Tag: Robert Downey Jr.
Robert Downey Jr. ambushed over politics: Reporters want Iron Man to be a liberal activist
Posted on April 22, 2015 April 22, 2015 by Douglas Ernst9 Comments
I said in 2013 that one of the reasons conservatives defended Robert Downey Jr. was because liberals attacked the man. Perhaps the best example was the 2011 hit piece from Jeffrey Wells' Hollywood Elsewhere (now flushed down the Memory Hole), in which an anonymous source said the actor's values "are pure Republican values." That came after an interview in The New York Times that drove liberals batty, but before the actor attended a fundraiser for President Obama. Apparently Robert Downey Jr's ideological blasphemy is still stuck in the media's craw because he was just ambushed during an interview with British reporter Krishnan Guru-Murthy.
The Huffington Post reported Wednesday on the interview, which ended with Marvel Studio's Iron Man walking out:
Krishnan Guru-Murthy: I'd really like to ask you about a quote you gave to The New York Times. I don't want to pry so if you don't want to talk about it that's fine, but what you said to The New York Times was — it was about, it was after your incarceration and you said that you can't go from a $2,000 a night hotel suite to a penitentiary and understand it and come out a liberal. I just wondered what you meant by that."
Robert Downey Jr.: The funny thing is — and I appreciate your point of view — things you said 5-7 years ago or things you said in an interview that made sense to you at the time — I could pick that apart for two hours and I'd be no closer to the truth than I'd be giving you some half-assed answer right now. I couldn't even really tell you what a liberal is, so therein lies the answer to your question.
Krishnan Guru-Murthy: The statement sort of stands by itself, doesn't it? Does that mean that you're not a liberal? Or that you came out of a prison not being liberal?
Robert Downey Jr.: Are we promoting a movie? To me the thing is that it's — I'm certainly not going to backpedal on anything I've said, but I wouldn't say I'm a Republican or a liberal or a Democrat. I think when I was talking to the person who was doing the interview that day and that just happened to be my opinion. That's the nice thing, you can have opinions and they change and flow."
Robert Downey Jr. is in a horrible position. A guy who has been to prison probably realizes that hard-core criminals will never adopt the peace-love-dope worldview of liberal beat poetry readings and bongo-circles. Perhaps he's a fiscal conservative who is socially liberal. Maybe he was against the war in Iraq but he understands that leaving radical Islamic head choppers the their own devices is a bad idea.
How does the man define himself politically, especially when he has to work with hard-core liberal activists like Joss Whedon and Mark Ruffalo? The best thing to do to keep the peace on set is probably to just stay silent and stick to playing Tony Stark really well — but that is not good enough for the media.
Robert Downey Jr. will always have to be on guard against a media ambush because he refuses to use his Twitter feed to lecture people on climate change. He doesn't get into abortion politics. He doesn't harangue people about minimum wage laws or demonize Republican politicians. This is unacceptable to pundits who want celebrities to push liberal politics on as many people as possible while they're in the limelight.
The vast majority of Americans do not want Hollywood stars to lecture them on public policy. They appreciate that Robert Downey Jr. keeps his politics close to the vest. They are glad that he walked out on Krishnan Guru-Murthy and wish more actors would follow his example.
The moral of the story is this: The creative team behind "Avengers: Age of Ultron" could learn a thing or two from Robert Downey Jr. If Marvel's talent wants independent, libertarian, and conservative fans to continue flocking to Marvel Studio movies, then they should knock it off with the political activism.
Posted in Comics, Hollywood, Movies
Tagged Age of Ultron, Comics, Hollywood, Iron Man, Marvel, Movies, RDJ, Robert Downey Jr., The Avengers
Iron Man 3: Americans will love it, but so will moviegoers who hate America
Posted on May 5, 2013 May 5, 2013 by Douglas Ernst24 Comments
The good news about Iron Man 3 is that it's a sharply written, well-directed movie. The bad news is that while some of the messages it conveys to the audience hold incredible truth (e.g., "we create our own demons"), it might just be the conspiracy-theorist must-see blockbuster of the summer.
