Oh, it’s always an Apple Monitork, and/or a Dell, always an MSNBC tie in (Microsoft and them are co-owners or something, I forget how that works). I am starting to pine for the days when there weren’t product placement. You didn’t see Indy drinking a Coke in Raiders did you? I bet there is a Dr Pepper in Crystal Skull, somewhere. Maybe the Hulk will be wearing Hanes underpants or Nike sneakers. I dunno…

Well, I’m off to BK to buy some crappy burgers!

Well… Iron Man only raises the issue the uncontrollable arms proliferation, but I don’t think the movie officially takes a stance on the issue. Furthermore, it’s implied that Tony Stark wants to stop uncontrollable arms proliferation, but it seems like he does so by building the Iron Man suit, which will serve as some sort of a deterrent. So, there seems to be nothing radical about the movie, and if anything, it’s moderate in its political messaging. It doesn’t propose complete the disarmament of all nations. It just points out “well, the unfortunate thing is that hi-tech, advanced weapons sometimes get into the wrong hands” and imply that we need the best in weapons technology to stop this.

However, I’ll give the movie the benefit of the doubt because it clearly showed Tony Stark in the process of figuring out a new personal moral paradigm and I’m sure that, in the inevitable sequel, he’ll develop a more concrete ethical stance on this issue. But for now, Iron Man just says “weapons falling into the wrong hands is bad, hmm-kay.”

I only meant to point out that there is an entire set of academics who, at the very least, are comfortable with the proliferation of nuclear weaponry as a harbinger of safety and security. If a film, such as Iron Man is able to point out the absurdity of arms proliferation to a general audience (perhaps laying the groundwork for a cultural shift), I think we’d be in a better position to question neo-relaism in international relations.

But just so I don’t just sound snarky– I did enjoy Iron Man, especially its first half.

I certainly hope Kenneth Waltz sees this film; maybe it’ll make him think twice about the prohibitiveness of nuclear proliferation.

Well, because they served a purpose at his hour of darkness, RDJ just had to send the elevator back down for Burger King. God knows they need it.

As a side-note… if Iron Man taught me anything, it’s this: is I want to be like Iron Man I need to a) gamble at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas, b) eat Burger King, c) drive an expensive Audi (or, if it’s preferred, lift an expensive Audi), and d) video talk on a top-of-the line LG electronics cell phone. It also taught me that when I’m morally outraged by the dangers of arms proliferation, I should make myself a fully functional Iron Man suit, which happens to be the ultimate weapon of war. Makes perfect sense.

If the Burger King cheeseburger that Tony Stark ate was half as potent as the Burger King cheeseburger that Robert Downey Jr ate the day he decided to quit being a junkie, certainly it absolved any need for a hospital.

In it, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is held captive but escapes, and when he comes back home, he tells his assistant Pepper Potts (Gwenyth Paltrow) that instead of going to the hospital, he instead needs to do two things: go out and eat an American cheeseburger and hold a press conference. Then, they drive off. In the next scene, you see Stark returning to his company, and there’s the press swarming everywhere. But what is RDJ eating? A Burger King cheeseburger. That’s right. A 99 cent, Burger King cheeseburger. He even says, as a throw-away line that’s slightly less audible, “hey, I just went to Burger King”.

I’m sorry, but if I ate red meat and I was held captive for three months and came home and wanted a cheeseburger, Burger King would not be the first place I would go. It was just a non-sensical product placement.

And I wish Iron Man was more morally specific.