By Steven D. Greydanus

His suit may be iron, but he’s still got feet of clay. Tony Stark may not be the same narcissistic jerk he was at the beginning of Iron Man two years ago, but that doesn’t mean he’s someone completely different either. The road to redemption is seldom so straight as that.

There’s a scene in Iron Man 2 in which Tony makes an extraordinary effort (extraordinary for him) to patch up a quarrel with his long-suffering personal assistant Pepper Potts. “Did you bring me strawberries?” she asks with only vestigial incredulity — and so, of course, we know that she’s allergic to strawberries. Tony, though, sees the silver lining: “I am getting better at this — I knew there was a correlation between you and strawberries!” He’strying to have the thought that counts.

Jon Favreau’s Iron Man was something of a surprise hit, a popcorn conversion story with the shiny chassis of an efficient summer blockbuster and the flighty soul of a screwball comedy. The sequel is much the same, only more so, and improves on the original, in my book. (That may put me in the critical minority, but I think the original was overpraised by some, and now the sequel, perhaps in reaction, is being underrated.)

Iron Man wasn’t a perfect movie, but its energy came from a nearly perfect power source: Robert Downey Jr.’s crackling performance as an action hero with a difference. Almost as crucial was the franchise’s secret weapon, Gwyneth Paltrow’s Pepper Potts, a heroine as self-possessed and discreet as her boss was fickle and self-indulgent.

What Iron Man most crucially lacked, and the sequel offers, is a worthy antagonist for Iron Man. Jeff Bridges’ Obadiah Stane in the original was an effective foil for Tony, but his transformation into the armored super villain known in the comics as Iron Monger wasn’t especially convincing, and the third-act robotic smackdown was anticlimactic. The real climax, in fact, came in the final heartbeat of the film with four electrifying words at a press conference: “I am Iron Man.”

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"The human being has a deep-rooted tendency to 'think only of self.'...One who chooses to follow Christ, on the other hand, avoids being wrapped up in himself and does not evaluate things according to self interest." ~JPII

Think about it
The Holy Father tells us that those who follow Christ see life as a gift, and those who follow only their own desires see life as something to be conquered and possessed. The pull to follow our self-interest is strong, but ultimately empty and false. Christ's way of self-giving is the path to true life and joy.

Take Action

On one side of a sheet of paper write the word "self-centered," and on the other side write the word "Christ-centered." This week, before going to bed each night, reflect on your day. Under "self-centered" write all the ways you focused only on yourself, your needs and desires. Under "Christ-centered" write all the ways you gave of yourself to others this week.

Prayer

Dear Lord, forgive me for the ways in which I focused only on myself today. Help me to think of the needs of others and to respond to their needs in the way you would want me to.

"Do not seek your own advantage." ~1 Corinthianns 10:24

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