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An Open Letter To Three Children I’ll Never Meet

There were three small boys of about eight to ten sitting behind me and my three friends today at Captain America. These children chattered throughout the film, as children are prone to do in theaters, and initially I felt that it would be irritating — until I realized just what they meant for the movie as one of them muttered “Oh wow!” as the trailer for Adventures of Tintin rolled.

I love comics. I’m not a particularly brave man, I’m in mediocre shape and always have been, and I’ve spent much of my life indulging in arguably unhealthy amounts of escapism. As a child, I loved Spider-Man, the Green Lantern Corps, and of course Cap. I loved these characters because they were good, brave people. They went up against suicidal odds knowing full well of the consequences because they wanted to protect the people around them from harm. I spent a lot of time awkwardly avoiding kids who were stronger and meaner than I was, and I dreamed of having the kind of guts that Captain America had, and to stand up for what I knew was right. It didn’t matter that he wasn’t real, he represented ideals that were real and that was and is good enough for me.

And even today, while my tastes have matured, there is a place in my heart for good guys winning against bad guys to help everyone else. Captain America was a movie that brought me back to the days where I would come home after a long day where I felt nothing went right, and read about how Steve Rogers fought hard to make things better.

Which brings me to the kids in the theater:

Thank you. Thank you so much, you three nameless kids. Thank you for shouting “Watch out!” when Steve was rescuing the soldiers and declaring “That’s the bad guy!” when Red Skull revealed himself. I’m glad that you enjoyed the movie, because I know if I had seen that years ago I would have reacted the same way, and I would have gone home and waved a trash can lid around pretending I was the hero that all boys secretly want to be. You were right to yell “GET OUTTA THERE GET OUTTA THERE!” when the building was falling down, and you were right to wonder “What’s he looking for?” when Red Skull scoured that room for a yet-unnamed artifact. Please keep loving heroes. Don’t bother outgrowing them, because as somebody who tried for a few years, it’s not worth it. Cynicism isn’t worth it. You can be the good guy who stands for what’s right, no matter how sickly and weak you are. Have a great life.

With love,

The 17 year old kid in front of you who was cheering with you.

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    every word. ;_; One day when...hope they’ll enjoy them as much as
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