Welcoming the New Captain America

Have you ever thought about the common ground of heroes? One of DSKUSSS members found that all heroes in Marble's Comics seem like white people not colored ones. However, there has been some change of this phenomenon. Are you curious about what it is? Just take a look of her article and let us know what you think through the comments!

Welcoming the New Captain America

Min Ji Kim

American Culture & Political Science

Sogang University

             Reading comic books is one of the most desired ways of spending your past time. To Americans, Marvel Comics has presented them with a lot of different superhero characters that ultimately became all-time favorites, ranging from Black Widow and Titanium Man to Hulk. Some characters, such as Spider-Man, Iron Man and the Fantastic Four, have been made into blockbuster movies, ranking high in many different countries.

             Recently, Marvel Comics has hinted to the worldwide fans of its popular superheroes on Marvel’s next move on Captain America: next Captain will be a man of color.  This news was mostly welcomed by the general public, commenting that it is a huge effort for diversity to prevail in America. Such responses stem from the fact that in many superhero movies mounting up till the present day, white characters dominated the role as a main hero while colored character remained as a sidekick. Simply bring up the images of recent superhero movie you have watched. You will find it more difficult to find a superhero character that is not white.

             Media is often referred to as a social mirror. By this, it means that the media reflects back to the people watching it on what the society should look like. Therefore, what we don’t recognize as a direct discrimination to different cultures on media poses a greater danger. This is because people accept the discrimination naturally, causing the stereotypes to seep in slowly but without any doubt. It can be even compared to an act of brainwashing the subjects of influence. For instance, an African-American child who enjoys reading and watching Marvel Comics’ books and movies might think that as an African-American, he is only limited to being a sidekick, as this is how the media portrays the African-Americans. Even worse, Asians who are stereotyped as a math-freak, gadget lover and a model citizen in the media might regard themselves as a periphery to the mainstream.

             The new Captain America brings a hope into the society of marginalized Americans with the notion that they too can also be part of the mainstream. This is just a start. Maybe in few more years, we might be welcoming Spider-Man with an Asian decent or even a woman holding the shield with stars and stripes.