It’s me! The middle aged White guy who finally watched Ironheart.
**BLUF: I enjoyed it. I recommend it.** It may not be your jam. I’m not sure it was mine, but I think it was actually pretty good.
I will say that unlike most of the other Disney+ series, this got better as it went and the ending was pleasantly unsettling. If you’re the sort of person who insists that endings be clear and good guys have to be good — well, I don’t know what to tell you. Go catch up on your Shakespeare (who was a twat).
Now obviously this was written by Black folks about Black folks. Although I’m not Black, I still enjoy good stories even if I don’t understand all the references or style. That’s okay. It’s good! We should expand our pallet. The music was great. The photography and production was good. The dialogue and acting — this is the part where I’m not sure if I didn’t like it or if I didn’t get it. I will say that, like with *Ms. Marvel*, I came to appreciate it over the course of the series. If you can get a 40-something White guy to gel with Black zoomers from Chicago, I think you might be a good writer and a good actor.
Although some of the criticism is probably just thinly veiled racism, I think what probably got some folks hung up is Riri’s personality and choices. She starts off as a cocky jerk and has to learn to let people in, admit when she needs help, and acknowledge her errors. She does all of those things by the end of the story. She’s still a smart-aleck super genius, but one who’s been a bit humbled by her mom.
My biggest complaint about the story (or maybe the editing) is that they did not do a great job of showing Riri’s relationship with Natalie and her stepdad, at least at the start. Now, I can see how this helps characterize Riri’s closed off personality. She’s not opening up about her feelings so we also don’t see much. It’s not a bad choice, but I’m not sure it’s one that works narratively.
Now of course the big thing is that at the end Riri probably made a deal with the Devil to bring Natalie back to life. And that’s, uh, pretty dark for a Marvel good guy. But y’know what, good on ‘em. One of my biggest complaints about the MCU was how they copped out on Black Widow’s backstory. In the Avengers films it’s implied that she has blood in her ledger. In the *Black Widow* movie we kind of get that explained as she sacrificed a kid to assassinate a villain — but both the villain and the kid survived. Whatever. It was not compelling. Riri’s story however could be. If she makes future appearances and we never really know for sure if she’s got a deal with Mephisto hanging over her head, that’s a fascinating dilemma for a hero. (Of course, if we see Natalie in the future then, uh, I guess that undoes the ambiguity.) Anyway, if you’re mad that they kinda hid that final beat, again, I don’t know what to tell ya. We don’t know what happened to Tony Soprano, okay!
The effects were fine. They seemed to be consciously pulling back from the nano-helmet effect, which I like. The fights were appropriately small scale. No skybeams! Just Ironheart and the Hood duking it out in an apartment. It is plausible that this all happened over the course of a week in Chicago and most folks had no idea. No Egyptian kaiju fight on the Pyramids to explain away.
Speaking of *Moon Knight*, like that this story was mostly self-contained. It clearly happens within the same world as the MCU, but there were no Daredevil or Hulk cameos. This is also very good. It remains to be seen how the MCU will work going forward, but I’m hopeful that they may have realized that what audiences have tired of is not necessarily superheroes but the relentless interconnectedness. It should be a good movie or a good TV show whether I have watched anything previous.
So that’s my Middle-Aged White Guy Review™ of *Ironheart*. I think you should watch it.
I will say that unlike most of the other Disney+ series, this got better as it went and the ending was pleasantly unsettling. If you’re the sort of person who insists that endings be clear and good guys have to be good — well, I don’t know what to tell you. Go catch up on your Shakespeare (who was a twat).
Now obviously this was written by Black folks about Black folks. Although I’m not Black, I still enjoy good stories even if I don’t understand all the references or style. That’s okay. It’s good! We should expand our pallet. The music was great. The photography and production was good. The dialogue and acting — this is the part where I’m not sure if I didn’t like it or if I didn’t get it. I will say that, like with *Ms. Marvel*, I came to appreciate it over the course of the series. If you can get a 40-something White guy to gel with Black zoomers from Chicago, I think you might be a good writer and a good actor.
Although some of the criticism is probably just thinly veiled racism, I think what probably got some folks hung up is Riri’s personality and choices. She starts off as a cocky jerk and has to learn to let people in, admit when she needs help, and acknowledge her errors. She does all of those things by the end of the story. She’s still a smart-aleck super genius, but one who’s been a bit humbled by her mom.
