Captain America and the Hypocrisy of PEDs

In the extensive debate about Performance Enhancing Drugs, PEDs for short, it's hard not to have some kind of “falling from grace” narrative behind every single doping scandal found in American major league sports. Barry Bonds, A-Rod, and Lance Armstrong primarily come to my mind; All of them were the big faces of their sports, and all of them fell from the good graces of the sports world and the public eye. “They let us down as fans,” “they tainted the integrity of American sports,” “They should be ashamed, kids look up to them.” All of these thoughts have passed through the minds of many.  As a person who is not into sports but proudly wears the badge of casual nerd, I want to frame this conversation in a different light. One hypocritical thought comes to mind when it comes to the negative connotations of PEDs in sports. Wasn’t Captain America, the comic book representation and manifestation of American ideals, beloved by the American public, created by PEDs to become a Super Soldier?

For what it’s worth, I’m aware Captain America isn’t a real person and has nothing to do with sports but bear with me for a second. Captain America and his success in the Marvel Universe is all due to the use of a PED. If you haven’t read the comics or seen the 2011 film, Captain America: The First Avenger, here is a quick rundown: Captain America’s origin story is about a small, frail aspiring comic book artist from Lower East Side of Manhattan that wants to enlist as a soldier in WWII but continually gets rejected every time he applies. He eventually gets chosen to be apart of Operation: Super Soldier for his ideals as opposed to his physical attributes and with the help of some Super Soldier Serum becomes Captain America with the suit and the shield and all that jazz. A bunch of stuff happens and then goes on to be one of the most iconic superheroes of all time.  (It’s an op-ed piece people, not a Wikipedia page. I’m not gonna go into all of it today.)

Many people in and out of the US can quickly identify “good American” values in Captain America. He has a strong moral compass, tremendously loyal and passionate about what he believes in, brave, and charismatic. On top of that, he has physical capabilities that far exceed human capacities such as increased strength, endurance, speed, durability and expedited healing among other abilities thanks to the Super Soldier Serum. The thing is, most people don’t like Cap for only his physical capabilities— they like him for what he stands for. Kids look up to him, dress up as him for Halloween, and even have birthday parties with him as the theme. Most American adults remember him as their fictional role model growing up. But no one is gonna say that he is a bad role model/ superhero for using a fictional PED...Why?

He’d still be the way he is with or without the Super Soldier Serum. Would he have achieved the kind of iconic status he has without the serum? Hell no. He would have stayed an unrealized scrawny kid in Manhattan without it. Lived and died like an average person, like the rest of us (although I wouldn’t say being in suspended animation in an iceberg is an excellent alternative to try and live longer.)The thing is, we expect our players in sports to meet that same expectation: they need to have these almost superhuman strengths but still be “morally good” by playing a fair game with no enhancements whatsoever. Bonds and Rodriguez hold their respective records for more than 40 home runs in multiple seasons, and Armstrong won seven Tour De France titles. Could they have done that without the help of PEDs? Apparently not. But the expectation the public holds for them and what is physically possible for mere mortals doesn’t add up without some help. What we expect from players in sports is something we can only find in a comic book that holds both a fictitious world and unrealistic expectations within their pages.