Captain America and the Moral Dilemma
It's Wednesday and I need an RA fix! Tomorrow's the UK voting referendum and I just found out I'm only eligible to vote in the local council elections, because I'm not a UK citizen - I'm just a resident. :( Anyway, I'm not keen on this blog being too (or at all) political, so here we go: today's Richard Armitage post! Today, Captain America.
Captain America: The First Avenger is due out in cinemas late July. It's bound to have a lot of "well-educated Radio Four listeners" in the audience, which is funny, as that's not the audience you'd normally expect for a superhero comic book adaptation. Oh Richard, the things you do to us poor ladies ... or rather, the things you make us do!
Anyway, the role he's playing is that of Heinz Kruger. I might hang out in a comic book store and do roleplaying there, but it doesn't mean I'm at all clued up about the Captain America universe. Not at all. The Squeeze probably is, but "so, you know Heinz Kruger? What's he like?" feels like an awkward question. He probably doesn't even remember the guy, as it doesn't seem like Herr Kruger's a very big part in the film. From what I've gathered, however, the man's a Nazi.
Yeah, you heard me, a Nazi.
Think about that one for a moment. How many of the following words popped up in your head? Evil. Genocide. Antisemitism. Concentration camps. Hitler. Gestapo. Ghettos. Ethnic cleansing. Gas chambers. Kristallnacht. Swastikas. War ... And so on. You get the general idea. Even if you can think of neutral (Germany, there's one!) or even positive things (they were way ahead on animal welfare legislation, believe it or not), I bet you wouldn't put the word "Nazi" in the same sentence as "OMG, hawt!!", right? We like a man in uniform, sure, as long as their hats to not have skulls on them.
And that's where the moral dilemma thing comes in. Nazis = Evil. Richard Armitage = OMG hawt!! See what I'm getting at?
How does that even work? We're supposed to fancy a Nazi? But that goes against everything I believe in! Everything I've been taught growing up! If we're lucky, he won't actually be in a uniform, so it won't be as confusing. Unlike watching the Dutch film Zwartboek (Black Book in English) - MAN, that was weird!
Sebastian Koch. In uniform. Smouldering. And Nazi! Nazis are not supposed to be likeable, and they're definitely not supposed to be bloody swoonworthy! Okay, to be fair, not all Germans were Nazis, and realistically, they weren't all evil - a lot of the soldiers were just regular guys fighting for their country. But still! It's confusing.
Do we know for sure about Kruger? Yeah, pretty much. According to Marvel Universe: The Appendix, he was a German spy and apparently a part of Gestapo too, and a member of the Nazi Party and affiliated with Hitler. So that's pretty conclusive, really. On the plus side, it also says this:
Lovely singing voice. Sounds like Richard, doesn't it? :) Do you think Richard builds model ships, or that he did when he was growing up? Or model airplanes, perhaps? Richard "Airfix" Armitage?
(I'm also easily distracted. Can you tell?)
How do you feel about Richard playing a Nazi? Conflicted or maybe you don't give a damn because it's all just make-believe anyway so who cares?
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| (Pic from Richard Armitage Online) |
Captain America: The First Avenger is due out in cinemas late July. It's bound to have a lot of "well-educated Radio Four listeners" in the audience, which is funny, as that's not the audience you'd normally expect for a superhero comic book adaptation. Oh Richard, the things you do to us poor ladies ... or rather, the things you make us do!
Anyway, the role he's playing is that of Heinz Kruger. I might hang out in a comic book store and do roleplaying there, but it doesn't mean I'm at all clued up about the Captain America universe. Not at all. The Squeeze probably is, but "so, you know Heinz Kruger? What's he like?" feels like an awkward question. He probably doesn't even remember the guy, as it doesn't seem like Herr Kruger's a very big part in the film. From what I've gathered, however, the man's a Nazi.
Yeah, you heard me, a Nazi.
Think about that one for a moment. How many of the following words popped up in your head? Evil. Genocide. Antisemitism. Concentration camps. Hitler. Gestapo. Ghettos. Ethnic cleansing. Gas chambers. Kristallnacht. Swastikas. War ... And so on. You get the general idea. Even if you can think of neutral (Germany, there's one!) or even positive things (they were way ahead on animal welfare legislation, believe it or not), I bet you wouldn't put the word "Nazi" in the same sentence as "OMG, hawt!!", right? We like a man in uniform, sure, as long as their hats to not have skulls on them.
