🧠 Food for Thought - Unlikely Christmas Flicks: Iron Man 3.
- John Maurice Otieno
- Dec 25, 2024
- 6 min read
Updated: Jan 1
"Is Die Hard a Christmas film?" This age-old debate has become a holiday tradition in itself, and yes, I do think it's a Christmas film.
See, there are certain movies that don't exactly fit the mold of a "traditional Christmas film", but they still deliver the holiday experience so well that they do classify as Christmas flicks, however unlikely. One such film is Iron Man 3, but what exactly makes it a Christmas flick? Well, let's get into it.
As always, spoiler alert! And remember, details matter.
What is a Christmas Flick?
That is subjective and highly debatable, more so because Christmas movies are not exactly a distinct genre. It's like the old Film Noir debate: is it a style or a genre?
Jeremy Arnold writing for The Hollywood Reporter provides this definition of a Christmas movie: "A film that we love to revisit with friends and family at Christmastime, not for any holiday content, but simply for its pure, escapist entertainment value." I think this is an apt definition considering how everyone seems to have their own idea of what quantifies a "Christmas film".
However, for the sake of this argument, we'll go with That Old Picture Show's definition by Kristen Marie: "A movie that has a plot that is dependent on the holiday season." Meaning, if you rewrite the movie without its holiday setting, it shouldn't be able to work.
Does Iron Man 3 work without its Holiday Setting?
You could try rewriting Iron Man 3 without drawing on the festivities for inspiration, but it sure would give you a headache. The movie's antagonist, The Mandarin, is born on New Year's while the protagonist, Tony Stark, undergoes a transformation during Christmas and comes out the other end a completely different person. Literally. The miniature arc reactor on his chest that he's become heavily reliant on for his survival is gone, and so is his fear of not being in control of everything. Isn't part of the holidays taking a step back and rediscovering ourselves?
Why Iron Man 3 works as a Christmas Flick.
Subjective as they may be, there are themes and traditions as old as time that inform the Yuletide festivities, themes such as joy, love, loneliness, togetherness, petty family squabbles, etc. These themes, however subtle they may be interwoven into your non-traditional Christmas flicks, inform how we experience these movies and can highlight how we ourselves relate to the holiday experience. In Iron Man 3, the plot and the festivities are seemingly symbiotic in the following ways:
1. I'm a Piping Hot Mess.
When Pepper busts Tony working in his basement while he has his Mark 42 suit upstairs entertaining her, he admits, "I'm a piping hot mess." The holidays tend to be synonymous with family reunions and, often, petty family squabbles. Consider the following dynamics in Iron Man 3:
i) Tony and Pepper - Tony's often so busy working on his suits post New York that Pepper feels neglected. Tony also gets a little green with envy over Pepper meeting up with Aldrich Killian and they end up fighting over it. They even bicker over the giant bunny that Tony got Pepper for Christmas in typical holiday fashion.
ii) Tony and Harley - Harley tells Tony how his dad went to 7-11 to get scratchers but never returned. The holidays can amplify such sobby experiences and people can relate to that. We feel sorry for Harley, but Tony doesn't. He tells the kid, "Dads leave. No need to be a p**sy about it." But either way, he does bail the kid out with some fatherly advice and cool gadgetry. The holidays are all about being there for each other.
iii) The Vice President and his daughter - The Vice President does go to bed with The Mandarin in an attempted coup, but what's his motive? To get his daughter who's missing a leg the ultimate Christmas present: the promise of generating a new limb under the EXTREMIS programme. The way he goes about it isn't ideal but we can all relate to not wanting to see your loved ones struggle, especially during the holidays. The Christmas setting helps amplify this.
2. How Did You Get Out of the Wormhole?
Tony and Rhodey are eating at a diner when two kids approach them for Tony's autograph. Rhodes confronts Tony on his sleeping habits (or the lack thereof) and New York [referencing the alien attack in Avengers (2012)]. Tony's uncomfortable. When the young boy asks him, "How did you get out of the wormhole?", Tony's tipped over the edge and experiences an anxiety attack. He struggles with this post-New York PTSD throughout the movie, and the holiday setting highlights this as internal struggles are often amplified by the festivities.
3. We Create Our Own Demons.
"A famous man once said, 'We create our own demons.'" This is the movie's opening line, delivered by Tony Stark in what we assume is a monologue. Back in Bern, Switzerland, 1999, Tony tells Killian he'll meet him on the rooftop on New Year's Eve. As a desperate Killian watches the new year ushered in with fireworks, alone, on the rooftop, he conceives the idea for The Mandarin. You take away the holidays, you take away the movie's villain. Similarly, Maya joins forces with Killian when Tony leaves her with half a solution for her EXTREMIS "glitch" the morning after.
4. I Loved You in A Christmas Story.
When the two kids approach Tony and Rhodey for an autograph at the diner, Tony tells the young boy, "I loved you in A Christmas Story, by the way," referencing the 1983 classic Christmas film. Tony also plays the Bombay Dub Orchestra Remix of "Jingle Bells" by Joe Williams to get him in the mood as he works on his latest prehensile suit, The Mark 42. There's also no snow in California, but Tony does go to Tennessee where there is actually snow for a generous portion of the movie. These little hints, dialogue and mise en scène sprinkled throughout the movie ensure by the time you're done watching it, you've had an undeniable Yuletide experience.
5. The Clean Slate Protocol.
In the end, when Jarvis asks Tony at the harbor, "The Clean Slate Protocol, sir?" Tony responds, "Screw it, it's Christmas. Yes, yes." He then proceeds to blow up his suits, or "distractions" as Pepper likes to call them. This, to show her that his hobby, the suits, don't even come close to how important she is to him. As the fireworks ignite majestically in holiday spirit, you can't help but think, "Forget the tacky giant bunny, this is the ultimate Christmas gift!" And the look on Pepper's face says it all... it's beautiful.
The Nutshell.
"And so, as Christmas morning began, my journey had reached its end," says Tony Stark in a voice over in the movie's epilogue and I think it's apt to wrap it up (Christmas pun intended) there. In a nutshell, what makes a Christmas movie is very subjective and entirely up to you, but if you have to get into the nitty-gritty of it all, taking the holiday setting out of the movie should completely upend the experience. Rewriting Iron Man 3 without its Christmas setting would be an uphill climb and for me, that makes it a Christmas flick.
What do you think? Is Iron Man 3 a Christmas movie? What other unlikely, non-traditional Christmas flicks do you love? Food for thought 🧠
Oh, and happy holidays to you and yours! 🎄
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