This is an important sentiment, not just for Captain America's character, which was thankfully well-rounded and intricate in the movie, but for America itself.
Captain America is often misunderstood, and for this reason most foreign releases of the Captain America movie were simply titled, The First Avenger. There is good reason for seeing Captain America (and as you will see later in this entry, all of America) as being this brash, arrogant jerk who tries to tell you how it is all the time: that's how he was conceived. Born from Timely Comic's team of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, Captain America was little more than a propoganda piece for an America that was wondering what it's involvement would be in the rising war. The first cover of the first issue that hit stands in December of 1940 showed Kirby's dynamic Captain America punching Adolf Hitler in the face. The message was clear: America needed to do the right thing. Captain America, throughout the war, fought the good fight.
Interestingly, in the movie, Evans' Captain America was originally used to drum up interest in War Bonds, helping to finance America in World War II. This is one way that Marvel does comicbook inspired movies well: it defers to the continuity, while not feeling hemmed in by it. By adding this part of the story to the movie, it pays homage to Captain America's less than auspicious beginnings while propelling the narrative forward.
It also helps to play a useful metaphor in America's relationships with other countries. In the movie, Evans, wearing the original 1940's Captain America shield and costume, tours around America, initially reluctant to be a part of a dog-and-pony show while other Americans (and Europeans) are stuck fighting. However, as his popularity grows, he starts to enjoy his role. At the height of his popularity, Captain America is shipped overseas to perform as part of the USO Tour, and there he is greeted with much less happy crowds.
It's at this juncture in his life, dodging tomatoes from those he's tried to drum up support for, that he realizes he is a sham. At home, punching out fake "Hitlers" for 12-year-old kids did what it needed to: diverted attention from the atrocities to help raise funds to continue sending young men to die on foreign shores. However, hip deep in those atrocities, the same brightly colored costumes and uniforms seem oddly inauthentic. There were real people dying, and the last thing they need is some caricature of an ideal telling them to keep up the good work. It was insulting, demeaning, and frankly unwanted (what they did want, and asked for, was more girls dancing).
Captain America decided there that his role should be more active, and less auxiliary. Donning a leather jacket and helmet, he used his Super Soldier abilities and rescued 400 prisoners from behind enemy lines and the Red Skull's clutches (Nazi Germany's own Super Soldier). For the first time in his life, Steven Rogers acted on his ideals rather than just representing them. He took charge, lead the fight and did good in the world.
Here is where I see an interesting parallel between Captain America and his own struggles to be what he represents, and America's relationship to the world. America has always had a troubled relationship with other countries, particularly those that disagree with her central tenants of freedom and justice for all. Since World War II (and I realize my understanding of World History, even US History, is cursory at best, so I might be off on some dates; the general idea, though, I feel is sound), America has tried to represent all the good that comes from Democracy and Capitalism. And America has been a shining example. In this country, there is (or was, before the Republicans seem to initiate class warfare against the middle percentage of the country) nothing stopping someone from working hard enough to attain one's dreams. Throughout the history of America, everyone has been given (sometimes more reluctantly than others) the right to try and better themselves. If there is some sort of inequality, the country tries to debate the gap in rights, and come to a conclusion (again, sometimes more slowly than it should, but eventually, with enough people pushing, there can be a push towards equality).
But there in lies the problem. At what point does America, representing what it feels is the best form of societal living, turn from shining light of Democracy to overblown, offensive caricature? How can America suggest that everyone demand freedom when such demands might be met with horrific punishments? When does representing an ideal not carry enough responsibility? When is it that America has to walk the walk that it's talk has talked?
This issue, though, begs a question: where is the fine line between liberator and aggressor? In the Captain America movie, clearly he was a liberator, freeing the world from the terrifying, tyrannical nature of the Red Skull. Captain America stopped us all from living under the rule of a mad despot, but in reality the situation is rarely that black and white. Take, for example, Iraq: no one wants to say that Saddam Hussein was just misunderstood, but he certainly wasn't causing much of an international stir when America decided to invade. Granted, he was not providing a life for the Iraqis that jelled with the American understanding of living, and in some sense, our unyielding since of justice and equality should dictate that we go in there and free the people from their own Red Skull. However, not everyone saw it that way. Because of their natural resources, and because Hussein lacked a strong American relationship, some outside observers saw our invasion as more motivated by money than our core ideals. From one perspective, America could be seen in a similar vein as the Red Skull: forcing our views on humanity by use of the Biggest Stick.
Remembering that Steve Rogers is eventually found again, reanimated and inserted into contemporary culture, it's important that Captain America dies at the end of World War II (more so in the comic than in the movie, which was really just a way to set up the Avengers movie). Captain America and his black and white sense of justice might not make sense in contemporary America. With the end of the war, Hitler and the Red Skull went the clearly defined bad guys of comic book lore. Today's America is faced with an endless sea of gray choices which ripple into other decisions and force even more cloudy, blurred and gray dilemmas. Captain America can't just punch Hussein in the face, since that act will be scrutinized for it's agenda and motivation. What seems like a bad guy might not be as bad to other people.
Or it could be that Captain America's approach to foreign policy is exactly what is missing in this world: punch the bad guys, protect the good guys, and never back down from bullies.
What is certain, though, is that America can learn something from Captain America: doing the right thing is always going to be hard, but doing nothing will be much worse. All that's left is the far more complicated issue of deciding what's the right thing to do.
