Goal and Consequence of Captain America: Civil War

analysis
#22

This movie from beginning to end is about the two topics of peace of mind and autonomy.

In the beginning sequence they set up the stripping away of Bucky’s autonomy and the shattering event of Tony’s peace of mind, both then and at the end.

Then the avengers are in Lagos under their own autonomy to capture Renlo.
Then Renlo breaks Cap’s peace of mind by telling him Bucky remembered him.
Wanda’s “mistake” hurts everyone’s peace of mind.
The very next scene is Tony’s spendy holodeck that he made to try and find his peace with his parents death.
Then Alfrie Woodard breaks Tony’s peace of mind even more by blaming him for her son’s death.
Then there’s a bunch of news reports questioning the right to autonomy of the Avengers.
Then there’s the scene between Steven and Wanda where he’s trying to help her find a way to live with what happened.
Then the Sec of State comes tries to break everyone’s peace of mind by showing them all the destruction that is left behind from their “battles” and tells them we’re going to take over your autonomy (the Sokovia Accords)
The next scene is Zemo collecting the what he needs to get his weapon that has no autonomy (if you speak the magic words)
The next scene is the logic debate between the team and Tony makes his HUGE switch to assuage his guilt (seek peace of mind) about giving up his/the team’s autonomy (which is the complete opposite from the first Iron Man movie)
Then Peggy dies hurting Steve’s peace of mind again, but he gets that message from beyond the grave…stick to your own guns
Then there’s the discussion between Steve and Nat about where everyone stands and her trying to offer him comfort/peace of mind that he wasn’t alone
Then a discussion between T’challa and Nat about politics and how 2 people (autonomy) can get more done that 100 (decisions by committee) As an extra side note I would like to point out the hypocrisy of T’Chaka and T’Challa, they weren’t planning on relinquishing their own autonomy over “black panther” – just saying.
And then you have Zemo’s bomb explosion his autonomous decision, using Bucky who’s autonomy he is subsuming.

So there is ACT 1…but honest ALL the Acts are looking at the same issues. peace of mind and autonomy.

#23

I’m not denying that Civil War could easily be about peace of mind.

What I was trying to relate is the fact that the language “Peace of mind comes to those who…” does NOT reference a goal (nor a Story Goal) in the Narrative Argument format. Whether the goal is or is not “peace of mind” has no effect on the “Peace of mind comes to those who…” verbiage. That verbiage results from stories that have Linear/Changed/Failure/Good story points.

It is only those four points (Problem-Solving Style, Resolve, Outcome, Judgement) with those values (Linear, Changed, Failure, Good) that can result in a Narrative Argument with that verbiage. Thus, using the verbiage “Peace of mind comes to those who…” as an argument for why “peace of mind” is the goal or Story Goal is comparing, at best, oranges to tangerines. Related, but not enough for conviction.

Now, to talk about the actual Story Goal, I’m wondering if what I consider as “peace of mind” is different from what you’re considering as “peace of mind”. Maybe an umbrella term for guilt, worry, and related emotions?

In any case, yes, there is a lot of storytelling covering the baggage everyone feels. However, I can’t recall a single scene in which such attempts are the overall source of problems. If anything, those seem more like a Focus or Direction. I say this because it is something of which the characters seem keenly to be aware and trying to manipulate.

That said, what everyone wants regarding the activities of superheroes is definitely a source of issues and conflict. This comes from your “peace of mind” examples, and even accounts for the feeling that the Accords should be involved. As such, there is a plot of the Desire of Physics (Obtaining), or a theme of the Desire of Doing (Experience), or maybe both. Experience is meh, but I like Obtaining:

  • Giving Up versus Keeping one’s freedom. - Wasn’t this the whole reason for the fight?
  • Going after Bucky. - Basically made Cap vs Tony because of government against it.
  • Destroying a Team - Would there have been a fight if the team didn’t care in the first place?
  • Freeing the “Prisoners” - This threw the final wrench to produce the climax.

Now, the above is actually a result of my own analysis. Overall, it appears that the OS Concern is Obtaining. Thus, the Story Goal is Obtaining, but Obtaining or Losing what? Well, who’s doing the pursuing in this movie? Cap is after Bucky. Tony is going after Cap (sort of). Zemo is after revenge. Two of these pursuits (Cap’s and Zemo’s) are, from the perspective of someone who has not seen the other Captain America movies, presented very much like revenge in both cases. So, the Story Goal, then would appear to be to Get Revenge.