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ironman
June 2009 
Ironman -- harmless entertainment or dangerous mixed message?
Posted on May 3rd, 2008
by 
Mathew
Mathew
Okay, so I realize I am talking about a comic book movie however there is something deeply disturbing to me about a movie that glorifies a successful weapons manufacturer who after suddenly developing a conscience and a heart decides to give it all up to become, well, a successful weapons manufacturer -- the only difference, now he manufactures exclusively for his own personal use since weapons can't always be trusted to find their way into the hands of the righteous.
My ten year old daughter counted 50 deaths in the movie in the first 15 minutes -- then lost count.
My wife thought the movie was awesome and didn't understand why I thought it necessary to "preach" to her and our daughter after the movie. (My wife is a long time Robert Downey Jr. fan).
From a technical standpoint, I must say, the movie is truly a standout. It is funny and dramatic and the special effects are awesome -- everything you could want in a Hollywood comic book movie. The only problem is that the underlying message is "might makes right" (when placed in the right hands), and that the solution to the world's troubles is some sort of blend between humanitarianism and deadly weapons manufacturing. Is this a message that is good for the world? And should discussions such as this be encouraged?
If I didn't believe this movie was going to be a worldwide mega-blockbuster, I wouldn't have bothered to waste time and energy punching the computer keypad -- but I do -- and it saddens me immensely. Not that I am into censorship -- I just wish that we as human beings weren't so accepting of violence of any kind, even in the name of self-defense and security.
Are my feelings on this unwarranted? Am I making a big deal out of nothing? Love to hear your thoughts...
Namaste,
Mathew
My ten year old daughter counted 50 deaths in the movie in the first 15 minutes -- then lost count.
My wife thought the movie was awesome and didn't understand why I thought it necessary to "preach" to her and our daughter after the movie. (My wife is a long time Robert Downey Jr. fan).
From a technical standpoint, I must say, the movie is truly a standout. It is funny and dramatic and the special effects are awesome -- everything you could want in a Hollywood comic book movie. The only problem is that the underlying message is "might makes right" (when placed in the right hands), and that the solution to the world's troubles is some sort of blend between humanitarianism and deadly weapons manufacturing. Is this a message that is good for the world? And should discussions such as this be encouraged?
If I didn't believe this movie was going to be a worldwide mega-blockbuster, I wouldn't have bothered to waste time and energy punching the computer keypad -- but I do -- and it saddens me immensely. Not that I am into censorship -- I just wish that we as human beings weren't so accepting of violence of any kind, even in the name of self-defense and security.
Are my feelings on this unwarranted? Am I making a big deal out of nothing? Love to hear your thoughts...
Namaste,
Mathew
Access: Public
I haven't seen the movie yet. But I'll try to make an educated response.
I recognize your point and I think that your feelings are warranted. But that's the paradox with movies–or the one that their makers perceive–that if they recognize a deeper issue such as the moral implications of the “might makes right” mentality, the movie won't sell as well. They limit deaths caused by the might makes right idea to extras, to characters that don't matter, to minimize looking into this aspect.
Movies with more thought on such matters, such as “Lord of War”, don't sell as well and can't be stuck with a PG-13 labels because the deaths are real and terrible.
Also, it's a reflection of the current U.S. mentality–we can solve anything by shooting at it. War is profitable. Diplomacy is not.
The only redeeming aspect to this situation is that everyone is going to see Ironman for the action packed plot and eye-blasting special effects. Few are basing their moral code on it. (Though kids are impressionable :( ) But if we say it isn't alright for this movie to be seen, that runs the risk of being censorship. Catch-22, really.
And because I'm a DC fan more than a Marvel fan, I will also mention that DCs characters have a better record with this issue–Batman refuses to kill anyone, even his greatest enemy, the Joker. That was one of the key plots points of the recent movie Batman Begins and a foundation of his character–he would not kill anyone in his fight to protect Gotham from crime.
Just my thoughts, I apologize if they're a bit scattered.
