{"id":33979,"date":"2013-05-13T08:14:14","date_gmt":"2013-05-13T14:14:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/?p=33979"},"modified":"2013-05-13T08:14:14","modified_gmt":"2013-05-13T14:14:14","slug":"is-iron-man-more-ethical-than-captain-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/2013\/05\/is-iron-man-more-ethical-than-captain-america\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Iron Man More Ethical Than Captain America?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

<\/p>\n

Well, you can forget it. I am Iron Man. The suit and I are one. To turn over the Iron Man suit would be to turn over myself, which is tantamount to indentured servitude or prostitution, depending on what state you\u2019re in. You can\u2019t have it.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Tony Stark<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

You know what the #1 movie was for the weekend of May 3, 2013? No, it wasn\u2019t the live telecast of \u201cWait, Wait Don\u2019t Tell Me<\/a>.\u201d\u00a0It was Iron Man 3<\/em>, the first post-Avengers<\/em> film released by Marvel. And man, was it a ride. Iron Man is one of the most popular superheroes right now, attracting a large fanbase with $175 million coming in box office-wise opening weekend.<\/p>\n

There have been many analyses of Iron Man 3<\/em>, from it being an understanding of the war from an economic standpoint<\/a>, to a psychological exploration<\/a> of Stark and his \u201cdemons,\u201d to just a good time. But the screenwriters did an interesting thing with\u00a0Iron Man 3<\/em>; they created a conflict between the Robotic Iron Man and a biologically driven villain.<\/p>\n

Spoilers ahead\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

The film introduces us to the threat of a new villain called the Mandarin, who seems to be the next Osama bin Laden. However, the true threat to the world is not this terrorist, but a genetically modified virus called \u201cExtremis\u201d which allows humans to quickly regenerate body parts and heal injuries, and also gives them the \u201cside effect\u201d of having control over intense internal temperatures for melting and attacking others (though this often leads to very large explosions).<\/p>\n

When this new technology is presented to Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), she immediately recognizes how this technology could be \u201cweaponized\u201d and how it can easily be used to hurt and kill (as is seen throughout the movie).<\/p>\n

This has been a classic theme in the\u00a0Iron<\/em> Man series:\u00a0how technology that has practical purposes for everyday man can also be weaponized. It\u2019s what made Stark stop Obadiah Stane\u00a0in the first film, and it\u2019s why he couldn\u2019t hand over the Iron Man suit to the government in\u00a0Iron Man 2.\u00a0<\/em>Mass-producing the Iron Man suit would change the nature of combat in general, similar to how\u00a0drones changed the way we fight in Iraq<\/a>. In the same way, the reproduction of the Extremis virus \u2014 or of the Super Soldier Serum used to create Captain America \u2014 can be just as detrimental.<\/p>\n

However, one can simply \u201cremove\u201d the Iron Man suit from the equation. As that wonderful scene in\u00a0The Avengers\u00a0<\/em>stated<\/a>,\u00a0if you remove the suit, what do you get? You still get a brilliant man, but he\u2019s far more vulnerable and easier to punish and keep morally accountable. Those who are genetically enhanced are slightly harder to control (as shown by every superhero movie ever).<\/p>\n

So, then, which method of human enhancement is better? If one can disarm another of his powers if he misuses them, then that is better than detaining them and letting them keep their powers.<\/p>\n

