Is this medievalism? A #medievaltwitter #thread on a scene from the #Avengers (2012) that I've been thinking about a lot for no reason.
Specifically, it's the scene where Loki kicks ass and subsequently gets their ass kicked in Stuttgart.

#Spoilers 1/22

A key scene in the movie, it sets up Loki's Big Plan, Cap'n America's resilience and his relationship with Iron Man. Also I feel there's a bit of veiled Dark-Age-ism in there, and a weird conflation of (anti)catholic stereotypes and modern demagoguery. So here's a question. 2/22

The scene goeth thusly: 1) Loki goes to Stuttgart to create a distraction and steal an eyeball (though not necessarily in that order). He steals said eyeball and then exits the building to wreak havoc and pontificate (in that order). 3/22

Note that, while engaging in the eyeball-stealing, he's dressed to the nines. When he goes outside, he morphs into Battle Loki - still a snazzy dresser, but decidedly less ... modern. 4/22

(digression! the "Museum" in "Stuttgart" is the Cuyahoga County Court House, a lovely Beaux-Arts building (1906-12) in Cleveland. The window on the picture above is this one: the titan Themis (representing Justice according to the Spirit, not the Letter of the Law)

(this might be relevant - I'll leave that up to you. I definitely thought it was interesting)

Anywhoozle, outside, Loki shoots a couple of police cars, people flee, havoc is wrought. Then Loki + clones herd a group together for that iconic: "KNEEL! Is not this simpler? Is this not your natural state? It’s the unspoken truth of humanity that you crave subjugation" etc 5/22

Then, even more iconic, one elderly gentleman stands up and berates Loki, telling him "there will always be men like you" and all that. Just as he's being made an example, Cap & Black Widow show up, kick ass, Iron Man brings the Big Guns, & Loki goes back to modern apparel. 6/22

Now the most obvious parallel is nazism: the setting in Germany, the explicit reference to previous dictators... right up to the Russian (Natasha Romanov) and the American (Steve Rogers) teaming up to defeat them, and Big Tech saving the day. It's a WWII metaphor! 7/22

But more generally, it's about "personal freedom" vs "submission to an authority figure" - a theme running throughout the MCU, and Hollywood, and pop culture in general. We're all individuals, after all, aren't we. 8/22

But, I wonder, this instance has some "religious" undertones that I think are tied up with Loki's costume change. Because while he's shooting up Stuttgart/Cleveland and repressing people, he's coded (?) as medieval, wearing armor and wielding a laser-spear. 9/22

And THAT version tells the crowd "You were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel".
To me that invokes Mat 11:30 (My yoke is easy and my burden is light) & many Pauline letters: the idea that submission to Christ is one that ultimately makes life easier. 10/22

"_In the end_ you will kneel" smells like eschatology and I like to think it contains echoes of, among others, Mat 28:16-20, but that's because I like reading too much into things. 11/22

It is, by and large, a sermon that comes very close to a "modern", popular idea about Christendom being an institution that lulls people into giving up their "free will" in exchange for complacency. You know what I mean. 12/22

And it's delivered by a medieval figure! Ironically, one that sort of represents the pre-Christian Middle Ages, but -- this one's not satisfied with their benevolent pseudo-polytheism (later lampooned in Thor 3, but I digress). This one wants to RULE. It's a burden, even! 13/22

(it's a burden, incidentally, sponsored by Thanos, which is short for Athanasius, the most Early Christian Name ever; also, in the comics, Thanos is courting Death which feeds into the stereotypical medieval memento-mori-style Christianity but we're not supposed to know that yet)

So, in addition to being a clear anti-nazi message, the way this scene casts its net wider & the fact that for this brief speech, Loki is in "medieval" attire, got me thinking that this should appeal to the general sort-of-enlightened-atheists in the audience as well. 14/22

The people in the audience want no god to rule over them! Also no upstart dictators!

They want AMERICA to punch that sort of talk RIGHT IN THE RIBS. 15/22

So yeah, I feel that this scene plays to a core anti-stereotypical-Christian sentiment prevalent among many people these days. Can't say I agree or disagree (being an avowed agnostic myself) but it's interesting how the #medieval imagery seems to signal this particular take 16/22

BUT WAIT! Didn't I say anti-Catholic right at the start? Yes. Because the Avengers are not overtly anti-religious! At the very least, Cap mere moments ago made a pretty solid profession of faith (not quite Athanasian but OK). 17/22

So, I wonder -- is this catering to a (white) protestant American audience? Played both for laughs and to give the hero his proper religious background - but of the non-Roman, individual-freedom-loving kind?
http://www.comicbookreligion.com/?c=11&Captain_America_Steve_Rogers 18/22

This is where I wonder if we can discern a tension between various takes on the prevalent religion of the core (Western!) audiences play out in that scene, and where Loki's wardrobe change presents the producers with a "way out" by making his attitude a "thing of the past" 19/22

I like to think there is some underlying anti-Catholicism here, but not ... anti-Catholic per se, but more based in the modern notion that medieval, pre-reformation Christendom was "ritual first, ask questions later". 20/22

An idea of Christendom that was founded upon anti-Catholic, Protestant rhetoric by propagandists keen to create a new niche for themselves. And idea that helped create the very image of "the medieval" that the Avengers here use to frame its anti-authoritarian stance. 21/22

So we've come full circle (in my mind at least). I'm not sure if the filmmakers intended any of this, but it sure made me think. And it makes me appreciate the movie and this scene in particular even more! Maybe give it a think next time you watch it!

/fin

Bibliography: https://www.movie-locations.com/movies/a/Avengers-2012.php
https://cuyahogacounty.us/my-government/legal-judicial/county-court-house/court-house-centennial-celebration/marble-staircase-and-the-largest-stained-glass-window-representing-justice
https://books.google.nl/books?id=JVpOAQAAQBAJ pp 165-182
https://books.google.nl/books?id=GJNMDwAAQBAJ pp 149-236 https://books.google.nl/books?id=ypNPDwAAQBAJ