Film shows true men of iron don't hide humanity
By Josh Noem
I love watching movies on campus.I know this dates me, but I will always remember seeing "Speed" with Keanu Reeves (after he time-traveled as Bill but before he dodged bullets as Neo) with a few hundred classmates. The film projector stopped just after Neo's buddy gets blown up in the booby-trapped house. When the movie began again, it resumed a few minutes back to when his buddy is just walking into the house. Someone in the audience yelled, "Dude, don't go in there! It's a (bleeping) trap!"Had to be there, I guess.It was with great expectations that I headed to BC Aud last weekend to see "Iron Man" with Robert Downey, Jr. And while I did not find myself laughing at my comrades-in-arm-chairs (even despite similar projection failures), I did find myself pondering the themes of the movie over the course of this past week. The image of a man in armor is a good metaphor for the state in which men find themselves today. I should know, because I am a man and I have a gold-titanium alloy robotic suit. I was actually kind of surprised that the movie so closely paralleled my own experience of exploding secret arms-caches in Afghanistan and battling corporate greed in the form of CEOs encased in über-robotic suits reverse-engineered from my own design. Eerie.Actually, the iron suit that I wear is not made from gold-titanium alloy. It is a suit of willfulness and, as I learned over the past week, it has power enough to wreak havoc on anyone in my path. Seeing the movie helped me realize that I can transform this willfulness to something useful if I am willing to change my heart.Vulnerability and power are key themes to the movie. Downey Jr.'s character, the genius Tony Stark, leads a company that creates super-weapons as a military contractor. The movie starts with a depiction of Tony with all the trappings of success - fame, money and beautiful women (I know, I know - sounds just like Campus Ministry, right?). He has the world at his disposal and he uses his resources for his own pleasure. Yet, he finds himself profoundly alone. The one person that knows him best is his personal assistant, Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), but they only share a professional relationship. Tony is wounded and kidnapped in the Middle East and imprisoned until he creates a weapon for his terrorist captors. His wounds cause him to spend the rest of the movie with essentially a machine for a heart. During his imprisonment, he comes to see how much suffering his weapons cause innocent people.He escapes his captors by building a robotic super-suit and when he returns to Malibu, he perfects the suit and goes on to save the world from the consequences of his arms-dealing past. In the process, he comes to realize his connection to Pepper and their relationship deepens.The turning point for Tony came during his imprisonment and the new heart he receives depicts this conversion. He began the story with a human body but an iron spirit. He is unwilling to see anyone beyond himself and his own desires. When he encounters suffering and the way he is connected to the system that creates that suffering, he begins to have an iron body and a human spirit. And he decides to use that strength for service to the common good.I have found myself acting like Tony Stark this week. I have been in a pattern where my communication with my family has been rather selfish. I was human on the outside but iron on the inside. Conflicts with my children escalated quickly to anger. I was not being generous with my wife. I quickly realized that I was not a happy camper. Not happy indeed. Like Tony, I saw the damage that my weapons - a sharp tongue and apathetic engagement - were doing to those around me. I realized I was lonely.So, I went into my secret chamber and donned my robotic suit and kicked some corporate heinie. It felt great and Wall Street hasn't been the same since. Actually, I was blessed with a moment of grace. I stepped out of the person I was and had a change of heart. It wasn't as literal as Tony's - he actually has his heart replaced - but it was just as effective. And as painful.This new me, however, is a bit more like Christ than the old me: more willing to sacrifice and more flexible in conflict. With my relationships in order - or better order, anyway - I feel like I am stronger on the outside and more human on the inside. I am able to focus my energy on the challenges I see outside of our home like the election and building community in our diverse neighborhood and evangelize you, dear reader. And I am able to be vulnerable and loving to those closest to me.I think many men find themselves in this situation. Our culture conditions us to appear human, but to act like robots. We are supposed to be hard-edged and cool and to have all the right things. Yet we know that this leads to loneliness. Tony's example calls us to our relationships in right order by recognizing the damage we're doing to others with our selfishness. Like Tony, we can have a change of heart, we can become vulnerable and commit to those closest to us. We can all become men of iron - strong on the outside and human on the inside - in service to others.
Josh Noem works in the Office of Campus Ministry.
