Iron Man 3 reaction post
Firstly? GDI, MARVEL, USING THE WORD 'EXTREMIS' AND THEN NOT GIVING US TECHNOPATHIC!TONY IS JUST CRUEL.
That out of the way, OMG I LOVE EVERYTHINGGGG.
THE MANDARIN. I'd sort of resigned myself to the race fail, so the fact they were kind of actually making a dig at the whole 'generically foreign bad guy' thing was KIND OF AMAZING??? IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE RIDICULOUS. FOUR FOR YOU.
TONY.
I JUST.
I feel like this film was kind of an answer to the question "Big man in a suit of armour, take that away and what are you?". And it does feel like a fitting place for Tony to be. He built the armour out of a place of vulnerability and fear, and TBH he never really dealt with the underlying issues there. So it makes perfect sense that after such a near death experience, and after a near NY-being-destroyed experience, and after a my-entire-understanding-of-the-world-has-been-turned-upside-down experience, he would need more comfort, and he'd build 40 more suits, and he'd realise those suits could do nothing for his nightmares and his panic attacks. He's been using the suits as an emotional crutch, and he's finally realised that and gone "This just isn't working". I sort of feel like Tony's had this false epiphany where he's gone HAVING LOADS OF ARMOUR ISN'T CURING MY ANXIETY ISSUES, SO I'LL JUST GET RID OF THE ARMOUR AND THEN EVERYTHING WILL BE FINE, and, obviously, just getting rid of an ineffective coping strategy does not actually cure the underlying issue. But I do think it will force him to confront the underlying issues. I mean, he's implicitly started to look for other strategies already. (Although, Tony, BB, none of the people you trust already are therapists. You can't force them to be, honey. If you want a therapist you are going to have to work on opening up to an unfamiliar person.)
I don't think the person we see at the end of the film is an actually healed Tony. I think an actually healed Tony would look at the IM suit and see a tool he can use or not use, depending on circumstances. Rather than as a comfort he needs access to all the time, or as a crutch he has to get rid of. He'll get there.
I absolutely love that this film gave us a superhero with anxiety issues. And that it was dealt with as an entirely legitmate problem, and wasn't presented as an unreasonable reaction to the circumstances. That he wasn't presented as weak for being afraid, but presented as tough for having to work through/around/with that fear. This is the mainstream representation of mental health problems that I want.
I also love that EVERYONE GOT TO SAVE THE DAY. Tony, JARVIS, Rhodey, Pepper. DAY SAVING ALL AROUND.
PEPPER THOUGH. HOW BADASS WAS THAT? FOREVER BADASS.
TBH, I'm kind of want what happens after this film to be kind of a role reversal of their conversations about the suit previously. Pepper going "I see why you find the suits so hard to give up. What am I going to criticize you for now?" just makes me think of a Pepper who doesn't want to give up the suit. A Pepper for whom the idea of Rescue has started coalescing. And then I want Pepper to start asking Tony to built her a suit. And for Tony (who has decided that the suits are so linked with his anxiety that giving up the suits will get rid of his anxiety) will be like "NO I AM DONE WITH THE SUITS" and Pepper will keep pestering an eventually he'll give in and build her one and have to watch her go out into the field and put herself in harm's way and have no idea how to cope with that. AND THEN SHE WILL UNDERSTAND WHY HE RESISTED GIVING UP THE SUITS FOR HER AND HE WILL UNDERSTAND WHY SHE WISHED HE WOULD.
...SOMETIMES I AM A PEPPER/TONY SHIPPER OKAY.
Speaking of shipping, kjsafjafbbbn n,safjc nm the JARVIS/Tony shipper in me basically spent this whole film crying from joy okay.
I JUST. MY BABIES. MY PRECIOUS BABIES.
WHEN TONY WAS STUCK UNDERWATER AND JARVIS REMOVED THE SUIT'S HAND SO HE COULD PULL TONY OUT.
CRYING FOREVER AND EVER I SHIP YOU SO HARD.
All of Tony's interactions with the suit when he was repairing it in Tennessee basically read as Tony/JARVIS hurt/comfort to me. PRECIOUS.
And this film finally had JARVIS controlling the suits solo! Whenever Tony has been in the suits asking JARVIS to do things with it for him, I have been quietly thinking "...JARVIS could totally fly this thing on his own, couldn't he?" and FINALLY I WAS PROVED RIGHT. *__*
NOW TONY SHOULD HAVE SEX WITH JARVIS VIA JARVIS CONTROLLING THE SUIT OKAY? OKAY GOOD
....I'M STILL NOT A ROBOSEXUAL
I also enjoyed the random kid! Even though usually I dislike kids. I think it was because Tony didn't particularly feel the need to coddle him. "You're going to leave me, like my dad did? :(" "Yes." AHAHAHA, I LOVE YOU, YOU ASSHOLE. <3333
UGH, I NEED TO SEE THIS FILM AGAIN ASAP.
I AM SURE I HAVE FORGOTTEN TO MENTION ABOUT A BILLION THINGS THAT GAVE ME FEELS.
ALSO I FORGOT TO MENTION HOW SEXY IT WAS WHEN TONY INVADED A PLACE WITH A BUNCH OF HOMEMADE WEAPONRY.
AND HOW MUCH I DIED WHEN THE FILM OPENED WITH BLUE (DA BA DEE). 90S NOSTALGIA ALL OVER THE PLACE.
