On frozen super soldiers

I've read a lot of fanfic where Avengers introduce Steve to pop culture that happened after he went into the ice.
I was reading something about Shakespeare and started to wonder, how much of the culture that happened before he froze is he likely to have seen?
I mean, I haven't seen all the plays, but that's only because I didn't get around to watching all the BBC versions from the library. If you had to wait for someone to actually put on the plays, that could take a bit of a while. But in New York maybe not so long. I have no idea.
And I guess I'm asking an economic question and a question about what was even popular and some other questions too I haven't thought of yet.

Also, I know we love Buffy and Firefly and Star Trek and all of that, but my Cultural Studies course spent years on pop culture barely mentioning them, so I keep getting this urge to make an actual syllabus, with accompanying essays and political notes, to get him caught up on the major cultural arguments of the years he lost, rather than just watching the stuff we actually like.
With his experience of propaganda and interest in art he'd get a lot out of the courses I just did, though he'd probably want more art history and much less literature.




I spent sixteen hours asleep today and woke up with a head full of this and a speech I've been wanting to give Clint that I just realised I could put in my OC's mouth if I grab a few bits of X2 and marysue the hell out of her. I think at this point the only thing stopping me writing is the whole same set of things that has had me not writing for a whole year now. The idea is solid and enough about the canon characters I think it should work as a fanfic.

Attitudes to homosexuality

Still reading Avengers fic.
There's a lot of happy warm fuzzy fic where everyone is bi and sex happens a lot. I like. Is good.
But there's also a lot where someone is horribly homophobic (and gets over it in the usual slash fiction way.)

And usually that's Steve, on the basis that everyone in the 40s was horribly homophobic and it was illegal and prison and kicked out of the army etc etc etc
And, yes, there was all that bad stuff, laws, hospitals, getting kicked out or not let in, at least in theory, but that wasn't the whole story.

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So, while it's perfectly possible Steve grew up with nasty attitudes and had to live with homophobia and finds the new days a bright and shining relief, it's also possible he knew guys, or was guys, and nobody did much about it because busy.



Flip side of what I read, Tony Stark.
There is a lot of fic that considers it so obvious Tony is bi that it's just background, something Steve can find out on the net, something the whole world knows from parties.
And, yes, the man has chemistry with everyone.

But, you can plausibly get somewhere else from his life.

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I think there's plenty of room for Tony to be seriously messed up about relationships, and especially about being queer.


I *like* better when everyone is healthy and happy and loves who they love and it's all awesome.
But if there has to be a journey to get there... I kind of like the idea of 40s guy who, as far as we know, has barely even been kissed, being the one to teach Tony Stark, famous playboy, some important things about what he likes in bed.
And Captain America being the shining beacon of all that is good, teaching Tony to see himself as someone better, is also the fun theme, especially if it involves coming out on national television and campaigning for all the social justice.