My biggest complaint about the story (or maybe the editing) is that they did not do a great job of showing Riri’s relationship with Natalie and her stepdad, at least at the start. Now, I can see how this helps characterize Riri’s closed off personality. She’s not opening up about her feelings so we also don’t see much. It’s not a bad choice, but I’m not sure it’s one that works narratively.
Now of course the big thing is that at the end Riri probably made a deal with the Devil to bring Natalie back to life. And that’s, uh, pretty dark for a Marvel good guy. But y’know what, good on ‘em. One of my biggest complaints about the MCU was how they copped out on Black Widow’s backstory. In the Avengers films it’s implied that she has blood in her ledger. In the *Black Widow* movie we kind of get that explained as she sacrificed a kid to assassinate a villain — but both the villain and the kid survived. Whatever. It was not compelling. Riri’s story however could be. If she makes future appearances and we never really know for sure if she’s got a deal with Mephisto hanging over her head, that’s a fascinating dilemma for a hero. (Of course, if we see Natalie in the future then, uh, I guess that undoes the ambiguity.) Anyway, if you’re mad that they kinda hid that final beat, again, I don’t know what to tell ya. We don’t know what happened to Tony Soprano, okay!
The effects were fine. They seemed to be consciously pulling back from the nano-helmet effect, which I like. The fights were appropriately small scale. No skybeams! Just Ironheart and the Hood duking it out in an apartment. It is plausible that this all happened over the course of a week in Chicago and most folks had no idea. No Egyptian kaiju fight on the Pyramids to explain away.
Speaking of *Moon Knight*, like that this story was mostly self-contained. It clearly happens within the same world as the MCU, but there were no Daredevil or Hulk cameos. This is also very good. It remains to be seen how the MCU will work going forward, but I’m hopeful that they may have realized that what audiences have tired of is not necessarily superheroes but the relentless interconnectedness. It should be a good movie or a good TV show whether I have watched anything previous.
So that’s my Middle-Aged White Guy Review™ of *Ironheart*. I think you should watch it.
Commentaires
Average criticism for the show usually includes but is not limited to "She's committing crimes! What the flip!"
Meanwhile Loki, an actual villain, gets a show where he does 0 villainy. Moon Knight slaughters loads of bad guys, but one dies indirectly while trying to strangle her, and Riri is suddenly the devil? Devil not withstanding, I'm glad the show is weird and it challenges the audience a little.
It gets a solid Give-Us-A-Season2 out of 10 from one such black girl from Chicago
*
1. The guy was a terrorist. We have not been show anything credible to give this grp the freedom fighter tag. So no "poor guy" sympathy for him.
2. Walker just saw his bff (who we have seen for 4 episodes ) killed due to these people who were ALL trying to kill Walker seconds before.
What he did is textbook crime but his action is way over exaggerated by people.(which is the reason he has many defendors too cuz the initial reaction to Walker did NOT match his crime) Especially when the venn diagram of Walker haters and Loki/Yelena/Wanda stans is a freakin circle.
I think the problem is that Riri’s characterization works when we get to see the character grow. Or, to put it another way, Dominique Thorne is putting a lot of pathos into her performance, which makes sense when we get to see her resolve that pathos and become a fuller person. But in her other appearances, *Black Panther*, *What If…?*, *Marvel Zombies*, we just get the pathos with no resolution. That’s what makes her sound like a whiny brat — she **is** a whiny brat but in *Ironheart* we get to watch her try to be something more.
As for the Iron Man thing, frankly this version of the character has effectively no connection with MCU Star Stark. He’s just another rich supergenius who Riri both looks up to and kind of resents. In fact, one of the turning points of the story hinges on her line, “I want to make something iconic,” which was used extensively in the marketing. We figure out, heck Riri herself figures out, that that line was bullshit. That was her covering her own pain and vulnerability with ego.
If you thought *Iron Man 3*, then I think you’d appreciate *Ironheart*.
That is all.
It’s me, middle aged brown guy, finally watched game of thrones.
Given that, it shouldn't be surprising when people see that and think that their race and gender matters to the criticism or praise they have for these projects.
If the GoT community frequently dismissed criticism by focusing on gender and race vs. the actual content of the show, I'd expect people to similarly disclose their race and gender when commenting on the show.
I think the point the show was trying to make is that she’s not a good guy, she’s just the protagonist.
Even when opening up emotionally and starting to deal with her trauma, she still makes the selfish choice at almost every opportunity. Lying, cheating, stealing, blackmail, betrayal, and necromancy.
Mf prostrating hismelf over some silly ass Disney plus show 😭😭