2 Controversial Mission: Impossible Takes
Take #1 - Ethan Hunt Does Not Constantly Yearn For A Domestic Life
This may not be controversial, but it's my interpretation of his character and I wanna talk about it. I see a lot of characterizations of Ethan making him out to be a character who is cursed and plagued with the task to do good in the world who just wants to settle down and have a 'normal' life with a partner. I do not see him like this for two reasons.
Reason number one is self indulgent. I personally hate this trope. There are so many stories with heroes and action heroes and adventure characters who are going about saving the world who lament their every second spent doing it because all they want is a quiet life, and this just bores me to death. It's also a rather misogynistic trope sometimes, as these stories often involve a Male Hero who has a skill and passion for saving the world, but abandons it to settle down with a Wife who has no passions of her own besides rearing a family. It's so incredibly heteronormative and I usually avoid stories like these. Mission: Impossible is not a story like this. Which brings me to my second reason.
Ethan Hunt has had MANY chances to "settle down," and he has not taken them. The obvious one is Mission: Impossible 3, where he decides to try out the civilian life, with Julia. Julia and the life she came with did not get killed, or taken away from him, or force him to go back to the IMF. Ethan left. Canonically, the reason was that "Every time he saw a disaster on TV, he said 'I should have been there.'"
Now, this could be interpreted as him being compelled, forced by his own mind and his own anxieties to keep saving the world and leave the life he longs for behind, but to me that just isn't Ethan. Because when Ethan wants something to happen, he fights for it. If he truly wanted to make him and Julia work, he could have. But he wanted to go back to the life he belonged to. He still very much loved Julia, he didn't suddenly stop caring about her. But he couldn't be her partner anymore.
Not only this, but he had ANOTHER very clear chance to have a different life with a heterosexual love interest: Ilsa. In Rogue Nation, she offers him the chance to run away from it all, to settle down with her, to leave the IMF. He turns her down. Textually this is because he needed to defeat Lane and finish the mission. But AFTER THE MISSION WAS OVER, he had ANOTHER chance to go when Ilsa was leaving. But he didn't! He was happy for her. Happy that he helped her get a chance to get the life she wanted to have. But he didn't want to be a part of it.
On top of these very clear moments, Ethan has basically had a choice to leave throughout the whole series. Almost every time a movie ends, he's in good standing with the IMF and able to do what he wants - and what he wants is to accept the next mission. The mission, should you CHOOSE to accept it. That's the point of the ENTIRE MOVIE SERIES!!! The finale finishes with Ethan NOT settling down with a woman, but saving the entire world instead. And that's amazing.
Saving the world with his friends who love him is what makes Ethan happy, it's what makes him feel alive, despite The Horrors. Ethan Hunt is not constantly pining for a white picket fence life and gritting his teeth through every second of every movie, wishing he was the breadwinner of a family of four with a wife to come home to from his 9-5. In between the life-threatening moments of the job, he laughs and jokes with his friends as he uses his skills to do what he loves, which is protect humanity which he is so so devoted to.
Again, this is my interpretation. You can interpret him the other way if you want, I won't judge. I'm just very very sick of heteronormativity in stories I like, especially action movies, and seeing a character who leaves a heterosexual marriage to go on to a life of being with his friends and living out his passion is very healing to me.
Take #2 - Ethan Hunt Does Not Destroy The Lives Of Everyone He Knows And Loves
This is another very common trope in action movies, the classic 'don't get close to me I'll only hurt you,' 'this life is too dangerous for you to handle,' 'I can never have any real relationships because of who I am.' And Mission: Impossible subverts this trope a bit in an interesting way.
Let's look at the lives Ethan has touched in a good way. Luther was disavowed by the IMF, living a life of secrecy, until Ethan came along and gave him the opportunity to be an agent again (I know he didn't survive the narrative. But I'll get to that).
Nyah was a thief. She was also living a life of crime. Ethan brought her into his mission and she got a chance to help defeat her asshole of an ex boyfriend and have all of her charges dropped, allowing her to do whatever she wants to do.
Benji, the tech guy, saw Ethan's exciting life as a field agent and decided to take the field exam, and become an agent just like Ethan, growing more confident and competent as the series progressed.
Julia was a nurse, and she was happy to be one while living her domestic life with Ethan for a while, until they split up. Her having to move around the world for her own protection helped her discover her love for helping people in disaster areas, become a doctor, and meet her new husband.
Grace was a thief, too. Ethan came into her life and offered her The Choice- keep running, or use her skills for something bigger. And she chose to accept. Ethan took a risky chance on her and led her to a job that gave her life more meaning.
Donloe. Ethan thought he ruined Donloe's life. But without Ethan breaking into the Black Vault, he never would have gotten the opportunity to meet the love of his life and live somewhere free from stress and borishness. Donloe told Ethan this himself, that he had nothing to apologize for.
Now, let's talk about Ilsa. It seems at first as though Ilsa meeting Ethan was a curse, but in reality she was in danger far before Ethan came into her life. He was the one who helped her throughout her whole story, doing everything in his power to get her to safety, to freedom. She ultimately didn't succeed. But Ethan's efforts were not entirely in vain, as she would have failed far sooner without his help in clearing her name.
Luther didn't make it either. But this wasn't Ethan's actions or his failures that led to this. Ethan tried again and again to do everything he could to save Luther, or to repent for his actions that may have caused Luther to end up in that situation. But Luther told him over and over again at the end that this was something he expected, something he CHOSE. Luther knew this life came with risks, and didn't want a life away from it all, 'going fishing' and being safe. It was his choice.
Ethan has lost many friends and loved ones. His old team, Lindsey, Hunley, and more. He THINKS he is the reason that they were all put in danger. But in reality, Ethan wasn't the cause of death or destruction or despair in their lives - he was a source of light, love, hope. He has much more of a positive impact on those around him than a negative one, no matter how much guilt he carries.
The scene at the end of Fallout really encapsulates this. Ethan says "All of this that happened, it was my fault." And Julia interrupts with "Nothing happened, because you were here."
The scene with Julia at the end of Fallout and the scene with Donloe in the beginning of the third act of Final Reckoning have so much in common with each other. Ethan believes that through his actions he has ruined someone's life, but they reassure him that although bad things may have happened, their lives were ultimately changed for the better.
Mission: Impossible isn't all sunshine and rainbows, of course. It's a series about grief as much as it is a series about hope, because the two themes go hand and hand. MI does a really good job at showing how much life can just take and take and take from a person. But it also shows that it's worth it to keep going, because every choice you make in life can possibly amount to something beautiful.
TL;DR: My interpretation of Ethan Hunt is that he is happy where he is and he does not ruin his loved ones' lives <3
