tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4434847738227924337.post11213785581959868..comments2008-05-24T21:24:41.079-04:00DaisyDeadheadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17993200276152025235whofan917@yahoo.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4434847738227924337.post-29022216831160944982008-05-24T21:24:00.000-04:002008-05-24T21:24:00.000-04:00It was nice to hear the two AA phrases in the movie, I'm glad that I'm not the only one to hear them!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4434847738227924337.post-24069063463793675012008-05-21T17:47:00.000-04:002008-05-21T17:47:00.000-04:00Interesting debate. I liked the movie, but seem to have blocked out most of the Afghanistan scenes which came across as total and utter proganda for the current war. However my excitement at the hidden scene sort of obliterated most of my other memories of the movie!<BR/>Not a very insightful comment but it's late and I'm knackered.Sarangahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03545162612237984546noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4434847738227924337.post-19611196983929505102008-05-20T21:27:00.000-04:002008-05-20T21:27:00.000-04:00I guess we disagree. I'm not saying that this another "look who's coming to dinner" but clearly the creators put some thought into making sure that this wasn't a propaganda piece. Also, the bad guys weren't terrorists. We were just supposed to think they were until we found out that the real villain is the military industrial complex as lead by an evil white dude. Maybe they were too subtle about it. But if it makes you feel better there are right wing blogs pissed that he 'libbed out.<BR/><BR/>Regarding your question about if it's a conservative or liberal movie. I don't think it's either.joenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4434847738227924337.post-67811611089099724762008-05-20T17:22:00.000-04:002008-05-20T17:22:00.000-04:00I would not have any terrorism-related plot, which I think is a cheap shot during wartime. I consider it akin to "yellow peril" cartoons during WWII. This is propaganda, pure and simple. The kids will not be able to differentiate, just as <I>I</I> couldn't differentiate between Muslims and Arabs, above. The desert, the clothes, the weaponry, the hostage video that looked so familiar, the references to Allah... it all runs together. And this is a movie lots of children will see. <BR/><BR/>I don't know how I'd rewrite the movie. That's somebody in the WGA's job. I'm sure if I was lousy at what I do, they'd complain loudly about me, so I guess I can complain a little if I think THEY are slipshod about <I>their </I>job. :)Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16354486841414802245noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4434847738227924337.post-964900805742619612008-05-20T16:28:00.000-04:002008-05-20T16:28:00.000-04:00Joe, have you forgotten Shaun Toub, the guy who helped him build the first Iron Man while he was held hostage? And the light skinned vs dark-skinned villagers, upon his return?<BR/><BR/>I'm talking about the scenes in Afghanistan, the interrogators, etc. <BR/><BR/>I think you're being willfully obtuse now.<BR/>Sorry about the short comment. My kid woke up and I had to go get her. (I do blogs before I go to work, unless she wakes up early.) I meant to cancel out the comment but, obviously, I didn’t. <BR/><BR/>Shaun Toub is who I meant by “the doctor”. I never caught the characters name. <BR/><BR/>My point was that there were light and dark skinned characters on both sides of the line, and in roughly equal number for the main characters. <BR/><BR/>You may be right about villagers being lighter than the terrorists. I don’t really recall. They all coded as ‘dark’ to me. But I was looking more at the shiny red and gold suit than anything else. <BR/><BR/>My take, and I wasn’t keeping notes on this, was that the bad guys were central Asian. That made sense to me since Afghanistan is in central Asia. I remember the doctor saying they spoke Urdu, Pushtu, Arabic, and making a comment on other languages. I did think that the Hungarian speaking terrorists looked more European but I don’t know if that was because he said they spoke Hungarian or because they looked more European. I thought it was funny because it seemed an obvious attempt to be PC. I suppose they could have had Neo-Nazi’s from Germany kidnap him at a party, but I don’t think that would have been as good. <BR/><BR/>Part of the point with setting it where they did is that Tony realized that ‘collateral damage’ means real people and having seen them he wasn’t as able to ignore the part he played in their death. He kept building weapons, because we live in a violent world, but he no longer trusted his best weapons to the current system so kept it in the hands of the only person he trusted, himself. <BR/><BR/>I’m curious, how would you rewrite the movie to make it ‘better’ but still the Iron Man movie, still somewhat true to the source material? <BR/><BR/> Sorry again if my last comment was annoying. Not my intent.joenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4434847738227924337.post-29328555746377850262008-05-20T08:33:00.000-04:002008-05-20T08:33:00.000-04:00Joe, have you forgotten Shaun Toub, the guy who helped him build the first Iron Man while he was held hostage? And the light skinned vs dark-skinned villagers, upon his return?