For: fornication, sexual scenes and sensuality, moral confusion, language, and some humanismIron Man may be conceptually good, but its fabulously high-tech super hero suit is inhabited by neither more nor less than a complete jerk. To fellow characters and intended audience alike, Tony Stark epitomizes egotism, recklessness and sexual promiscuity, and while his global awareness goes up as the movie progresses, Stark’s personal irresponsibility, self-absorption and political correctness remain at a steady all-time high.
Fornication, Sexual Scenes and Sensuality
Stark boasts about and engages in one night stands on screen. He propositions a woman almost immediately after she introduces herself and the two of them are shown grappling and kissing passionately in bed. Stark also, pleased, confirms a rumor that he had slept with twelve Maxim models last year, including December’s twins. He casually alludes to a friend’s promiscuity and jokingly tells other characters about the friend having woken up to find that his sexual partner was a man.
Stark’s personal jet is staffed by sensual dancers with short skirts and bare midriffs, wiggling their torsos to music for his viewing pleasure. Stark’s single-night cofornicator appears wearing nothing but one of Stark’s shirts. Other female characters wear low spaghetti strap and strapless dresses with or without backs.
As an aside, Stark briefly mistakes a man for Hugh Hefner.
Moral Confusion
Pepper, Stark’s secretary, is portrayed as being sexually conservative, being very self-conscious about wearing a dress that plunges below her usual modesty level, but even she declares that Stark’s rampant promiscuity “is completely fine.”
Iron Man strongly presents the view that weapons are a global menace simply by virtue of their occasionally falling into the hands of criminals. During his brief stint as a hostage in the middle east, Stark discovers that villains have purchased and been using the weapons he invented. In order to prevent the bad guys from using his weapons to kill American soldiers, he abruptly removes his weapons from the market and determines to find the remainder of the Stark weapons and destroy them. Stark claims that because his weapons could fall into the wrong hands, he “had become part of a system that is comfortable with zero accountability,” leaving no philosophical alternatives but weapons prohibition or top-down control of weapons ownership.
Stark is also portrayed positively for shutting down the weapons manufacturing without conferring with or even telling any of his business associates, even though this instantly costs not only him, and not only the vague entity of “the company”, but all of the other innocent individuals who own shares of the company, millions of dollars. His business partner is made to look like a bad guy (which, irrelevantly, he turns out to be) for filing an injunction against Stark for damaging the company.
As an aside, characters in Iron Man treat lying as if it was a normal part of life. Positively-portrayed government agents inform people that Iron Man’s unsanctioned activities were part of military training exercises, and provide Stark with a fabricated alibi, including “sworn statements” from fifty guests of a party that never happened. Stark lies casually to cover up his activities as Iron Man.
The pre-transformation, negatively-portrayed Stark also states that the best way to handle military situations is to “find an excuse” to fire a missile, and adds that “That’s how America does it.”
Language
J----
G-d
G-d
G-d
G-d
G-d
G-d
G-d
G-d
G-d
d-mn
h-ll
h-ll
h-ll
h-ll
b-tch
b-tch
pr-ck
B.S.
Foolish Behavior
Stark regularly fails to show at important events and meetings, preferring instead to spend his time gambling in a Las Vegas casino. On the other hand, he drives at obviously illegal speeds in order to get to events he decides he does want to attend. Stark regularly rejects advice in order to attempt crazy, sometimes dangerous or harmful ideas. He also (see Moral Confusion, above) makes impulsive statements to the press, without or against advisement, that damage other people’s careers and financial well being. Stark compulsively buys things (also against advice) that he know’s he will never use.
Some Humanism
Throughout the movie, Stark considers himself the measure of all things. He judges morality and purpose, even on his more socially-conscious days, by whether he can say, “I know in my heart it’s right.”
A middle-eastern character, dying, says that he is going to see his deceased family now, and assures Stark that he wants to die, leaving peace and hope as the character’s last impression, but giving no reason to believe that the character was a Christian and could therefore find hope in death.
