REPRESENTATION TASK IRON MAN

IRON MAN 3

Vladimir Propp’s theory of characters having a specific role can be applied clearly in this film. For example we can identify that Iron Man is the hero as he is shown in the establishing shot. However, we can also identify that the Mandarin is the villain as right after we are introduced to him, there are shots of destruction.

TONY STARK – Unconventional Hero
(40s, American, Male, White, High class, good)
Costume: Cool wear, t-shirt and jeans – pulls off the ‘no effort’ look well. As Tony he also wears suits that give him power as the lead character and also a typical male. As Iron man however his suits are ‘indestructible’ and again bring power however with the suits Tony practically becomes robotized which may represent his lack of emotion in previous films relating to the end of the film of him destroying the suits in order to become ‘normal.’

JARVIS – Helper

(Talking operating system created by stark that aids him constantly)

HARLEY – Helper

(10yrs old, American, white, low class, good) Costume: t-shirt, winter-coat. Naïve child however is smart in the sense of him helping Tony out. Kind of buddying in the film, Tony isn’t the type to like kids however over the course of the film they share a close bond and help each other over come fears.

MANDARIAN – False Villain

(50s, British Indian, low class, misinformed)

ALDRICH KILLIAN – Villain

(40s, American, low to high class, evil) Costume: tailored suits, slick hair, this reinforces his power and his rich business status.

HAPPY – Dispatcher

(40s, American, working high class, good) Tony’s right hand man informs Tony of Aldrich’s intentions with pepper. Body guard dresses smartly in suits.

PEPPER – Princess

(40s, American, high class, good) Business woman, she dress well and is Tony’s true love this is reiterated by him saving her and creating a serum to stop her self-destructing.

Todorov’s Equilibrium Theory:

Equilibrium: Tony dealing with the events after New York (linking previous film The Avengers) suffering from insomnia coming up with new prototypes for the Iron Man suit.

Disruption of Equilibrium: Mandarin first attacks the Chinese theatre in Los Angeles then directing attacks personal on Iron man after Tony calls Mandarin out.

Restored Equilibrium: Iron Man restores peace and continues with normal life with Pepper with the shrapnel removed from his chest.

Levi Strauss’ Binary Oppositions:

Hero vs. Villain
Good vs. Evil
Iron Man vs. Mandarin
Peace vs. War

Roland Barthes’ Enigma Codes:

Who is Iron Man after?
What is the Mandarin’s plan?
Why has he damaged the city?

McRobbie’s Gender Stereotype Theory:

Pepper (female) becomes the victim, stereotypical job as a personal assistant. Tony/Iron man the hero, rich, big house, fancy cars. 

Iron Man 3 is a certificate 12A; this means that the film may be too violent for young audience. The demographic that the film is aimed at is families, adult males and teens. Adult fans of the Marvel comics may be able to connect with their childhood. Even young comic book fans would want to see this film; this is because the story is based around the stories from the comics. Teens will also enjoy watching this film as they have been brought up on a long line of action packed superhero films.

The target audience for Iron Man 3 is males between 16 and 25. This is because males are most likely to enjoy the action scenes and the futuristic technology. Parents may also want to take their children as they are brought up on the comics or television programmes. Gwyneth Paltrow is an actor that males find attractive and sexually appealing so the male audience may be drawn to the film even more. The women in this film also have a lot of screen time; this may anchor female audiences, although the Bechdel Test is failed in this film Tony’s lack of self-competence is the main theme which is eventually overcome.