Iron Man
By: Josh Bowden
Tags: Movies, Marvel, Superheroes

Iron Man

A Myth in Disguise

Iron Man — movie poster (Marvel Entertainment, 2016)

Creating a movie poster is not an easy or simple task. The designers are tasked with drawing the viewer towards buying a ticket at the box office but also to get the reader to be intrigued by a greater story.

If anything, it’s an art — an art of creating a myth that viewers can “believe in”.

As Marvel is looking for a wide audience, their need to appeal broadly relies on accepted stereotypes for easy recognition and general acceptance by the public. In Barthes’ (1927) terminology, the original symbol that Marvel relies on is what is considered to be a “Hollywood action-thriller” per se.

The concept of a “Hollywood action-thriller” largely has already been signified by it means for something to be a “Hollyworld” movie or, colloquially, the stereotypes that are commonly communicated through billion-dollar productions that do not challenge the status quo. Predominantly, this includes James Bond-esque baggage: promiscuity, emphasized masculinity, fast pasted battles, and namely, more explosions.

Marvel’s movie poster for Iron Man alone checks all these boxes — a glimpse of the movie is need not required.

This implicit ideology or myth that Marvel is seeking to achieve in the name of widespread viewership is rooted in the composition of the work. Void of Stark’s now iconic red and gold, metal suit, the poster would otherwise be easily interpreted as a yet another generic “Hollywood action-thriller”. For this reason, significant attention is drawn towards the Iron Man suit for it to become a signifier that distinguishes it from an otherwise typical film. In effect, the cool persona of heroism from Iron Man is the signifier and the signified — an otherwise generic “Hollywood action-thriller” — to become the symbol that is Iron Man, the movie.

Perhaps the simplest but most effective element at play here at drawing attention to Stark’s suit is the black background. This draws greater attention to the distinct circle of light emanating from the chest of Stark’s suit and additionally the slight halo of light behind the suit’s head alluding to halos around the heads of saints. Additionally, the suit is positioned not quite eye-level and is slightly looking down on the viewer Iron Man. These components are what situate Iron Man as a figure to “look up to” and be trusted to add our distinct hero element to this myth.

In terms of other stereotypes that the poster uses, “traditional” roles and masculinity and femininity are apparent. From just a rudimentary glance at the poster, Pepper Potts, the woman in showy blue, is in a “power” pose but is rendered notably smaller size than the three male lead roles while positioned next to fighter jets and explosions. The movie poster does little to differentiate her positioning in the movie at first glance. By way of composition, Potts is relegated to playing just another part of the James Bond-eque ideology as before.

As much as Marvel is looking to create a story and a movie work while, they are creating a myth— a myth relying on implicit ideology largely through the use of stereotypes of what a “typical” action-thriller looks like. Barthes’ framework for semiology is precisely what is necessary for understanding the implicit and explicit.

If Barthes framework was more broadly but informally applied, it could allow the public to have a chance at really understanding the underlying ideas of what they are watching given an active — not a passive — mindset. Only when a viewer truly thinks about what they are watching do the underlying implicit ideologies and assumptions as they are explicit. Otherwise, we might as well be mindlessly accepting stereotypes and implicit ideologies as we sit back, relax, and watch the release.