Podcast (enhanced)

The CNS podcast discusses hidden themes in popular culture, focusing on Marvel movies like Iron Man, Captain America, and Black Panther. These movies display American imperialism, heroism, and interventionism, and their effects on other countries. Specific events in the movies symbolize tensions associated with US empire, such as Iron Man justifying the use of weapons and Captain America embodying American values during World War II. Black Panther shows the effects of US colonization on the black community. The international revenue of these movies is surprising, as it nearly matches the domestic revenue, highlighting the worldwide fan base against US power and influence. Black Panther introduces the concept of self-sufficiency and isolationism for Wakanda, contrasting with the more active roles of Captain America and Iron Man on the world stage. These movies subconsciously influence viewers' perceptions of the military and America's hero status. The question is raised: if Black Panthe Yeah. Hello everyone, it's the CNS podcast. I'm Sienna. I'm Safiyetu. And we discuss the hidden themes in pop. Again? Yeah. Hello everyone, it's the CNS podcast. I'm Sienna. I'm Safiyetu. And we discuss the hidden themes in pop culture. In today's episode, we're looking at the beloved Marvel movies, Iron Man, Captain America, and Black Panther. The importance of this podcast is that these movies display forms of American imperialism, heroism, and interventionism, and expose the effects and influence American has on other countries. Hey, pause, transition. Do you identify any specific events in these three movies that symbolize the tensions associated with the U.S. empire? Of course. According to a scholar at Radboud University, Iron Man shows American exceptionalism to justify the use of weapons. At the beginning of the movie, when Stark was showing the missile America was interested in buying, he said, I prefer the weapon you only have to fire once. That's how Dad did it. That's how America does it. And it has worked out pretty well so far. The weapon is so powerful that it can destroy a land with only one use, and the military hopes it is going to shock the terrorists enough so they will not try to attack again. This is similar to the reality of American military that was in Afghanistan. In Captain America, the first Avenger, Captain America epitomized America's values during World War II. He demonstrated as an American while the villain, Red Skull, was demonstrating as Hitler, which was Nazi Germany. Nazi Germany was easy to target as a villain. This movie displays American heroism because Captain America, the U.S., saved the day and defeated the enemy. The movie also shows American heroism because Captain America, the U.S., saved the day and defeated Red Skull, which was Hitler. According to a current affairs source, the character Captain America, way before the movie release, served as propaganda during World War II as well. Lastly, Black Panther shows a part of Africa that hasn't gone through colonization, which is Wakanda. It also shows another character that grew up in the U.S. and endured colonization, which is the villain, Killmonger. When these two worlds collide, Black Panther and Killmonger demonstrate the effects of U.S. colonization on the black community. Transition. How does the domestic and international revenue compare throughout all the movies? Do the numbers surprise you? If so, how? So, yeah, the numbers really do surprise me because the international audience contributed nearly as much as the domestic viewers, showing the irony of a world-wide fan base that is also against the U.S. power and its influence on other nations. According to a box office mojo, Iron Man's domestic total was around $300 million and its international was around $300 million as well. Let me redo that. According to box office mojo, Iron Man's domestic total was $312 million and its international was $311 million. This shows the close... This shows the way... I'm gonna just continue going. Next, Captain America's domestic was $170 million and its international was a lot higher than that. Next, Captain America's domestic was $170 million and its international was $190 million. Its international was higher than the domestic, which is really ironic because it shows Captain America as this U.S. hero when international company... I'm gonna just pause that. In Captain America, he was hero. Amen. Lastly, Black Panther's domestic was $450 million and international was $400 million. This was... This shows that... This shows that Marvel has a great influence on countries, which can allude to America's influence on other countries. Even Captain America, the embodiment of USA, has a higher international revenue than domestic, which is very ironic. To recap... No, I have to erase this. This one. To recap, we compared the domestic and