#fatws analysis

[hail-americas-ass]

I find it sad and fascinating that we see Sam has fought Aliens, Androids, wizards, freakin super soldiers and even THANOS but the only time we see fear and panick flicker across his face is when the police show up.

[egyptian-sun-god]

Falcon And The Winter Soldier

I find something very interesting in the show vs. its fandom. 

The show if FALCON and The winter soldier. Sam Wilson is the main character here. And the show establishes and centers that very quickly. Bucky is important, but this show is about Sam and his identity as  a Black man and potentially accepting a position where he has to represent a country that actively disregards people of his colour and race. 

Now we contrast this to the 1st and 2nd episodes. Now I’m not saying this is the entire fandom. But it is overwhelming to see how MUCH content that is Bucky Barnes centric. Everything ranging from character analysis to scene analysis to reactions and just fanwork in general that center around Bucky Barnes. It is crazy man. How are y’all tunnel visioning on Bucky when there is 3 times more things to focus with Sam?!!    

1. The systemic racism portrayed so obviously. Like I won’t lie, I’m not American and sometimes things might’ve flown over my head. But the bank scene? The wingman scene? The “black” Falcon? “Isaiah Bradley???” “The police officer scene?” ANYONE AND EVERYONE CAN SEE THIS. Why do we not discuss this? When Sam asked why no one ever mentioned the fact that there was a black super soldier? Do y’all understand the implications of that? The fact he realizes, its not just him. Just like him and the shield, this has been happening for generations. Government celebrates white people with power and punishes black people for having the same power. Even when they use their power for good. All of these scenes are going to have such an impact on Sam and his character. 

I don’t mind that a lot of people are discussing the therapy scene with Bucky cause’ that is important, but like the sheer amount of Bucky Barnes centric discussion compared to Sam Wilson discussion is astounding. GIVE MY MAN SAM WILSON THE LOVE Y’ALL!

This could also just be an issue with Tumblr and it boosting certain content over another type, but to me just surfing on Tumblr and Insta, Bucky Barnes is getting a lot more love that my mans the Falcon. And we gotta recognize the inherent racism and prejudice in that.

- AAdhi

[your-dar-ling]

Spoilers for Episode 4 of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

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Karli Morgenthau talks about how struggle creates community. But all American culture has ever been concerned with is power. And since white people have been sitting at the top of this nation for 250 years, when they don't have power, they have *nothing.* Now this happens in 3 places.

John Walker, obviously, loses his MIND at the concept of his own perceived helplessness. But more interestingly are Bucky and Lemar.

Bucky

There's an interesting comparison drawn multiple times throughout this episode between John and Bucky. When Ayo disabled Bucky's arm, he looks as if she killed his firstborn. He looks terrified and helpless. Despite all his misgivings, Bucky is just another version of John Walker, just a much societally palatable one because instead of literally murdering people, he self-isolates. They're trying to be like Cap. They're afraid that maybe they aren't as good as they think they are because of their dubious pasts.

We have to remember that Bucky did not get the time to heal. After Civil War, Steve (well-meaningly) put Bucky through all his same traumas over again. Prematurely given a powerful weapon, forced to fight in a war, essentially dying and coming back years later, abandoned by time. Bucky does not know who he is without Captain America, without Steve. All he has left is power. So he clings to that arm like his life depends on it, because...well not to be morbid but I think it does.

Lemar

Poor Lemar. Despite what people believe, black people are not exempt from White America's supremacy narrative. Lemar is a prime example. He drinks their koolaid and sells his soul to be a soldier in white supremacy's army and a sidekick to a white supremacy's hero.

Lemar believes that power makes people "more of themselves," which isn't a bad idea in itself. But Lemar shares that same blindness with John Walker, the belief that they are unequivocally good, and that their enemies are unequivocally enemies. So it follows that with more power, good people can do more good, because they are good and that goodness is an inherent state of being and not a choice.

I wonder who spread around that idea?

Lemar understands that he's done some bad things in the past but he does not believe that makes him bad. He does not extend the same courtesy to Karli (although he is more willing to do so than his white counterpart John), perhaps because, unlike Karli, he worked under the jurisdiction of a government, stupidly believing he was creating peace by fighting their war. But as Ultron says to the Avengers, "I believe you're confusing peace with quiet."

Anyways, the true tragedy is that Lemar didn't get to live to see how right he was. He died, weak and helpless. Never having chosen anything for himself.

Conclusion

The core issue of everyone in this narrative is their idealizations about Cap. Everyone on "America's" side believed him to be unequivocally good. Everyone else believed him to be the opposite, namely Karli. But even Karli is trying to replicate Captain America in her own way, as one of her soldiers says.

Zemo gets much closer to the truth because he's "just a guy," but he also inherently distrusts the Avengers for personal reasons, and has a bit of a God complex himself, so...he's a bit biased.

The only one who truly understands is Sam. He can see the power and the struggle, the unfairness and the privilege. He chooses to give up Cap's shield and he would choose not to take the super serum because the truth is that

Steve wasn't perfect, Steve was lucky.

Steve was always able to just scrape by, able to get what he wanted in the end, in no small part due to his identity (we see what they did to the black surviving super soldier). But Cap made this mess. Cap left Bucky behind and traveled back 80 years, somehow managing not to solve a single problem of the system of which he is supposed to be an embodiment that won't allow Sam's sister to get a goddamn loan. Cap was good, but he wasn't even the best of them. I think Sam is the best of them. And if he knows what's best for them, he won't pick that shield back up.

[egyptian-sun-god]

FATWS Ep 4

WTAF Y’all.

The symbolism in this episode is killing me. 

The elephant in the room (aka. the bloody shield)

There’s quite a few things significant with this. First is, who died? The guy who said Cap was his hero back then. This man, looked at the person he had looked up to, the idealistic version of America that he as an immigrant/refugee would’ve aspired towards, like the American dream for immigrants or ppl tryna migrate to America. And then he is faced with the truth, the bloody shield of America coming down on him by a white man repeatedly as he begs for mercy. It is a DIRECT call to the way America treats immigrants/people of colour in its country. It kills them, disenfranchises them, sucks them dry of every single energy in their body and spits them out as the beg for rights, for freedom for mercy to live. America, held up by a white man who feels personally wronged by their existence.  

The bloody shield is also a direct call to show how Steve and John Walker differ from each other. Steve represented the idealistic good saviour America in WW2 and till now and therefore the shield stayed clean and hid all of America’s ugliness behind him. (Exhibit A : Isaiah) Now, John Walker as America is America rn. All of its ugliness is exposed and being televised all over the world, it is a representation of history and current events (BLM Movements against Police Brutality, voter rights suppression and other American injustices being seen all around the world) That is what the shot where John sees all of the people videoing him brutally killing a man represents; America realizing that all of its historically wrong treatment of immigrants/POC being seen and judged by the entire world. America being exposed for what it truly is. 

That’s all I can remember and think of right now, I’ll add to this more and more later on so check out this page if you want more hot takes from FATWS!!