Do you have any friends who think 9/11 was "an inside job"? Iron Man 3 is the movie for them. (You might want to consider getting new friends if that's the case, but in the mean time you could still enjoy a solid movie.) Do you have any friends who refer to the "military industrial complex" at parties so they sound smarter than they really are? Iron Man 3 is the movie for them. Do you have friends who hate "Big Oil" and "fat cats"? Iron Man 3 is the movie for them. Director Shane Black ingeniously — or perhaps devilishly? — devised a film that is drenched in anti-Americanism in a way that will leave many Americans exiting the theater not even knowing they're all wet. At the showing I went to in Tyson's Corner, Va., many people even burst out clapping twice during the film. On many levels, Mr. Black deserves kudos. That's not easy to do.
Because so much of the movie focuses on Robert Downey Jr. and the "demons" his actions have brought into his life (his enemies literally breathe fire), and because he owns the role, one could forgive friends and relatives if they don't leave the theater angry. The "truth" about the Mandarin alone, which I will refrain from disclosing here, is one that will play very well in Muslim nations that actually allow Western movies to be screened — for reasons that have nothing to do with their religion and everything to do with conspiracy theories that run rampant in those parts of the world. Given the fact that the writers and producers created entirely new scenes for the Chinese release, it's not hard to believe that the endeavor was specifically crafted to maximize both foreign and domestic sales. Again, it is rather awe-inspiring what Mr. Black has pulled off.
Strangely enough, perhaps the group of moviegoers who will be most disappointed in Iron Man 3 will be long time fans of the Iron Man comic book. As already mentioned, the "truth" about the Madarin is something that will drive fans of the character up a wall. They will be livid, and rightly so. However, the average person who knows nothing about the character's history will not care because within the context of the film, the changes work and that's all that really matters to people who count box office receipts. It's sad, but that's the truth.
Moving forward, it will be hard for figure out how an Iron Man 4 would take shape. Robert Downey Jr's shtick is enjoyable, but even the great and powerful RDJ gets annoying. It was a wise move to knock the chip off his shoulder in the third installment by stripping everything away from him. He needed to be taken down a notch. He needed the smile wiped off his face. He needed to look lost and confused and panicked because sometimes the rich billionaire guy who mocks everyone and everything just comes across as a jerk. Downey had an incredible balancing act to play between being that witty sarcastic smartass with a smile, and being the vulnerable guy who just recently learned their are forces in the universe that are beyond human comprehension — and he did it almost perfectly.
Perhaps my feelings on Iron Man 3 can be best summed up in response to something the Madarin says midway through the movie. The character, played by Ben Kingsley, says that America is "like a fortune cookie — hollow, and it leaves a bad taste in your mouth."
Iron Man 3 is definitely not hollow. There are many, many layers to it. The acting, writing, directing and special effects are all top-notch. Iron Man 3 does, however, leave a bitter aftertaste. Shane Black could have written a movie that did not blatantly appeal to large swathes of moviegoers who love nothing more than to blame America for the world's ills, but he did not. Marvel signed off on it. Disney signed off on it, and so did Robert Downey Jr. And for that, while I thoroughly enjoyed the film, it is not one that I will ever purchase for myself.
Regardless, I'm looking forward to seeing Iron Man fly again when The Avengers 2 hits theaters. See you there.
Posted in Comics, Hollywood, Movies, The Kitchen Sink
Tagged Iron Man, Iron Man 3, Marvel, Robert Downey Jr.
Iron Man 3's 'ultimate terrorist' created by America: Shane Black provides liberalism on stark display
Posted on March 6, 2013 March 6, 2013 by Douglas Ernst97 Comments
If you had to bet on who was responsible for creating 'The Mandarin' in 'Iron Man 3,' who would it be? If you guessed the U.S. government, congratulations. However, it doesn't take a billionaire-genius philanthropist to predict Hollywood plot lines. It just takes intellectual honesty. (Image: YouTube)
The new Iron Man 3 trailer is out, and it looks amazing. But looks can be deceiving, can't they? What appears to be one hell of a movie might also be incredibly maddening, when one realizes that once again the bad guy — the "ultimate terrorist" to quote writer/director Shane Black — is really a creation of the U.S. government.
