Memo To Hollywood: The Situation In Afghanistan Is NO JOKE!

Rating: 1/10 (6 May 2008)

I have to admit, I fell for all the hype that this was going to be a enjoyable film. The reason I pay close to$10.00 to watch a film on the big screen is to be entertained, to get some emotional pleasure! One of the problems with Iron Man is that it's geared towards the mind of a child/young teen without any charm. It's so incredibly predictable, a sort of comic-book-story-formula-film. A very clever way for Hollywood to make a quick buck at the expense of an interesting (on some level) story. - I'm tired of the meanie terrorist villains. I'm tired of the totally clueless good guy(s). I'm tired of the evil mentor! This story has absolutely zero imagination. It's at the intelligence level of a second-rate, Saturday morning cartoon!
It's also about the crudest form of exploitation for financial profit imaginable! The really bad guys have alway got to be Arabs, or look like Arabs. They kill innocent civilians for no reason. They hide in caves, like the hated Japanese soldiers did in World War 2. But only a rich and powerful U.S. weapons inventor & dealer can come to the rescue! Wow! What a message that sends to weapon makers of the world! Who would ever of guessed that deep, down, inside, some of the Merchants of Death literally have a heart of gold (or palladium, in this case)!
Afghanistan is currently an extremely troubled country even though it has a very rich cultural tradition. It's a shame it was dumbed down in Iron Man to helpless civilians, brutal warlords, an impotent and clueless U.S. military and one white man who had a very unconvincing conversion experience. If Hollywood is going to bring politics and current events into a comic book story then they need act more like mature adults, instead of soulless moneygrubers trying to make a quick buck off of the horrific suffering of people in some distant land. Afghanistan is not some make believe place! It's a place where real people, including brave Americans, and many others from around the world, are risking their lives everyday!
I hope Hollywood stops treating the moviegoers of the world like a bunch of idiots. And, while I'm at it, it would be nice if some of the many millions of dollars Hollywood is going to make from Iron Man is donated to various third-party, non-profit organizations working on reconstructing Afghanistan's civilian infrastructure! They certainly could use the money!