I saw the movie earlier today. I thought it was the best Marvel superhero film to date. The script was very well done and the movie is filled with superheroes doing very superhero-y types of things. As a text it serves to capture the feeling in today's hyper-partisan political climate.

On one hand there's Iron Man who is in favor of more government control and oversight. Like many politicians on the Left, he wishes to give up autonomy of the Avengers to the United Nation. Superheroes are too privileged and should be controlled.

On the other hand is Captain America. He favors freedom and the right to choose for oneself. His stance is firmly in the camp of the political Right. He believes that personal responsibility and noble-ness of heroes will win out at the end of the day for what is right.

Today, in America, these two sides could not be more prevalent. Half of the country is fighting to reduce individual freedom and privilege in this country because they feel it is unfair to many others. The other half of the country wants to be left alone and believes government control is not the answer.

During the film, the Avengers tear themselves apart. Their downfall comes from within. It's a great metaphor for the United States. An entity that is as powerful as the Avengers cannot be brought down from an external force, but if the powers within the group can turn on each other, then the group will destroy itself.

Marvel/Disney has created a metaphor for Americans to see their reflection and decide accordingly. It remains to be seen if Americans will learn from this film, but I suspect that will not occur.

Either way, the film is fantastic and I definitely recommend anyone to check it out. It's a lot of fun.

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