Let's talk Iron Man 3 and mental health awareness

Listen. I get it. Iron Man is a character that I feel is very divided among the Marvel community. Some really love him. Others despise him. And some find him as a neutral character that they tolerate in the films as he had appeared. But we cannot deny that Tony Stark is the reason that the MCU kickstarted into place. Regardless of his questionable decisions, his wit and sarcastic comments, there is a lot of good that his character has brought to the overall greater MCU arc.

When I first began watching the MCU, Iron Man wasn't entirely my favorite either. I found myself kind of switching back and forth between loving and hating his character. One second he was up there on my list of favorites and the next he was back at the bottom of the barrel. But I think what really sealed the deal for me was Iron Man 3. I was 14 and a day when the movie was first released in theaters, and I still remember going with one of my middle school friends to the theater together to watch the movie after school. I didn't realize at the time how much this movie was going to mean to me from there on out. Even now, ten years later, it still remains to be one of my absolute favorite Marvel films.

I think what really makes this movie stand out from the rest of the Iron Man trilogy is just more of the awareness of Tony's backstory and mental health struggles in this particular film. They really focus in on Tony in regards to how he is dealing with the events of the past few movies, and specifically The Avengers, and I think they do an absolutely fantastic job of highlighting this throughout the course of the film. In a world where men's mental health is not taken as seriously, I think this movie provides a space to talk about that and showcase that even the people who seem the "strongest" can still be silently suffering.

Little 14 year old me didn't really know much about mental health awareness at the time of this film, but I did discover later down the line how important Tony's story would be for me. Throughout high school and college I struggled with my own self worth and anxiety, and having a character like Tony Stark, the guy who has it all, the guy who kickstarted the MCU and seems to have a head on his shoulders, also struggle with something was such a relatable and refreshing thing.

Tony's anxiety doesn't make him "weaker" than the rest of the team. It doesn't make him any less loved by his peers, or seen as "less than" by anyone. If anything, it makes him more human. It makes him stronger. Because you realize in this movie that all of his traits that others may deem as narcissistic, self-centered and arrogant is actually all a front for something much deeper down.

Though it's kind of given to us throughout the course of the MCU rather than in just one movie, I'd like to take a second to just break down Tony's livelihood here. As a child, his father never payed him much attention or showcased to him verbally or physically that he loved him (no words of encouragement, no hugs in the door when he arrived home from work, etc). He loved his mother, but then at a young age he loses both of them in a car accident. Because of the work his father has done, he is held to high standards and a legacy of the Stark name to withhold, graduates college at 17 and becomes a CEO of his family's company at 21. His family friend, Obadiah, who he has trusted and cared for then turns on him and tries to take over his company and kill him. Then he is attacked by Whiplash, another person who acts as a physical representation of his past coming to haunt him as he tries to better himself and make up for his past mistakes that he made in his company. Then he falls through a wormhole in Avengers and almost dies. And that doesn't even INCLUDE what he goes through in Iron Man 3, Age of Ultron, Civil War, and Infinity War before his ultimate sacrifice in Avengers: Endgame.

And all this to say that this is not to diminish the struggles of the other team members at all. Each of the team has something they are struggling with from their past that stays to haunt them (take Nat and the Red Room, for example). But I think Tony especially, the character who seems to have it all and have his life together, is such an impactful way to showcase that you really never know what someone may be going through. From an outsider perspective Tony is rich, powerful, a strong Super Hero figure and the picture of success. From an insider perspective he's broken, struggling, has strangled relationships with those close to him, and is slowly working to better himself throughout the course of the MCU as he focuses on his struggles and tries to right his wrongs.

Tony Stark has shown us that no matter what you may be going through, mental health struggles are nothing to be ashamed of. If social media has taught us anything, it's that they are actually quite common! But I think in a time where the stigmatisms around mental health were still at a pretty high point, and social media was still pretty new, this movie showcased how common it can be. How even those we look up to have things they are struggling with. And that is why Iron Man 3 will forever be my favorite out of the Iron Man trilogy.