I think it’s really fascinating how from the moment Steve woke up he was immediately hit with that Soldier Identity ™
When he’s in the room with the “nurse,” earlier in the scene, she calls him Captain Rogers, which is a respect thing, you refer to people as their ranks in acknowledgement and such, but I would have to look more into the bedside manner rules to see if that was what would happen in a hospital situation
Again, we see more of the Soldier Identity when Fury says “At ease, Soldier,” giving Steve his own rank and using that to gain trust/Steves compliance.
In the scene, Fury calls him Cap, a somewhat more personal version of Captain, like they’re already close enough for that. I think it is really telling of how he is viewed immediately, with the idea that all the people who call him Cap right away (along with other nicknames) are acting like they know him. In some cases (like Capsicle), it’s not really a personal joking thing, but more of a mocking thing. If it’s a sign of respect to call him Captain, or Captain Rogers, than what exactly are the people who nickname that thinking? Unless you know someone, you typically aren’t going to give them a nickname right away. Most people don’t meet random veterans and drop formalities like that, or call a doctor “Doc” on their first visit.
Within a minute of talking to Steve on the street, Fury has asserted his authority and pretended that they were friendly equals. He puts a huge emphasis on “Soldiers work,” telling Steve how “the world could still use a man like you, Cap.” They shake hands, right there in the street, and it may as well have been a contract; Steve was going to be a Soldier for them, he was going to trust there word and do their bidding. “There’s a *place* here for you.”
I think this goes to show immediately how the 70 years of propaganda is affecting Steve on a personal level; people think they know him because they’ve grown up hearing about him, learning about him, but it’s just like a normal celebrity in this situation, people can list off a million facts about a person but that doesn’t mean they have met them, or are involved in their lives.
Let’s talk more specifically Fury’s line about “Soldiers work.”
Steve is a soldier, he’s fought in WW2 for two/three years at this point, he’s earned his rank and title, but this really shows me that Steve was going to be put to work as soon as possible, he was going to be an asset to Shield, they had wonderful plans for what he could do for them. He’s a soldier, he was going to do the soldier work. Whenever people refer to Steve as a soldier though, I always think of what Erskine said, the infamous “not a perfect soldier, but a good man”
I think that if these first like three (3) minutes awake are going to be setting a standard for how the people of this century see him, and it is already leaving him zero room to just be Steve Rogers. He’s left as a 2D character, a man who can’t be killed and therefore has immediate purpose. I’m glad they cut this extra dialogue, it’s not a very good look for him to be put to work moments after asking how he is even alive in the first place.
Steve has been buried under Captain America Propaganda, and now most everyone has their own expectations and vision of him in their heads. It’s impossible to live up to, and he’s put in a place where the perfect soldier is all he is supposed to be
11/10, amazing analysis, genius, its perfect
He gets called ‘Captain Rogers’, and 'Cap’ is the friendly nickname he gets, not 'Steve’.
It’s Cap they’re buddying up with, appealing too, and trying to get on their side. Steve isn’t part of the equation.
HOLY SHIT YES YES YES
He’s been awake for a few minutes tops, escaped from a fake room, had a brawl with some agents, ran into Times Square and was then immediately told there was more work he had to do
For Captain America, the work is never finished. There’s always more to do, more orders to follow, that’s what Captain America is for, right? He’s the super soldier, he fights. But Steve? Steve is the man who ran into 2012 New York City and had to deal with the reality his world and his people were gone.
But they don’t see Steve Rogers. They just see the soldier
“Imagine Steve going to Vormir and returning small again”
You’re supposed to sacrifice something that you love, does Steve love Captain America? Does Steve love Cap more than he loves Steve Rogers? Does he love the tool he was ready to sacrifice multiple times more than the real man beneath the mask?
“Rainbows, however, symbolize much more than just a range of colors combined to make a whole. They are symbols of hope, promise, peace, equality, new beginnings, and eternal life.”