international revenues and discussed its importance. Lastly, we'll discuss the different concepts... The different concepts Black Panther demonstrate compared to Iron Man and Captain America. Black Panther introduces the concept of self-sufficiency and isolation... Oh my God. Let's make sure it's right. Isolationism. Isolationism. Isolationism. Isolationism. Isolationism. Isolationism. Black Panther introduces the concept of self-sufficiency and isolationism for Wakanda. How does this set... How does this stance on global involvement... I have to start over. One more time. Black Panther introduces the concept of self-sufficiency and isolationism for Wakanda. How does this stance on global involvement compare to Captain America's and Iron Man's more active roles on the world stage? So, according to a... So yeah, that was a great question. According to a scholarly source from Arcadia University, Captain America is a character who embodies a strong sense of American patriotism. We can see this with the movies Captain America First Avenger. His character is a U.S. model and a U.S... How do you say... How do you say... Hero. He's a U.S. hero. He demonstrates the U.S. I'll probably cut that out, but anyway. He has consistently taken an active role in global events, especially during World War II. Iron Man is portrayed as an arms dealer and a hero that uses technology to help the world, even though his technology... Although they are considered heroes, they bring havoc to other countries by intervening and bringing war similar to America. They have a hero complex like America, but international civilians do not view them as heroes, even though they do watch the movies. On the other hand, Black Panther shows anti-imperialism. Wakanda is very involved, if not the most involved place in the world due to the lack of colonialism. They are fighting against a villain that is African, but ended up facing American colonialism by growing up in America. This shows how Americans... This shows how America's imperialism has made a divide in the community and its colonial... This shows how America's imperialism has made a divide in this community and its colonialism effects are displayed in an area that was isolated from the world. We can also take that... She looks like saying, like, what did she say? It's, um... Monday. Oh, yeah, yeah. We can also take that these movies influence international viewers subconsciously and it influences us subconsciously. Okay, yeah. We can also take that these movies... We can... We can also take that these movies influence us and international viewers subconsciously about military and how America is such a great hero, even if you don't agree with it. Okay. Why don't I... Where's the tooth? Oh, yeah. I don't... Nope, nope. I thought it was like two weeks. Oh, yeah, it's right here. No... Okay. Now, you could just say, to recap, we compared into... Yeah. And it was on that side. Hold on. I mean, to recap, we compared... Okay. Yeah, but you know how much that was really a boss to recap? We compared... Views to Captain America and Iron Man in post-news. These movies made us heroes on that. And post-news shows Americans, America's efforts on the world. Yeah, you're good. You're good. Self-consciously. And then you could be like, how does this affect our own status? Okay, you're going to talk about like this part, right? The conclusion part. Mm-hmm. And then I will ask the question. Yeah. Okay. Let me sing it. Self-consciously. Okay. To recap, we compared Black Panther anti-imperialist views to Captain America. Okay. Anti-imperialistic. Exactly. I thought it was... Okay. Sorry. To recap, we compared Black Panther anti-imperialist views to Iron Man in post-news. Okay. To recap, we compared Black Panther anti-imperialistic views to Captain America in Iron Man. Imperialistic views. It also shows Americans... Oh, my God. Just repeat it also. It also shows America's influence on the world subconsciously. How does this affect our actions? That's good. Transition. Okay. Oh, I thought you were going to talk about this one, then I will ask the question, or you want me to say everything? Do you want me to say this? Oh, so we're not going to say it? Yeah, we're going to say it. Yeah, you can say this, and then I will like say the question. To recap, this segment was made to provide Marvel viewers with a deeper understanding of how the beloved Marvel franchise reflects elements of US imperialism while driving on the international stage. These movies affect us subconsciously, and it's important to think about and ponder on. One question we leave with you all is, if Black Panther was the first movie Marvel released, how would that affect Marvel's legacy? Would its influence be as big as it is today? We'll talk about that next time. Thank you. We'll see you next time on the CNS podcast. Bye. I hope that's good. I really hope so.