*For a letter supposedly apologizing to another person, Rogers uses the word ‘I’ over fifteen times and on ten of those times he is referring to what he wants and doesn’t address Tony’s needs at all.
*He (Rogers) makes a point of stressing that he has been on his own since he was eighteen and blithely ignores the fact that because of the Winter Soldier, Tony has also been alone.
*Rogers casually tosses the Avengers at Tony like a consolation prize. A ‘hey, so my best friend? Um, while he was brainwashed, he murdered your parents and I’ve known about it for a couple of years now but didn’t have the balls to tell you so here, have some Avengers.’ Then Rogers takes said Avengers and fucks off to Wakanda.
*’I don’t like you rattling around in a mansion by yourself’. Again with the ‘I’. Heaven forbid that Tony, newly grieving after seeing his mother, his fucking mother, being choked out might want to go back to the last place he was with her. That Tony might want to surround himself in memories, possibly wrap himself up in a soft, warm throw that laid on his mother’s bed. Maybe even sit, curled in on himself in what was his mother’s closet, breathe in the memory of her scent and just cry.
*(paraphrasing)…’My faith is in people….which is why I can’t let them down either’. But it’s okay to let Tony down, yes? It’s okay to drop the man who gave him a home, who gave him a family, a direction, who paid for all his shit? It’s okay to let him down. People on this site make a huge deal about how Tony pays for all the Avengers tech, for their home, for their food and that is true, Tony is the accounts guy. However, what about the emotional account? Rogers and Tony have fought together for years by now. They have trusted each other in battle to not let each other die. They have bled on each other. The trust that forms through that is huge. The blow Tony took when Rogers said ‘he’s my friend’ was vast. In one sentence Rogers wiped out years of trust and love. The emotional fallout from that will underscore every conversation, every look, every word they ever speak to each other from here on out. But, Rogers can’t let anyone down right?
*Finally, let’s address the actual, and sole, ‘I’m sorry’ in this letter. Yes, Rogers says he’s ‘sorry’ but what is he actually sorry for? Is he sorry for leaving Tony behind in Siberia? Is he sorry for beating a civilian bloody? (because it is stated very explicitly in this movie that Tony is a civilian and not an Avenger). Is he sorry for breaking the absolute military code of never leaving a man behind? Is he offering condolences on Tony having to witness his parents murder? (I cannot stress this enough. Tony Stark, in a sterile and hostile environment had to watch his father be beaten to death and his mother being strangled as she cried out for help while he stood in between their murderer and a man who Tony saw as a brother. A man who lied to him twice. Once by withholding the information and finally again when Tony outright asks if he knew). Is Rogers saying ‘sorry’ for any of that? No. Rogers is ‘sorry’ for ‘sparing himself’. That is no apology. That is an excuse.
Every last thing in this letter is Rogers easing his conscience. There is no apology here. There is no empathy. No concern for a family member or friend or hell, even a co-worker. This letter is a selfish act of atonement. It is a footnote to a long list of selfish acts committed by Captain America in this movie.
Roger’s letter to Tony is no ‘apology’.
It is metaphorical blood spilled as ink on the canvas of a man’s soul.
This letter is a written death sentence on a family. On a friendship. On a brother.
~west
Here’s a copy of Cap’s letter if you want to read it:
It very neatly describes the way liberals see the world and political struggle.
Lots of people complain about the anti-climactic ending, but really I don’t think it could any other way [sic]. I’d like to imagine that there’s some alternate universe where Rowling actually believed in something and Harry was actually built up as the anti-Voldemort he was only hinted as being in the beginning of the books. Where he’s opposes [sic] all the many injustices of the wizarding world and determines to change their frequently backwards, insular, contradictory society for the better, and forms his own faction antithetical to the Death Eaters and when he finally has a showdown with Voldy, Harry surpasses by [sic] adopting new methods, breaking the rules and embracing change and the progression of history. While Voldemort clings to an idyllic imaging of the past and the greatest extent of his dreams is to become the self-appointed god of a eternally stagnant Neverland. Harry has embraced the possibility of a shining future and so can overcome the self-imposed limits Voldemort could never cross, and Voldemort is ultimately defeated by this.
But that would require a Harry that believed in something, and since Rowling is a liberal centrist Blairite that doesn’t really believe in anything, Harry lives in a world drought [sic] with conflict and injustice: a stratified class society, slavery of sentient magic creatures, the absurd charade the wizarding world puts up to enforce their own self-segregation, a corrupted and bureaucracy-choked government, rampant racism, so on and so forth. But Harry is little more than a passive observer for most of it, only the racism really bothers him (and then, really only racism against half-bloods). In fact, when Hermione stands up against the slavery of elves, she’s treated as some kind of ridiculous Soapbox Sadie. For opposing chattel slavery. In the end, the biggest force for change is Voldemort and Harry and friends only ever fight for the preservation and reproduction of the status quo. The very height of Harry’s dreams is to join the aurors, a sort of wizard FBI and the ultimate defenders of the wizarding status quo. Harry doesn’t even beat Voldemort, Voldemort accidentally kills himself because he violated some obscure technicality that causes one of his spells to bounce back at him.
And this is really the struggle of liberals, they live in a world fraught with conflict, but aren’t particularly bothered by any of it except those bit that threaten multicultural pluralism. They see change, and the force behind that change, as a wholly negative phenomenon. Even then, they can only act within the legal and ideological framework of their society. So, for instance, instead of organizing insurrectionary and disruptive activity against Trump and the far-right, all they can do is bang their drum about what a racist bigot he is and hope they can catch him violating some technicality that will allow them to have him impeached or at least destroy his political clout. It won’t work, it will never work, but that’s the limit of liberalism just as it was the limit of Harry Potter.
Innovation and forward-thinking may be Hawaii’s two biggest exports
in 2017. Earlier this month, the state earned the distinction of being
the first in the U.S. to formally accept the provisions
of the Paris Climate Agreement after President Donald Trump decided to
withdraw the nation from it, and now, Hawaii is taking the lead in
embracing yet another innovative idea: universal basic income (UBI).
Today, Hawaii state representative Chris Lee wrote a Reddit post about House Concurrent Resolution 89,
a bill he says he introduced in order to “start a conversation about
our future.” According to Lee, “After much work and with the help of a
few key colleagues, it passed both houses of the State Legislature
unanimously.”
The bill has two major provisions. First, it declares that all families
in Hawaii are entitled to basic financial security. “As far as I’m told,
it’s the first time any state has made such a pronouncement,” wrote
Lee. The second provision establishes a number of government offices “to
analyze our state’s economy and find ways to ensure all families have
basic financial security, including an evaluation of different forms of a
full or partial universal basic income.”
Have to remember to reblog the good news posts. I hope this is a rock that starts an avalanche.
okay but Barry walks in and smooches Taako on the cheek and everyone’s like ‘uuuuuhhh thats not lup’ and hes just like ‘yeah i know but taako needs affection too’
And Magnus puts his hands on his hips and says “Well, Barry, did you bring enough kisses for everyone?”
when you wake up from an unfinished dream and you’re really sleepy and then manage to lucid dream yourself back into actual sleeping and dreaming so you can finish it properly
this is what we mean when we say proper or professional mental healthcare prioritizes whiteness and that people of color get the shortest end of the stick every time
This is not something exclusive to older therapists, either. So many of the people i encountered in college who were majoring in psych with the goal of providing counseling held these kind of views.
