Mon 12 May 2008
When I heard the news that the new Iron Man movie was actually pretty good, I have to say that I took it with a grain of salt. To be honest, I don’t think much of the recent Marvel movies. Sure, they’re pretty much all better than Superman Returns, but none so far have been as good as Batman Begins (with the possible exception of the second X-Men movie). Coming from me, it might sound strange since I’m a huge comic book fan and movie enthusiast, but I started to believe that non-Batman comics and movies should not cross paths again. At least not when Hollywood is involved.
That was until I saw Iron Man. I think the best word to describe my thoughts on Iron Man is one I borrow from a friend. After I explained how I felt about loving and hating the Iron Man movie, he explained that I was conflicted. Good word. I think I’ll hold on to that one.
On the one side, I loved the movie! I thought the script, acting, directing, and special effects were brilliant! I can’t really find much wrong with the movie and I’m usually very perceptive! Nothing much except….
… being a Muslim myself, I’m very sensitive to Hollywood’s demonizing of Muslims. I understand that United States is at war with some Muslims, and that Hollywood happens to be in the US, but it still irks me when I see Americans being portrayed as the heroes of the world and Muslims as their heathen counter-parts.
To be fair, the movie did only demonize some “bad Muslims” that were actually oppressing innocent Muslim. This, in itself, is admirable. Also, one Muslim is even shown siding with and befriending Iron Man. And last but not least, the movie did touch upon the topic of American corporations selling arms to its own nation’s enemies. The actual enemy ended up being an American as well so it wasn’t as bad as with most movies out there that use Muslims as the new Nazis unapologetically.
All in all, the movie really was great and extremely entertaining. Its handling of Muslims as enemies rubbed me the wrong way, but was still handled better than most movies out there. I highly recommend Iron Man to anyone who hasn’t seen it despite my slight conflicted emotions about some of its content, and that by itself speaks volumes to its greatness.
May 12th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
I saw the movie and thought it was good. I’m curious to know (given the plot) how you could have made the movie non-offensive to Muslims. The bad guys in the movie were not Muslims - they were extremists. And the US was at fault for selling them the arms to begin with. What more could the movie makers do to cover their bases from offending? It’s not like they are in left-field as there are many extremist groups that oppress others through the use of weapons. It seems Muslims are overly sensitive to these topics. If the bad guys where changed to some Christian radical cult, I don’t think Christians would be offended - they would realize they are not associated with this person - even if they professed to do this in the name of Jesus - they would not consider themselves aligned with the cult in any way. What should be changed in the movie to make it so it’s not offensive to Muslims?
May 12th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
I see your point and I agree with you that Muslims are over-sensitive about their depictions in movies … but this is understandable. Muslims are being demonized in the media left and right and, as a result of this, are discriminated against in their every-day lives. Further demonization of Muslims whether justified, realistic, or even factual only furthers this.
With that said, Iron-Man did the best job possible for a Movie which had Muslims as the bad guys. What is needed now is movies that have Muslims in them as neutral or good characters. This is only the case in movies that have Muslims as villains (with a few exceptions such as Pitch Black). If you have Evil Muslims running amok and then have 1 or 2 good Muslims in the mix, it does not even out. It’s a good first step, but some damage is done.
I would only expect another minority to understand. I have black friends who tell me that’s exactly how they feel when they see movies that have Black people being criminals and white cops chasing them the whole movie. It doesn’t matter if 1 good black person is thrown in on the cop’s side, the movie just furthers the stereotype.
Still, I thank you for your comment.
May 12th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
I wish I could live in the shoe’s of a minority for a while to see things from their point of view. I’m a stereotypical white male, so it’s not easy to see things from certain perspectives - it’s just not possible. I think it’s difficult to make a good movie that doesn’t offend somebody in someway. The current democratic race between Hillary and Obama is a good example of where these issue are brought to light. If you don’t vote for Hillary, then you are considered a “sexist” and if you vote for Obama you are considered a racist. Oh come on people, can’t we just vote for the candidate that we think will do the best job?
However, I agree that the “seeds” have been planted to condition the minds of the Western world to believe Muslims are all radicals. The war in Iraq is tragic and those in leadership that made the decision to invade Iraq should be tried for war crimes.
May 12th, 2008 at 3:27 pm
Interesting points all round. I’d like to add my take to the mix if I may.