Iron Man started out so well, but ultimately the question becomes: "Where is he going?" In Hollywood, it's only a matter of time before the star character goes to a place where America, at its root, is the creator of the evil it seeks to destroy.
Robert Downy Jr. sets the stage via Superhero Hype:
Q: We've seen Tony Stark go through a lot in "The Avengers." How did the events of that movie wind up helping him change for this one?
Downey: Well, we had to do something, you know? I thought, "Isn't it odd that he had this experience? And why was he suddenly just in New York for one summer?" We know why he was there. Stark Tower. But what he was doing there was really building an architect for a third act set piece. I wanted him back home and I thought, "What if that happened to any of us? Wouldn't we be a little tripped out? You'd be watching your back." Then I thought about this 21st century reality and kind of oddball zeitgeist of America and terrorism and all the weirdo stuff that this country seems to generate and co-create. So I thought he should be a little freaked out.
Hmm. The United States "generates" and "co-creates" terrorism? How so, Robert? If he's saying evil must exist because good does, then I understand what he's saying. If he's saying that good men like Tony Stark create wonderful technology, but because of the warped timber of man others will use that technology for nefarious purposes, I get it. But if Robert is pandering to the "blame America first" crowd, then I just lost a lot of respect for him because it's expected of Hollywood at this point.
As I wrote in October, Shane Black is a great writer and seems to understand that Tony Stark needs to be grounded this time around. But I also warned of exactly what appears to have happened:
[I]f the U.S. government is somehow culpable for the espionage that destroys Tony's life, the movie will instantly lose credibility. If the message ends up being some sort of social commentary on how "one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter," I probably won't be seeing Iron Man 4 in the theaters.
As it turns out, RDJ was much more Joesph Conrad than Loazi. Disappointing. Incredibly disappointing. Read Shane Black's inspiration for The Mandarin:
We use as the example Colonel Kurtz from "Apocalypse Now," this guy who may have been an American, may have been a British National, someone who is out there doing field work, supervising atrocities for the intelligence community who went nuts in the field and became this sort of devotee of war tactics, and now has surrounded himself with a group of people over which he presides, and the only thing that unifies them is this hatred of America. So he's the ultimate terrorist, but he's also savvy. He's been in the intelligence world. He knows how to use the media. And taking it to a real world level like that was a lot fun for us.
Screw you, Shane Black, Kevin Feige, Robert Downey Jr. and Marvel. Screw everyone else associated with the product who thinks that the "ultimate terrorist" is, for the 10,000th time, a Western intelligence agent who was the product of his own country's dark side. Besides, I just watched another iteration of this plot a couple months ago; it was called Skyfall.
Have we reached the point where a movie with a villain named The Mandarin can't be a Communist revolutionary from China? Given that the recent Red Dawn remake changed the villains from Chinese Communists to North Koreans to placate the guys who are gobbling up the nation's debt, I guess so.
At this point, I'll probably see Iron Man 3 just to tease out whatever 'Heart of Darkness' themes Shane Black didn't get a chance to discuss in promotional interviews, but no matter how stellar the movie is I won't be able to shake the disgust over another "creative" team that turned to the "America is its own worst enemy" well when it was thirsty for ideas.
Behold: Liberalism on stark display.
Related: Lone Avenger: Robert Downey Jr. soars above his liberal critics
Related: Robert Downey Jr.'s politics: A lesson for liberal Hulks
Posted in Hollywood, Movies, Politics
Tagged Iron Man 3, Iron Patriot, Kevin Feige, Marvel, Robert Downey Jr., Shane Black, The Mandarin
Robert Downey Jr.'s politics: A lesson for liberal Hulks
Posted on May 13, 2012 April 22, 2015 by Douglas Ernst65 Comments
Liberals are good at revising history, as they now attempt to do with news that Robert Downey Jr. attended a Barack Obama fundraiser. A trip down memory lane reveals they weren't so warm and fuzzy about him when his politics were in question.
