Posted on 05/10/2010 7:05:41 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Little did Aaron Sorkin suspect, when he wrote the lefty drama "A Few Good Men," that the only thing anyone would ever remember about it was Jack Nicholson’s Col. Jessep speech, which Sorkin accidentally made more convincing than any liberal argument he ever offered: "Son, we live in a world that has walls and those walls have to be guarded by men with guns. You want me on that wall — you need me on that wall. My existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives."
Col. Jessup, shake hands with your 21st-century equivalent: Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark.
In "Iron Man 2," not only is Stark’s existence grotesque to a prosecutorial senator in Washington even as he protects American lives, but the movie shows how much we need Tony Stark on another crucial wall — the wall between private industry and statism. The movie is written by Justin Theroux, but ideologically it brings to mind a slightly older screenwriter — Ayn Rand.
"Iron Man" shows its mettle early on when Tony is hauled before Congress to face down a snotty senator (Garry Shandling) who demands that he surrender his rights to Iron Man technology. Tony jokes that he isn’t interested in "indentured servitude or prostitution," echoes Col. Jessup when he notes, "I’d love to leave my door open, but this ain’t Canada" and sternly informs the senator, "You want my private property. You can’t have it." He adds, "I’ve successfully privatized world peace ... what’s wrong with these assclowns?"
Stark is threatened by the only force on earth comparable to his — what Rand’s John Galt called "the unpredictable power of the arbitrary whims of hidden, ugly little bureaucrats."
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Is your complaint really that more people are being exposed to Conservative principles through a movie based on a comic book.
How many people will see Iron Man 2? How many people would see a movie based on a dry discourse of conservative principles?
Culture is shaped in many ways by mass entertainment.
There was that wonderful scene in the movie about Howard Hughes being grilled by the Senate. And...That was taken from a true event.
Maybe not the good guy, either, but certainly not the bad guy. Libs don't like it when reality (we need good troops) intrudes on their fantasy (military = evil).
And Cruise, Moore, etc ... the "protagonists" ... weren't much to talk about, either. "GI Jane" notwithstanding, I don't see any of them standing a post on the DMZ in Korea, or keeping some remote - but critical - radar station going north of the Artic circle.
Perhaps when "Atlas Shrugged" makes it to the big screen without being butchered, I will be more hopeful. Then again, some of Rand's tech is comic-book as well...
Is Tony Stark’s Iron Man suit made out of Rearden Metal?
bfl
“
The full movie theater I was in starting laughing, and
hootin’ and hollerin’ when he said it.
“
Reminds me of when I saw “The Aviator” in Santa Monica.
When DiCaprio (as Howard Hughes) gets into a discussion with Hepburn’s family
at their nice home...and “Hughes” says “You never have to worry about
money because you have plenty” (or something like that)...
even in liberal Santa Monica, the audience responded with applause and
laughter.
Pleased me, but freaked me out for a moment!
well Robert Downey Jr appears to be one one of the few Hollywood “conservatives”
Downey has indicated that his time in prison changed his political point of view somewhat, saying: “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.”[92] In a 2007 interview with W magazine Downey showed the journalist a photograph of himself and his wife with then President George W. Bush.[91] Downey also attended the 2008 Republican National Convention, at which John McCain was nominated as the presidential candidate and Sarah Palin as the vice-presidential candidate. [93]
It’s a good movie. Robt Downey was solid, if a little more scatter-brained than usual. The Hammer guy was a two-dimensional buffoon. Mickey Rourke was a satisfyingly twisted villain. Didn’t care much for the feminazi PC SHIELD girl (Scarlett Johannson) and Gwyneth’s doe-eyed smugness is getting old. But all in all, a low-cerebral-demand way to spend a couple of hours.
I saw it yesterday, and I don’t remember that being said by any character.
Who thinks like that? Who thinks deeply about what they have seen and whether or not it relates to the world around them?
When someone sees an entertaining movie they either like it or don't like it. If they like it, then the messages within will resonate.
In real life, I would imagine that Stark would be raided by the ATF, who would classify t5he suit's armament as "destructive devices" and Stark's only way out of jail would be to turn it all over.
I made the comment after the movie about how funny Hollywood is...even the trailers all contained violence as a means of controlling evil - peace through strength.
In Iron Man 2, they steal Tony’s suit. So he has to make a better suit to stay ahead of the new competition. As long as the hero remains technologically ahead of the competition, there’s peace.
When he leaps on the counter to replace the artwork with the Obama-inspired “Iron Man” poster, he says it in response to Pepper Potts, who was worrying about the impact he was having on the organizations to which they give.
Obviously, if I think like that, someone does. Let's remember this is Hollywood. They are in the business of projecting images (pun intended). If the image is that conservative ideas only show up in comic-book style movies, they subtly brand conservative ideas as fantasy. Also, they remove the intellectual component from conservatism.
I don't think there needs to be a conservative "Dinner with Andre"-type movie, but it need to be more than a John McClain-style blow-em-up action adventure.
It will be, I’m sure.
“There was that wonderful scene in the movie about Howard Hughes being grilled by the Senate. And...That was taken from a true event.”
“The Aviator” ... great movie :-)!
I also loved the scene at Kathern Hepburn’s family dinner.
You mean like “The Blind Side”? Nominated for Best Picture.
You mean like “Passion of the Christ”? It was the 5th highest grossing movie of 2004.
You mean like almost all the Pixar movies?
Conservative messages are out there if you look for them. But when the number 1 movie for the weekend has bold conservative messages, is it really wise to complain about how it’s “a comic book movie”.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.