Captain America: C.S. Lewis and the Super Soldier Serum

Whenever I watch superhero movies set in the complexly intertwined and overlapping world of Marvel, I resort to what any amateur superhero fan would do- repeatedly ask my younger brother to explain what the heck is going on:

What is this power source? Ooh, that’s the one from Thor? So does this happen after or before… Oh I see, he didn’t time travel its was- what did you call it- He was “Cryogenically frozen”… yeah, how does that work?- Of course I know its fiction, I was just wondering... remind me again why they're trying to kill him?...That explosion seemed a bit excessive…. Oh! It’s the guy with the eye patch! Why is he here again?...

So naturally, when the question of “whats the deal with the Super Soldier Serum?” arose the response I received was this: It makes the good things about people better (Integrity, bravery, honesty, courage...), but can also make the bad things about them worse (selfishness, pyromaniacal tendencies, diabolical infatuations, etc... you get the picture). The serum magnified the positive attributes about Steve Rogers and elevated him from just a "great guy" to superhero status. Naturally, many of us watching may have found ourselves musing "I wish I had some of that....". Well, what if I told you C.S. Lewis knew where to get it?

In CS Lewis' "The Four Loves" he devotes an entire chapter to the type of love which is friendship. Here’s a glimpse into what he says:

“Friendship (as the ancients saw) can be a school of virtue; but also (as they did not see) a school of vice. It is ambivalent. It makes good men better and bad men worse." (The Four Loves, 1960)

Lightbulb! Doesn’t that sound suspiciously familiar?

Friendship is a particular type of love that elevates us in a powerful way. It bands us together as we play off eachother's strengths in a mutual journey that should ultimately uplift and strengthen everyone involved. The self-assurance and support that a loving group of peers instills in us can go great lengths to give us the confidence and courage to become who God created us to be. I could go on and on about the benefits of friendship, but I think most people can think of at least one friend whom they are a better person for encountering.

But lets not forget the flipside of the Super Soldier Serum- It not only makes good men better, but bad men worse. Again, I defer to the Master, C.S. Lewis:

“Every real friendship is a sort of secession, even a rebellion. It may be a rebellion… of good men against the badness of society or of bad men against its goodness…in each knot of friendship there is a sectional “public opinion” which fortifies its members against the public opinion of the community in general. Each therefore is a pocket of potential resistance. Men who have friends are less easy to manage or “get at”; harder for good Authority to correct or for bad Authorities to corrupt…I said above that in good friendship each member often feels humility towards the rest. He sees that they are splendid and counts himself lucky to be among them. But unfortunately the they and them are also, from another point of view we and us. Thus the transition from individual humility to corporate pride is very easy.” (The Four Loves, 1960)

While friendship can certainly aid to broaden our minds, it can also be a trap which causes us to shut out ideas from those who are outside our realm of similarity. If friendship is to help good men get better, it must be oriented in the proper direction. C.S. Lewis makes it clear that a "good friendship" aimed at the wrong goal is even more dangerous than a poor friendship. When Steve Rogers made the decision to accept the serum, he was assuming the responsibility to be particularly attentive to his interior motivations to ensure he was always orienting this new power towards the common good. So too must we be vigilant in the influences we posses over our friends.

The bottom line: The Super Soldier Serum is the root of Captain America’s super powers. It transforms an already good man into a great man who's virtues and capabilities are vastly expanded. Friendship can do the same thing for us. Man was created for community, so truly good friendships can be the difference between being just a "good guy" and being a superhero-saint. Just like the Super Soldier Serum gave Cap a new level of superdom that he could not have achieved without it, so too does friendship give us the opportunity to elevates our character and enrich our souls in a way that we cannot do alone. But as always, we must be prepared to use this power for the greater good!