By Bill Friedell

​With the upcoming release of Avengers: Infinity War (Anthony and Joe Russo, 2018), I thought I’d look back at the previous Avengers film, Avengers: Age of Ultron (Joss Whedon, 2015). While it isn’t regarded as a terrible or bad film by most, many brush it off as being more of the same and bogged down in setting up future movies, as well as other complaints. While I agree it isn’t among the very best MCU movies, I feel like it gets dismissed too easily. Age of Ultron brings us further into the dynamics of the team and allows us to truly understand who the Avengers are. If Avengers (Joss Whedon, 2012) is about how "Earth’s mightiest heroes" can come together, Age of Ultron is an exploration of how the group operates afterwards. Avengers is the story of flawed “gods” from different creeds and backgrounds coming together for one shared cause. Age of Ultron is the story of monsters, as seen in the various members of the team, either creating monsters or being monsters themselves, as shown through these archetypes; the mad scientist and the monster continuing a cycle of violence that threatens everything.

The mad scientist has been a major figure of the horror and science fiction genre both in film and comic books. Typically, a mad scientist is a genius who wants to achieve something god-like, but end up creating something terrible. They create monsters. This goes back to Mary Shelly's classic novel, ​Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus​. Victor Frankenstein, the protagonist is a genius who wishes to achieve something god-like, but ends up creating an abomination, or, a monster. The most popular version of the mad scientist in film, also Victor Frankenstein, was forever defined by Colin Clive in the 1931 adaptation, ​Frankenstein ​(James Whale, 1931), which defined the mad scientist as singularly driven to the point of raving madness, but realizes what he has created and tries to deal with the monster himself as best he can (Frankenstein). The influence of this movie has not only influenced movies, but comic books themselves. Originally, Lex Luthor, Superman's arch nemesis was introduced as a mad scientist (Siegel, Shuster). An even more direct translation is Dr. Bruce Banner, irradiating himself, whether intentionally or accidently, becomes both man and monster. Sympathetic and dangerous (Lee, Kirby).

But for Joss Whedon, most obvious “mad scientist” of Age of Ultron is Tony Stark, aka Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.). Tony Stark is a “genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist” who has far from a perfect record. As said in Iron Man 3 (Shane Black, 2013), “We create our own demons”. Tony used to create weapons, demons of his own design and the reverberations of that have been felt even after he shuts down the weapons program at his company. Most, if not all of Iron Man’s villains in the MCU are the result of technology he created, especially his final weapon, the Iron Man suit. Iron Monger in the original ​Iron Man​, (Jon Favreau, 2008) is made of the scraps of Tony’s original armor, and Whiplash in ​Iron Man 2 ​(Jon Favreau, 2010) creates the arc reactor technology he uses to make his whip weapons based on his father’s work as well as Tony’s. But not only did he create demons and monsters through technology; he also made monsters through his character. The primary example of this is Aldrich Killian, the villain of Iron Man 3. Tony brushing off Killian’s offer to join his think tank inspired his scheme to take over the war on terror behind the scenes. Tony has created countless problems and demons to face, which doesn’t end in Age of Ultron.​

But Stark isn’t the only mad scientist of the group. Dr. Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) is unique in that he is both mad scientist and monster. He made himself into the Hulk to recreate the super soldier serum of Captain America and also assists Iron Man in scientific endeavors, such as creating Ultron. He is Jekyll and Hyde, Frankenstein’s monster, and Victor Frankenstein rolled into one. Captain America (Chris Evans) and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) can also be considered monsters. Captain America is the result of experimentation. Now, pulled out of the 1940s, Cap is a man out of time. He doesn’t know where he fits in. In being a man out of time, he has become an outsider, as seen in the running joke of Cap pointing out Tony’s “language”, merely out of force of habit because of the time he came up in. Black Widow was taken to the Red Room, trained since childhood to become an assassin. She has no place in the world, she admits to her teacher, and is solidified in a “graduation ceremony” where Black Widow is sterilized, unable to bear children. Her entire self was violated and manipulated into making her a killer, a guilt she carries with her to this day. It's the “red in her ledger” she refers to in the first Avengers. Even Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is grappling with the idea that he is going to be a monster to his own people, having a vision of Ragnarok; the death of Asgard, brought about by him.
​

