Iron Man 2: Virtue Ethics, Movie Review Example

Briefly describe the situation/decision you have chosen from the movie.

I have chosen a brief scene from Iron Man 2 to elaborate and further explain his decision-making and why he had done that. In the movie, the protagonist of the movie, Tony Stark, is called to testify before Senate and respond to inquiries by senators. In addition, this particular panel dealt with weaponry and was called Armed Services Committee. One of the senators, whose main intentions were to put Tony into scrutiny and further prove the danger that his costume possesses, begins to question him on his costume and whether or not he is equipped with any weaponry or anything dangerous that would pose a threat. Tony responds by saying that it is a private information and will not answer that. Furthermore, a Sergeant is called to testify on Iron Man (Tony Stark: I will use these names interchangeably in this essay). The latter is asked to read a specific paragraph from his analysis done on Iron Man’s costume. Subsequently the sergeant reads the paragraph and one of the senators points out that Iron Man is a potential threat with the indicated weapons and he needs to hand over the costume/weaponry to the government (voluntary confiscation). Tony refuses to do so and further explains his reasons why he would not do that.

Analysis

When Tony Stark refuses to hand in his costume/weaponry he elaborates (in a satirical way) why it is not a good idea to go along with that demand. He hacks into the TV screens in the room and puts up a video where he shows a potential threat that North Korea, Iran, and China pose to the security of the world and are possibly on their way to build something extraordinary to counter the power of the U.S.. At this point, however, he has a few options: he can either hand in his weapons since it is against the law and according to the analysis it “poses a potential threat,” or he can refuse to do so based on his personal opinion which means that he has to go against his government’s demands.

The decision of the protagonist

In the movie Tony Stark refuses to hand in his costume and disregards the report that has been read. He had two options at that point- to either hand in his costume which would obviously follow with the deontological argument that would follow the rules disregarding any secondary, personal, or just positions. His other option was to refuse to hand in his weapons which would go against the deontological argument and would go with virtue ethics argument. He chose to do the latter. This explains the importance of virtue ethics not only in this movie, but also in everyday actions of people.

Why Tony Stark chose virtuous ethics and not deontology

Virtue ethics is perhaps the ultimate happiness of ourselves (Aristotle’s eudemonia) and for the better of the world. As Plato argues in Apology, nobody wants to live amongst bad people and therefore nobody would not want to do evil in order to teach others of evil. In this case, Tony Stark refused to hand in his weapons because senator asked him to do something that disregards any other, bigger, and much more harmful threats that would unbalance the security and the sustainability of the world. He does not do it for personal gain (even though this provides him self-satisfaction, but the satisfaction comes after guaranteeing the safety of others) but he does it for the security of the world.

Why it is important to do virtuous things in life

Lastly, it is crucial in life to go against deontological arguments and go with something that is virtuous and something that would ultimately provide a much better and much more rewarding results than the current short-sighted satisfactions. As Aristotle argues in Nicomachean Ethics, most human beings are used to satisfying themselves with short-sighted goals; but would it not be more satisfying if we do something that is more virtuous and ethically correct?