Hey there. Thanks for reaching out. If you’d prefer me to answer this privately, just shoot me another message and I’ll delete. I’m not trying to call you out here. I just figured putting my thoughts out there might help clarify my position in case other people are talking about this stuff.First off, I do want to say starting with “do you even know anything about [subject]?” *is* sort of a rude way to start, but I get it. You’re passionate about this. I’m sure I was guilty of much worse during the primaries.Truth be told, I hadn’t noticed the relatively recent reblog taking issue with my preference for Captain America over Superman, but I’m assuming this is what brought it up. That post links to an analysis of Man of Steel that, while I appreciate but largely disagree with the viewpoint, since it’s not exactly our topic here, I will say it’s perhaps too generous regarding that movie’s level of intent with its religious iconography (in my opinion) and move on.Sorry, lot of preamble! Anyway!I *do* know some stuff about Superman! I’ve read a fair number of comic books, seen a lot of cartoons and watched a lot of movies featuring the guy. That said, I still prefer Captain America as far as my Big Two moral paragons go. I touched on why a bit in my own reblog, but here’s a little further unpacking:I, personally, find Captain America a more interesting “Ultimate Good Guy” than Superman because I find his REASONS for being a good guy more compelling and relatable. Supes, from the minute he arrived here, has been basically a deity, invulnerable to most everything the planet he grew up and lives on can throw at him. Superman is good out of a sense of duty because he has these powers. That sense of duty has its own interesting aspects (see: lots of Spider-Man and Superman stories), for sure, but it’s an intellectual thing. The superego, if you don’t mind my dropping in some Psych 101 garbage here.Steve Rogers is virtually the opposite. He grew up undersized, weak and picked on. Cap is good because he knows exactly what it’s like to be down here with us plebs; he knows what it’s like to be the person being mistreated. His affinity for the downtrodden comes from his lived experience and the empathy that comes from that.TL;DR: [In my opinion/reading,] Supes’s goodness is a personality trait he developed and maintains very well and nobly. Cap is good because he can’t imagine not looking out for everyone else. Good is who Cap is. Good is what Supes always tries (and usually succeeds) to be.
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