Welcome to my monthly Marvel Cinematic Universe series! Going in order of release date, I will be watching each of the MCU movies and analyzing the women’s dialogue. The fun thing about this type of analysis is that it is driven by the data. That means that every movie has the potential to show something different about the women of the MCU. I’ve decided to go by release date instead of the official timeline. I’m curious to see if there are any notable changes to the writing over time.
I want to start off by saying that I love Ironman. I went to see this movie on opening day with my roommates in college and have watched it probably at least once a year since. Tony Stark is my favorite MCU character. My Dad and I used to watch the cartoon when I was growing up, and I adore the “billionaire, philanthropist, genius” mostly because his brain is his “superpower”. I think my favorite part of the movie is the end where, instead of choosing to dance around some secret identity charade, Tony decides to just come out and admit that he is Ironman.
But enough about my gushing! For this post I sat down and purposefully rewatched the film to pay specific attention to the dialogue and what functions the script and performances were trying to achieve. We use words to accomplish certain tasks and when it comes to scripted performance, those words are chosen on purpose to convey the story. This film was nominated for 3 writing awards, by the way. So my burning question after all of this is:
Why the hell is Pepper Potts’ forced into an out-of-character attempted kiss mid-movie?
About halfway through the movie, Tony Stark crashes his own company’s benefit ball. He walks in, gets a drink, and uses the excuse of needing to speak with Pepper to avoid talking to Agent Coulson. Tony convinces her to dance.
TONY
Am I making you uncomfortable?
PEPPER
(sarcastically)
No, no I always forget to wear deodorant and dance in a dress with no back with my boss in front of everyone that I work with.
There is some more banter between the two before they decide to step out to balcony for some air.
PEPPER
That was totally weird.
TONY
Totally harmless.
PEPPER
It was totally not harmless, by the way.
TONY
We were dancing. No one’s even watching.
PEPPER
Everybody who I work with… No, you know why?
TONY
I think you lost objectivity. I think they just...People...We just danced.
PEPPER
NO, it was not just a dance. You don’t understand because you’re you. And everybody knows exactly who you are and how you are with girls and all of that, which is completely fine. But, you know, then me, you’re my boss, and I’m dancing with you.
TONY
I don’t think it was taken that way.
PEPPER
No! Because it makes me look like the one who’s trying to…
TONY
I just think you’re overstating it.
PEPPER
You know, and we’re here, and then I’m wearing this ridiculous dress, and then we were dancing like that and...
(PEPPER leans in to kiss TONY. She stops halfway.)
Wait wait wait...WHAT?!
Pepper just spent an entire scene explaining about how she was uncomfortable, why she did not like being seen in public that way, saying over and over again how she felt it was inappropriate contextually while slapping down Tony’s mansplanation. Nothing about this moment is romantic.
And yet Pepper suddenly decides to try and kiss him anyway. After it was established that other people are walking past them on the balcony. After she implied that she was worried about looking like someone trying to sleep her way to a raise or promotion.
This reads like a bad fanfiction. “NO NO NO NO! But what I actually mean is yes.” The #MeToo movement is crying.
This is why understanding the concept of consent can be so confusing to some. (Granted, this movie is over 10 years old now.) Our media historically displays conflicting messages about women, perpetuating this myth that women with strong personalities are purposely playing hard to get or that they don’t know what they want, that “no” is really “yes”. It makes me so sad for Pepper, who is otherwise a fantastic character.
To be clear, I love Pepper and Tony as a canon couple. Pepper is a badass who does not put up with Tony’s shit and that is why he respects her. On previous watch throughs, the awkward exchange completely passed me by as I was watching specifically for Tony’s character development as the main character. And to Tony’s credit he does not make a move to exploit the moment which he does with other women that he comes across. But when I took the time to look at Pepper with the same attention as I gave Tony before, man was I thrown for a loop!
It makes the last scene Pepper is in uncomfortable too. Tony brings up the topic of the “romantic” moment they shared that night and Pepper starts to say that she remembers in a soft tender voice, leading one on to believe that she now has romantic feelings for him. She finishes her dialogue, however, by reminding Tony that he ditched her on the balcony and never returned with the drinks he left to get. When I watched it before, I cheered her for putting Tony in his place. This time though, it reinforces the “when I said ‘no’, I really meant ‘yes’” and she’s angry at him for not taking her up on it.
Looking at this in retrospect it is less of a mystery to me as to why that subset of misogynistic fanboys hold such conflicted views of women. They’re shown main romantic leads who exhibit actions opposite to their words, lead men on, and then run cold seemingly at random.
But then, I am not sure who to blame for this, the writing or the directing. The script as written actually is not terribly offensive. I could easily see these scene performed with completely different sub-text and still hold meaningful moments for building a relationship between Pepper and Tony. But the way Jon Faverau directed the actors is such a departure from the text that watching it makes me physically uncomfortable. Which then begs the question of who is actually responsible? The writers? The director? Or the executive producers? It’s not uncommon for executives to step in and demand changes to films in order to make it more “marketable” (see the ill-fated love triangle of The Hobbit trilogy).
Regardless, it is an absolute shame for an otherwise really enjoyable film. Go watch “Ironman” yourself and tell me what you think!
Check back on the last Saturday of every month for the next entry in my MCU series! Next up: The Incredible Hulk.
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