With the news that Robert Downey Jr. attended George Clooney's $40,000 fundraiser earlier in the week, liberals incredulously asked how conservatives could have ever thought he was a Republican or perhaps even (gasp!) a conservative. As we all know, conservatives are racists, bigots and homophobes, right? Regardless, I will spell it out in ways even liberals with a mind like the Hulk can understand.
People put their children's drawings on their refrigerator. They put cards from loved ones, their daily calendar and things they're proud of on it. They put images on it that they don't mind seeing every time they go to the get something to eat or drink. And so, when GQ Magazine, a piece of liberal propaganda disguised as a men's magazine, is invited into Downey's home and finds a picture of him with George and Laura Bush, it sends a message.
There are photos of Downey and Susan taped above the refrigerator: with President Bush and Mrs. Bush; with Tom Cruise, Mrs. Cruise, and Suri in a group hug on-set in Hawaii. The week's schedule, in brightly colored fonts for easy reading, hangs from the bulletin board—yet another magazine interview tonight, rerecording dialogue tomorrow, a shooting day on Wednesday—along with Downey's son's soccer-playoff schedule.
In the liberal mind, such an act would already be considered heresy. But as with any case built on circumstantial evidence, there needed to be more. And so, we introduced the infamous New York Times interview, where Robert Downey Jr. told them that his time spent in prison had a profound impact on his politics; Downey's liberal Hollywood critics responded by trying to convince people that he really just wanted to swim in Olympic-sized pools of gold like Scrooge McDuck.
"His values are pure Republican values … He's a serious materialist. He loves the great clothes, the beautiful house, the cool cars. He's a 'protect the rich' guy. Why should the rich have to pay for this or that? The people who have it should keep it, and the people who don't have it shouldn't complain."
When Hollywood liberals start attacking the man, it sends up red flags to the world that they have him on notice: Shut up and keep quiet, "re-educate" yourself, or the character assassination will continue. Now that Downey has given up cold, hard cash to Obama, is he still a materialist? Probably not, since once liberals "evolve" their past is forgotten about the next day.
But let us dig even further back, to see what may have set off our liberal friends to begin with. Perhaps it had something to do with the launch of Andrew Breitbart's websites, created precisely because Hollywood is the kind of place where in order to network with the elite it's almost mandatory you attend functions like … a George Clooney, $40,000 a plate Democrat fundraiser. As rumors swelled that Downey was a Republican, the press sought answers. He refused to give them:
Breitbart simply refers to it as a continuous politics and culture posting board, and its underlying, unifying aim is just as simple: "Our goal is to create an atmosphere of tolerance, something that does not exist in this town," he says. It's kind of funny and ironic to read about how conservatives are being encouraged to come out of the closet.
Most amusing is the reaction from the agent for Robert Downey, Jr., who is believed to be a closet conservative … his publicist will neither confirm nor deny it, saying only, "We unfortunately have no comment, as RDJ does not comment on political matters." (Opelika-Auburn News, Entering Stage Right, Jan. 6, 2009.)
There is no downside to announcing your political allegiance in Hollywood. None. Conservatives expect artists to be Democrats at this point. Generally, a politically mum A-list Hollywood star in the face of rumors they are conservative is another indicator that they might not fall into line with the "acceptable" positions of the industry's power players. Refrain from comment, and liberal rags find it "most amusing."
As I said before, can you blame Robert for not wanting to talk? The guy probably runs the gamut on any number of public policy issues, but was attacked by liberals for either a.) saying his time in prison taught him some lessons that were incompatible with liberalism, and b.) that he'd rather not talk politics and would not do so through his agent, at least as of 2009.
