Let’s start with my ideas about Pepper Potts and Maya Hansen as strong female characters. The Bechdel Test was invented in 1985 by Alison Bechdel in her comic strip called The Rule. The test’s premise is simple: How does a female character function in a film? To pass the test, a film must have more than one woman in a major role; further, the women must have a conversation, and a plot, that extends beyond the male characters. Simply put, they need to talk about something, anything, other than a man. Sadly, many films do not pass the test. A simple graphic from Harvard’s research blog presents a clear and easy visual that you can use for any film (https://researchblog.duke.edu/2017/08/04/sizing-up-hollywoods-gender-gap/). For more information, you can also visit https://bechdeltest.com to see The Bechdel Test Movie List for over 8,000 films that viewers have rated for TBT.
Pepper Potts is crafted in this film as the CEO of Stark Industries, as per the events of IM2. She is in charge of Tony’s company, and she doesn’t consult him regarding Aldrich Killian’s plans for Extremis—and she has numerous scenes where Tony Stark isn’t even present. To pass the test, though, IM3 uses Maya Hansen’s scientist well, building her character in layers throughout the film, and introducing her as a common trope for conflict: The ex-girlfriend. However, Pepper doesn’t fall for that, and that’s where the trope remains; much like my review of Natasha and Pepper’s interactions in IM2, Pepper doesn’t get jealous of another woman, and they share several scenes where they discuss their commonalities, mainly the stressors of being ambitious career women. Maya’s character is layered interestingly, starting as ex, then seemingly as someone who can help Tony uncover Killian’s nefarious plan, and then last as a desperate scientist who chose the wrong path to follow with her genius. And, just as she grows, so does Pepper—who has more than one scene where she wields Iron Man’s armor. (I was rooting for her alter-ego Rescue to appear at some point, and this film gives us a glimpse of Pepper in a suit!) To read more on my ideas about Pepper as a strong comic-and-film character, you can check out my chapter “The Power of Potts and Pens” in my book Comic Connections: Reflecting on Women in Popular Culture. (Shameless plug—all of my books are on Amazon!) Ha.
However, there are other reasons I love this film. What I truly think works well is Tony’s evolution. He is committed to Pepper fully, and he is trying to step outside of his own self-absorbed bubble to move forward as a better man, a better partner, and interestingly—a better gift-giver. Follow me here…in the original Iron Man, Pepper and Tony share a dance, and he comments on her gorgeous dress:
Tony: "Miss Potts -- can I have five minutes? You look...you look like should always wear that dress."
Pepper: "Thanks. It was a birthday present--from you."
Tony: "I have great taste."
So in the first film, Tony doesn’t buy her a present; his money was used by Pepper to buy something extravagant that she probably wouldn’t buy herself for a Stark event. He notices the dress, but he didn’t put any energy into buying it.
As a result of that film, and the first half of Iron Man 2, Tony attempts to apologize for his over-the-top behavior by buying Pepper some strawberries from a road-side stand to complement his apology:
Pepper: "Did you bring me strawberries? Did you know that there’s only one thing on Earth that I’m allergic to?"
Tony: "Allergic to strawberries. This is progress, Pepper! I knew there was a correlation…"
Tony grows in IM3 even more, and he plans a gift for Pepper for Christmas at the start of the film: A giant bunny. He’s impatient for her to notice the gift, as it is probably one of the first gifts he ever tried to plan and give. This bunny is adorably wrong in many ways: It won’t fit in the door, it’s too large and unwieldy, and it’s humorously for the wrong holiday. So this bunny comes up multiple times in the movie, from him hesitantly asking if she liked it to complaining about why she didn’t—it’s obvious that he doesn’t understand yet why she doesn’t—and his feelings are hurt at her dismissal of the gift.
By the end of IM3, Tony has come full circle with gift-giving. Pepper has tried to explain to him that his obsessive working, his many, many armor designs, and his tweaking of various IM suits is coming between them, calling them his distractions. Once the conflict has been resolved, the plot returns to this idea of gift-giving in two ways. First, Tony gives Pepper the gift she really did want: That he heard her and was healing.
Tony: "That’s what I do. I fix stuff."
Pepper: "And all your distractions?"
Tony: "I’m going to shave them down a little bit." TAPPING HIS EAR: "Jarvis, hey."
Jarvis: "Will there be anything else?"
Tony: "You know what to do."
Jarvis: "The Clean Slate Protocol, Sir?"
Tony: "Screw it…it’s Christmas. Yes." MORE FORCEFULLY: "Yes." HUGGING PEPPER, HOPEFUL: "Do you like it?"
Pepper, ELATED: "It’ll do."
So, all in all, I think this film is a solid entry—great, even—in the MCU despite all of the complaints about the Mandarin. For me, as a viewer, I think there’s so much here to like and enjoy. I guess that I just want Iron Man 3 to be a gift to viewers…who may have to watch it again to appreciate the contents of the package.
Hi Dr. E. The first couple of times I saw this movie, I was not a fan. I think at this point I'm a reluctant fan. Like Alex, I was very disappointed with how the used the character of The Mandarin in this movie. But like you and Gian, I can appreciate Tony's growth. In fact I commented on Gian's post about how I like this movie in the context of the other movies so we can see Tony's progression and we feel the discomfort he feels as he's growing. I do appreciate his character evolution throughout the series, and I think RDJ was amazing in this role for his ability to go from the immature Tony to the Tony who gives his life to save the world. I have no doubt fighting his own personal demons helped him connect deeply with this role.
ReplyDeleteBut other than Tony's growth, I enjoy seeing Pepper's growth throughout the series. She goes from mild mannered Pepper in the first movie who is shy about dancing with her boss to someone who is the powerful CEO of a company, confident in herself and not threatened by any other woman. I also enjoyed Maya's character in the movie and how she was a strong, intelligent force throughout. I found it interesting how Aldrich Killian was the bumbling nerd who lacked confidence and then transformed physically as a reflection of his confidence and growth similar to what we usually see with women in movies. In fact he seems to fit the pattern of the scorned lover - he is ignored and kicked aside by the man he thought would make his dreams come true, he works hard to impress him later on with his technology development and his physical development (he changes his appearance and goes from less than attractive to very handsome), and then tries to get his revenge.
I honestly was waiting for the negative feedback to my review, as honestly, that's all I hear about IM3. I think that too often, we carry our expectations into films (me, too), and if we've read the book or watched previous versions of something, we are often disappointed. It's like the book vs movie debate on whether to watch the film first or read the book first. I am in the minority that I watch the film first to avoid disappointment. Then, I fill in the gaps with the novel.
ReplyDeleteEveryone hates this film, but I think it's sorely misunderstood. So I expect that no one changes their minds. I'm just thrilled that Gian liked it much, much more this time around! Ha.
I truly love it.