The Value of Forgiveness in ‘The Falcon and Winter Soldier’
Mary Rose Somarriba
Marvel Studios had a good night at the MTV Movie and TV Awards this week. The award show hosted by comedian Leslie Jones recognized WandaVision among its top awards, as well as the latest Marvel series on Disney+, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
Actor Anthony Mackie (Sam Wilson, aka “the Falcon”) won two awards for his role in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, including “best hero.” “You guys will never know the amount of blood, sweat and tears that went into this show, so thank you,” he said in his acceptance speech. What’s more, Mackie and Sebastian Stan (Bucky Barnes, aka “the Winter Soldier”) won “best duo” for their partnership in the series.
That fan voters brought attention to Mackie’s role of heroism and the duo’s performances speaks to the on-screen dynamism of the two. And it just so happens part of that dynamism came from the characters’ depictions of forgiveness in action.
Forgiving other people
The plot of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier follows Sam and Bucky in the aftermath of the last film in the Marvel franchise, Avengers: End Game. Thanos has been defeated, half of the world’s population which he had erased with a finger snap have been returned to Earth, and some folks have gone on to their eternal reward. Among the heroes whose journeys have come to an end is Captain America, but before he retires, the duty-and-honor-bound Avenger passes on his iconic shield to a successor, Sam.
While this end-of-film scene left many scratching their heads as to what it will entail for the Falcon, the TV series starts right where the film left off, with Sam scratching his head just the same. Feeling unworthy of the shield, Sam donates it to a museum in the nation’s capital, where it is put on display.
Shortly thereafter, however, terrorist activity across the globe calls for Sam’s attention, and viewers begin to wonder if Sam would be better off using the vibranium shield in battle. Bucky, Captain America’s longtime friend, is convinced that Sam committed a grave mistake in giving up the shield. As the two reconnect to combat a growing network of super soldiers, Bucky can’t seem to stop grilling Sam on the topic.
Along the course of the series, Bucky learns more about the mixed feelings that led to Sam’s choice and, with greater understanding, grows to forgive him. Bucky also appears to forgive former enemy Baron Helmut Zemo (Daniel Brühl) for the greater purpose of defeating the Flag-Smashers’ terrorist network.
Forgiving a larger establishment or system
The Flag-Smashers are led by a terrorist super soldier named Karli Morgenthau, and they are unhappy with how world governments are responding to the return of half the population after Thanos’ destructive work was undone. With a somewhat unclear mission, Morgenthau leads the Flag-Smashers in anarchist stunts to assert their dissatisfaction with the new world order. Along the way, Morgenthau justifies murder of civilians.
When Sam first encounters Morgenthau, he hopes to connect with her human-to-human and talk her out of her radical ways. While Morgenthau appears at times to entertain Sam’s points, each time she backs out and returns to a rigid stance of resentment toward the establishment. She cannot bring herself to move on or forgive those she perceives have wronged her and the people she represents. In a way, what makes Sam heroic stands in clear contrast to what makes Morgenthau antagonistic—he is willing to forgive her past wrongdoings if she’ll just stop furthering violence; but she’s unwilling to budge.
In a contrasting plot development, Sam encounters an American super soldier from decades past named Isaiah Bradley, who explains that the United States military abused him for years with torturous testing to exploit his super-soldier capabilities. While Bradley shares with Sam that he has struggled to forgive the United States for what they did to him, with Sam’s help, he appears to ultimately encounter conciliation with the country that betrayed him.
Forgiving oneself
Another development in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier features Bucky struggling to forgive himself. The super soldier spent years hijacked by a terrorist organization and struggles to face the past crimes he committed, in addition to making amends to those he has hurt. While Bucky experiences his ups and downs in facing his wrongdoings as the Winter Soldier, with the help of Sam’s friendship and therapeutic intervention, he ultimately comes to find peace.
In the end, the story of the Disney+ series centers on forgiveness so much so that its villains are most identifiable by their lack of forgiveness and its heroes are recognized by their turn toward it. And the biggest hero of the series, Sam Wilson, is marked not only by his propensity to forgive, but also by his tireless attempts to invite others to as well, to join him on the higher path of heroism.
Forgiveness is one of the most significant struggles that we face, especially after we may have been wronged. It is also, however, an integral aspect of faith, and a goal every person of faith should strive to achieve. It may be challenging, but an essential part of everyone’s walk through life, and an essential and distinctive part of living your faith
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