Marvel's (Deceptively) Empty Politics, Explained | A Video Essay

Why in the hell are you trying only to make it seem that
Tony is the one being emotional but steve isn't, steve's entire motivation is based on his last movie the same as Tony(with Age of Ultron) & both of them also have logical assertions for their reasonings as well.

(and I'm not trying to get emotional myself here but) How dare you
try to make it seem that steve isn't being emotional going around breaking all these laws as 'the symbol of america' and fighting the police in order to protect HIS' friend, talking about catharsis & now the frickin LEADER of the avengers has gone underground how safe do you think the ordinary citizens of the mcu would feel & the unrest that that could start what about the consequences of blond steve's (blue-eyed less Dark than Tony's) actions what about him.
It's not just race, the lighter one can get it away with more. Now back to race , now imagine and let it sink in Sam doing what steve did- stealing cop cars , fighting police yeah more villanous music more villainous vibe
WHY?
steve can do 'what it has to do'
but for Sam that's not his PlacE
to do somethin like that, hm?

I think you can write stories with more radical conclusion without having to remove catharsis. But it isn't easy. The trope of the "extremist" villain is well worn. But there have been establishment villains defeated by radical heroes and the world changed as a result.

Tony's evil and that's why I love him XD

And this is why the MCU will never come even close to the absolute masterpiece that is One Piece

So, when put it simply, message of MCU is "Shut up and get back in line, peasant!" That explains why after each and every MCU movie I saw, I felt either apathy or even antipathy towards it.

stop saying that doing what oppressors do, back to them, is equally wrong, it's not, it's justice.

Oh shit it’s BoooAAALLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!

Yeah. I think mostly military propaganda and also inciting to uprising for the same purpose. TY

If you need a comedically long intro about philosophy to get your point across then you're terrible at getting your point across. Instantly made me lose interest in the video because you're speaking as if this is some prerequisite knowledge to understanding it whule the actual topic is so so much simpler than that

Lore of Marvel's (Deceptively) Empty Politics, Explained | A Video Essay momentum 100

I do love how people will quote 'Those who would trade liberty for a little safety do no deserve either.' Don't realize that Franklin was well aware that there were necessary safeties and unnecessary liberties.

The truth is, it's a false dichotomy. You have to fight and work for both safety and liberty. Because losing one always gives a path to losing the other. Lose safety, and your liberties become eroded by coercion. Lose liberty, and your institutional safeties are chipped away.

big thing never dealt with in the MCU (since they decided to make Cap3 IronMan4 / Avengers 2.5) is how carter and howard stark hired and (literally) immortalized nazis (and she's shown continuing to do so even in other universes, in D+ Whatif... they're not even pretending she didn't do it any more, they're just shrugging at it).
And this is just... never spoken of?
Black guy scapegoat Nick Fury gets yelled at (despite getting shot because he's on the point of whistleblowing them?) but none of the rich white ppl responsible are ever called out for their decades-long culpability.
(In AOS PC explicitly states that only she, alone, is making decisions about hiring Nazis, while she's doing a job interview with an SS Officer (also: alone). He tortures POCs, was in the SS, etc. and she tells him she thinks his work is "valuable." )
Steve is willing to burn SHIELD down to the ground for harbouring fascists and trying to enact a mass-surveillance state genocide against those they deem deviant (with Stark Jr's help! cuz who cares about our "precious freedoms") in line with their ideals...
But the white people responsible for putting those fascists in a position to do that in the first place (which was public front-page news, not a secret, and plenty of famous ppl spoke out against it IRL) are just... never condemned for doing that?
It is diametrically opposed to what Kirby & Simon created Cap to do. Absolutely unforgivable and a complete betrayal on every level of everything Steve stood for and wanted (all Nazis "dead or captured" not "hired and immortalized.") But in Cap 3 he's attending PC funeral as if he would be sad about the death of a collaborator?
(and dating the niece who... was not included in the 'bring down Hydra' plan in Cap 2.)
And the fact Howard clearly knew about Bucky's situation is also never addressed.
(How'd this guy who's buddies with Zola get WS serum? how'd he recognise TWS as this dude who looks nothing like OG Bucky, whom he's never shown meeting, 50+ years after Bucky's supposed to be dead? when it's dark and Stark's got a head injury and blood in his eyes? But he immediately clocked TWS -- who is sent to kill him w/o his mask on for some Mysterious reason -- as Bucky, which even Steve didn't manage to do.)
And as soon as there's a black captain america... suddenly PC is given Steve's role instead (despite all his costume + weapon + backstory not making any sense for her... everything around her revolves around this man?? not how you write female characters) and she is in all the cap promo instead of Sam, who is never mentioned in other MCU stuff.
There are lots of issues w/ how female characters especially in the MCU are written, but the stuck-in-the-00s white feminism of writers who think they're making 'strong female characters' combined with the refusal to call out any wrongdoing by Starks (cuz ... RDJ's agent would shiv them??) creates a strong cognitive dissonance... they're actually just writing rich white monsters doing heinous ish ...that Steve ought to be disgusted by given his stated / demonstrated literally-Antifa-specifically values. (One of the many things making his EG ending a nonsense.)

