Marvel’s Civil War and U.S. Politics

I was lambasted by my kids for going to see the critically unacclaimed Batman vs. Superman this year. Didn’t I know it only received 27% on Rotten Tomatoes? Well I was able to enjoy it by mentally correcting for the editor’s mistakes in a couple places; a dream scene that should have been more clearly a dream, a sequence of scenes that ought to have been rearranged, and a character whose vendetta ought to have been more feelingly explained. But one thing I couldn’t ignore was the silliness of their misunderstanding and miscommunication, before fighting broke out. Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War was hardly much better in this regard.

Silly plots. Unrealistic scenarios. Or, are they? Did these comic movie writers predict the 2016 presidential election?

In the reality show we know as America’s UnCivil War: Trump vs Clinton we see the same level of misunderstanding as Americns rely on different sets of facts (and disagree about which issues are most important) to form their opinions. Similarly to comicbook universes, our enemies watch with baited breath hoping we will destroy ourselves from the inside out with hatred and mistrust based on the seeds they have cleverly planted.

Meanwhile, just yesterday Donald Trump visited Gettysburg and pundits considered the civil war about to ensue within the Republican Party. I worry about greater than that. When a candidate states that he may not accept the results of the election, that he will “keep us in suspense” about it, we have to wonder about how much he is bolstering his angry-branded-followers to misbehave, revolt and worse on the heels of election day. Clinton’s debate response is correct: “Horrifying”.