bullies.
The Analysis
The
metaphors for this film were subtle before and now almost obvious now that I look
at it. Captain America is Hercules and
America. Captain America is America and Hercules. Dr. Abraham Erskine is Albert
Einstein by Changing America forever. Johann Schmidt is
Red Skull, the Devil,
and Germany. HYDRA is a terrorist
organization. Blue cube of energy is a weapon of mass destruction.
As far as
I can tell, this film does an awesome job at mimicking history, and at the same
time, showing that it still works for today's society. I'll start with the hero of the film. Captain America is the vehicle of this
metaphor. Captain Rogers starts off like the tenor, the United States, did back
in World War I, very skinny and frail but never backing down. Getting a chance to prove itself in the first
war, America gets bigger and stronger. The U.S. then gets involved in the
second war after being attacked first.
The scene where Captain America becomes big and strong one of H.Y.D.R.A.'s
scientist spies blows up the lab and shoots a scientist named Dr. Abraham
Erskine. Captain America is almost a full hero. We want the death of Abraham avenged. There will be more about our hero
in a while.
in the beginning...
Dr.
Abraham Erskine is another vehicle in this film. Some parts of Dr. Abraham's
story is too much like the tenor of
Albert Einstein. Growing up in Germany and inventing a
theoretical serum that Adolph Hitler wants to perfect. When Einstein refuses, Hitler puts a price on
his head and he defects to the United States. His formula, in the movie is the
serum but in real life E=mc^2 was the theory that helped change the America and
even the world. Dare I even add that the initials of the two are equal? Ok, let me spell it out for you, the initials
Dr. A.E. can be used for both people.
The experiment done in Brooklyn was also a vehicle for the atom bomb
experiment tenor known as the Manhattan Project. This makes us feel connected to the war. The Dr. was killed on our land.
Meanwhile
in Germany...
The antagonist,
Johann Schmidt, goes even deeper in the realm of metaphor. Schmidt is the leading scientist in Adolph
Hitler’s science team called H.Y.D.R.A.
Schmidt is not interested in Hitler’s reign after being able to harness
the power of the blue cube. The blue
cube is the vehicle to weapons of mass destruction. The technology in the film is so much more
advanced than back in the 1940s that it is almost equivalent to today’s
technology. Losing the idea that we are
in the ‘40s, a montage shows that we are still there by showing pictures of a
large “H” in the center of a flag that could easily look like this
picture.
Schmidt is also Red Skull. As
Schmidt takes off his human looking mask and throws it into the fire, the tenor
turns to him as the devil. He is only
out to destroy and conquer the world.
Captain America is in the heart of hell surrounded by fire and
explosions from then on. As Captain America destroys each of H.Y.D.R.A.s
factories, Red Skull not only becomes madder, but he also refers to
Hydra the Grecian
mythical creature. “Cut off one head and two shall grow in its place,” is
mentioned several times. Hydra is the
vehicle for that of a terrorist cell.
Terrorist Cells are so woven together like that of a large cooperation that
killing one cell isn’t going to make much of a dent. This is getting a little scary.
In the mean time...
W.I.I.F.M.
Now that you have read this analysis, go back and watch this movie. You will find a better understanding of what the movie was about. It was more than a propaganda film convincing you to join the army. It is a film about America. What I expect you to get out of this is the understanding that Captain America came at a time that Americans needed hope in 1941, and maybe we are in need of it again. Watch the film and see how many nationalities are represented backing Captain America. Although he stands out, he had a lot of supporters. I found this film to be even better after doing this analysis and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did now that you relate it more to historical events.The next you see bulling, do what you can to stop it.