Iron Man 3 was blatantly political, with their heavy handed 9/11 truther narrative. The film makers even admitted to having an agenda with the Mandarin being a manufactured threat as an archetype to Osama Biden Laden being a manufactured threat.

Civil War was not trying to portray Cap as right and Iron Man as wrong. The Russos said they wanted both of them to be justified in what they were doing and they intentionally went with a cut of the film that caused the test audience to divide 50/50 between them.

I dont disagree with whats in the video, but i think its important to point out these are comic movies. Comics tend toward liberal centrist ideologies. Many of the stories and actions were taken directly from the comics.
Exploration of ideas is more common in written form. That said, this story may have been chosen in part because of the ideology it represents

I am really greatful to this channel and doing such an amazing job of articulating how I feel about the MCU and well a lot of media in general as of late. I often do a deep dive into media I enjoy in anyway I can to have a greater understanding of it and how it reflects on me and how I view the world. It has lead me to have a broader though I admit imperfect grasp on where they want to go and if they accomplished that and I'm always trying to re-evaluate how I feel to be accurate and not always feeling I'm quite "there" yet so to speak.

I'm not well read when it comes to movie anaylsis and I don't like to say I'm good at video game anyalsis in aspects that I care about (Mostly in the realm of story, characters and their arcs and the stories theming) though there have been times when I feel I comfortable talking about where I feel they succeed and where they fail at. Please continue to make videos like this so I can help myself learn more how I can explain these things and hopefully help people analyze their media too.


This maybe a long shot but would love to pick your brain about some subjects. Don't know how big you are into video games but there are some topics I hope I could adequately discuss.

Imagine a superhero franchise in which every new hero adds a small but significant positive change to the world and little by little we reach a socialist utopia

I find it super interesting that your argument about Civil War is the reverse of Jack Saint’s.

His take was that like
Since Avengers, Tony has been motivated by this fear that there’s a huge evil coming that we aren’t properly protected from, and it’s bc of this that we gotta keep fighting the forever war

He argued that because Thanos DOES show up and win, Tony is proven to have been right the whole time, with the MCU taking his side that actually yeah security WAS the most important

I don't watch movies, I only watch nerds review them

Glad to have always avoided Marvel 'Cinematic' Garbage - I hoped when Stan Lee finally dropped it would reduce it, but no it's escalated and gotten even more garbage.

Truly a most fascinating subject! Thank you so much

This is such a detailed explanation and really well done! The irony is that the conservative media and politicians insist that Marvel is now woke and is part of the leftist conspiracy to indoctrinate everyone but it's really trying to placate the masses and trying to maintain the status quo!

It’s kind of crazy how ambitious the story of Iron Man was for its time. Crimson Dyanmo could’ve easily been the kooky Russian bad guy with no nuance since it was a post Cold War era but Favreau and crew went with Iron Monger when the Blackwater massacre happened DURING this movie’s development.

This is great, a lot of what I was thinking already but didn't know there was literature existing arguing the same. I will check out those sources. One thing I want to add from my thoughts is that we could look to non-Western poetic and theatrical traditions which aren't rooted in political manipulation as the purpose of the arts.

