Shared this on my Facebook. Now here.
How many times does my favorite super hero have to say “I’m just some guy with a bow” or “I’m nobody.” before people actually start to think.
Clint is a special kind of breed. He is a man who has honestly had a pretty horrible childhood. The man’s father was abusive and a drunk, his mother couldn’t care less, and the only person he had in his life was his big brother. Barney was the only person he had to look up to, the only person that was proud of him and protected him and taught him how to be strong. Hell, Barney was the only one there for Clint when the archer lost his hearing the first time, and he was also there again for the second time. They had to go from Orphanage to Orphanage after their father killed himself and their mother because he wanted to drink and drive, and then Barney decided they were going to run away to the circus. Yes, that was where Clint learned to shoot but his mentors were pretty horrible. Swordsman beat him up and left him in a ditch, and Trickshot was proved to be an ass later on. But throughout all of that, despite all the shit Clint has had to live through and shovel he is still compassionate and kind. He defends people, he cares about people. He wants to help those that can not defend themselves, even if the law says he can’t.
He has to put up with being the butt of jokes, he has to listen to everyone teasing him and laughing at him. He stands there and takes it. But the thing about being bullied is the fact that, no matter how strong you are, no matter how thick your skin is, those words will always stick with you. they will play in the back of your mind during the quiet hours in the night and there is very little you can do to stop it. The words will play on repeat, probably for the rest of your life, and it is not something you can help.
Clint is someone who has listened to the teasing, and he still puts up with it. He know’s he isn’t the strongest or the smartest or the fastest, Well- that one would go to Petro. But the point is, Clint knows who he is. He is a human with no special abilities on a team of superheroes and super spies and genetically altered or mutated people. He has a bow and arrows. He has a good heart, and he had a pocket full of hearing aids. But the lack of faith that his own team tends to have in him hurts. They underestimate him immensely. And when that started happening, he started openly underestimated himself.
Sure, he jokes around, and he smiles and he is generally the comic relief of the Avengers, (Aside from Spidey) But, honestly, you gotta wonder why sometimes. Yes, that is just who he is, a bag of bad puns and trick arrows. But there is always something hidden. And I feel like Fraction’s ‘Hawkeye’ delves into that a bit, and you can certainly see him degrading himself sometimes in it.
He works out endlessly. He has to. All he has is his eyesight and his pinpoint accuracy. If he does not have that then there is nothing. Then he is out and he is replaced with someone more super. So he practices, he makes ‘trick’ arrows, and he keeps working at it. Because he can not miss. He will not allow himself that. His career, hell his life depends on it.
Sure he has a problem with authority, and his romantic life is a crash and burn. But come on, all he has ever wanted to do was prove than he is someone, that he can do the right thing for the right reasons to save the world.
// I // (emphasis on the ‘I’) feel like he is under appreciated and easily forgotten by people. He is the average joe amongst the famous. The one who makes jokes at the party just so people remember he is still there. The one who puts up with the teasing and bullying and despite not liking it, he practices and works out everyday to better himself. He has to. He just wants to know where he belongs in this world of heroes and villains
Even with the fandom he is under appreciated. He is not given the credit he deserves. The MCU fandom does not know who he is, they do not know he has saved lives at the ultimate risk of his own. Giving his life for others, That is who he is. And that speaks volumes. Despite the fact that he gets knocked down and tied to chairs he still gets back up again.
The Villains of the world, even the heroes and his team mates, they all belittle him. He know’s they do this. They have stopped hiding it, and started doing so right in front of him. And these jokes and comments play in his head, constantly, even to the point that he says it now. He thinks people will be okay without him, he thinks people will be just fine, that they won't mind, that they won’t miss him. He considers himself as nothing. “I’m not an Avenger. I’m nobody.” He’s just “an orphan raised by carnies fighting with a stick and a string from the Paleolithic era.” He doesn’t think he means anything to anyone.
But the funny little thing about all of this, is that there is one light. There is one single person that does reminds him that he is worth something. This is not about some relationship or anything. This is plain and simple facts. There was one person who appreciated him for what he was, for what he had to offer. One person who decided, this guy is the good guy. One person who looked up to him so much that she took on his code name, along with taking up the bow. And I think just the fact that someone appreciated him enough spoke volumes to Clint. Sure he deals with a lot of shit, but at the end of the day, there are people alive because of him. And one person, one girl who wears purple and shoots a bow reminds him of this, when all his other friends don’t. Slowly, but surely, Kate is changing him, she is bringing a light with her. And that is a good thing.
I am not saying everyone feels this, but I am saying as a whole.... I have noticed this. And I just love Clint so much I had to say something.
