Iron Man! (yes, I know I'm way behind the rest of the world)

[edenfalling]

Susan, Cat and I saw Iron Man tonight. I LOVED it!

It has kind of wonky subtext about America and military power and interventionism -- it's trying to be for them and against them in the same movie, and I'm not sure they were anywhere near clear enough on where they're drawing very finicky moral lines -- but it's very hard to care about that while the film is playing, and actually, I like having something serious to think about afterwards. :-)

I also utterly, completely, and totally love that when Tony tries to sweet-talk Pepper just before the press conference that ends the film, reminding her about the night they almost kissed on a roof... she reminds him that he then went inside to get her a drink, never came back, never explained, and never apologized. And she doesn't fall for it.

Cat, Susan, and I were torn over Pepper's high heeled shoes in the climax scenes. On the one hand, it's understandable that she isn't used to running for her life, and she wanted to look normal and professional when she went into Stark Industries to do computer espionage for Tony. On the other hand, she should have realized that she might have to run if Obadiah caught on to her.

I'm cutting her slack for this movie, but if she's still wearing impractical shoes in the sequel (I'm sure there'll be a sequel), I will be deeply annoyed at the writers, costumers, producers, et al. Because four-inch stilletto heels are not practical for action scenes.

Heels aside, the way Pepper grabbed the SHIELD agent and used him to cover her escape was brilliant. One wonderful thing about this movie is that brains count just as much as raw physical strength, if not more. And all of the main characters are basically smart people.

See, intelligence isn't something to look down on. Intelligence is cool. Intelligent people can build robot suits that let them fly. :-)

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*recites mantra: I will not write Iron Man fanfiction, I will not write Iron Man fanfiction, I will not write Iron Man fanfiction...*

Comments

[alchymie.livejournal.com]

You are no further behind than I am. I only saw it last night, too!

**response to mantra: You may not have time to write Iron Man fanfiction. But you're thinking about it, aren't you? You're actually plotting a story...**

[edenfalling]

Mmm. So far, I've successfully kept my vague, free-floating ideas and niggling urges to fix and/or explain stuff from coalescing into actual plot bunnies... but it's not easy!

On the other hand, if I fail, well, at least I'll have fun? :-)

[valles-uf.livejournal.com]

Well, I've missed my chance! Rather than seeing Iron Man on Thursday, I went to Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (which was, by the by, a blast).

Friday they stopped showing it.

So, I guess I won't until the DVD comes out.

*shrug*

Not much of a superhero person anyway.

[annearchy.livejournal.com]

Iron Man rules:)

[edenfalling]

WORD. :-)

[elenathehun.livejournal.com]

See, I thought the message was "Build weapons - but only for America!"

[bewize.livejournal.com]

Loved Iron Man. Loved Tony Stark in all his slightly misogynistic glory. And adored Pepper Potts to an almost inhuman amount.

[delishka.livejournal.com]

I just saw the film yesterday also...and you're right, those shoes just completely threw me off. Whenever they showed them, I was like you're kidding, right? They were very distracting. Afterwords I complained about them to my husband and my dad....neither of them had noticed.

[edenfalling]

The thing is, while Iron Man is technically a superhero... Iron Man the movie is not nearly as genre-bound as you might think. For one thing, there are no superpowers. For another, Tony's a jerk. For a third, the conflict is as much about character and business practices as about two guys in mechanical suits beating each other up -- while the fight scenes are well done, I was almost sorry at the climax because I'd been enjoying the human scale conflict so much.

It's a story of the awakening of a man's conscience, or a war story, or a story about ethics in business, as much as it's an action movie. And the actors, director, writers, etc. really get what makes an action movie better than it strictly needs to be (i.e., what else you need besides a few quips, attractive leads, and some nifty explosions), and they hit the right flow back and forth from funny to serious to just flat-out COOL.

[edenfalling]

That's one of the messages, definitely. On the other hand, Tony decides to stop building weapons for anyone... except his suit, of course, but even there he goes out of his way to make sure nobody else will get their hands on the tech behind it.

Which is ethically problematic in its own right -- I'm sure there would be countless civilian uses for arc reactor technology, if such a thing existed -- but considering how morally... not bankrupt, but maybe blind?... how morally blind Tony was before, attempting to prevent misuse of his inventions is a definite step in the right direction.

Like I said, I don't think the film is nearly clear enough on its ethical position, but in a way, that's a good thing, since it allows people to take different things away from the story.

[edenfalling]

I'm not sure I'd call Tony a misogynist so much as a narcissist.* He's equally dismissive of men; it's just less noticeable since he doesn't seem to be sexually attracted to them. And he's fairly upfront about being a jerk, so on one level I feel that anyone who gets involved with him should know what she's getting into.

On the other hand, he's still a jerk. And the strip-dance pole in his private jet was, I think, a step too far. Miniskirts and low-cut shirts on the flight attendants would have been enough to get the point across, and while he became a better person over the course of the film, I don't think he ever quite realized that he was objectifying people -- seeing them as entertainment rather than as people -- the same way the Ten Rings group objectified him, seeing him only as a source of money or a tool for building more weapons.

*I'm not sure how much Tony actually likes himself, either, which makes narcissism not quite the right term, but I can't think of a more accurate one off the top of my head.

[edenfalling]

Men just don't get how hard those things are to walk in. I have trouble in two-inch heels with a wide base. Trying to walk through rubble in Pepper's shoes is absurd.

But they make her legs look nice, so... *makes face*

[bewize.livejournal.com]

I can see your points, and even agree with them to an extent. The misogynist comment was aimed more at the fact that he would only interact with women who met his "attractiveness" quota. I agree he was equally dismissive of men who couldn't rise to his demands, but those demands were more intellectual and less... visual.

Although, you're right about the fact that I don't think Tony hated women in particular, he just used them for sex only.

I'll have to think about what the correct term for that would be, if the modern slang "player" isn't acceptable. *amused*

[snaegl.livejournal.com]

Actually, not liking oneself is the key predisposition to narcissism. The narcissist is constantly trying to hide his or her own poor self image by creating a bombastic outer persona.

If you're interested more in the psychology, you might want to read Trapped in the Mirror by Elan Golomb, which examines the adult children of clinical narcissists and their coping mechanisms. I found it a tremendously fascinating and enlightening read.