EVERYTHING IS WONDERFUL AND I AM SO HAPPY.
*____*
That out of the way, OMG I LOVE EVERYTHINGGGG.
THE MANDARIN. I'd sort of resigned myself to the race fail, so the fact they were kind of actually making a dig at the whole 'generically foreign bad guy' thing was KIND OF AMAZING??? IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE RIDICULOUS. FOUR FOR YOU.
TONY.
I JUST.
I feel like this film was kind of an answer to the question "Big man in a suit of armour, take that away and what are you?". And it does feel like a fitting place for Tony to be. He built the armour out of a place of vulnerability and fear, and TBH he never really dealt with the underlying issues there. So it makes perfect sense that after such a near death experience, and after a near NY-being-destroyed experience, and after a my-entire-understanding-of-the-world-has-been-turned-upside-down experience, he would need more comfort, and he'd build 40 more suits, and he'd realise those suits could do nothing for his nightmares and his panic attacks. He's been using the suits as an emotional crutch, and he's finally realised that and gone "This just isn't working". I sort of feel like Tony's had this false epiphany where he's gone HAVING LOADS OF ARMOUR ISN'T CURING MY ANXIETY ISSUES, SO I'LL JUST GET RID OF THE ARMOUR AND THEN EVERYTHING WILL BE FINE, and, obviously, just getting rid of an ineffective coping strategy does not actually cure the underlying issue. But I do think it will force him to confront the underlying issues. I mean, he's implicitly started to look for other strategies already. (Although, Tony, BB, none of the people you trust already are therapists. You can't force them to be, honey. If you want a therapist you are going to have to work on opening up to an unfamiliar person.)
I don't think the person we see at the end of the film is an actually healed Tony. I think an actually healed Tony would look at the IM suit and see a tool he can use or not use, depending on circumstances. Rather than as a comfort he needs access to all the time, or as a crutch he has to get rid of. He'll get there.
I absolutely love that this film gave us a superhero with anxiety issues. And that it was dealt with as an entirely legitmate problem, and wasn't presented as an unreasonable reaction to the circumstances. That he wasn't presented as weak for being afraid, but presented as tough for having to work through/around/with that fear. This is the mainstream representation of mental health problems that I want.
I also love that EVERYONE GOT TO SAVE THE DAY. Tony, JARVIS, Rhodey, Pepper. DAY SAVING ALL AROUND.
PEPPER THOUGH. HOW BADASS WAS THAT? FOREVER BADASS.
TBH, I'm kind of want what happens after this film to be kind of a role reversal of their conversations about the suit previously. Pepper going "I see why you find the suits so hard to give up. What am I going to criticize you for now?" just makes me think of a Pepper who doesn't want to give up the suit. A Pepper for whom the idea of Rescue has started coalescing. And then I want Pepper to start asking Tony to built her a suit. And for Tony (who has decided that the suits are so linked with his anxiety that giving up the suits will get rid of his anxiety) will be like "NO I AM DONE WITH THE SUITS" and Pepper will keep pestering an eventually he'll give in and build her one and have to watch her go out into the field and put herself in harm's way and have no idea how to cope with that. AND THEN SHE WILL UNDERSTAND WHY HE RESISTED GIVING UP THE SUITS FOR HER AND HE WILL UNDERSTAND WHY SHE WISHED HE WOULD.
...SOMETIMES I AM A PEPPER/TONY SHIPPER OKAY.
Speaking of shipping, kjsafjafbbbn n,safjc nm the JARVIS/Tony shipper in me basically spent this whole film crying from joy okay.
I JUST. MY BABIES. MY PRECIOUS BABIES.
WHEN TONY WAS STUCK UNDERWATER AND JARVIS REMOVED THE SUIT'S HAND SO HE COULD PULL TONY OUT.
CRYING FOREVER AND EVER I SHIP YOU SO HARD.
All of Tony's interactions with the suit when he was repairing it in Tennessee basically read as Tony/JARVIS hurt/comfort to me. PRECIOUS.
And this film finally had JARVIS controlling the suits solo! Whenever Tony has been in the suits asking JARVIS to do things with it for him, I have been quietly thinking "...JARVIS could totally fly this thing on his own, couldn't he?" and FINALLY I WAS PROVED RIGHT. *__*
NOW TONY SHOULD HAVE SEX WITH JARVIS VIA JARVIS CONTROLLING THE SUIT OKAY? OKAY GOOD
....I'M STILL NOT A ROBOSEXUAL
I also enjoyed the random kid! Even though usually I dislike kids. I think it was because Tony didn't particularly feel the need to coddle him. "You're going to leave me, like my dad did? :(" "Yes." AHAHAHA, I LOVE YOU, YOU ASSHOLE. <3333
UGH, I NEED TO SEE THIS FILM AGAIN ASAP.
I AM SURE I HAVE FORGOTTEN TO MENTION ABOUT A BILLION THINGS THAT GAVE ME FEELS.
ALSO I FORGOT TO MENTION HOW SEXY IT WAS WHEN TONY INVADED A PLACE WITH A BUNCH OF HOMEMADE WEAPONRY.
AND HOW MUCH I DIED WHEN THE FILM OPENED WITH BLUE (DA BA DEE). 90S NOSTALGIA ALL OVER THE PLACE.
EVERYTHING IS WONDERFUL AND I AM SO HAPPY.
*____*