What I learned from Iron Man

A pretty, Ivy League educated, socially (and politically) conscious Vanity Fair reporter will, in a matter of minutes, toss aside her personal ideology (to say nothing of her professional ethics) and jump into bed with an alpha-male war profiteer who first questions her intelligence, and then follows up with a sleazy pickup line. I went for the big, dumb fun. Instead I got two hours of unbridled sexism as only Hollywood can do. I've no one to blame but myself.

Comments

[dubarry]

veronica is hotter than betty for the same reason snow white's wicked stepmother is hotter than snow white - better in bed.

[jimi]

Frank Miller books are not models of moral ambiguity, btw.

[gmail]

...ok
we knew it would suck..
you should talk about speed racer!
Why don´t you write something about speed racer instead of arguing about a film we knew would suck?

speed racer!
i mean, it has everything...an embarassing porno film´s fiction mood...
and instead of fucking we get RACES!

word of the day: instead.

the actors are just monkeys waving their gonads...
in porn i mean...

[Tom Russell]

"veronica is hotter than betty for the same reason snow white's wicked stepmother is hotter than snow white - better in bed."

Wow, what Archie comics did you read? :-)

Veronica's stuck-up, snobbish, manipulative, and shallow. Betty, on the other hand, is very genuine: good-humoured, sweet, and extremely intelligent. She's got the book-smarts, and she's mechanically inclined-- remember how many times she fixed Archie's car... usually so that Archie could turn around and take Veronica out on a date?

Veronica's born into money, and she carries around with her that certain sense of entitlement that accompanies the upper-upper-classes. Betty, on the other hand, _earns_ everything she does-- she works for it. Nothing was handed to her. Whenever she succeeds at something, it's on her own terms and because of her own sweat.

To me, that's a sexy woman-- and a strong one. The moral of Betty is that someone can succeed at what they set their minds to-- whether it's making a dress or winning a sporting match or whatever-- with hard work and ingenuity. The moral of Veronica is, be born into money and look pretty and people will give you opportunities. The same lesson that Paris Hilton teaches.

And, I'll maintain, Paris Hilton will never be as sexy as Betty Cooper.

Betty's mother's name is Alice, by the way. Alice Cooper. Just thought I'd share that.

[Filmbrain]

Gmail -- I haven't seen Speed Racer yet! I want to see it in IMAX, but am afraid of irreparable psychological damage.

Tom - Wow! Wonderful deconstruction of Archie's women. Of course at the age of 12 one views things with a greater superficiality. Betty always seemed too obvious to me -- everything was right there, exposed. Veronica hid her vulnerability. In retrospect, I guess there is a bit of Paris in Ms. Lodge.

Jesus christmas -- I can't believe this is what I'm doing at 11:25 PM on a Friday night. While drunk, no less.

[Tom Russell]

And, sorry for double-posting, but now that I think about it-- Veronica Lodge actually has a lot in common with Tony Stark. Maybe Archie's desire for Veronica, like the journalist's for Stark, comes from a similiar place-- the allure of fame, wealth, and superficial charm? Is it really sexist, then, if both genders can be prone to succumb to a little star-f*cking?

That being said, I am getting tired-- in big dumb and small smart movies alike-- of female characters who exist only to be "The Woman", existing only to support/transform the male protagonist, possessing no personality without the context of his journey.

That, to me, is extremely sexist. A character like Rachel Dawes, in "Batman Begins", is there just because movie executives demand a female lead in these extremely masculine movies. I mean, she really is a useless character, and I think she's detrimental to the film as a whole. She doesn't fit.

And it's certainly not that a female character can't fit into that sort of movie. She can. But it requires writing an actual part with some substance to it rather than just shoehorning in an ill-defined stereotype with a pretty face.

Look at "There Will Be Blood". Now, love the movie or hate it, just imagine the movie with the addition of a female love interest. The strong, feisty, assertive woman who challenges the male lead's choices, yet is not so strong, feisty, assertive, or challenging to have some desire of her own that's not directly tied to the male lead's personal growth or success. It would frankly ruin the movie completely.

This kind of character can be found in the aforemention "Batman Begins", more egregiously in "Gangs of New York", and-- to a somewhat lesser degree-- in "Blood Diamond". And I'd rather see those three talented actresses-- yes, even Katie Holmes-- play *people* instead of plot devices.

More sexist, I think, than a female character sleeping with the male lead against everything we've learned about her (even smart people can make some mistakes, especially in bed), is the system that treats female characters like baggage-- pretty carry-on suitcases that are ultimately as inconsequential as the second song to play under the end credits.

[Brian]

As someone who read Iron Man religiously as a kid, beginning with the Obadiah Stane / Stark as alcoholic storyline, I accepted the adolescent (male) wish-fulfillment aspects of the movie's storyline because I had the sense that they were setting up a real lesson in hubris for our protagonist. As it turns out, the film only offers a partial lesson in hubris at best, leaving anything deeper to a sequel (one can hope, anyway).

[Hotspur]

For me, the worst thing about the reporter succumbing to Stark 's charms was not the sexism but that the "surprise" cut to them in bed was such an eye-rolling cliche. In fact Favreau did the same thing three times: the cut from someone saying - or intimating - there's no way they're going to do something to a shot of them doing that very thing. (One time was Terrence Howard saying he's not going to give some bullshit excuse for losing a plane. Can't remember the third one.) For a movie that seemed to be bucking convention, however slightly, there were way too many hoary clichés, the worst of all being the endless climactic battle at the end--always the most tedious part of every one of these superhero films. What I did like about it was the very clean visual presentation: there seemed to be a lot of space and definition where these movies are usually muddled and overstuffed. That said, I agree entirely with Tully, that "this was as good as a big-budget comic book adaptation can be, and it still left me feeling rather blah." As for Iron Man vs Indy in the sexism department, have you seen Temple of Doom lately?

[DIY Dude]

It's nice that there's still somebody out there innocent enough to believe that a pretty, Ivy League educated, socially (and politically) conscious Vanity Fair reporter wouldn't, in a matter of minutes, toss aside her personal ideology (to say nothing of her professional ethics) and jump into bed with an alpha-male war profiteer who first questions her intelligence, and then follows up with a sleazy pickup line.

Those of us who are a touch more cynical and jaded realize that the socially and politically conscious are exactly the same as the rest of us (occasionally worse). They love the sex. It's all just love, sex, death.

I got the feeling that the reporter in Iron Man was a thin character who really didn't believe a word of what she was saying, like so many others who just parrot Al Gore.

[Steve]

Hey, FB, one final note from me...saw Indy4, and it was loads of fun...but completely forgettable and not very fresh. And the alien stuff seemed very out of place for a series based in religious artifacts and their unpleasant side effects.

Hope you're having a great Memorial Day.

[Noel Vera]

Pepper Potts a positive role model? Glorified secretary and all-around maid?

Now if she donned her own armor, then we have something.

In the meantime, bullshit. Boring action, boring CGI effects. Downey was amusing, but that's about it. I don't get the hoopla.