Now that Downey has attended a Barack Obama fundraiser, liberals would have us believe that delusional conservatives created the idea of a Hollywood star that was one of them out of pure desperation. Not true. As much as they want to deny it, liberal attacks on the man were often the catalyst for the conservatives who defended him.
Related: Robert Downey Jr. ambushed over politics: Reporters want Iron Man to be a liberal activist
Robert Downey Jr. was at the Republican National Convention in 2008, and yet liberal message boards wonder where anyone ever got the idea he was a Republican. Maybe he should just start the "Iron Man" Party and make everyone happy.
Related: Iron Man 3: Americans will love it, but so will moviegoers who hate America
Related: Samuel L. Jackson to Robert Downey Jr. circa 2008: I hope you die in a hurricane
Posted in Hollywood, Politics
Tagged celebrities, entertainment, Hollywood, Iron Man, Robert Downey Jr., The Avengers
Lone Avenger: Robert Downey Jr. soars above his liberal critics
Posted on April 23, 2012 April 22, 2015 by Douglas Ernst52 Comments
Scarlett Johansson openly shills Obama-themed clothing and accessories—and no one cares. Robert Downey. Jr. gave a 2009 interview where he intimated that his time in prison taught him to shun liberalism, and there is no doubt the waves are still rippling. Telling. Very telling.
In 2009 Robert Downey Jr. was interviewed by the New York Times. When I read it I smiled, because the old phrase, "A conservative is a liberal who's been mugged by reality," seemed to ring true for the good actor:
"I have a really interesting political point of view, and it's not always something I say too loud at dinner tables here, but you can't go from a $2,000-a-night suite at La Mirage to a penitentiary and really understand it and come out a liberal. You can't. I wouldn't wish that experience on anyone else, but it was very, very, very educational for me and has informed my proclivities and politics ever since."
It turns out that one paragraph in a single interview years ago made quite a few waves in the Hollywood community, so much so that Jeffrey Wells of Hollywood Elsewhere tried his hand at character assassination in 2011. I wonder if he'll do a companion piece, since Joss Whedon wants to insert Democratic talking points into Captain America's mouth; Mark Ruffalo (i.e., The Hulk) wants to stop oil companies from providing gas and heat to our homes; Samuel L. Jackson (i.e., Nick Fury) admits that the only reason he voted for Barack Obama was because he's black; and Scarlett Johansson (i.e., Black Widow) hawks Barack Obama clothing and accessories for his re-election campaign. I won't hold my breath.
Given all this, the universe demands that I write something pro-Robert Downey Jr.
Let us first establish one thing: Liberal Hollywood actors get to be activists. They get to loudly and proudly state their opinions. They get handed megaphones in front of large audiences or microphones off to the side of a fashion show runway. Robert gives a passing reference to rejecting liberalism and he's attacked. Here's what an anonymous source told Wells:
Really? So Robert Downey Jr. tells the New York Times that his time spent in prison had a profound impact on his politics, but somehow we're supposed to believe it's really about wanting to swim in Olympic-sized pools of gold like Scrooge McDuck? Consider me skeptical.
What's more likely: that Robert Downey Jr. found out that there are some really bad, really evil people behind bars…or that he just loves designer clothes? What's more likely: that Robert Downey Jr. learned that allowing someone to suffer the consequences of their actions is often times better than perpetually shielding them from blow back…or that he wants to have a really nice house he can lord over the rest of us?
Robert admitted to the New York Times that he didn't talk politics too loudly at dinner tables in Hollywood. Can anyone blame him? Even somewhat obscure allusions to a conservative streak gets the guy lambasted by his peers. It would be incredibly dangerous for Hollywood's "Iron Man," … someone as "cool" as Downey, to be openly conservative. The kiddies might take to such a message if it was articulated by an actor with a respected resume that runs the gamut. Downey can give a serious performance in an art house flick, he can do dark comedy, or he can do the summer blockbuster. And so, Hollywood must make the message loud and clear: "Great career you have there. It would be a shame if something happened to it."