V
Hey V,
Thanks for your comments. I think what it is that disturbs me most about this film more so than other comic book films is that the superhero has flame throwers, missile launchers and an array of automatic weapons as part and parcel of his super hero bag of tricks. I'm not well-versed in comic book heros but given that this film will undoubtedly attract a large audience of children, I find it quite alarming how this film glorifies weaponry as a perfectly reasonable means of conflict resolution. I have seen the Spiderman and Batman and X-Men series of films and never noticed such a blatant use of conventional weaponry nor did I experience such deep felt concerns. Nevertheless, as I said already, I am not advocating censorship – I am simply saddened that this is the sort of entertainment that a significant percentage of the world enjoys and supports.
Mathew
I agree with you, Mathew, that this is sad that we (as an audience) seem to be drawn to this kind of movie. In a way it is probably therapeutic, even though the surface appearance is that it is harmful. I think people today have a lot of pent up emotions from all of the stuff we're dealing with right now - high gas prices, food costs going up, pollution, constantly being kept on edge by governments issuing continuous “terrorist” alerts - so going to a movie like this, vicariously we vent some of that pent up emotion.
I have all three of the Spiderman movies on DVD - but haven't yet watched them. I am, which is probably ridiculous at my age, a huge fan of the X-men movies, but that probably stems from the hours I spent reading X-men and Superman comics while waiting on allergy shot results on Saturday mornings while a kid. LOL!!!
Yesterday afternoon, watching local news here, they reviewed the movie, and THEN they reviewed the latest thing in robotics - a robotic “suit” that can be worn to give the person near superhuman strength - it is a proto-type for potential use on the war front - and they are making it so that the person could temporarily step out of the “suit” and it would carry on and do something even more dangerous. So is it art immitating real life, or real life immitating “art”?
As a baby-boomer, I have grown up and matured with the threats of war, cold war, hot war, Vietnam, both Gulf wars, the war between Israel and Palestinian Liberation, and now the”war on terror” ad nauseum!!! I would really like to see my grandsons NOT have to go fight in a war that some baffoon being manipulated by BIG BUSINESS thinks our young people are so expendable to waste on such an effort. Unfortunately, we reflect in our entertainment what is happening in REAL life. Too bad someone with a little more enlightenment couldn't come up with the idea to start feeding our minds (and particularly the minds of our kids) better things upon which to focus - like helping one another, teaching good life skills, etc. Alas, the almighty dollar rules (and ruins) the day!!!!
(sorry for the rant) :)
Gem ~~^v^~~
Hi Gem,
Thanks for your thoughts on this. I didn't find what you had to say a “rant” at all. In fact, I thought you made an interesting point about using a movie experience like Ironman or movies of similar ilk to vent our pent up emotions.
You also said, “Too bad someone with a little more enlightenment couldn't come up with the idea to start feeding our minds (and particularly the minds of our kids) better things upon which to focus - like helping one another, teaching good life skills, etc.”
At the end of the day, ultimately, I believe that we, the collective consciousness, are making strides in this direction, to the point where someday soon, enlightened movies will be supported by Hollywood.
Well, at least, I hope, dream and pray…
Mathew xxoo
Hi Mathew
just a quick comment before i shut down for today. i couldn't agree with all of you more. this is what the general public accept as their way of life; everything is instant…instant coffee, instant food, instant romance also instant entertainment. while rare gems of individuals think of the deeper and subtle repercussions of feeding our minds with less-than-thoughtful messages, most people are just to happy to sit on their bottoms gawking at a screen, happy enough if there are enough noises and instant excitement.
we are what we watch/ listen/ eat/ drink/ think…and behave
love and oms
shantih
Hi Chrys,
Yes, yes, I agree – which leads me to believe that there needs to be more films with lots of noise and lots of excitement, but with thoughtful messages at the core. For instance, in my opinion, a movie like “The Matrix” was just such a film. Unfortunately though, films such as that have been few and far between.
Namaste,
Mathew