Author: Nick Lauer
When James Bond was created, author Ian Fleming had the character bear resemblance to him and composer, singer and actor Hoagy Carmichael. This was more than just a character for him. Fleming took everything about himself, his characteristics, his tastes, his quirks, and projected them onto Bond’s character. This included the espionage, as Fleming had worked as a Naval Intelligence Officer, and was part of making up clever plans against the Axis Powers. Such operations included: Operation Goldeneye (Which would later be the name of the 1995 James Bond film).
I am a personal believer that a truly great character is so well-crafted he’s like a real person. Many authors, like Fleming, quite literally put their whole selves into their characters. As we keep talking about ourselves in this modern liberal era of mutual respect, that respect is only going one way.
It’s not about respect, it’s about pride, the very thing that has time and time again ruined us. And now, the victims of this era (homosexuals, minorities, and women) feel that to truly get equality they must have the same types of characters. They want our characters. This is why James Bond, a white male, has got a lot of hashtags about making him either black (actor Idris Elba possibly being the next actor to portray him) or, making him a woman (actress Gillian Anderson proclaiming her name is “Bond. Jane Bond”).
The Captain America Conflict
This brings us to the recent news that there is a movement brewing that aims to make Captain America homosexual.
I am far from a bigot, I assure you. In fact, most of my friends come in all race, shapes, and sexual orientations, much like how Caucasian is a bland interpretation of Italian, British, Australian, Irish, Scottish. It seems that the only ones being bigots and misogynists today are the people who are ready to point the finger at someone else for doing the same.
Growing up with only female siblings, women rule much of my life. I know strong women, and they sure don’t feel a need to prove how tough they are. They just are. Same as any person of any nationality. I don’t care what your skin looks like, you show me the same respect you want me to show you. I demand the same for characters that have become like real people to audiences over the years. Trying to change them is like trying to change a real person.
In the last couple weeks, Captain America a.k.a. Steve Rogers (a man born during WWII, throughout time managed to fall for not one, but two women in the same family line) has been tagged with the hashtag #GiveCaptainAmericaABoyfriend. More importantly, they want him to fall for Bucky Barnes, his old friend who becomes the Winter Soldier. We’ll just ignore that Bucky has a long-standing romance with Black Widow in the comics. Now you’d think, a group of people like the LGBTQ community would respect those sexual orientations, but they don’t.
The GLAAD has responded, saying that they could easily add a back story to established characters to make them gay. Why would these groups fight so hard against the very things they are trying to do with these characters? They are forcing society to change, and in doing so, becoming the very thing they hate. Why would you demand that straight characters, who are clearly straight, be changed to be gay? A better question is, how does it feel to know that the only way you think you can get equality is to take someone else’s brand? You know what it says to me…you’re afraid you’re not that important.
I’m about a community and the general audience being taken care of, not just 2% of the American population and 4% of the entire population of the world. These are the real numbers of the size of the LGBTQ community. By looking at these numbers, you gain perspective that you’re part of a larger world. Changing a character who has been with several women intimately, is absolute hypocrisy.
Is the LGBTQ community is saying, “We don’t believe we could make an original character that could stand on its own terms so we need a well-established character to get our beliefs out there.” I’m not going to sugar-coat it for you…that will probably not happen in the near future. This is not degrading the lifestyle choice of being homosexual.
Facebook Flings and Changing Things
I remember back in the summer before my freshmen year of college, I was going through old numbers on my phone deciding who to delete. I saw a phone number for a pretty awesome female I’d known. I just got my license the March before I graduated. I never really was concerned about going out, I was more concerned about studying and being home. At a festival me and my family went to that May, I ran into her and asked her if I could take her out. I jokingly called it “A favor” so I could experience taking a woman out on a date by driving her. Now that never happened, although she gave me her number. Now in the next month I heard a rumor that she had come out of the closet. I’ll admit, it was probably curiosity more than anything but I decided to call the number in July.
She picked up and later we talked on Facebook, she didn’t want to make noise in her house because it was pretty late. We talked and I asked about the rumor…it was true. What happened next floored me. She wrote “Usually at this point people have questions.” Now I’m a guy raised in the 1990’s and 2000’s, I didn’t really know what to ask…the truth was I didn’t care. This was a pretty great woman I’d met. We were never close, but every time I saw her she left the biggest impression. She was funny, laid back, and never tried to impress me. She impressed me with her confidence. She still was that person to me, so I told her. We then went to see The Last Airbender, a movie that was less than impressive. It is the only thing I have ever felt the need to call an abomination.
As for my friend, I never cared about the fact she was a lesbian, I’ve noticed most people don’t. The media likes to paint it like every Christian, every Republican, every person of the traditional way of life wants these people to burn in hell, but that is not the case. In a world that keeps shouting to the heavens “We want equality”, people seem to forget that part of equality is accountability. It is knowing when you’ve gone too far.
In the last year we’ve seen people wanting Elba to be James Bond. That doesn’t work. Bond is a white guy. He was made to look and have the same characteristics as the author who created him. Steve Rogers, gay? No I’m sorry. He doesn’t just walk the straight path with his ideals. He likes women.
Don’t tell me new characters can’t be made. Jack Harkness of Doctor Who loves men, he had a relationship with a male character almost the entire run of Torchwood, and he is a beloved character! In fact, let’s look at that franchise closer. You have Madame Vastra and Jenny Flint, a lizard woman and a human woman who fall in love in 19th century England! There are far more LBGTQ characters out there than people want to admit. Just type in “dramatic television series with LGBT characters” in Google, and the list is a mile long!
But there is something other people haven’t thought about…by not making your own characters you lose your voice. If you need characters whose sexual orientation is massively important, then you need to have your own voice. Try to not take someone else’s voice. Don’t use Captain America as your political soapbox. It’s offensive to those with alternate lifestyles as much as those with traditional lifestyles. Pride is not just waving a flag around (no matter what flag you’re waving whether it has stars and stripes or a rainbow pattern), it is acting. So act, make your own voices ring loud. Don’t rely on others to do it.
Captain America Wont Ever Be HYDRA
It’s no different from making Captain America a member of HYDRA, it disrespected that character’s idealism and the hope he brings people of this country. Captain America is not a corrupt, twisted man, he is a man who believes in the best of people. He believes that people need to hold themselves accountable for their own choices and their own potential. Chris Evans (who plays Steve Rogers in the Marvel Cinematic Universe), is against that particular change. Making Captain America a member of the organization he has worked his entire comic book life to stop is pretty dumb. It’s the antithesis of the character.
Find your own voice, don’t take the voice of others. Be like all those writers who went out and made these great characters. You don’t need to ride on the shoulders of giants. You don’t need Captain America or James Bond to make a difference. Someday, you’ll get it. When you make it big and someone wants to change your character. You’ll fight tooth and nail to defend your voice. And really…would you have it any other way?
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Lbgt what about the many characters marvel already had that have come out. They are strong characters that if you feel are being under used or misused fight for that. Ask an Asian guy who’s into American comic books if he wants captain America to be Japanese, or Chinese decent, or when they do have an asian character have them be a mutant whose power is being super smart. Everyone wants to be represented equally not and straight up forcing a character to act one way just because that’s what you want is that really striving for social justice?
I couldn’t agree with you more. Nice Amadeus Cho reference BTW.