First Avenger Captain America and Steroids: is this an issue?

[Kent]

Simply put, I think the SSS has a lot of similarities with steroid use, but none of them are the ones we usually cite when explaining why steroid use is bad.

With steroids you might see it as a "lazy" way to get results. But for Steve there's nothing lazy about it. He's born weak, and he doesn't have to capacity to get significantly stronger through hard work alone.
In sports, steroids is seen as cheating. But Steve isn't engaging in competitive sports.
Steroids also have some negative side effects like roid rage, but the SSS doesn't have that problem.

Getting artificially stronger is not bad in of its self. It's stuff like the reason for doing it, the effects of doing it, and how you chose to use it once you have the strength that decides whether its good or bad.

Will the steroid debate rear its head once the movie is out? Yes, most definitely.

 

[wootbaby]

While Captain America's results are miraculous, as opposed to steroids which actually take work and effort, the stigma for steroids is that they are a medical shortcut for an otherwise hard and grueling task of staying physically in shape.

The stigma for steroid isn't that it's a "shortcut" it's that they are proven to be unsafe.

The reason why steroids are disallowed in sports is because not everyone uses them, and it creates an unfair advantage for those people who do. And again the reason why not everyone uses them is because they damage the body and have longterm side effects.

The supersoldier serum has no such side effects and are only good.

The attitude that you all have that "drugs are bad because drugs are bad" started in the 80s with Nancy Reagan's "war on drugs" which had seriously racist undertones (drugs were seen as a "black" problem).

It has nothing to do with shortcuts. That's stupid. A vaccine is a "shortcut" to immunity. A vitamin is a "shortcut" to consuming an entire day's meat and vegetables. There's nothing wrong with shortcuts that can be logically morally supported. What's wrong is when some people have access to it and not others.

Again, supersoldier serum isn't a steroid, it's nothing like that at all. It's a simple mcguffin, like magic in tolkein or technobabble in star trek.

 

[WildcatNC]

The stigma for steroid isn't that it's a "shortcut" it's that they are proven to be unsafe.

The reason why steroids are disallowed in sports is because not everyone uses them, and it creates an unfair advantage for those people who do. And again the reason why not everyone uses them is because they damage the body and have longterm side effects.

The supersoldier serum has no such side effects and are only good.

The attitude that you all have that "drugs are bad because drugs are bad" started in the 80s with Nancy Reagan's "war on drugs" which had seriously racist undertones (drugs were seen as a "black" problem).

It has nothing to do with shortcuts. That's stupid. A vaccine is a "shortcut" to immunity. A vitamin is a "shortcut" to consuming an entire day's meat and vegetables. There's nothing wrong with shortcuts that can be logically morally supported. What's wrong is when some people have access to it and not others.

Again, supersoldier serum isn't a steroid, it's nothing like that at all. It's a simple mcguffin, like magic in tolkein or technobabble in star trek.

Agreed.

 

[KalMart]

They should call the movie...

The First* Avenger

 

[Slushy]

And remember kids, Captain America took drugs to become a hero!

 

[Nemi]

This was actually mentioned in the latest article on cracked. He's referred to as the "Barry Bonds of super heroes". Just thought it was funny.

http://www.cracked.com/article_19105_6-comics-that-covered-serious-issues-failed-hilariously.html

 

[Raiden]

ShadowBoxing, you make it sound as if Steve Rogers took steroids to make himself huge so he can get that multi-million contract playing baseball. Rogers took that serum because he wasn't physically capable of serving his country, and he wanted to become a soldier so he can fight the Nazis in WWII. His story is about sacrifice, not greed. I fail to see why there's even an issue.

 

[JAK®]

I realise that the original post is 3 years old, but I'd just like to point out that Greg Valentino's arms didn't 'explode' as a result of steroids, but of saline injections, a process where you inject the liquid into your muscles to artificially inflate them.

As for the issue of Captain America promoting steroids, he only promotes steroids if you don't know anything about steroids. They're not some 'super-soldier-serum' that magically makes your muscles start getting bigger. You still have to put in the same amount of work in the gym as you would without them. In fact you take steroids so you can do more training, because they speed up your recovery time, which is where actual muscle building takes place.

If you just took steroids and did nothing you'd just get really fat and covered in acne.

 

[KalMart]

I realise that the original post is 3 years old, but I'd just like to point out that Greg Valentino's arms didn't 'explode' as a result of steroids, but of saline injections, a process where you inject the liquid into your muscles to artificially inflate them.

As for the issue of Captain America promoting steroids, he only promotes steroids if you don't know anything about steroids. They're not some 'super-soldier-serum' that magically makes your muscles start getting bigger. You still have to put in the same amount of work in the gym as you would without them. In fact you take steroids so you can do more training, because they speed up your recovery time, which is where actual muscle building takes place.

If you just took steroids and did nothing you'd just get really fat and covered in acne.

So it's like Cap taking steroids...but getting the benefits without even putting in the work. Like stealing money to get rich, and not having to pay taxes. Sweet!

 

[Coca Cola Duracell Franklin.]

Something tells me this joke is going to get really old before the movie even comes out, and then once the movie comes out, the joke will keep going for a while.

So many people thinking they are funny and clever for making extremely obvious comparisons.

 

[captainrogers]

So it's like Cap taking steroids...but getting the benefits without even putting in the work. Like stealing money to get rich, and not having to pay taxes. Sweet!

Except Steve probably went into it with the knowlege that he would most likely die or be horribly disfiguered. After all, in the filmverse, its not like they had any proven successes. Also, there's no need to continually juice up.
Steve won kind of a lethal lottery.
and I bet that transformation had a lot of intense pain that went along with it.
......he took his vitamins and said his prayers?

 

[KalMart]

Except Steve probably went into it with the knowlege that he would most likely die or be horribly disfiguered. After all, in the filmverse, its not like they had any proven successes. Also, there's no need to continually juice up.
Steve won kind of a lethal lottery.
and I bet that transformation had a lot of intense pain that went along with it.
......he took his vitamins and said his prayers?

Yep...like betting your kids' college fund at the casino. And whattaya' know....he won! That could be you too, all you dads out there!

 

[RisanF]

I agree with the rest of the posters in that the Captain America super soldier serum feels more like a last-ditch scientific experiment with a brave guinea pig than a baseball ball player just taking some shady stuff to get an edge on the competition. However, it doesn't change the fact that Cap doesn't quite have the "self-made man" characteristics of Batman and even Iron Man (but then again, neither does Spider-Man, and people seem to like him).

 

[Danalys]

it's more akin to genetic modification. and since in most films that's shown as "science running amok we're all doomed" i think it's nice to see an alternative if still incorrect view.

 

[KalMart]

Kinda' reminiscent of Green Goblin in Spiderman...with the enhanced abilities for military purposes et al.....'cept it didn't work out quite as well for him