It is a given fact that if there is a rule, there will be people for that rule and against it. This is the case throughout Captain America: Civil War. After countless lives have been lost, the Avengers are finally being held accountable for their actions. For the most part, it sounds reasonable enough that the United Nations in the film world would demand for some sort of agreement (after all with great power comes great responsibility right?). However, the demand for change drives a rift between the Avengers: those on the side of Team Cap and those on Team Iron man. Now, you would think that rift in the avengers would be my moral dilemma but that is not it. No, my moral dilemma (despite my love for Iron man) is I found myself on Captain America’s side for a number of different reasons.
Since Iron man is one of my favorite characters, I reserve the right to call him out and the wrong choices he makes. One of the reasons that I would argue Iron man is at fault is the mere fact that superheroes cannot be expected to abide by the rules of humans. The nature of the their existence allows them to be something more than human and part of their burden is to make the hard decisions humans can’t make. If all the avengers were to sign the accords, they would become nothing more than mere pawns to those of a higher power, thus diminishing what a superhero should stand for. As Captain America said himself, “agendas change all the time.” To bind the will of these superheroes to creatures as fickle as humans could do more damage than good.
The main point of Iron man's argument is that the avengers need to have someone to answer to because if not, it makes them no better than the villains. Sir John Acton’s saying, “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely” comes to my mind when I think of Iron man's argument. He no doubt has a valid point, when surrounded by constant death and destruction, it can cause one to reevaluate the way he or she sees the world. And we see this, both in Avengers: Age of Ultron and in Captain America: Civil War with Tony. The fear that Scarlet Witch implants in Iron man's head in Avengers: Age of Ultron, is the idea that he is not strong enough to protect those he cares about. Similarly, in Captain America: Civil War, Tony is confronted by the mother who lost her son in Sokovia as a result of the Avenger’s fighting. Iron man constantly deals with the issue of action versus lack control. He has seen firsthand the negative effects the Avengers have had on those who were in the wrong place in the wrong time which makes his side of the argument so compelling. However, in a world where aliens, gods, and giant green men exist, it is understandable that there will be lives lost in the battle against evil. This is the basis of Captain America’s argument. It is impossible to save everyone, and to focus on the lost lives no one had control over won’t help. The point is to get better and never make the same mistakes.
What sets Captain America: Civil War apart from other movies of its kind, is it does not offer an easy solution to the main problem. At the end of the film, Captain America and Iron man still believe in their own values and will defend those values despite their friendship. This is my moral dilemma. Iron man, with his hilarious wit and charm happens to be on the wrong side of a bigger issue. Superheroes can’t be expected to abide by the laws we ourselves coexist by. Captain America understands this and that it is impossible to save everyone when you are battling against the supernatural.
