‘Iron Man’ From A Christian Perspective

Christians like fun movies, too, but sometimes it can be a little difficult figuring out what coming out of Hollywood is actually worth spending your money on (not much). It’s no secret that faith in GOD is regularly ridiculed or mocked in these films. Thanks to some Web sites like this one at Christianity Today, it is possible to make a responsible, guilt-free decision. On Iron Man: “This ironic (pun intended) symmetry of the man encased in armor who can protect others—but can’t save himself—is central to the comic and the character. It shows how overcoming our limitations through our own strength can sometimes create an even more crippling weakness in result. And it speaks volumes about how we as human beings are designed to function: separated neither from God nor each other.”

Check out a different review at Crosswalk.com, which also lists content which you may find offensive.

UPDATE (May 6) ***Possible Spoilers***: I just came back from the theaters from watching Iron Man and I tried to prep myself to make observations considering any ‘Christian’ content and not just be awed by the movie. So here is what I observed…

Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is first presented as a wealthy, spoiled, irresponsible playboy who is a genius. Through tragedy, he inherits his father’s weapons technology enterprise and derives plenty of pleasure from designing weapons of mass destruction…and uses the excuse of patriotism to feel OK about it. The weapons are for the good guys, not the bad guys, so where’s the conflict…

Anyway, Stark has a near-death experience, and learns first hand what actually becomes of many of the weapons his company designs and sells for billions (”to help protect America and her interests”). Surprise, surprise, he learns some compassion and responsibility in his darkest moment and this becomes the moment when he pauses and realizes something isn’t quite right with his life (some of us can relate to that I suppose).

Stark ensues to try and turn his life around and through some trials and errors finally starts becoming the man he believes he should have always been. He soon faces rejection from some of the people he thought were the closest to him, many of whom wonder if he’s actually lost his mind (sound familiar?). Of course, he must confront the ultimate bad guy (which is almost just an ‘evil’ version of himself), and he’s called on to possibly make the ultimate sacrifice for the greater good.

In the end, Tony Stark is a changed man. He believes he has found out what the true value of life is and commits himself to the responsibility of using his gifts and genius for ‘good.’ I think.

I must note, however, that one thing did not change about Tony Stark — he was a cocky, almost self-centered guy in the beginning, and at the very end, he remains true to form. No one’s perfect, right…?

As for the content you may possibly find offensive: Some sexual cavorting, but nothing X-rated, if you’re an adult; plenty of booze, although there’s no drunken wildness; I didn’t notice any curse words, not even the ones involved in dragging the LORD’s name through the mud (believe me, that’s a plus); and of course, there is plenty of violence — I mean… it’s about a superhero that makes superbly devastating weapons.

In summary, don’t take the kiddies…although I did see a few in the theater. I even saw one little boy leaving with the crowd before my screening running out in an Iron Man costume, mask and all. Don’t take the kiddies, they really don’t need to see people getting killed, in my humble opinion.

The F/X were great, the script was tight and the actors did not disappoint (I expected Gwyneth Paltrow to be a little annoying, but she wasn’t), although Terrence Howard’s baby voice gave me pause.

As for attempting to ‘Christianize’ it…you can’t get very deep. I mean, in the end, the message is: don’t waste your life on ‘trivial pursuits’, have compassion on others and value those around you, exercise a little integrity and be willing to stand your ground even to the death. In the end, Stark only ‘redeems’ himself and ‘makes up’ for previous sins, if you will, by ’saving the world.’ As IndependentConservative notes in the comments, the solution was basically redemption by works. But we can’t forget that this is a Hollywood movie and also, this body of work is based on a decades-old comic book.

If you’ve seen it, please leave a comment for those who may still be wondering…

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