For example, the theory of rasas in Indian dramatics is somewhat similar to the Aristotelian conception of the emotions felt by drama's characters and the audience, but it holds them valuable in themselves, rather than for some political goal. A celebration of life and existence as it is, prior to and independent of human society, if it is even a separate thing, rather than a form of domination of humans over humans and the rest of the world.

M She U is an objectively factual criticism of Marvel films, it's not even something people bother debating.

Your definition of catharsism is rather odd, I would have never define it as a an external force acting on you but more of an internal force emerging out. . . Perhaps you are right, perhaps you are wrong; idk

The criticism of liberalism and status quo is kind of hilarious, because I think you've conflated economic intentions with political ones. . . For instance, do you understand the process of "making inoffensive content for the lowest common denominator". If you do understand it, please explain it.

If movies influence people more than how their parents raised them we are truly doomed

I understand why Brecht is relevant and I follow his line of thinking, but I wish people would stop uncritically saying that "By doing XYZ it totally does cause the audience to do PQR." That's what Brecht theorized would happen. But often it doesn't actually work.

i love, LOVE your video essays. so wonderfully formatted and an intellectual deep dive on things that will definitely have an impact on society much longer than many realize. it's critical and objective and i truly applaud the effort that you put into these, i know it can't be easy!

Are you actually arguing FOR collectivism, FOR people to not have liberty, personal responsibility and self actualization?
Are you arguing for socialisms, or the abolishment of Capitalism?
What is bad about having movies (arts) promote robust individualism and liberty, principles such as freedom and against tyranny?

You may have proven that these movies, and other forms of art are 'propaganda', but you haven't convinced me that what they 'propagandize' is wrong.
Is not your argument against "the bourgeoise" and how we need to "change society to save the species", also propaganda?
You did not actually show me WHY I should be against private property rights, free markets, capitalism, or rugged individualism and personal liberty.

This was fantastic. You did the topic complete justice by including the philosophical underpinnings of the connection between theatre/art and politics - I'm so glad you did not cut that bit out. Absolutely marvellous in the presentation of the argument as well. Another point which results from the clash of the "anarchy/radicalism bad" and "some people have Machiavellian virtues unattainable for the masses" themes of MCU movies is that the Virtuous superheroes always defeat the anarchist/radical - which essentially programs the audience to become defeatist - because even if we were to rebel against the capitalist society today, we would always be defeated by the 1% (which, a la Aristotle, we deserve to be).

A movie which I think recently sends us the opposite message is Glass Onion - A Knives Out Mystery - which essentially tries to unravel this programming in our head that the 1% is "virtuous" or "better", much in the same way the divine rights of the feudal lords of eons past were questioned and unravelled. And the key protagonist in that movie who takes on this 1% is someone who's more ordinary, but shows the qualities which make some "superhuman" - bravery/tenacity etc.

In many ways that leaves us with the question - can we all be "virtuous"?

It also leaves me with the question - whether the replacement of the slave owners and feudal lords by the bourgeoisie and politicians who might get replaced again by billionaires and parallel govt style companies all just tells us that Marx was right and "all history is a history of class struggle".

Lovely video - you have a new subscriber.

That song you used at the beginning, I’ve been looking for that one. Can anyone tell me the name of it?

I think two of your points when brought in conjunction are honestly rather hopeful. Saying that in the MCU the villains will tend to have these noble goals to change a system but are doing it in the "wrong way" and so the heroes take up the mantel but are ultimately ineffectual, and then comparing that to how Shakespeare's villains modeled individualist, future capitalist, Machiavellian ideals. That with Shakespeare, it was the introduction of these ideals that even though they were proven to be wrong in the end, are still in their own way, being taught to the masses. They are still shown to have value.

Maybe that's what happening today with villains like Killmonger and the Vulture? These ideals are being shared, but making it more palatable for the status quo by by making them the villain, but they are being shared none the less?

