Why it’s difficult to make Captain America cool

In recent years, I’ve discovered that patriotism seems to be a touchy subject. America has its share of problems (whether they are “fair” in that share is another conversation entirely), but even though our political system suffers from a divide that everyone wants to bridge, but no one seems to be willing to budge on the conversation, I still love our country very much. We are lucky, we are privileged, and though we are not perfect, I feel that we are still good.

To some, patriotism isn’t an appreciation of one’s country, but rather, an acknowledgment of being unabashedly loyal to one’s own country – which essentially translates to a level of ignorance towards “what is really going on, man” (please read the quotes in a hippie voice for added emphasis). 

Chuck Klosterman writes in Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs that he once polled his friends about who they would rather date; an attractive person or an attractive person who was also patriotic. All of his friends except for one responded negatively towards patriotism. He writes:

Comparisons were made to Ted Nugent and Patrick Henry. And one especially snide fellow sent back a mass message to the entire e-mail group essentially claiming that any woman who loved America didn’t deserve to date him, not because he hated his country but because patriotic people weren’t smart (42-43).

Klosterman doesn’t ponder patriotism for too terribly long and instead discusses Billy Joel and whether or not he is “cool”, but I think it’s an idea worth exploring and the only way I can do so is by thinking about Captain America.

While no one is necessarily dreading the Captain America movie this summer, no one is really looking forward to it either. Most people cite an ambivalence towards star Chris Evans, or to being more excited for either X-men: First Class or Green Lantern, but I think it really comes down to this general ambivalence towards patriotism. Like it or not, many people are like Klosterman’s nameless friends that view patriotism in conjunction with ignorance.

And why is that?

Like any good American, I blame politicians. Republicans claim America as their own and they run campaigns with a heavy emphasis on patriotism as if they are the only ones who love their country. They attack democrats by stating that the liberal policies and agendas are based on what other countries have done which links them to being unpatriotic and unamerican.

The healthcare debates are perhaps the best example of this division. Democrats in favor of healthcare reform cited similar programs in other countries and Republicans were able to attack them by calling them Unamerican (as if their loyalty to America would affect the logistics of whether healthcare would work or not).

Meanwhile, instead of using similar patriotic campaigns and embracing the American persona, most democrat campaigns seem to eschew patriotism altogether. The divide has become so great in politics that when one side takes hold of an issue, the other must take the opposite stance.

Patriotism is simply the love for one’s country, and yet, leave it to American politics to make it a divisive issue.

To come out as being patriotic is to attach a set of presumptions about a person’s politics, beliefs, and even religion. The word evokes images of steak and potatoes, guns, cars, beer, and a plethora of other ideas that have some how been wrapped up in the word.

Yet, these are just words. They are just assumptions and ignorant ones at that.

More of Lee Greenwood than you ever wanted to see.