This is a really nice read if you’ve seen Iron Man 3 (be warned, there are some mildly spoiler details within).
Ooh. This.
or, why the MCU didn’t ruin your favorite supervillain.
below the cut: Iron Man 3 spoilers, discussion of cultural appropriation, narrative arc, and analysis of how ridiculously, wonderfully meta the advertising scheme of IM3 was.
WHAT DID I JUST WATCH OMFG
(ok actually its easy enough to hide the more spoily bit here’s the slightly spoiler version)
“Eagles are not kindly birds. Some are cowardly and cruel. But the ancient race of the northern mountains were the greatest of all birds; they were proud and strong and noble-hearted.”
You are son of the earth, the sea, the sky. Magic is the fabric of this world, and you were born of this magic. You are magic itself.
“Some men are born to plow fields, some live to be great physicians, others to be great kings. Me, I was born to serve you Arthur and I’m proud of that. And I wouldn’t change a thing.”
in these bodies we will live, in these bodies we will die
and where you invest your love, you invest your life
his eyes are so big and wide lee pace stop fhalsdfj screams into the void
It could be said that James Bond is a cultural icon meant to reinforce a number of ideas about what it means to be a man. He’s surrounded by trappings of traditional masculinity- the perfectly fitted suit, small handgun (because a real man doesn’t need a Rambo-style machine gun to do the job), straight razor shave, uncomplicated and unsweet cocktail. For succeeding at manliness, he’s always rewarded by saving the day and having unrestricted sexual access to women.
In this scene, Silva threatens not only James Bond, but all of the masculine ideal, with rape and attempts to make that masculine ideal into an object instead of a subject. This act instantly identifies Silva as the villain- as he’s not only threatening England, but manliness as a concept. But Bond refuses to let Silva make him into an object- he returns the serve by implying that it might not be his “first time,” and by doing so, that there’s nothing inherently lesser or unmasculine about having homosexual relations. After this scene, Silva stops using emasculation as a technique and starts to go after Bond’s true weakness- his relationship with M.
This is perfectly explained