This is all best summarized by Ultron, saying, “Everyone creates what they dread. Men of peace create engines of war, invaders create avengers, people create… children, designed to supplant them. To help...end them”. Ultron sees himself as the child of Stark and that it is his duty to supplant him. This is particularly shown in Ultron’s personality, mirroring Stark’s quippy, smug, personality. Ultron is representative of this cycle of “creating what we dread”. Iron Man makes way for Killians, Ironmongers, and Ultrons. Hydras create Shields, which rebirth Hydra (Captain America Winter Soldier, Anthony and Joe Russo). ​\
The movie, particularly, the character of Ultron, employs many Biblical allusions. Ultron refers to Captain America as “God’s righteous man. Pretending that you can live without a war." He first meets the twins in a church, which was built in the center of the town, so that everyone will be equally close to God, and says he will “build his church” on vibranium (his chosen rock). He equates his plan with God flooding the world, which points to the fact that Ultron believes that he is God and that it is his duty to destroy humanity so that it will evolve and create peace. His sitting in the center of the church is like God sitting on his throne.
Let's go back to that line referring to Cap as the righteous man. Here, Ultron is pointing out that Captain America is a soldier, and without a war, he has no place. The Avengers gave Cap an avenue to continue the fight, to retain his sense of purpose. In many ways, this is what the Avengers are here for: to stop threats to the world. If there are no threats, no more Avengers. If there are threats, the cycle continues. This was why Tony wanted to create Ultron: to be the suit of armor to protect the earth from cosmic threats like the Chittari from the first Avengers. But in doing that, Tony created another threat. Another demon to dread.

The cycle clearly hasn’t stopped in these movies, seeing how the MCU continues to this day. But there is acknowledgement of the failings and troubles of these characters we all come to admire. While we know from their own movies and even the previous Avengers film that these are far from flawless people, Age of Ultron addresses the idea the demons they create are a cycle, much like others in the superhero genre. Some villains are self-made; others are born of the heroes, or even exist merely to challenge them. But what makes the Avengers special is that they acknowledge the nature of this cycle and must understand that they must own up to what they have wrought, which is perfectly encapsulated in Hawkeye’s (Jeremy Renner) words to Wanda Maximoff, “Its your fault, it's everyone's fault. Who cares? Are you up for this? Are you? I need to know, because the city is flying. The city is flying, there’s an army of robots… and I have a bow and arrow. None of this makes sense… It doesn’t matter what you did, or what you were, if you go out there, you fight… but if you step out that door, you are an Avenger”. It’s up to us to own our mistakes and we can choose what to do next. Ignore the problem or stand for change. We are all responsible. We create monsters. We transgress against each other all the time. As Banner says and Ultron realizes, the biggest threat to people are people. As Vision observes, “Humans are odd. They think order and chaos are somehow opposites and try to control what won’t be. But there is grace in their failings. I think you missed that”. Avengers: Age of Ultron is an exploration of what it means to be human, like most all art, by capturing the worst and best of humanity.  

Works Cited
Whedon, Joss, director. Avengers: Age of Ultron. Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, 2015
Whedon, Joss, director. The Avengers. Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, 2012. 
Black, Shane, director. Iron Man 3. Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, 2013. 
Favreau, Jon, director. Iron Man. Paramount Pictures, 2008.
Favreau, Jon, director. Iron Man 2. Paramount Pictures, 2010.
Russo, Anthony and Joe Russo, directors. Captain America: Winter Soldier. Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, 2014
Whale, James, director. Frankenstein. Universal Pictures, 1931.
King James Bible. Holman Bible Publishers, 1973.
Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Frankenstein.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 27 Apr. 2017, www.britannica.com/topic/Frankenstein.
​Siegel, Jerry (w), Shuster, Joe (p, i). Action Comics #23 (1940). DC Comics.
​Lee, Stan (w), Kirby, Jack (p), Reinman, Paul (i). "The Hulk" The Incredible Hulk 1 (May 1962)​​