This was the first of Marvels properties to be made into a movie by Marvel themselves. No other studio was involved, as has been the case with previous Marvel movie outings. A telling indictment of Fox and Colombia’s treatments of the X Men and Spiderman franchises respectively if ever there was one.
Saying that you feel victimised (if that’s the right word) by this movie’s treatment of Musilms implies, to me at least, that you identify with those who claim to perpetrate atrocities in the name of your faith. If you don’t want to be tarred with the same brush as these evildoers then disavow them, vocally and often. I was very moved by the actions of Stark’s compatriot in bondage in the movie, I think his presence drove home the point that not all those who are Muslims are terrorists, and that Muslims are more often the victims and targets of islamic terrorism than non-muslims.
In any movie of this genre there are going to be bad guys and good guys. Someone is always going to identify with the bad guys in one way or another and feel victimised by their portrayal as such. The thing to remember is that any other traits which either side may exhibit, such as ethnicity, faith, nationality, and even politics, are simply window dressing; there to give some depth to their characters and make them more believable as people, not as any kind of propaganda or attack on a specific group. The art of any entertainment is the suspension of disbelief and the easiest way to do that is to relate characters and events in a work to contemporary situations. It says a lot for Iron Man’s success in suspending our disbelief that it has garnered such a reaction.
You should feel free to correct me if I’m wrong, not being that familiar with the original comic books, but the original antagonists in the Iron Man origin were the North Vietnamese. Those being the villains du jour when the series began. If the USSR were still on the go I’m sure that they would be given that role.
A film like Iron Man should in no way be seen as some kind of polemic social commentary, things like that are best left to Michael Moore, Mike Leigh and other more cerebral filmmakers. Iron Man is fantasy and as long as it is regarded as such in its entirety I have no problem with it. that being said I do understand that the more ‘factual’ branches of western media do have a tendency to conflate the words Muslim and terrorist and I understand your conflictedness. I’m sure that if the Scots were being treated in the same way I would feel somewhat conflicted myself.
May 12th, 2008 at 6:09 pm
I would recommand you all to see Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay.
PS: Hope everything is good with you! You should create a game where a Muslim is the Super Hero
May 14th, 2008 at 11:36 am
I wrote this on the Digg page for this post but it applies to your comments here too so I’ll repost it.
“Of course you’re entitled to your opinion. And I do agree that Muslims are just the “bad guys” of our time, just as the Germans and Russians were.
Did you know that many World War II video games and movies are straight-out banned in Germany? Just because something is true, doesn’t mean it needs to be celebrated. Speaking for myself and my entourage, we’re sick of always explaining to people that we’re not “those bad Muslims” we’re good people. I don’t see Americans feeling the need to distance themselves from perpetrators of atrocities in Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay. I don’t see any American jumping up and down denouncing other Americans who are guilty of crimes around the world.
This is an emotional topic for me and I apologize but I do thank you for your comment. It was tasteful and fair to say the least.”
July 12th, 2008 at 8:26 am
YOu really must not be looking very hard. The people of this great country are calling for fair and humain treatment for all prisoners of war. WE have always tried to.
We as Americans are held to the highest standards, by ourselves and others, especially when it comes to helping and not hurting.
Muslims are seen as the “bad” guyes because they are the bad guyes. No, not all not even most but there are very dangerous Muslims out there that must be stopped. Just like the Germans in WWII.
WE Americans KNOW not all Muslims are BAD- that is one of the reasons my husband and many other wonderful men and women are fighting risking life and limb, so the good Muslims can have freedom and the Bad Muslims cannot hurt anyone anymore. SO, please do not use the two not so bright spots on Americas record, Abu Ghraib and Guantonamo Bay, to say we are anywhere near as dangerous and detestable as those cowardly terrorists.
July 13th, 2008 at 9:13 am
This is what the people of your great country are doing heather:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tq5_vG3cYGM
Do you see your husband in this video? I sure hope not. I hope you see other “wonderful” men and women who are not in Abu Ghraib or Guantanamo Bay.
September 1st, 2008 at 2:22 pm
Abu Ghraib and Guantonamo Bay are not the only places Americans fucked with. Try almost the entire world. Fuck Americans.
September 6th, 2008 at 10:41 pm
fuck you sharkbait