I’m with You till the End of the Line
The story is simple. A tale as old as time. A little bit of pals to paramours, a pinch of enemies to superhuman booty smashers, and a sprinkle of the good old fashioned star-crossed lovers. Just take off your homophobic glasses for a moment and take a gander at this undying tale of pain and passion. A story of two souls, a constellation of love in the vast multiverse, eternally burning in unbreakable devotion. Let us take a second to appreciate this legen…wait for it…dary love story.
It all started in a dainty little town on the west side of Brooklyn. The short and scrawny Steve and buff and built Bucky were childhood friends. The viewers swooned as a remarkable bond unfolded between them, inseparable in their pursuit of justice. Bucky had his back through thick and thin; whatever came, he was there for Steve. However hard his day was, Bucky was his safe haven. Steve was an ordinary guy with an extraordinary heart – The perfect damsel in distress to Bucky’s knight in shining armour.
Steve was heartbroken when Bucky went missing. The driving force behind Steve trying his hardest to get into the army was to help retrieve his partner. Skip a few steps, and we arrive at the genesis of the Greek God of a man, from bottom to top, that we all know and love (to look at). Before you know it, Steve was riding in on his motorcycle, thrusting his shield and magazines unloading into Nazis left and right. Nothing could stop him on his way to Bucky. Then, they became “The Dynamic Duo,” kicking ass and taking names. This power couple didn’t last long, as Bucky did a typical Gwen Stacy and fell into his “apparent” demise while on a mission. There was no dry eye left after witnessing Steve’s eternal anguish.
Cut to 70 years later, and no amount of ice could thaw this eternal story. As fate would have it, they end up confronting each other on the battlefield. Devoid of his former memories, Bucky is out on a murder spree to kill his mate. Even in the throes of hand-to-hand combat, Steve sees beyond the Winter Soldier persona, recognizes his Bucky within and refuses to give up on him. His unwavering faith catalyses Bucky’s journey toward redemption and self-acceptance. At the end of the day, it is Steve who commandeered Bucky’s victory over Hydra’s brainwashing. Even when his control over his consciousness is compromised, Bucky knows that Steve was someone special, which is visible when he saves his life at the end of “The Winter Soldier.”
In the opening scenes of the next movie, Bucky is framed for a heinous act. As the events of Civil War unfold, the entire world is hunting for Bucky Barnes, everyone but Steve Rogers. Between following the law or standing by Bucky, the self-righteous Captain America chooses the latter without a second thought. He chooses his Bucky over everything else- his morals, ethics, country, and friends. He is willing to split his team and family into two just for Bucky. He fights against the entire world just to keep Bucky safe. And what else can you call this if not an act of pure unadulterated love? He even relinquishes his shield which signifies everything he fights for and everything he is – it is his entire identity.
His love for Bucky is visible in the miles he covers, the lengths he goes to, the people he opposes, and the battles he fights. Romeo and Juliet should take a hike, there is no romance novel greater than this. Let’s take a second to compare this with the “relationship” that Steve had with Sharon Carter. It makes no sense if we disregard the fact that she is a girl, and he is a guy. The chemistry resembles the process of trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. The interactions are so lifeless, the sparks non-existent, and her effect on his journey oh-so-insignificant. And let’s not forget the cherry on top of it all, the very fact that she is the niece of his ex. (We have talked more about her than Cap has after Winter Soldier)
To anyone who is still not convinced of even the slightest sliver of the possibility of a romantic interaction between the two, just for a second, suppose one of them had a vagina, and how fast would you have jumped aboard the #stucky ship? The very reason this ship is downplayed is, well, “they are both men.” In a world where a man simply opening a door for a woman (who is more than capable of doing it herself, but that’s a story for another day) is considered a swoon-worthy act of romance, how on Earth is Steve fighting half the Avengers for Buck nothing but a basic bromance? How is the very thought that Steve-the embodiment of American nationalism-becoming a terrorist and a refugee for Buck might stem from feelings that might not be platonic but pure blasphemy? When men and women that don’t share a modicum of the chemistry that this duo possess end up together, people rejoice, but somehow implying that Steve and Bucky might have shared romantic feelings is propagating the gay agenda.
All I know is that somewhere in the wide expanse of the multiverse, Steve whispers in Bucky’s ear, “I can do this all day.”
A piece by Lekshmi and Selvanayagam
