Why I Think Iron Man is a Jerk

I'm not usually intrigued by superhero action movies, but since I work at the cinema, I can't resist seeing some blockbuster action flicks from time to time, the newest one being Iron Man 3. Although the movies are based on comic books, I still like to do a literary overanalysis of the characters, their flaws, and the hidden messages that they're portraying about our society. Popular media defines society as it is in the moment. For example, back in the post-war days, literature was depressing and scrutinized the advance of the Industrial Revolution and lack of individualism (take into account Virginia Woolf or Sylvia Plath). Now, our society seems to hail the cynical hero- the one who makes snippy remarks, has low moral standards, and consumes himself with one-night stands- the jerk.

The greatest example of the cynical jerk superhero is Iron Man. The newest Iron Man movie had a simple, predictable plot line (nerd wants revenge, things get blown up, pretty girl, nerd becomes villain, pretty girl again, oh my god they want to kill the president of America, America needs to save the world because America= the world, subliminal advertising of American car brands, pretty girls in sports bras, strippers, villain dies and things get blown up even more). It also had the most unappealing protagonist that I could imagine. I couldn't tell if he was a good guy or if he was going to end up killing everyone. Good old Tony Stark.

Tony Stark has all the characteristics that our capitalist society seems to favour- lots of money, a humongous home (that clearly uses up a lot of electricity), a beautiful partner, a well built body, an "I don't give a damn" attitude, and sarcastic humour. Throughout the movie, he shows no care for anyone's feelings. Even though he's doing a good thing by saving the world, he doesn't do it the right way- the traditional, longing-to-save-my-love sort of way that is evident in superheroes such as Spiderman. Upon trying to save his girl from the pits of death, he "jokingly" accuses her of putting herself in her predicament, to which she responds "you're such a jerk." All in all, Iron Man tries to avoid responsibility for his actions, which is a critical flaw of today's society and its people.

The real point of this post is not to criticize a superhero movie and get hardcore fans offended. There's a hell load of things that I don't know about Iron Man and all his hidden intricacies. But all I know from the three Iron Man movies that I saw is that he is a jerk that encompasses the motto of our generation: I don't care. Why is it easier to say that you don't care than to admit that you care, and do something about it? Of course, the answer is avoidance of responsibility. So here I go again on a rant about society's seeming lack of caring for others. If this Iron Man attitude is "cool" then no wonder people are becoming such jerks. But maybe to survive in this shark tank of a society, we need to be jerks in order not to get eaten. Still, a life of not caring only makes one anxious and miserable (take into account that Tony Stark had anxiety issues) and the only way to cure this pent up anxiety is to be true to oneself. To accept help from others. To help others. To cry when you need to and rant when you're angry about something. Think I'm exaggerating about our generation's "IDGAF" attitude? Here's some solid proof:

There are thousands of other examples like this from the IDGAF YOLO series found in abundance on popular Tumblr and 4chan pages. But this is pretty much the gist of it. Love this generation. I don't look up to Tony Stark, and even though he has nicely toned biceps and attractive facial hair, I don't support him as an idol of our generation (and aren't superheroes supposed to be idolized?). I usually have nothing against Hollywood films, seeing as most cinema busters come from America. But this level of American patriotism, capitalist worship, and selfishness only perpetuates and encourages our careless generation.