Captain

[BeyondTheGrave]

recently we had a thread about what "X" means in movie titles. my new question is whats up with "Captain" being used for superhero names.

Everyone knows Captain is a military/police/guy who heads of ship type of rank. being a huge comic fan for years, i noticed number of superbeings with "captain" in them that dont really fit the criteria that i just wrote. examples would be Captain America, Captain Marvel, Captain Cold. none of them are military/police/head of a ship, they just have captain in thier name.

so my question is why is "captain" used. is it to make the charather sound cool or that thier "in charge". i just like to hear some opinions on it.



"I know I know ive been exposed permeant psychoses..
at least the colors are nice"- Aeon Flux

[AndyC]

Perhaps it started with Captain America, who was created as a super soldier to fight the Nazis, then it simply became associated with superheroes. It sounds cool, and Cap was highly successful, so I could see people wanting to use it.

Can't say this for sure, but it seems like a logical explanation.

[dean]

Well it sounds a hell of a lot better than 'Rear Admiral America'

Captain just has a better ring to it.  That and Captains are in charge, but low enough on the 'ladder, and therefore, cool enough, to be kick ass.  Kinda like how a detective in a cop movie doesn't take any crap from the police captain [yes i know, captain] and can still boss around all the other 'lower' lever cops.

Mind you i'm not saying this to detract from the work of other members of the police force, its just that detectives have a cooler image than the guy who puts up the police tape at a murder scene.

[Evan3]

dean wrote:

its just that detectives have a
> cooler image than the guy who puts up the police tape at a
> murder scene.


Detectives actually also dont have the reputation for eating doughnuts so it is easier to take them seriously.

Captain America's alias was Steve Rogers, a WW II soldier who was frozen and brought back in modern times. It is all too possible that he was a captain in the military though i THOUGHT he was a Seargent. It  could be that the military just gave him the honorary captain title for kicking so much Commie/Nazi ass. Or maybe he bought his title ala many Popes did back in the day.

[Deej]

Evan3 wrote:

>
> Detectives actually also dont have the reputation for eating
> doughnuts so it is easier to take them seriously.


From that statement, it is evident to me, that you haven't seen many real life detectives. See, it's a common misconception that to become a detective, one must pass a battery of tests and be proficient and exceptionally astute.

Actually, they just round up the guys who are too fat to fit into body armor, give them a tie and shoulder holster (Quick tip- if you're wondering which cop is an a***ole, look for the one in the white shirt and shoulder holster) and put them behind a desk (actually, a gut length away from the desk).

Furthermore, doughnuts are out. Power bars are in, it takes 4 or 5 to fill me up, but they taste great with coffee and you don't get powder on your shirt!

This message brought to you by your friendly neighborhood patrolman: listening to you whine, raising your kids, and cleaning up your drunken accidents, since 1993.

[AndyC]

Hey, my dad was a detective, so be careful. Of course, that was in Canada in the 70s, so different rules might apply. Then again, he did dress a bit like the guys on Barney Miller. I always remember him putting on his brown suit with the wide lapels and the big wide tie, and putting his S&W .38 into his belt hoster before going to work the night shift. He met some pretty classy people, from what I've gathered. I wonder how many people were aware that one popular local kids' show host was a kleptomaniac as well as a pedophile. Oh, the stories he has.

As for the eating habits of TV and movie detectives, I recall that they didn't generally eat doughnuts in the old days, but rather had a weakness for hot dogs from street vendors. That, and the take-out sandwiches that come wrapped in wax paper.



Post Edited (06-09-04 10:30)

[Evan3]

Damn, first my mother destroys the thought of a tooth fairy, now Deej and Andy eliminate my stereotype of police/detectives.

So tell me are there any Brad Pitt/Morgan Freeman detective arcvhetypes ala the movie se7en? Do these types of people exist? Im really interested to know.

[Deej]

Evan3 wrote:

> So tell me are there any Brad Pitt/Morgan Freeman detective
> arcvhetypes ala the movie se7en? Do these types of people
> exist? Im really interested to know.

I know a patrolman who runs just like TJ Hooker. I don't know if you can visualize what I mean, but it's kinda like knees inward, hips swishing, and ass wiggling all over the place. He doesn't otherwise resemble Shatner in any way, but he runs funny. In the event of a foot pursuit, we put him out front in the hope that he'll cause the fleeing suspect to giggle himself into submission. We're not sure, but this may be an 8th amendment violation.

[Flangepart]

Now i'm thinking ot the credit opener in the "Police squad" movies.
Donut shops and getting slapped by Za Za Gabore...ah, what memories....