And that's where the moral dilemma thing comes in. Nazis = Evil. Richard Armitage = OMG hawt!! See what I'm getting at?
 |
| Yeah, that's my facial expression too. (Source as above.) |
How does that even work? We're supposed to fancy a Nazi? But that goes against everything I believe in! Everything I've been taught growing up! If we're lucky, he won't actually be in a uniform, so it won't be as confusing. Unlike watching the Dutch film Zwartboek (Black Book in English) - MAN, that was weird!
Sebastian Koch. In uniform. Smouldering. And Nazi! Nazis are not supposed to be likeable, and they're definitely not supposed to be bloody swoonworthy! Okay, to be fair, not all Germans were Nazis, and realistically, they weren't all evil - a lot of the soldiers were just regular guys fighting for their country. But still! It's confusing.
Do we know for sure about Kruger? Yeah, pretty much. According to Marvel Universe: The Appendix, he was a German spy and apparently a part of Gestapo too, and a member of the Nazi Party and affiliated with Hitler. So that's pretty conclusive, really. On the plus side, it also says this:
He allegedly had a lovely singing voice and he build the most beautiful model ships.
Lovely singing voice. Sounds like Richard, doesn't it? :) Do you think Richard builds model ships, or that he did when he was growing up? Or model airplanes, perhaps? Richard "Airfix" Armitage?
(I'm also easily distracted. Can you tell?)
 |
| Looks good in glasses, though. (Source) |
How do you feel about Richard playing a Nazi? Conflicted or maybe you don't give a damn because it's all just make-believe anyway so who cares?
Speaking for myself alone, I will be going to see Captain America with the express purpose of swooning over RA on a big screen. And I don't know, next to Guy of Gisborne and John Bateman, Heinz Kruger doesn't look too bad ;)
ReplyDeleteI think it would be boring for an actor like Richard to only play safe characters. Must be challenging to play a Nazi and still manage to make us see an individual, a human. If anyone can do it, RA can. However, the movie is based on a comic book (I don't know the comic book by the way)so I expect there will be lots of action and less depth of character.
ReplyDelete...and yes, Sir Guy was far from a saint...and still hot
I will enjoy seeing RA on the big screen for the first time, even if he's only on screen for 10 minutes.
What Musa said!
ReplyDeleteAnd loved your post. You have such a great sense of humour. :)
What I'm worried about is, will we be able to stand the rest of the movie once he's killed off? I've been known to like a few action films in my time, so let's hope there's more to keep us entertained than RA (Although he is the main attraction!!!). (Doesn't he get killed off early in the movie? I really know nothing about it, just stuff I heard...)
I plan on going to CA for one reason - RA on BIG SCREEN...he could play a dancing banana - don't care...he's on the BIG SCREEN.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, only reason I plan on going to see The Hobbit pt 1 & 2....RA BIG SCREEN!!!!!!
Otherwise neither of these movies would be on my list to see.
I will go to see these movies on "cheap night" so as not to pay full price...but I will go - RA BIG SCREEN... :)
Oh yes, that's my motivation behind seeing the film as well! :) "RA ON BIG SCREEN!!" But we probably would see it at the cinema anyway, due to the whole superhero comic book thing. ;)
ReplyDeleteI think with Gizzy, it's different. Kruger is as fictional as him, but Nazis were real, Robin Hood is just a legend. Weird, isn't it?
I've gotta be honest, I'm just excited about seeing RA on the big screen. And the movie in general. :)
ReplyDeleteI would guess Sebastian Koch's character was a lot more multi-dimensional than we can expect RA's Heinz Krüger to be? This time I don't think he was cast for the audience to fancy him (and maybe that was why he accepted the part), this is the typical small baddie role that goes to unknown Brit actor. Only a very small part of the worldwide audience has ever heard of RA and/or will see this movie specifically for him. I think they may have hired him because he could do the required stunts.
ReplyDeleteYou're quite right, Jane. :) It's a baddie, get a Brit to play it.
ReplyDeleteAnd I CAN'T BELIEVE I forgot that the whole point of Koch's character in that film is that he's actually a good guy! (Hooray for settling that cognitive dissonance!) He was just one of those men in uniform who fought for his country - even though he didn't agree with its ideology. Won't go into any more details than that in case anyone reading this want to see the film, but it's a very good film. :)
"R.A ON BIG SCREEN"-I will go!
ReplyDeleteI'm good soldier:)