Auggie (Jacob Tremblay) and his mother (Julia Roberts) meet with the principal at his Beecher Prep orientation (Wonder, Chbosky, 2017)​

by Megan Hess

​R.J. Palacio’s debut novel Wonder – the story of a boy with Treacher Collins syndrome, a genetically inherited craniofacial deformity, attending school for the first time – has become an instant classic in middle-grade fiction, transcending its original audience. I read the book a year or two ago – before the movie came out, at any rate – and my feelings on it echo the personal and critical praise it has received. Palacio has a strong command of character and plot, and I keep Googling her, looking for news of the next project (a currently fruitless endeavor, but I hold out hope…) I didn’t get to catch the movie during its theatrical run, but I ended up seeing it twice in one weekend later on. My few critiques aside (we’ll get to them later on), I really applaud the Wonder cast and crew for retaining the spirit of the book. Adaptation is a tricky business, and, when the source material is well-loved like Wonder, it multiplies the challenges.
In the film, Auggie’s sister Via (Izabela Vidovic) uses an astronomical metaphor for her family structure: Auggie is the sun, and she and her parents are planets. This metaphor could apply to the structure of the book and film as well; Auggie’s perspective is supplemented by sections narrated by other characters in the book. I was pleased that the film took this same approach; I think it’s essential to the story structure. Although they scaled back the overall diversity in the characters, the film still had elements of racial diversity – at least a realistic amount for upper-middle-class\upper-class Brooklyn. There’s even an interracial relationship between two major characters. 

​Justin (Nadji Jeter) flirts with Via (Izabela Vidovic) as they walk home from school.  

​Overall, Wonder has a really strong cast. Based on this movie and the first installment of the IT reboot (Muschetti, 2017), I would label 2017 as “The Year of Stellar Child Acting.” Even though Jacob Tremblay played the main character, I’m not as interested in talking about his performance as much; he’s already had a lot of mainstream recognition for previous films, as well as this one. Noah Jupe brought spirit and heart into his portrayal of Jack Will, Auggie’s best friend at Beecher Prep. (At the time of this writing, you can currently see him in A Quiet Place (Krasinski, 2018)) Bryce Gheisar had a tough role to play as Wonder’s antagonist, Julian, a smarmy, two-faced trust-fund kid who instigates most of the teasing targeting Auggie. His character is imbued with complexity, so that that by the end of the narrative, he’s not as bad off as he seems. Palacio wrote a side story called “The Julian Chapter” which talks about some of the events of Wonder from Julian’s POV. Gheisar’s performance makes me wish they had included it in the film, even though it’s not part of the original book. The best moment between their two characters is their extremely satisfying fight scene - full of tension, character development, and even humor. Izabela Vidovic, who plays Auggie’s sister Via, has primarily worked in TV before Wonder, but she’s too good to be relegated to small-screen bit parts.
            Besides their talent, one of the reasons I’m so impressed with the young cast is because of the adult co-stars with whom they have to share the spotlight. Julia Roberts and Owen Wilson play the Pullman parents, and have such excellent chemistry that it surprised me to read that they hadn’t worked together onscreen before Wonder. They have many enjoyable scenes together, but my favorite isolates their relationship, without the distractions of work and family life. Despite all the difficult circumstances they’ve endured together, they’re still able to keep the spark alive…. 

​The Pullmans attend Auggie’s fifth grade graduation (Wonder, Chbosky, 2017)

