alibi_shop (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
alibi_shop) wrote2019-06-20 03:36 pm
alibi_shop) wrote2019-06-20 03:36 pm
Entry tags:
(no subject)
Today the President made some threatening noises about Iran shooting down a drone—that is, a machine that does not and cannot have a pilot on board—and then he tried to back down a bit (at least maybe that's what he was trying, who knows) by saying this: "...there was no man in it, it was in international waters but we didn't have a man or woman in the drone, we had nobody in the drone. Would have made a big, big difference."
I'm sure I'm not the only one who immediately thought of the 2010 motion picture drama Iron Man 2. It's safe to say Iron Man 2 does not get a lot of respect and while I enjoy it, it's kind of silly; but it does have a memorable performance by Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer, who I think is seriously underrated as Marvel villains go. Hammer is a well-connected arms manufacturer who is very ambitious, very unethical, and very very stupid. He also thinks he's funny. Sam Rockwell is very funny; but Justin Hammer is like the numb horror of watching your pathetic boss flounder around boasting and bullying and cracking himself up, when you don't know whether he'll destroy you or himself first. And he's smaller and nerdier-looking than certain presidents, but we know this guy has killed people, or at least had them killed.
Rockwell has a scene where he's inspecting the work of his pet mad scientist (the guy he doesn't realize is actually running the show), and he sees that it is not an Iron Man-type suit of armor as he requested, but rather a robot drone that can't possibly contain a person. It's incredibly obvious that the scientist decided to ignore his orders, but Hammer can't acknowledge that, so he must act like it's a simple design mistake. He feels the only way he can express the nature of the problem (especially since the scientist is an immigrant who he thinks can't understand English well) is to order an underling to try to stuff his head into the robot head. He's being sarcastic, but he doesn't actually understand how sarcasm works, so he keeps repeating this bit until this random guy pretends to comply.
It's a minor comic side bit, but it gets to why Hammer is such a nightmare: when you can't tell if something is supposed to be a joke or not, something is badly wrong. Either this person doesn't understand basic facts about reality, or he's trying to use humor but he's not sure what humor is except some kind of a weapon, because he can't put himself in someone else's shoes at all. Many of us have had bosses like that. Now we all do.
I'm sure I'm not the only one who immediately thought of the 2010 motion picture drama Iron Man 2. It's safe to say Iron Man 2 does not get a lot of respect and while I enjoy it, it's kind of silly; but it does have a memorable performance by Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer, who I think is seriously underrated as Marvel villains go. Hammer is a well-connected arms manufacturer who is very ambitious, very unethical, and very very stupid. He also thinks he's funny. Sam Rockwell is very funny; but Justin Hammer is like the numb horror of watching your pathetic boss flounder around boasting and bullying and cracking himself up, when you don't know whether he'll destroy you or himself first. And he's smaller and nerdier-looking than certain presidents, but we know this guy has killed people, or at least had them killed.
Rockwell has a scene where he's inspecting the work of his pet mad scientist (the guy he doesn't realize is actually running the show), and he sees that it is not an Iron Man-type suit of armor as he requested, but rather a robot drone that can't possibly contain a person. It's incredibly obvious that the scientist decided to ignore his orders, but Hammer can't acknowledge that, so he must act like it's a simple design mistake. He feels the only way he can express the nature of the problem (especially since the scientist is an immigrant who he thinks can't understand English well) is to order an underling to try to stuff his head into the robot head. He's being sarcastic, but he doesn't actually understand how sarcasm works, so he keeps repeating this bit until this random guy pretends to comply.
It's a minor comic side bit, but it gets to why Hammer is such a nightmare: when you can't tell if something is supposed to be a joke or not, something is badly wrong. Either this person doesn't understand basic facts about reality, or he's trying to use humor but he's not sure what humor is except some kind of a weapon, because he can't put himself in someone else's shoes at all. Many of us have had bosses like that. Now we all do.