Consider this: if Iron Man or Captain America were to become evil, how could one take them out? With Iron Man, all one needs to do is remove the suit from the equation. Meanwhile, Captain America isn\u2019t so easy. Since his powers are within his essence and are biological, the only way to stop him is to kill him. That\u2019s why Extremis is so dangerous: death was the only way to stop the villains.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“If one can disarm another of his powers if he misuses them, then that is better than detaining them and letting them keep their powers.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1336,"featured_media":34235,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,1484,18],"tags":[2160,2159],"class_list":["post-33979","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-film","category-ofthemoment","category-technology","tag-captain-america","tag-iron-man"],"yoast_head":"\nIs Iron Man More Ethical Than Captain America?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\""If one can disarm another of his powers if he misuses them, then that is better than detaining them and letting them keep their powers."\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/2013\/05\/is-iron-man-more-ethical-than-captain-america\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Is Iron Man More Ethical Than Captain America?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\""If one can disarm another of his powers if he misuses them, then that is better than detaining them and letting them keep their powers."\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/2013\/05\/is-iron-man-more-ethical-than-captain-america\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Christ and Pop Culture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-05-13T14:14:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/280\/2013\/05\/Iron-Man-Eye.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Christopher Hutton\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Christopher Hutton\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/2013\/05\/is-iron-man-more-ethical-than-captain-america\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/2013\/05\/is-iron-man-more-ethical-than-captain-america\/\",\"name\":\"Is Iron Man More Ethical Than Captain America?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-05-13T14:14:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-05-13T14:14:14+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/#\/schema\/person\/47fe564231ae683721e9aeb4146162f9\"},\"description\":\"\\\"If one can disarm another of his powers if he misuses them, then that is better than detaining them and letting them keep their powers.\\\"\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/2013\/05\/is-iron-man-more-ethical-than-captain-america\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/2013\/05\/is-iron-man-more-ethical-than-captain-america\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/2013\/05\/is-iron-man-more-ethical-than-captain-america\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Is Iron Man More Ethical Than Captain America?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/\",\"name\":\"Christ and Pop Culture\",\"description\":\"Where the Christian faith meets the common knowledge of our age\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/#\/schema\/person\/47fe564231ae683721e9aeb4146162f9\",\"name\":\"Christopher Hutton\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b034b35896573e3027c36a9cded73020?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b034b35896573e3027c36a9cded73020?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Christopher Hutton\"},\"description\":\"Chris Hutton is a college student and Freelance Writer from Bloomington Minnesota. Since he was young, he loved books and ideas. Science was one of his favorite topics, as well as technology. It's one of the issues that has mattered to him consistently. Hence, Chris tries to bring a critical\/helpful take to the modern understanding of technology. You can find Chris' home online at liter8.net, or you can tweet him via @liter8media.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/liter8.net\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/author\/chutton\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Is Iron Man More Ethical Than Captain America?","description":"\"If one can disarm another of his powers if he misuses them, then that is better than detaining them and letting them keep their powers.\"","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/2013\/05\/is-iron-man-more-ethical-than-captain-america\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Is Iron Man More Ethical Than Captain America?","og_description":"\"If one can disarm another of his powers if he misuses them, then that is better than detaining them and letting them keep their powers.\"","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/2013\/05\/is-iron-man-more-ethical-than-captain-america\/","og_site_name":"Christ and Pop Culture","article_published_time":"2013-05-13T14:14:14+00:00","og_image":[{"width":"600","height":"300","url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/280\/2013\/05\/Iron-Man-Eye.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Christopher Hutton","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Christopher Hutton","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/2013\/05\/is-iron-man-more-ethical-than-captain-america\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/2013\/05\/is-iron-man-more-ethical-than-captain-america\/","name":"Is Iron Man More Ethical Than Captain America?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/#website"},"datePublished":"2013-05-13T14:14:14+00:00","dateModified":"2013-05-13T14:14:14+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/#\/schema\/person\/47fe564231ae683721e9aeb4146162f9"},"description":"\"If one can disarm another of his powers if he misuses them, then that is better than detaining them and letting them keep their powers.\"","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/2013\/05\/is-iron-man-more-ethical-than-captain-america\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/2013\/05\/is-iron-man-more-ethical-than-captain-america\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/2013\/05\/is-iron-man-more-ethical-than-captain-america\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Is Iron Man More Ethical Than Captain America?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/","name":"Christ and Pop Culture","description":"Where the Christian faith meets the common knowledge of our age","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/#\/schema\/person\/47fe564231ae683721e9aeb4146162f9","name":"Christopher Hutton","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b034b35896573e3027c36a9cded73020?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b034b35896573e3027c36a9cded73020?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Christopher Hutton"},"description":"Chris Hutton is a college student and Freelance Writer from Bloomington Minnesota. Since he was young, he loved books and ideas. Science was one of his favorite topics, as well as technology. It's one of the issues that has mattered to him consistently. Hence, Chris tries to bring a critical\/helpful take to the modern understanding of technology. You can find Chris' home online at liter8.net, or you can tweet him via @liter8media.","sameAs":["http:\/\/liter8.net"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/author\/chutton\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33979","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1336"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33979"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33979\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}