the thing about āangry chihuahuaā pre-serum steve is that on a vacuum, I get why people like it? like itās cute, smolĀ steve being angry and sassy, itās funny, not everything in fandom has to be 100% serious and angst-driven etc etc, i understand that
but at the same timeā¦ it bothers me so much because itās just. so. condescending. likeā¦Ā āawww look at this poor disabled man thinking he can stand up to people, haha, so adorable, thank god he has bucky around to keep him alive!111!ā.Ā
(i donāt want to get too much into how this devalues the stucky dynamic bc i donāt even go here, but bucky! respected! pre-serum steve! immensely!! he didnāt see him as a reckless idiotĀ who needed him toĀ survive! itās like people take theĀ āthe little guy from brooklyn who was too dumb not to run away from a fightā quote andĀ only remember this part and forget the rest, the most important part,Ā āIāM FOLLOWING HIMā! bucky knows pre-serum steve was way more of a hero than some dude dressed as the american flag shooting a fake gun at movies!!! thatās the POINT!!)
itās just soā¦ dismissive of steveās bravery and cleverness. people take ONE scene in the first avenger whereĀ steveĀ gets into a fight heās clearly not going to win, ignoring that a) the framing of the moment when the guy stands up and steveās face makes very clear that he KNOWS heās in trouble, he has no delusions about ACTUALLY being able to win the fight; b) the dude is being an asshole and disrespecting others in the theater and steve! gets! him! to stop!!!! The guy LEAVES to beat him up in the alley, thus accomplishing the main point of Steveās intervention, aka to let the grieving lady watch the tribute to the troops in peace.Ā
and thatās likeā¦ THE ONLY TIME IN THE MOVIE where pre-serum steve does something like this. right on the first enlistment scene, some dude is clearly trying to tease him with the āmakes you think twice about enlisting, huh?ā talk, and steve just goesĀ ānopeā and IGNORES THE GUY AND DOESNāT TAKE THE BAIT. because it doesnāt matter! itās just some dumbass who isnāt threatening anyone! steve doesnāt need to get into a fight because someone is underestimatingĀ him - if he did, heād fight with everyone all the time, because guess what, as a disabled man in the 40s, steve is barely considered an actual man. thereās a LEGITIMATE scientific view in this time period that argues that people like him should be murdered at birth. he KNOWS how heās perceived. heās aware. when heās talking to the doctor, heās not brattish - he asks give me a chance and is there anything you can do?. his tone in the latter line specifically is TIRED, not defiant.Ā
and then!! the One Scene apparently everyone who thinks pre-serum steve was a moron with a macho complex didnāt watch: the training montage! where that hodgeĀ guy deliberately fucks with the barbed wire just to get in steveās way and STEVE! DOESNāT! REACT!!!!!!!! he just grits his teeth and tries to keep going and the officer has to be likeĀ ārogers take this rifle out of the mudā. thereās no indication that steveĀ EVER tried to fight this guy in the movie, despite the fact that heās constantly shown laughing/bullying steve during the training. why? because itād be a pointless fight to pick. itād be a fight picked out of nothing but pride and steve canāt afford to do that. he stands up for whatās right, not for everything and anything that pisses him off.
it frustrates me that people donāt seem to get this because itās likeā¦ the very core of steveās character. heās not a wannabe bully. heās kind and polite to others (meeting peggy, talking to dr. eskrine. eskrine isnāt just impressed by theĀ āi donāt like bulliesā moment, heās clearly also very pleased by the fact steve doesnāt show prejudice against him for being german). the only moment where he adopts aĀ āfight meā posture that gets him in actual trouble, itās to protect and help others who canāt stand up for themselves. i get that in theory the idea of smol bean steve fighting everything and everyone might sound fun, but in reality, a person who craves violence and sees it as a prime way to achieve their goals is the opposite of who steve rogers is meant to be.
(and thatās not even getting into when people write POST-serum steve with this āfight meā attitude which is likeā¦ howā¦ do you thinkā¦ thatād be okā¦ how do you not see a difference between a ninety-pound disabled man and a literal supersoldier trying to intimidate people physicallyā¦ which part of āa weak man knows the value of strength, and knows compassionā you didnāt understandā¦)
so imo, this characterization weakens not only steveās character, but his arc, and even the story of tfa as a whole? the serum works on steve because heās already a noble, brave, good man. if he was an asshole who bites off peopleās hand for looking at him wrong, none of this would make sense. by this logic,Ā eskrine might have as well picked hodge.