I'm sure that liberals in Hollywood aren't happy that Iron Man 3 is getting The Tom Clancy treatment, particularly if that includes a script infused with Clancy's conservatism. And so, I will leave them with one more comment to ponder. During his time directed by Joss Whedon for The Avengers, Downey said this:
"I will never mess with your intent. I will question every day how you plan to get there. But I will never mess with what you're trying to accomplish."
That sounds like many conservatives I know. Conservatives are much more inclined to say, "I know that you want to create a better place. However, your policies are naive, they don't work in the real world and they actually have the opposite effect of your intended goals." Remember when liberals used to pride themselves on questioning authority? Now it's up to conservatives and libertarians; the Progressive college students soak up everything they're told and liberal Hollywood stars blindly follow Barack Obama off a financial cliff.
Anyway, God bless you Robert Downey Jr. You're one hell of an actor. See you opening night.
Robert Downey Jr. was at the 2008 Republican convention. What are the chances a full-court press effort was immediately underway to "re-educate" him? Probably good. I'm sure Iron Man can make up his own mind, but the pressure in Hollywood to conform to liberal orthodoxy is strong. Regardless, when liberal blogs attack him for not towing the line, I will defend.
Update: Since Robert Downey Jr. has attended a Barack Obama fundraiser, I have addressed the matter in depth.
Posted in Hollywood, Movies, Obama Administration, Politics
Tagged Avengers, celebrities, Hollywood, Iron Man, Joss Whedon, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson
Iron Man 3 gets the Tom Clancy treatment
Posted on March 27, 2012 March 27, 2012 by Douglas ErnstLeave a comment
The word is out: Iron Man 3 is going to have more Tom Clancy and less Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots. Robert Downy Jr. is almost always amazing and so is the character of Iron Man (when he's done right), so this is probably good news. The problem is, Marvel has a track record of sometimes allowing liberal claptrap to soak into its products. Sometimes, as with Summer 2011's Captain America, they succeed despite their best efforts at self-sabotage. Due to this, let us revisit a Tom Clancy interview with Charlie Rose to get an accurate glimpse of who the man is and what he's stands for:
Tom Clancy on Iraq: I think we won. Look, the real world is not digital, it's analog. That means it's fundamentally untidy. And so, the Iraq situation is going to remain untidy for quite some time to come. At the end of it Iraq is going to be a free democratic society, and that's a win for us and for the whole world…. Democracy works. America has proven that to the world. Now some parts of the world are a little retarded on that, like China, North Korea and a few others. But democracy and the American model works better than any system in the world.
Tom Clancy on The French: [They're] like a big sister. They think they know better than us, but we're the one's who made the money. They're offended we don't take their advice. Well, tough world. We've grown beyond that. … They eat McDonald's, but they burn the places down. They ask Walt Disney to invest in their country, but then when it's done they call it a cultural Chernobyl. … It's a love/hate relationship. When the Germans are making noise, they love us.
Tom Clancy on terrorism: The first line of defense against any foe, particularly terrorists, is intelligence information, which means human intelligence, which means the operation starts with the CIA … that was hammered by Frank Church in the early 70's and then the Jimmy Carter administration in the late 70's. … Our ability to do [gain intelligence] was gutted almost 30 years ago … The CIA is an agency of about 17,000 people, of whom maybe 500 are field spooks. That's a big tail on not a big dog. We threw away a lot of our human intelligence capabilities over 20 years ago, and although we're just now starting to hire people and bring those people back it takes awhile to bring that capability back, it takes upwards of five years for these guys to be effective officers. Just because we're funding it now, it's not like flipping on a light switch. It takes time. Some terrorists organizations are actually family members, and it's kind of hard to infiltrate a family. And the other thing that members of Congress have trouble with is, quite simply if you want to go down a rat hole you better have some whiskers, and they don't want any good, upstanding Americans to have whiskers. …
The FBI had an agent named Joe Pistone who infiltrated the mafia. And he wrote a book about it titled Donny Brosco … and he got in so far that he almost became a made man, at which point there was a collective panic when the Director looked up and said, "How do we tell a federal district court judge that a sworn Special Agent in the FBI is now a made man in the mafia?" And that's when they had to cut the information off, and we got a lot of useful information. That's what the CIA does, but on an international basis…and it's vital to get that information. The way you get that information might not be aesthetically pleasing, but the real world, contrary to what a lot of people on the political left think, is not the Olympic skating championships.
