Sam Wilson: Captain America #21

[laughing_tree]

"Earlier in my reviews of this run, I commented that Spencer’s version of Sam Wilson reminded me a lot of President Barack Obama. Now that we’ve had more time with him, I see that he’s much more than that. He’s every black person that’s ever had to think about where they fall in the battle of injustice. He’s every one that’s been given power and had it stripped away. Which, eventually, boils down to practically every minority in America. [...] This current run of Captain America: Sam Wilson is going to end up on the syllabus of a really liberal, young-minded sociology professor one day." -- Black Nerd Problems

Comments

[laughing_tree]

You keep trying to push this into a binary situation where either I believe Rayshaun's definitely going to be bombing more buildings or I believe the scene tells us nothing about him. It's all about the gradations.

Yes, intent is never truly knowable, but that doesn't mean some scenarios aren't stronger indicators of intent than others. Again, gradations. A scene of a guy killing a dog maliciously for kicks is more telling than a scene of a guy killing a dog that has no context. A guy not fighting back is less telling than a guy not fighting back while another character is explaining that his inaction is because of his beliefs. A guy not fighting back while himself thinking that its because of his beliefs is more telling than either of those. A guy not fighting back while the omniscient narrator says its because of his beliefs is even more telling still. A wordless scene of a kid doing homework tells us very little because kids of all kinds do homework.

And I maintain that Rayshaun's scene does not tell us enough to conclude that he's going to be firebombing buildings as the Patriot. That's not me saying we should ignore the scene. It's me keeping it in mind and reaching a different conclusion from it than you. I am judging him by his actions, and this is my judgment.