tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7407508148371201866.post6237892239798170226..comments2022-09-24T01:51:52.166-07:00Comments on Sara Reads: Pain, Personhood, and Parity: The Depiction of Bucky Barnes in the Marvel Cinematic UniverseSarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12444567447308836625noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7407508148371201866.post-1088852592433732922015-01-09T09:47:25.660-08:002015-01-09T09:47:25.660-08:00Not at all. And thank you so much for your comment...Not at all. And thank you so much for your comments - all of which were really lovely and thought-provoking. I apologize for not getting back to you more quickly, but you caught me over the New Year holiday.<br /><br />I absolutely agree with you about the muzzle, the objectification, and Pierce's infantilization of a grown man being extremely disturbing. There's an uncanny valley element to it all, I think, which is part of what makes it so impactful. We're seeing someone in a state that is so abnormal, and yet at the same time there's a base functionality to the operating mode. The simultaneous presence and absence of Bucky, presence and absence of an adult, presence and absence of a threatening force, is highly disconcerting.<br /><br />As for a Steve post... a friend of mine was planning to write a guest-post meta about Steve Rogers, bipolar disorder, and metaphorical hesitation marks... I should remind her about doing that.Sarahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12444567447308836625noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7407508148371201866.post-10176168750375857372014-12-29T21:04:42.690-08:002014-12-29T21:04:42.690-08:00An excellent post. I love your analysis on his lac...An excellent post. I love your analysis on his lack of personhood. I also wanted to point out that up until Steve speaks to him, The Winter Soldier wears a muzzle. I think partially to hide his identity from Steve but also because he's not allowed to speak and, after all, what does a gun or hammer have to say to it's owner. By making it impossible for him to speak with expression, the muzzle/face mask, is another way of objectifying him.<br /><br />I don't even think it's so much about lack of personhood but a fallback to pre-personhood in that Pierce, in all his interactions with The Winter Soldier, is demeaningly patronizing to him. In their first interaction he offers him milk and in the vault he treats him the way an abusive parent treats a smart-alecky kid. Considering that he's speaking to a grown man, these scenes are especially disturbing to watch.<br /><br />I would love it if you did an analysis of Steve Roger's isolation/depression. As a man out of time, everyone and everything he knew, is dead and gone. I had the feeling that Steve doesn't really live. Yes, he's coping well, and trying to catch up to the modern age, but he's still very much in mourning,having lost everything. For him Bucky's loss was only a year or so, given his sense of time.<br />I think he tries so hard to save Bucky, as much to save himself. Bucky is the only, and most important, person left over from his past.<br /><br />Anyway, sorry about the long post, but this was an excellent meta.lkeke35https://www.blogger.com/profile/09433956026930677037noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7407508148371201866.post-41197435509804981032014-11-13T09:14:49.905-08:002014-11-13T09:14:49.905-08:00A fantastic analysis. That level of nuance in the ...A fantastic analysis. That level of nuance in the score wasn't something I'd picked up on, not having a great ear for music, but it really shows how much subtlety and collaboration has gone into making what many may have dismissed as just another superhero film.<br /><br />The Winter Soldier story, both in comics an film, is I think a sign of superhero storytelling developing the maturity to explore the consequences, both personal and societal, of traumatic events in a setting where some characters' very existence could be considered a traumatic event.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7407508148371201866.post-60281908532912812302014-06-17T18:21:51.814-07:002014-06-17T18:21:51.814-07:00Thank you so much for bringing this to my attentio...Thank you so much for bringing this to my attention! I'll look forward to reading some more on the topic.Sarahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12444567447308836625noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7407508148371201866.post-49862034090101572092014-06-17T15:36:41.238-07:002014-06-17T15:36:41.238-07:00Literary scholar Doris Sommer has argued that sile...Literary scholar Doris Sommer has argued that silence can be an expression of autonomy. I really like her book Proceed With Caution, which talks about this. Just wanted to share.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06376910985821973556noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7407508148371201866.post-64988385602564941772014-06-09T23:49:52.723-07:002014-06-09T23:49:52.723-07:00Thank you so much for bringing up that very import...Thank you so much for bringing up that very important point about the ways silence can be used to deny the existence of personhood.<br /><br />I did hope that I made it clear that I feel it is a lack of personhood results in a lack of speech, rather than that lack of speech inherently equals lack of personhood - however I clearly was not as precise with my language as I should have been. That being the case, I do apologize and appreciate, once again, your taking the time to highlight that extremely important aspect of the issue.<br /><br />And thank you for reading!Sarahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12444567447308836625noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7407508148371201866.post-66930391483238847282014-06-08T16:43:21.334-07:002014-06-08T16:43:21.334-07:00This is wonderful. However I do want to cautious a...This is wonderful. However I do want to cautious against, in a general context, equating a lack of speech as a lack of personhood. While it fits wonderfully here, it's an assumption out in the real world that results in people treating non-verbal people as lacking personhood- with unfortunately devastating results. <br /><br />One could say that that is reflected in how HYDRA treats him. That there's a level of self perpetuation in how the silence and perception of personhood is approached. This allows/has allowed younger or newer HYDRA agents to disregard any lingering concerns they may have had, as society at large has taught them that the personhood of the non-speaking is negligible. (This can also echo beyond disability into looking at the perspectives of people who are just not heard during the course of events- often, like Bucky here, because their attempts at voice are brutally suppressed or disregarded.) Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01574526958190180906noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7407508148371201866.post-50660682252004443272014-05-16T08:24:45.890-07:002014-05-16T08:24:45.890-07:00How is it there are no comments on this? I saw a ...How is it there are no comments on this? I saw a link on Tumblr, which I will have to find and reblog now that I have read this. <br /><br />First off - well done. This bit of analysis captures so many different aspects of the movie and the character and the development. I had not appreciated the role the music plays at all. <br /><br />I have only seen the movie once - although once I get the DVD I will remedy that. The bit you open with, where he just drops things, I had noticed that but I had not connected that with what that might mean about the character. Amazing, since it is something I have seen my own kids do numerous times. <br /><br />The scene with Pierce in the bank - since I have only seen it once I had not picked up on this quite so well, but man, this makes that scene so much more painful. He asks Pierce for some sort of affirmation, and when he does not get it, the (well, docile is not the right word) compliance as he is pushed back in the chair and opens his mouth for the bite guard. <br /><br />As a parent, I have had that moment. That moment where I respond badly to something one of my kids says, where they are looking to me for affirmation and I am distracted, or angry or something and after they are just so defeated. Being the parent, I am in tears afterwards, because no matter what I say afterwards, I have broken something. <br /><br />Pierce, however, plays that card with intention. <br /><br />I could ramble on, but I won't. Thank you for this essay. I will reading it again! Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com