<BR/><BR/>I'm talking about the <I>scenes in Afghanistan,</I> the interrogators, etc. <BR/><BR/>I think you're being willfully obtuse now.Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16354486841414802245noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4434847738227924337.post-43638308649638368172008-05-20T06:30:00.000-04:002008-05-20T06:30:00.000-04:00There were 4 good guys <BR/>Tony, Pepper, Rodney, and the doctor. <BR/><BR/>Neither Rodney or the doctor were "light."Joenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4434847738227924337.post-29915078661622293132008-05-20T00:42:00.000-04:002008-05-20T00:42:00.000-04:00Yeah, I realize. I should have said "dark"--or Muslim. I used the word "Arab" erroneously when I really meant either one of these terms or both. My bad! *Official apology.* As Ms Clinton would say, I misspoke. :D<BR/><BR/>It seems terrorists are (in the West) stereotypically Arab or Muslim, which is one point I was attempting to make (badly). If it was supposed to be an "international gang"--then that's even worse. Because the bad guys were dark and the good guys were light. And it's very obvious.Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16354486841414802245noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4434847738227924337.post-76794486909340690132008-05-19T21:38:00.000-04:002008-05-19T21:38:00.000-04:00The reason they were speaking Hungarian is because it was an international gang. Before that scene the ally (can't remember his name either) explains this to Tony. Also, the people who live in Afghanistan aren't Arabs. <BR/><BR/><BR/>The Madarin is another Iron Man villain. depending on which version you're reading he was or wasn't involved in Iron Man's origin.joenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4434847738227924337.post-36500444578867279222008-05-15T13:23:00.000-04:002008-05-15T13:23:00.000-04:00I refuse to see the movie based on Mr. Downey's upcoming <A HREF="http://defamer.com/364187/black-like-downey-the-dark-overtones-of-tropic-thunder" REL="nofollow">blackface</A> role. If he drops out, or the character is changed, then maybe I'll see <I>Iron Man</I>. But now that I've read your review, maybe not.Bianca Reaganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04367735763877953363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4434847738227924337.post-83009185051955935632008-05-13T10:16:00.000-04:002008-05-13T10:16:00.000-04:00Robert DOwney Jr is so pretty to look at. And Jeff Bridges looks just the like my first real crush. And no. I really don't think any deeper than that.Rootietoothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06804816032287310463noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4434847738227924337.post-43067005508431510842008-05-12T20:10:00.000-04:002008-05-12T20:10:00.000-04:00Actually, the Hungarian's not *that* weird. Afghanistan has <A HREF="http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=Afghanistan" REL="nofollow">many ethnic groups, languages, and dialects</A>, and Hungary's got a problem with heroin, which helps fund the Taliban. The only thing I find wrong with that is that Hungarian is one hell of a difficult language for non-native speakers to learn--it literally looks and sounds like no other on Earth.<BR/><BR/>As for the rest...I can see the point. *Now*. I was too busy looking out for the nine-year-old boy I took's personal safety. (Incidentally, he's black and urban.) I told him too that this isn't how all Afghan people look or act, and compared the terrorists to a small group of bullies that takes over a school. He related.<BR/><BR/>I loved both Jeff Bridges' and Robert Downey Jr.'s performances. The nine-year-old took it as a story of a selfish man becoming less selfish, with lots of eye candy.