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Victor Duenas Gonzalez

Ms. Storer

English 3 Honors American History

January 24, 2020

The Strength of Iron

Tim Fargo once said, “Leadership is service, not position” (Fargo). The 2008 film Iron

Man, directed by Jon Favreau, demonstrates how the main character Tony Stark learns from

experiences that being in charge of a multi-billion-dollar corporation does not give him the same

satisfaction as being a superhero and protecting people. The company he owns is Stark Industries;

through his company, he becomes a renowned billionaire. Tony’s life is interrupted after being

captured by the terrorist group Ten Rings. During his time in captivity, he is accompanied by the

doctor Ho Yinsen. Tony uses his ingenuity and vast engineering knowledge to escape by building

an armored suit out of metal. Throughout the movie, he builds three different suit models; Stark

uses these suits to fight Obadiah—who used to be like a father to Tony until Obadiah turned against

him—and Ten Rings. Tony's narcissistic and negligent behavior arises from his repressed feelings

and gifted intelligence. However, through his interactions with Ho Yinsen, Obadiah, and the

terrorists, he eventually understands that his actions have been detrimental. This propels him to

redress his past mistakes by becoming a superhero, which in turn leads him to achieve more

balance between the id and superego in his life.

From an early age, Tony Stark receives minimal affection from his father—the reason for

his repressed emotions. As a teenager, Tony’s father, Howard Stark, dies and Tony substitutes his

father’s role as the CEO of Stark Industries once he turns 21, but he is not as efficient in guiding

the company as his father was: he acts carelessly and is too obsessed with himself. The way he
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runs Stark Industries is the direct opposite of the way his father did. Stark probably behaves as an

antithesis to his father because of the way his father treated him—coldly. After Howard Stark

perishes, Obadiah acts as a fatherly figure towards Tony. Ironically, Stark is hurt again by a person

he thought loved him. In a symbolic scene involving Obadiah and Stark, Tony reveals his hidden

fears and pain: Obadiah paralyzes Tony to steal a powerful device—surgically placed by Ho

Yinsen after being hit by a bomb as an attempt to save his life—that keeps him alive. Obadiah

yanks the device off from his chest, which hurts Stark. He then mocks Tony, being careless of

Tony’s distress. All through this scene, Tony is pallid, scared and helpless. Without the device, he

will die, but Obadiah does not care if Stark deceases (Favreau 01:36:03-01:38:40). The camera

angle in this movie clip looks up on Obadiah but looks down on Tony. This is significant because

it represents how the relationship between Howard Stark (symbolized by Obadiah) and his son

was distant; Howard Stark being the authority and Tony Stark the helpless minor. A father-son

relationship goes beyond obedience and respect; it requires love and affection. Whenever a child

is deprived of such attention, he or she suffers emotionally. The consequences are often hidden

desires and feelings, as exhibited by Tony. Tony has deep-seated pain originating from his father’s

negligence towards him. The way he looked at Obadiah, is the way that he looked at his father as

a youth. Tony used to be scared of his father. He attempts to conceal these feelings with the

pleasure from parties, media attention, and alcohol. After the opening scene, the following scene

is an awards ceremony; Tony receives an award, but he is absent. In the proceeding scene, he is

flirting with a woman in a Casino and drinking alcohol. He prioritized the Casino over the awards

ceremony. One friend, James Rhodes, who attended the ceremony, gives the reward to Tony, but

Tony carelessly gives it to a random person. (00:06:45-00:07:32). In these series of events, the ego

in Stark’s life clearly leans more towards the id. His inordinate desire for attention, which stems
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from his childhood trauma, instills in him a derelict and egotistical attitude. Most of what he does

is to comfort himself. He evades his fears by drinking and gaining attention so that he may forget

his father. Due to this, he becomes obsessed with himself. This attitude and his surplus money give

him a superficial sense of “self-worth.” He thinks that he can do whatever he wants. He walks with

pride. He speaks pompously. However, he does not understand that neither popularity nor money

will heal his wounds. Only love and forgiveness will. He does not begin to perceive this until he

becomes conscious of the true meaning of life through his encounters with Ho Yinsen and the

terrorists.

Despite his stubbornness, Stark comes to comprehend that he has harmed many people and

that life has a purpose. The initial event that leads him to this understanding is when he first comes

out of the cave during his captivity. He notices crates stacked with missiles with the logos Stark

International. Stunned, Tony asks Yinsen, “How did they get all this?” (Favreau 00:20:55-

00:21:20). This scene is a strong indicator that Tony had no idea that terrorists had possession of

weapons from his own company. The culprit of his ignorance is his own selfishness and

carelessness. People cannot see the impact of their actions if they are only looking and thinking of

themselves; only a catastrophic event will make them see their surroundings. This is the case of

Tony: it is not until he comprehends how his company has caused the death of many innocent

people that he opens his eyes and realizes the consequences of his deeds. His new knowledge,

which discomforts him, enlightens him that he must no longer be part of Stark Industries. Tony’s

enlightenment is directly fostered by Dr. Yinsen. During their time together in the cave, Tony and

Ho Yinsen develop a close bond because Dr. Yinsen saves Tony’s life after being hit by shrapnel

from a bomb: Yinsen surgically places an electromagnetic gadget proximal to his heart in order to

prevent the shrapnel from causing farther damage to his cardiac muscle. Also, in their time together,
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Ho Yinsen remains faithful to Stark—serving him unconditionally. Tony is unaware of Ho

