Tony wasn’t drunk (or explanation of his plan to die alone in IM2)
Seems like people often watch but don’t see a movie. And this particular situation is one of the most common in my experience – people think that in Iron Man 2 during his birthday party Tony was drunk, reckless, narcissistic etc. And they base their understanding of the character on scenes like this, which they completely misunderstand. I’ll explain here what I mean.
What we have in the movie overall? Tony is dying from palladium poisoning. Damage spreads quickly, not many days are left for him to live. He has 2 most important things to do before he is gone: transfer his company to the capable and trusted hands of Pepper, and to give his armor and superhero responsibilities to his best friend Rhodey.
At first we can see that Tony didn’t want to die alone, since on the way back home from Monaco he asks Pepper not to throw a party and to fly to Venice instead (0:41:20). He wanted to spend time with her. His last days. “It’s a great place to be healthy” he says. He gives her a clue, which she doesn’t recognize. He can’t tell her what exactly is happening because he hates when others feel pity to him and he is not confident enough to speak about his own feelings and well-being. I will write more about it in the future.
At 0:47:50 Tony gives a clue about his condition to Rhodey. Not, not like that. A CLUE. Rhodey looks, but does not see.
Tony gives up on trying to show them. He’s just going to pass his armor to Rhodey, push everyone away from himself, and die alone. Terrible plan, but not from Tony’s perspective. There is no consideration of his own feelings that we can see.
Let’s take a closer look on what’s going on at the party:
0:52:00 – toxicity in Tony’s blood almost reached its maximum. Not much room for alcohol there. He says Nat “I should cancel the party, huh? ... Cause it sends the wrong message”. He is drinking a cocktail, and it is probably the only drink he’s had that night. Why? Read further.
0:54:00 - the party is in full swing and Tony is trying his best to show that he is completely drunk, has slurred speech and can’t even stand.
0:57:00 – Rhodey put on Mark 2 – Tony’s goal is almost reached. Coordination and clarity of speech is back as soon as the fight between them begins. Magic?
0:58:25 – Tony roars at the crowd to drive them out of his house.
0:58:50 – Tony is checking if Rhodey is ready to be new Iron Man and knows how to use the armor by “crossing the streams” in the house that he had just cleared of civilians.
1:01:20 – Donut and Fury scene.
1:01:40 – Tony is back to acting before Fury.
1:02:35 – Fury is explaining to Tony that he knows about his plan.
1:02:40 – Tony is trying to convince Fury that it wasn’t a plan, but Fury is not convinced, because despite having only one eye he sees more than Tony’s two-eyed “best friends”. Natasha backs him up with knowledge of Tony’s security system. Tony gives in, smiling at them, “What do you want from me?”.
What do I want to say with my essay? Be like Fury – WATCH the movie.
