Now that the lustre of the ‘Iron Man’ movie has worn off I can delve into some of the subtext that I encountered in the film. What was interesting to me was how this film openly expressed the all too cozy nature that our government has with the military industrial complex and how arms dealers can comfortably trade weaponry with nations states and political actors no matter who those weapons might be trained against the following morning.
Stark Industries was for all practical purposes General Electric. We regard G.E. mostly as a company that manufactures washing machines and benign lightbulbs, but the big profit for G.E. over the last decade has been in their tactical weapons manufacturing. The domestic appliance division is doing so bad that their CEO is looking to sell off the entire operation. It makes all the sense to sell to the Asians since that is where the customer service call center is located anyhoo.
In the ‘Iron Man’ movie when Tony Stark, the fictional CEO of Stark Industries decides that his company will only manufacture domestically beneficial goods the company’s stock fell through the floor. Why is death and destruction so profitable? This is where Hollyweird gives us an actual glimpse into the world we live in. Weapons contractors have an incredible sway over our military and they don’t have to play by any of the rules of engagement. We tumble along headlong towards the precipice where the real bad guys will have the real good guns.
Shitgotdamn if we aren’t there now.
Don’t ever forget that U.S. manufacturers armed the Iraqi government. Everybody on this side that works in the Pentagon and has an info clearance tag worth a damn can tell you the exact amount of bullets that we have shipped to them. When we went looking for WMD we did it as the repo man. Even if the arms were outdated, and they were, we still didn’t want them falling into the wrong hands. Meaning, people that didn’t pay for them.
You have taken note of some of the shipments of arms and supplies sent to Iraq that have gone missing? In all my life I have never seen white just shrug his shoulders when shit goes missing. Nope, he goes in there and gets his shit that was stolen and prA’li takes some shit for himself. Just because. The real story of Iron Man is about people so greedy and without morality that they would sell arms to someone just to try out their latest weapon in order to take their guns and bombs back.
These are the children of the same dudes that brokered land treaties with the native Americans. Since when do you think they have anytime to care about anything but money? ‘Iron Man’ was the fantasy that a man could rise above the code of greed embedded into his DNA after generations.
Alas, thats why its source is a comic book and not a history book.
True indeed. Remember the look on Stark’s face when he realized that he not only made and designed the weapons that were killing the soldiers that were guarding him but he was manufacturing and distributing them as well? Sheeeeit.
One.
i see u liked this flick ast much as i did
“Stark Industries was for all practical purposes General Electric.”
On-point! Good post.
The real life come in when as soon as he does try to make a move everyone around him thinks he must have lost his mind.
im subscribing to this rss totally