Yinsen’s motives for remaining loyal towards him until Dr. Yinsen dies. Yinsen’s last conversation

with Stark explains his motive: “This was always the plan. My family is dead. I am going to see

them now. It’s okay. I want this. I want this. [Tony then asks,] ‘What do you say to me?’ [Yinsen

responds,] ‘Don’t waste it. Don’t waste your life’” (00:37:55-00:38:52). During their conversation,

Tony attentively absorbs every word Yinsen speaks. Yinsen wants to help Tony because in a way

he wants to avenge the terrorists for the murder of his family, but he also wants to assist Tony in

his escape. Yinsen has a clear plan and knows the purpose of his actions. In contrast, Tony has no

defined plan and is not fully conscious of what purpose he has in life. Yinsen is aware of this and

that is why he tells Tony to not “waste [his] life.” Tony, through Yinsen’s words, understands that

life has a meaning. This is symbolized by him coming out of the cave fearlessly and proudly

standing in front of the terrorists. He walks with a new sense of hope. However, Tony does not

know what exact purpose he has in life, he just understands that life has a purpose. One thing is

for sure: his experiences with Ho Yinsen changed his life completely

His new understanding of the damage he has caused to the world prompts him to rectify

his mistakes by fighting Ten Rings and Obadiah; Tony’s decision to protect society and those he

loves indicates that his life has a more balanced ego. The moment Tony is rescued by American

forces from the terrorist and taken back to the United States. Once he arrives, he immediately calls

a press conference. He is so determined to speak right away that he denies seeking any medical

attention despite suffering from severe injuries. What he states in the conference completely

contradicts what he has stood for all his life: “I never got to say goodbye to my father. There are

questions that I would ask him. I would ask him how he felt what his company did. If he was

conflicted, if he ever had doubts...I saw young Americans killed by the very weapons I created to
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protect and defend them. I saw that I had become part of a system that was comfortable with zero

accountability...I had my eyes open. I came to realize that I have more things to offer this world

than just make things blow up. That is why I am shutting down the weapons manufacturing

business Stark International” (00:44:49-00:46:15). Stark sits down and tells all present in the

conference to the same as him; he places himself at the same level as the audience and not above

them—contrasting his usual narcissistic attitude. Tony speaks without caring how people would

react because he no longer wants to be part of a company that kills “young Americans” or be part

of a system “with zero accountability.” He turns against all his previous beliefs, proving that his

experiences with Dr. Yinsen did change his heart. Even though Tony Stark’s intentions are benign,

not everyone is content with him. Obadiah, a once fatherly figure to Tony, turns against him

because of how he has changed and is no longer supportive of Stark Industries. This is initially

evident by Obadiah’s dissatisfied countenance when Tony spoke at the press conference. Later in

the movie, it becomes conspicuous that Obadiah all this time has been allied with the terrorists.

Obadiah travels to visit Ten Rings in order to obtain the first suit model created by Stark. He

converses with Raza, the leader of Ten Rings. Raza states, “We have a common enemy.”

(01:25:44-01:27:48). Obadiah has revealed his true identity: he is arrogant and evil. In this clip, he

walks as if though everyone else is inferior to him. The camera is constantly looking up to him.

Obadiah desires Stark dead. To him, Stark is an impediment. Tony eventually becomes aware of

this, and in doing so, he fathoms a clear purpose in his life: to protect innocent people. He shares

his purpose to Pepper, Tony’s assistant and close friend, by emotionally saying: “You stood by my

side all these years while I reaped the benefits of destruction and now that I am trying to protect

the people I put in harm's way, you’re going to walk out? I shouldn’t be alive unless it was for a

reason...I just finally know what I have to do. And I know in my heart that it is right” (01:29:27-
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01:30:12). Tony does not talk to Pepper mockingly or haughtily as he usually does. He speaks with

honesty and contrition for his past errors. Tony is no longer following money or fame as a means

of comforting his pain, rather, he is following his heart. He has chosen to do good not because he

will benefit from it but because it will bring good to others. His past actions have hurt many. Now

it is his time to redress his past faults. Unfortunately, to protect society he has to kill Obadiah.

Obadiah steals Tony’s first suit model and uses it to attempt to murder him, but he fails to do so.

Tony defeats Obadiah with the help of Pepper (01:42:26-01:53:27). Tony has become a superhero.

He fully accepts this role when he proudly confirms to the press, “I am Iron Man” (01:57:10-

01:57:13). Tony at first is hesitant to say this, but he eventually gains enough courage to say it. It

is important to look at Tony Stark as a dynamic character. At the beginning of the movie, Stark’s

id led him to be self-obsessed and negligent. His superego was underdeveloped; he acted with

barely any self-control and was ignorant of the impact of his actions. However, by becoming a

superhero and figuring out a purpose in his life, he gains courage and becomes selfless. He starts

to care more about others and less about himself. He chooses to lead not through materialistic

power but though service. His ego, thus, became more balanced because the id in his life does not

overpower the superego as it once did. Instead, the superego now plays a bigger role.

Although his repressed emotions and fears are a direct consequence of his father’s

treatment towards him, Stark has come to understand that his egocentric attitude has negatively

affected those encompassing him. For that reason, he decides to become a superhero as a way to

reform his attitude; this shows that the priorities in his life have changed. Stark’s change in heart

challenges the audience to reflect on how their actions have impacted others. Actions do not affect

a sole individual; they also affect those connected to that individual. People should not act to seek

benefit but to benefit others, for life is most harmoniously lived when people are united.
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Works Cited

Favreau, Jon, director. Iron Man. Marvel Studios, 2008.