Captain America as a Rhetorical Superhero
Rhetorical Superhero
Half of the person we become is an impression of the ones we admire. Growing up in the United States every child has someone they look up to. This most likely is an individual that represents success and the values we are taught to respect. Superheroes have always served as something good in our lives because they make us want to help the world and feel like we can do anything. Superheroes represent qualities that we should all attempt to embody. What Captain America truly represents can be interpreted in many ways, but there are messages being conveyed. The authors of “Captain America: The First Avengers” use rhetoric to express the social ideology that being a hero is not exactly how strong you are, but what values and morals you live your life by.
Captain America was created through a technological experiment on the capabilities of the human body. Dr. Erskine developed a serum that improves everything in the human body to help the Allied forces against the Nazis. He was looking for the perfect candidate to create the flawless warrior; a man that exhibited opportune physical qualities, mental aspects and personality traits. They chose Steve Rodgers, the complete opposite of a physical specimen, but the optimum mental applicant. He was courageous, honorable, kind, compassionate and a patriot. He was only a man trying to fight for his country in its time of need. These were the main traits Erskine was looking for. The serum would take care of everything physical, but would only improve upon his personality traits. Any of the recruits could have been chosen and became superhuman but they were not the best fit. While the serum does make anyone have super human abilities, it also amplifies every trait of a person even the negatives. This was the result for the first trial on Johann whose greed aggression and selfishness were amplified. Dr. Erskine explains it well in the movie:
The serum amplifies everything that is inside. So, good becomes
Half of the person we become is an impression of the ones we admire. Growing up in the United States every child has someone they look up to. This most likely is an individual that represents success and the values we are taught to respect. Superheroes have always served as something good in our lives because they make us want to help the world and feel like we can do anything. Superheroes represent qualities that we should all attempt to embody. What Captain America truly represents can be interpreted in many ways, but there are messages being conveyed. The authors of “Captain America: The First Avengers” use rhetoric to express the social ideology that being a hero is not exactly how strong you are, but what values and morals you live your life by.
Captain America was created through a technological experiment on the capabilities of the human body. Dr. Erskine developed a serum that improves everything in the human body to help the Allied forces against the Nazis. He was looking for the perfect candidate to create the flawless warrior; a man that exhibited opportune physical qualities, mental aspects and personality traits. They chose Steve Rodgers, the complete opposite of a physical specimen, but the optimum mental applicant. He was courageous, honorable, kind, compassionate and a patriot. He was only a man trying to fight for his country in its time of need. These were the main traits Erskine was looking for. The serum would take care of everything physical, but would only improve upon his personality traits. Any of the recruits could have been chosen and became superhuman but they were not the best fit. While the serum does make anyone have super human abilities, it also amplifies every trait of a person even the negatives. This was the result for the first trial on Johann whose greed aggression and selfishness were amplified. Dr. Erskine explains it well in the movie:
The serum amplifies everything that is inside. So, good becomes