You know, I can be kind of slow sometimes

[marinarusalka]

Like, okay, I did noticeway back on my first Avengers viewing that when Tony first shows up on the Helicarrier, talking a mile a minute and getting into everybody’s face and being super-obnoxious, that he’s actually creating a distraction so that he can plant a bug in SHIELD’s computers

Comments

[amonitrate]

yesssss.

[marinarusalka]

:-) It's kind of amazing how good Tony is at misdirecting and deflecting and creating a false impression. And because he's so in-your-face about it, no one suspects him of being sneaky. He's like a very flamboyant stage magician, waving a red scarf with one hand so that nobody looks at what his other hand is doing. It's really very cool.

[mysid]

Stage magician is a good analogy for him. I don't remember whether or not I noticed the bug planting, but I did catch the bracelets. He needed to switch from damaged suit to back-up suit, and he managed it right under Loki's nose.

[marinarusalka]

What's really hilarious is that at the start of that conversation, when Tony says he's going to threaten Loki, Loki says something like "you should be wearing the armor for that." And Tony gives this little laugh and goes, "Well, Yeah."

He practically announces what he's trying to do! And then gets away with it anyhow!

[ignipes]

I really love that every time it happens in the movies, because it's never highlighted, but it's such a consistent and sneaky character trait. Manipulative genius FTW!

[marinarusalka]

It's really interesting watching it play out in his character arc in the first movie. In the pre-Afghanistan scenes, he acts mainly to deflect people who want to ask him uncomfortable questions (Christine) or to make him do responsible work-related things (Pepper, Rhodey). In Afghanistan, he's a lot less flashy about it, but the creation of the first armor is totally dependent on Tony's ability to do something while convincing everyone around him that he's doing something entirely different. Then when he comes back, he's distracting and deflecting all over the place again, this time to hide info about the arc reactor and his Iron Man plans. And finally at the end, he stops deflecting and strands right up and goes "Fuck yeah, I'm Iron Man!" So cool.

[ignipes]

Yes! That's exactly what I was thinking about. A talent for deflection is very much what saves his life when he was a prisoner. Before that it was mostly about avoiding responsibility--and not very well, because everybody close to him knew he was doing it and was not impressed--and after that it was more about drawing attention away from... well, everything, since the entire second movie is basically about him trying to hide the fact that he's fucked up and dying from everybody. And in the Avengers it's turned outward, more goal-oriented, but it's the same approach.

But it's all balanced around that focus of Afghanistan, and the fact that it was all about "don't look at the man behind the curtain!" in a very real life or death manner. I love that. And I love that we've gotten a three movie character arc so far and get to have even more, because that's so rare in movies.

[ciaan]

Oh, Tony definitely knows how to play the social game.

[marinarusalka]

Tony Stark: even smarter than he looks! :-)