When good friends fight: Some thoughts about Captain America Civil War

So I went to see Captain America: Civil War and I was surprised at how violent the fight scenes were between people who had previously been friends.

As Hawkeye (I have to try hard not to call him Legolas!) and Black Widow are fighting she says ‘we’re still friends right?’ Legolas Hawkeye replies ‘that depends on how hard you hit me’.

In one sense, the film is fairly tragic as it shows how easily a group of people can shift from cooperation to collapse and confrontation.

It all starts with a disagreement over the issue of accountability. The governments of the world want the Avengers to act under their supervision and this splits the team down the middle. Soon after this, the split becomes more personal and the theme of revenge dominates the rest of the film (I would like to explain more but don’t want to give away any spoilers).

During the fight sequences the former friends really let each other have it as they pound and beat on each other. The most tragic thing about the film is that most of the hatred and desire for revenge is sadly fueled by misinformation and misunderstanding.

There was a lot to enjoy about the film, especially the parts played by Spiderman and Ant Man (must be something about insects!). Mostly though, I was left thinking about how I want to be more careful that ever before not to leap to conclusions before I have all of the information about situations that I find upsetting.

The best bit of the film for me was the two end of credits sequence. One is a powerful demonstration of all that is best about humanity and the second is just hilarious.

So, how will we treat our friends and colleagues? When we hear things that they have allegedly said or done that upset us, will we seek the facts before responding or retaliating?

When things go wrong, will we continue to cooperate with the people around us or will we allow collapse and confrontation to occur?

Jesus talked about us treating one another the way we want to be treated and about loving one another. Now that sounds like a much better way of living!