Afternoon At the Movies

Mario took me to the movies this afternoon after he was finished writing. It was raining here, as I mentioned, and I was feeling dreary. I had made the mistake of turning on the news. They said panic had set in. The stock market was crashing and the price of oil was out of sight. I started shivering, shaking with fear. Lately I have felt (and still feel) as though I have been watching the collapse of our world.

I started feeling this way when catastrophic climate change began accelerating. (The Republicans still won't do anything about it.) And then economically. I don't know about you, but we can hardly afford food any more. Gasoline in our little town is $4.30. I've never felt this way before, except maybe once, during the gas shortage right after I graduated from high school. 1973, 74. The price of everything fluctuated daily because of inflation. I had just bought a car to go back and forth to college. (I had dropped out of Michigan State University and was going instead to Eastern Michigan University and living with my folks.) I remember looking underneath cushions to find enough coin to put gas in my car.

Anyway. It was a scary. Today I felt that way again, only 100 times worse.

It's strange to feel as though the world as we know it is coming to an end yet there is nothing I can do. I don't know how to invent a vehicle that doesn't run on gasoline and won't pollute. Right now I live in a small town where we don't grow any of our own food—I mean as a community. It's not a real community, actually. It's just a town where people live. And Mario and I are far from our families. If this is the end, I don't think this is where I want to be. I want to be close to my family, wherever they are.

And right now they are scattered all over the country.

I haven't blogged about this because I hope I'm wrong, and I don't think spreading fear is a good thing. That paralyzes. I'd rather spread solutions.

And I don't have any right now.

This is what I was feeling like today, so we decided to fiddle while Rome burns. We went to see Iron Man. Now, I read comics when I was a kid and then later, some, when I was an a-dult, but I had never heard of Iron Man. But I figured the movie couldn't be too bad if Robert Downey Jr. was in it.

It started out with a bang. Downey at his funny sarcastic best. Then stuff blowing up. All cool. Yes, kids, I love a good action flick. I also really love Merchant Ivory films. We're all complex human beans, and I count myself as an extremely perplexed legume. Then they did a flashback. We got to see all the juvenile sexist crap that is a part of so many comics. (Grow up, will you, guys?) But we sat through it for a few minutes knowing that Tony Stark would indeed get his comeuppance.

He did. He decided he shouldn't continue to make weapons and instead he builds himself a suit so he can go out and destroy the weapons he created.

This movie had all the flaws that comic book movies often have. Bimbo-stuff at the beginning. A girl Friday. (Pulease. Will someone make an Iron Woman? I'd loooovvvvveee to see that. Anyway, enough with the woman helpmate. That is so early Heinlein. That is so 1950.) And also the bad guy going insane. What's with that? But, but, but, I loved a lot about this movie. Downey was great. And he is looking good. That suit made him look really good. (Yes, I can lust after a man and his suit, especially if it's a red suit which gives the man the ability to fly and to blow shit up.) I don't like CGI movies. At all. But I never noticed the CGI in this movie. Even when girl Friday Pepper Potts was digging around inside his chest I didn't notice. It wasn't until later I said, "Hey, how'd they do that?"

I kept thinking how cool it would be to get into a suit that would turn me into a superhero. That would solve some problems.

It's a manly film. I knew that going in. Come on. It was directed by Jon Favreau. But I also knew the hero would have a heart because Favreau was directing. (Or in Iron Man's case: an arc reactor.)

Fun times.

Sometimes it is so great to be in denial.

Hope you're all staying out of the rain and pain, too.