moakley

And that's not even mentioning the new season of Daredevil, which could not under any circumstances be described as "pro-cop".

So you judge the movies without seeing them and you respond to my comment without reading it?

They never use their super special awesome powers to bring about meaningful or real change that would benefit their societies

This is what my comment was about. You can't make social change with super powers. Super powers are a tool of physical force. I'm sure someone could write a great story about a super hero leading a violent and justified revolution, but you can't possibly expect that to be a hallmark of the genre.

and never address the underlying issues that drive the “bad guys” to do “bad guy stuff”.

That's categorically false.

First of all, most of the villains don't have sympathetic goals. You want them to address the underlying issue with Red Skull trying to spread fascism? Do you have a problem with them maintaining the status quo against Loki trying to conquer the Earth?

Second of all, they do address it when applicable.

• Both Black Panther movies are about reconciling the antagonist's viewpoints.

• In Age of Ultron, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver believe that the Avengers are a tool of western imperialism. When the Avengers are willing to sacrifice themselves to save Sokovia, Scarlet Witch joins the team.

• Helmut Zemo has a similar perspective. They never reconcile that, but he succeeds in destroying the Avengers. The moral ambiguity is part of the point.

They are constantly addressing the things you're bringing up. Like I honestly don't think you paid attention to any of these movies, because you seem to have missed some very obvious themes running through the entire MCU.

Tony Stark's whole character arc in the first movie is about reforming his life to make the world a better place. He stops the homicidal villain with his Iron Man armor, and then he effects actual change as a civilian, because that's how actual change works.

Did you miss Falcon and the Winter Soldier, where Captain America gives a big speech saying exactly what you are saying, that they need to do more to address the problems that created the villains? Or the entire arc of that character, where he realizes he's worthy of taking up the mantle not because of any super special awesome powers, but because of his desire to use the platform to improve society?

The super hero genre is an individualist power fantasy. It's about giving power to individuals, whereas in real life power rests in groups and systems. That includes the power to effect social change.

It's an escapist response to living in an impossibly complicated world where we want to do good, but we feel powerless and unable to.

The story of a character organizing a series of protests wouldn't really benefit from that character having super powers. Using super powers (physical force) to push political beliefs is terrorism.

So the constraints of the genre mean that social messages have to exist alongside the A-plot power struggle. And they frequently do.

Black Panther is about abandoning isolationism and using a government's power and wealth to help people.

The Avengers have an unmissable theme of not supporting the military-industrial complex. Same with Iron Man.

Common Marvel villains include fascists, bigots, businessmen, and corrupt law enforcement, in addition to the madmen and evil gods.

I've seen this point made a few times, and it just reeks of someone backfilling a reason to hate something popular without actually spending a moment to, you know, watch that thing.

To be fair, I don't actually know how to rotate a pdf. I re-learn it every few years, then immediately forget it again.

Even with this information, it's fine if it's a small part of your diet. My kids aren't going to die because they eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich every day.

Always having it available and the fact that they'll eat it mean it's the healthier choice.

You have to make tradeoffs. That's just how food works and how it has always worked.

Kellogg was never actually that influential. People mostly knew he was a crackpot at the time.

An episode of Adam Ruins Everything gave him way too much credit, and then people on the internet just keep repeating it because Kellogg was such a weird guy.

Not the person you replied to, but I'm a New Yorker. I lived near the city on 9/11. My friends lost family members. My dad was across the street from the towers and thankfully made it out alive.

I've downvoted every single 9/11 joke I've ever seen. I've personally shut down people who made 9/11 jokes in real life. It's not really something to make jokes about.

But this comic is right. 9/11 was the defining moment of my generation. It changed America for the worse.

Comparing that to Trump's fascist takeover is apropos.

Trump was already responsible for one 9/11's worth of American deaths when he refused to send aid after Hurricane Maria. Then COVID happened.

Honestly. It's horrible that he's sending people who are legally allowed to be here to his concentration camp, but it is also equally horrible that he's sending people who aren't legally allowed to be here to his concentration camp.

Immigrants are good. Immigration is good. Everything about this is fucked up and goes against the soul of America.

Sweet. I love this one.

What the hell!?

I clicked the comments just to share my fun "cloacal kiss" fact!

Ugh. I'm going back to reddit.

Good point. Upvote rescinded!