<BR/><BR/>Now for a movie where a Muslim and/or Arab can be a hero, a buddy, a *something* besides an actual or suspected terrorist...CrackerLilohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18176388186521154104noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4434847738227924337.post-33472586863121476992008-05-12T19:43:00.000-04:002008-05-12T19:43:00.000-04:00i bet there was alot of ass kissing in this movie<BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://www.getcreditsavy.com" REL="nofollow">credit repair</A>credit savvyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07171923681280519981noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4434847738227924337.post-54463842750495262072008-05-12T18:47:00.000-04:002008-05-12T18:47:00.000-04:00[FYI: in the comicverse, the Evil Arab Terrorist - the leader of the Ten Rings - is Chinese. Because you can switch around non-white ethnicities like that, right?]thenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11851538869806389235noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4434847738227924337.post-59036635426676942372008-05-12T18:02:00.000-04:002008-05-12T18:02:00.000-04:00Yeah, the evil Arab terrorist was certainly on huge display.<BR/><BR/>Mainly, though, the scene where (spoiler) Iron Man saves the village full of innocent people, mainly made me sad because in real life shitbag capitalist warmongering Americans are war profiteering to the detriment of innocent villagers somewhere and there isn't really a superhero to save them.Vanessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08897350435770099399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4434847738227924337.post-52047727354014768492008-05-12T17:14:00.000-04:002008-05-12T17:14:00.000-04:00i love robert too... thanks for the review.<BR/><BR/>things have finally settled down here in moving-land, and i've added you to my links.anniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03520811677683114077noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4434847738227924337.post-48136519265788065062008-05-12T15:51:00.001-04:002008-05-12T15:51:00.001-04:00The movie did seem extremely confused about its own politics.<BR/><BR/>I mean, does he decide to stop making arms because he's contributing to a global industry in which he makes arms, people use them and people die; or because evil <I>brown</I> people might get the weapons and the wrong <I>sort</I> of people will die? Does the movie even see a difference between these two positions?<BR/><BR/>Similarly with the sexism, I think we're expected to think Stark's an asshole at the beginning with his treatment of the woman driving the vehicle he's in (though she <I>likes</I> it of course. If I was in the armed forces I bet I'd enjoy sexual harrassment too!) but the other women we see? The reporter who sleeps with him despite her politics (which are dismissable, of course) and gets referred to as the 'trash', and Pepper Potts, his own personal doormat. <BR/><BR/>I really, really wish I could just watch movies where things blow up (because movies where things blow up are excellent) without being constantly alienated by this sort of thing. :(Aishwaryahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12871059152281065272noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4434847738227924337.post-20192258568648710982008-05-12T15:51:00.000-04:002008-05-12T15:51:00.000-04:00There was a great Punkass thread about the film that included <A HREF="http://punkassblog.com/2008/05/03/i-saw-iron-man/#comment-66385" REL="nofollow">a comment</A> about the military's involvement in filmmaking. <I>"You don’t get to do blockbuster-level special effects using lots of real, state-of-the-art military equipment without kissing their ass and making them the good guy."</I><BR/><BR/>Alliterative names in comics - it's not just female characters. See Scott Summers, Peter Parker, Clark Kent (same sound!), Warren Worthington, Wade Wilson, Matt Murdock...<BR/><BR/>I'm glad to see someone else was troubled by the race dynamic. I tried whining to my guy about it, but he said it's not Marvel's fault the US are fighting two wars against brown people atm. *le sigh* The second time I saw the film, I realised exactly what had bugged me - that bit where Tony shoots five people at once to let the Nice Innocent Brown People get away? That's troubling because some fucking idiots seem to think that's what fighting wars is really like, and those fucking idiots are the ones running the country and invading every place they feel like. They think they have the ability - and the magical white right - to separate Nice Brown People from Evil Brown People and kill the latter with pinpoint precision. Sure, put it on film, forget that we <I>know</I> it's the most innocent and powerless that will suffer the most.<BR/><BR/>I'm cooking a post on this + GTA + other stuff...woo! I shall link you.thenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11851538869806389235noreply@blogger.com