MovieChat Forums > Iron Man (2008) Discussion > "So you're a man who has everything and ...

"So you're a man who has everything and nothing"

posted 8 years ago by Dododoodle
9 replies | jump to latest

Tony Stark: You got a family?
Yinsen: Yes, and I will see them when I leave here. And you, Stark?
Tony Stark: No.
Yinsen: So you're a man who has everything... and nothing.

Movie's only 8 years old, but when I watched it again, I was surprised at how outdated this message has become in such a short time. It didn't seem like it was presented as just this character's point of view, but as if the movie was trying to tell us Stark's personal life was, indeed, "nothing" (also because he "learned love" later on).

If there's one shift in modern standards that slipped in quickly, it's acceptance towards choosing a single/childless life. People like this aren't considered weirdos anymore, and we generally believe that completeness and happiness doesn't have to rely on these things.

But when I think about it, this is actually a very new mindset and I remember that around the time this movie came out, people did generally consider starting a family to be this absolute "given".

And I think that this scene, although it's still a fairly new film, kind of shows this rather old standard from back then.

[–] justanicknamed 8 years ago

I disagree. It wasn't that he was childless. I've got friends who have chosen to not have children. I've told them that if anyone gives them cr*p about it, send them my way. I admire people who feel they would not be good parents and therefore don't have children as opposed to people who have kids but can't be bothered to be a decent parent.

What Yinsen was meaning is that Tony has no one in his life to love or that loves him. He's not a hermit, so that isn't a good thing. At most, Tony has his personal assistant, driver/bodyguard, a "friend" who he disrespects, and his partner (or whatever Stane was) - and at that point he and Pepper weren't in a relationship.

He screws women and then has Pepper dismiss them and is a party animal.

How is that not an empty/shallow life?

[–] Dododoodle 8 years ago

Shallow sure, and it wouldn't be my kind of life either. But empty? That's in the eye of the beholder, just like what Yinsen considers to be "everything" and "nothing".

[–] justanicknamed 8 years ago

What is interesting about that is once Tony gets free he does change his life from that of debauchery and excess to actually doing something to make the world a better place and opening his heart to love and not just meaningless sex.

[–] Fluffis 8 years ago

At that point, though, he literally had no one. No real friends, no wife/girlfriend, no children and no parents, and all he created was things that caused death.

It's not just about the family. He just lived, without anything to really live for.

Quidquid Latinae dictum sit, altum viditur.

[–] Milk_Tray_Guy 8 years ago

I didn't feel it was specifically referring to children, just loved ones in general.

All for a box of chocolates...

[–] transmentalist 8 years ago

I didn't feel it was specifically referring to children, just loved ones in general.

Bingo

He never said "children" after all, he said, "family."

Added to which, Tony brought it up, so it wasn't nothing to him

And, as we've later learned (and had pounded into our heads repeatedly), Tony's distance from his family is actually a big issue for him. It's a good part of the reason why, in this movie, he's an adolescent in his forties

[–] WeirdRaptor 8 years ago

The usage of a dodo as your avatar is alarmingly appropriate considering how you managed to misinterpret a very simple message.

"All you have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to you." -Gandalf

[–] gallagwar 7 years ago

Wow. What an arrogant, blanket generalization. I love my children like nothing else in this world and recommend parenthood to everyone, but there is absolutely NOTHING wrong with making the choice to not have children.

In fact, for some people, it's a great, responsible choice. If you're not sure that you are or can be fully committed to raising a kid, then there's no way you should go through with it. It doesn't make you an empty or incomplete person.

Get over yourself.

[–] Dododoodle 7 years ago

Huh..?

You either gravely misinterpreted my message or you're somehow so agreeing with me that it makes you angry.