Geez that was a meaty thesis

I think the misguidedness of the MCU trying to project onto our society any sense of heroism or responsibility (absurd seeing their universe should look much different) is best captured when Falc tells the politician, "you have to do better." That's the MCU in a nutshell, which is a look into our elite versus our establishment, they definitely seem to play liberal but lean conservative with comments like that and Iron Man's stand - this we're above the law and above reproach and the saviors of humanity, but their actual well being and care, "you're all on your own, I'm Iron Man" (the most self-aggrandizing last words ever). They'll save the world, but they won't really, they save it because they live in it, not because they sacrifice for it, and as far as the citizens, hell they don't even have a space presence after Endgame. Like uh, those heroes could give two shites about humanity.

Lore of Marvel's (Deceptively) Empty Politics, Explained | A Video Essay momentum 100

Stumbled on this while looking through random nerd videos, and what an absolutely compelling critical essay! I say in the kindest way that this is the kind of conversation I loved having back in college and rarely get the opportunity to indulge in real life. Wonderful, thought-provoking work.

Do you think marvel posters have hidden political messages behind it?

Funny face paint man quick scopes interview man

The neoliberalism and capitalist realism of marvel is ugly thick, but what else might I expect from a blockbuster franchise? There is no way, w so much corporate money and ad dollars, for there to be any other politic championed or explored in depth and honesty. The only difference seems to be how heavy-handed the ideology is pushed. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier being one of the more egregious examples. The Flagsmashers were nearly parodies of their own politics, and the show gives a v unserious effort as it wrestles w their ideas. It was a laughable ending. But Black Panther as well--for all I love about it--is staunchly neoliberal. Any radical ideas in these shows are always, in the end, either neutralized w a silly compromise or stretched out to such warped ends that there could be no other conclusion than to reject the notion altogether. And that's just another kind of neutralization.

Yes. Indeed. The true descendants of Aristotelean Drama are horror Films where Teenies get brutally murdered for pre Marital sex

Could you do a video about Nathan Fielder's show, The Rehearsal? That would be a trip!

This expanded on some of the thoughts I had when I read Poetics. I questioned what purpose releasing your emotions would have. Theatre of the Oppressed sounds like a book I need to read.

For me it’s kind of ironic.
MCU media is created just for entertainment, but some people (people who are responsible for the marketing of MCU media inclusively) try to make MCU seem as something more than what it is.
And the irony here is that the person who created this video and those who agree with it are these type of people.
And believing that MCU is something more than entertainment plays into the hands of the creators of MCU media (cause it brings more attention to the media, hence brings more money).

It feels like, the only reasons you made this video was 1. clickbait views 2. to gloat at how well read in philosophy you are
You would think that being as "educated" as you are you would understand the simple truth.

Every piece of art, be it text, image, melody, lyric, rhythm, video, etc, is propaganda ...
.. Whether it's propaganda supporting a culture, society or nations's ideals or it represents the creators personal ideals of what is heroic, what is tragic, what is evil, what should or shouldn't be valued.

It's all propaganda.
Even this video.

To add on to this: Spider-Man went from working-class to promoter of the military-industrial complex, and Marvel doesn't show that as a bad thing.

I have to say, for all the pseudo-Marxist "breadtube" video essays you can find applying supposedly Marxism to __ media, to varying degrees of success or quality, this really took me by surprise. You have done an incredible job actually explaining the forces at hand, not falling into using Marxist terminology haphazardly on a given media, or using a piece of media just to talk about a concept, but manage to actually teach and then presciently apply a critique.

This video doesn't just discuss dialectics, but does dialectics, you explored the base and superstructure without necessarily even referring to them by name. Not only is this a fantastic teaching tool, but the essay makes its genuine critique part of the education, not using one to justify the other. Boal seems fascinating, and the breakdown of virtue in drama and its role in justifying the superstructure, emerging out of the Enlightenment was wonderfully direct. Nothing felt like a diatribe, the theory and subject synthesize as best as they can.

Honestly I'd love to see you do something about more explicit media on revolutions, beyond the milquetoast criticism that media made by the bourgeoise will reinforce itself. Explaining HOW it does so and how things developed this way is so important.

regardless, keep up the good work!!

This is the most carefully and tediously misleading video about Aristotle I've ever seen.
The viewer is meant to presuppose that human nature is infinitely plastic, and unlike those old fogeys, our stories are pure and liberal and free of propaganda. Hogwash.

"you protect the world, but you don't want it to change! how is humanity 'saved' if it's not allowed to evolve?"
- ultron