Got that, Marvel? Tom Clancy is not liberal. He's a very successful writer who doesn't fill books with politically correct pap. If you're going to allow Director Shane Black go on record with the Clancy-plan, then there's no going back. However, since Black also directed Robert Downy Jr. in Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang (a severely underrated movie), I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.
For all of us who can't wait for Iron Man 3, at least The Avengers will tide us over.
Posted in Comics, Movies
Tagged Iron Man 3, Robert Downey Jr., Shane Black, Tom Clancy
Iron Man is America.
Posted on May 5, 2010 March 28, 2016 by Douglas Ernst4 Comments
While it might seem odd to comment on a movie before it comes out, I can't contain myself with Iron Man 2. John Nolte has forced my hand:
Though the highly anticipated "Iron Man 2" qualifies as a hilarious, entertaining, irreverent, and openly patriotic summer blockbuster well worth the price of admission (and then some), like most sequels, the continuing story of Tony Stark and company does falls short of its predecessor…
Hilarious: Check. Entertaining: Check. Patriotic: Check.
That's all I needed, John. Thanks. And now I'd like to take a moment to
Iron Man is America. Liberals refuse to accept how cool that is. Their loss.
describe why Iron Man is such a great character (despite the best efforts of liberal writers to ruin him with sad attempts at Bush/Cheney warmonger allegories)
The same thing that makes Iron Man great is the same thing that makes America the most Kick Ass country the world has ever seen. The Christian elements of our nation's founding guarantee that the innate creativity of man is encouraged to blossom. God gave each of us gifts, and wants us to take full advantage of them. Capitalism, Science, and The Rule of Law fused in America to produce a system that churns out ideas and innovation and entrepreneurs at an astounding rate—when the government gets out of the way. The spirit of America is embodied in the character of Tony Stark: He's big. He's bold. He shoots for the stars, and he's unapologetic about his accomplishments.
However, like America, Tony Stark has his flaws. His same strengths can, at times, cause him to lose sight of himself. Success can be a double-edged sword (or, ummm…malfunctioning repulsor ray?), but that doesn't change the fact that he's still inherently a hero. And that's exactly where so many movies written by liberal Hollywood self-loathers get it wrong. They're so concerned about offending France's cheese eating elitist lecture circuit and the sensitivities of cultures that won't even play Western movies, that their heroes come across as weak-kneed nincompoops. When you stand for everything you stand for nothing. And that makes for a horrible superhero movie.
Stan Lee, a living legend most non-comic fans have heard of, once said something to the effect: I wanted to take a character that was almost impossible to like and make him popular.
To a liberal like Lee (creative genius he may be) the idea that an entrepreneur like Tony Stark would be a hard sell is, quite frankly, politically tone deaf. As much as liberals like to bash successful businessmen, the American people want to be them. As I said before, most people know that they have God-given talents and seek ways to cultivate them for the benefit of themselves and their family. Work is a virtue. Work is a gift. Giving to other people through our creative efforts is a satisfying and just endeavor, and profiting off of those efforts is equally as righteous. And that is something that liberals, for whatever reason, just don't seem to understand.
This week I will see Iron Man 2. And I will most-likely enjoy it. And even if I don't, I can take heart that a character who personifies American ingenuity gets to step into the limelight yet again.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go listen to that out.freakin'.standing. crooner Robert Downy Jr. And then watch…Lego Star Wars awesomeness. I suggest you take part too. You'll thank me later.
Posted in Comics, Hollywood, Movies, Politics, The Kitchen Sink
Tagged Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Jon Favreau, Robert Downey Jr., Tony Stark