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Bucky seems oddly OK with killing all those people

posted 7 years ago by sarahb2 (69)
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Am I the only one who was really surprised at how complacent and OK Bucky seemed to be with remembering that he was the Winter Soldier?

I mean, in the comic books, Bucky is horrified and anguished over remembering that he had killed so many people, to the point where he tells Steve "You should have killed me."

Here...nothing. Bucky's entire attitude toward this film seems to be almost like he's stoned. Calm, blank-faced, just kind of a "meh" attitude, like being the Winter Soldier didn't bother him all that much.

Why is that? Lazy writing? Sebastian Stan not being that good of an actor? Maybe too many characters so the writers just focused on Iron Man and Scarlet Witch (who seemed to be the only two characters who really got any attention)?

It was just weird. I was expecting Bucky to be at least a LITTLE upset that he woke up from 60 years of mind control to discover he had murdered scores of innocent people. But he doesn't seem to care at all. He's totally deadpan, even when being put into the hibernation chamber. Stan speaks his lines like he's talking to the cashier while checking out at WalMart. Disappointing.

[–] prometheus1816 (1060) 7 years ago

We don't know much about how Bucky felt because we didn't get much of a chance to find out. The film didn't give us anything other than his saying he remembered them all. We don't know what his feelings were because of the fight between he and Steve and Tony. I'm watching the film now and Tony asked him if he remembered them. My belief is that Tony wants to know if he remembered his parents. Bucky was saying he remembered them all, but we can't know how he really felt because of the fighting.

So I'm going to ask you: Do you think Tony remembers all the people his weapons killed? Do you think he remembered that his bomb killed Pietro and Wanda's parents? Bucky has an excuse in his being brainwashed. Tony has no excuse. His name was and is on the company. His abrogation to Obidiah Stane is no excuse. If you want to blame Bucky for what he did, which face it he couldn't help doing what he did, then Tony needs to stop being so much of a prick and own up to what his company did after Howard's death at Bucky's hands.

And I suppose you forgot that scene after the airport fight scene where he and Steve were in the Quinjet flying to Siberia. His words were that he did it. Steve says to him it wasn't his fault. Bucky says, "Yeah, but I still did it....." That scene always gets me every time because we see the depth of the friendship between Bucky and Steve and we see how much what he did bothers Bucky. Remember again Bucky was brainwashed and Sebastian Stan played all aspects of that to perfection.

[–] sarahb2 (69) 7 years ago

But the thing is that Tony DOES own up to the fact his bombs killed a lot of people; but he's had a whole lifetime to deal with that fact, and he's not an idiot. His support of the Sakovia Accords is his way of atoning for that - plus, he's got a pretty thick shell. His snark hides a lot of emotional pain, and he's good at it. He's had practice.

Bucky hasn't. He was basically just a good-guy regular Joe before he became the Winter Soldier. If you were kidnapped, brainwashed, and then when you came back to yourself found out you'd killed dozens and dozens of innocent people, what would your reaction be? Even if you knew it wasn't your fault, wouldn't you be a LITTLE upset about it?

Bucky's reaction - which we see throughout 'Civil War' - is apparently, "Wow. Bummer. Oh well." He has NO reaction. He doesn't seem upset at all. He really doesn't seem to care.

And yes, I do remember when he said "Yeah, but I still did it." He said with all the emotional intensity of a guy telling somebody what he had for breakfast. "Um, oatmeal and a banana."

Sebastian Stan played really, just about nothing. Anybody could have read those lines because they were said with no emotion and no inflection. Stan is actually a decent actor so my only guess is that he was told to play Bucky as someone who currently has no memory. Because if I'm supposed to buy that Bucky really does remember killing all those people...then I have to ask why he doesn't care. "Oh, I was brainwashed so I don't really care" doesn't cut it. The Bucky in the comics wanted to die.

[–] prometheus1816 (1060) 7 years ago

Tony had to have something drastic happen TO him in order to actually admit his weapons did harm. Do you honestly think that had he not been taken hostage by the Afghan soldiers he'd have changed? Not likely. He would have still let Pepper run Stark Industries and likely Obadiah Stane would still have had his hands in the cookie jar.

As for Bucky's so-called "lack of reaction". Did we watch the same film? He said, "Yeah, but I did it." Steve said, "It doesn't matter...." Steve knows Bucky was not himself when he did those things. You can tell by the fact that without those words being said to him, he was James Buchanan Barnes. After Zemo and the Russian guards in that installation "activated" him he was a juggernaut who did as he was brainwashed to do. Without them he was Bucky. He wasn't being glib about what he'd done. The one who tried to minimize it was Steve, not Bucky. And had Bucky not been taken POW back in the war by Hydra/Red Skull, then after the fall from the train, he wouldn't have been used as a weapon. And by no means did he say it as you claim he said it. He was horrified at what he'd been made to do, which the reason at the end of the film (mid-credits scene) he asked to be put back in the deep freeze. He didn't want to harm anyone else until T'Challa's people could get whatever Hydra put in there, out. Remember what T'Challa said to Steve, "Let them come...." He knew Bucky was not responsible for what was done and was so steadfast in that belief he was willing to put his reputation and Wakanda at the fore to PROTECT Bucky.

The Bucky in these films is not the one in the comics. Remember that. None of these characters are the ones in the books. Tony/Iron Man certainly isn't the braggart and hubris filled brat Tony is in the books. RDJ plays him with a certain amount of loathing.

One thing you have to remember about Bucky and Steve, they're soldiers. They've been trained as soldiers. Soldiers are trained to not allow emotion to interfere with the jobs they have to do. Steve wasn't at all crying in his beer about having to go after Hydra or Pierce. Bucky is now aware of what he's done. Like the soldier he was and is, he buries that to get the job done.

[–] DracTarashV2 (4496) 7 years ago

This is what the filmmakers said about Bucky in this film:

He's not Bucky Barnes anymore, he's not the Winter Soldier anymore. He's something in-between. There's a part of his personality that was under mind control, and he murdered a lot of people. So he has a very complicated history. Who is that person? How does that character move forward?"

After 2014’s The Winter Soldier, his character disappeared and took some time to process everything that had happened to him. In Civil War, he didn’t suddenly become aware of the awful things he had done. When Steve told Bucky it wasn’t really him who committed these acts, to me Bucky sounds - and has the look - of someone who is filled with remorse but has come to terms with what he’s done. When he woke up after being brainwashed by Zemo, he finds out he went back to his old ways but fully understands that it was beyond his control. It is something he has learned to live with. Furthermore, even with the time that past between Winter Soldier and Civil War, he still had difficulty trying to remember who he used to be before he was brainwashed. He remembers his friendship with Steve, but there is a big part of him that isn’t quite there anymore. So although all the mind control Hydra put him through continues to affect and haunt him, he realistically got over his initial shock by the time Civil War came along. As a result, having him appear phlegmatic and unconcerned with his actions throughout the film wasn’t really odd. It was an honest portrayal.

Btw, I think Cap himself (AND Bucky) was definitely given focus in his own film.