The adult presence in the film also includes two excellent educators: Mr. Tushman (Mandy Patinkin) and Mr. Browne (Daveed Diggs). While their characters are a bit cliché – Patinkin plays the wise old owl principal, while Diggs is the hip and with-it young teacher – they fit their personalities so perfectly that it’s a passable affront. If you’re a fan of the musical Hamilton, which introduced Diggs into mainstream American popular culture and beyond, it’s a bit jarring to see him in such a tame role after his firecracker Broadway performance. When the sass comes out, it’s more subtle, and a pleasant surprise. There’s also moments of touching tenderness – like Mr. Browne comforting Jack Will after his fight with Julian - which we never saw with Lafayette and Jefferson. Overall, it really makes the case for his nuanced talent, and I hope he has more of a screen presence in the future. I also loved Crystal Lowe as Julian’s mom. It’s a small part of the movie, but large in importance, and she nailed the nuances of the character.
Thus far, I’ve listed all the things I’ve enjoyed about Wonder. Now it’s (finally) time for the critiques. Other reviewers have commented on the fact that they would have rather seen Auggie played by an actor with actual facial differences, not someone who needed a prosthetic to look that way. I agree with this, and also think they downplayed his look. It’s possible that, over the course of the film, I just got used to Auggie’s face, and it didn’t shock me anymore…but it didn’t shock me that much in the first place. Perhaps the effect is different on younger audiences – and perhaps they had those younger audiences in mind when they sculpted his face, not wanting to frighten them too much – but I think that discomfort, and being able to transcend it, is an important part of the storyline, for actors and audience alike.
            Changes to source material almost always occur in the adaptation process, and Wonder is no different. I’m usually fairly picky about this – as much as I know it’s natural – but only one confused and irritated me to the point it’s worth discussing here. Towards the end of the book, the Beecher Prep fifth graders go on a field trip to a nature reserve, where Auggie gets attacked in the woods at night by a group of older students, who make off with one of his hearing aids after scaring him and pushing him around a bit. Film Wonder keeps this moment, but lessens the tension considerably by setting it during the day instead – and his hearing aid isn’t stolen because he doesn’t wear them in the first place. I’m thinking they did this to reduce the fear factor it might evoke in younger audience members, but it feels like a cop-out, evading a genuine empathetic moment. Being scared by a movie isn’t always fun, but sometimes it’s necessary.
            If you’re not ready to cry, this is not the movie for you. However, if you would like an emotional and thought-provoking experience, Wonder might be a good choice for movie night.

​Tonya Harding (Margot Robbie) looks to her public (I, Tonya, Gillespie, 2018)

by Megan Hess

​Craig Gillespie’s I, Tonya (2018) is the Maleficent (Stromberg, 2014) of biopics. What makes the analogy doubly appropriate is that, to many past and present figure skaters, along with fans of the sport, Tonya Harding is certainly “The Mistress of All Evil.” Although she was the first woman in the world to perform the triple axel in competition, most people only remember her alleged involvement in the brutal attack on fellow skater Nancy Kerrigan, not her athletic capacity. Vilified and lambasted by society, she never got the chance to tell her story. Patriarchy came for Tonya Harding, as it comes for all women – even those, like Nancy Kerrigan, who seem to conform to its demands. This analysis will examine how I, Tonya, shows Harding’s diversions from gender norms - specifically looking at cultural context, dress, and behavior – and how they impacted her success in the figure-skating community. 

​A tense dinner between Tonya (Margot Robbie) and her mother (Allison Janney) (I, Tonya, Gillespie, 2018)
​

​Harding’s rise to fame occurred in the 1980s’, an interesting time for American women…on and off the ice. The push for a return to “family values” in the 1980s’ tried to bury the consciousness raised during the women’s movement the past two decades before. On some level, they succeeded – pushing feminism into hibernation after the divisive “sex wars” of the antipornography movement and the failed attempt to pass the Equal Rights Amendment – but they couldn’t undo the female empowerment gains made during the past two decades of activism and scholarship. However, feminism had not touched the figure skating world. In fact, regarding gender roles and conduct, it was frozen in time. As Tonya says in the film “it’s a sport where the friggin' judges want you to be this old-timey version of what a woman is supposed to be.”
Like many popular women’s sports, appearance factors into an athlete’s success in skating. One of the judges even admits to Tonya that “we also judge on presentation.” Specifically, if a female skater is a) physically attractive by contemporary social norms and b) outfits herself in the manner the judges and audience are accustomed to, she finds she will do better than if she disregards these elements. The judges objectify the skater, yet an overtly sexual “look” will count against her score. Like ballerinas, skaters must have a feminine, graceful, look.
As a young girl, Tonya adheres to the ideal more because her coach has more influence on her. However, she still stands out. For example, Diane (Julianne Nicholson) encourages LaVona (Allison Janney) to buy Tonya a fur coat so that she blends in with the other young skaters. She knows Tonya’s lower-class background will impact her presentation, and, therefore, her scores. So she gets one…technically.  

​Young Tonya’s (McKenna Grace) “fur coat” - and her response to all those who ridicule the gift (I, Tonya, Gillespie, 2018)​

​As a young adult, she pushes back against the system. Typically, skaters had – and still do, to some extent - a more typically feminine look: long hair and soft color palettes. By comparison, the first time the viewer sees teenage Tonya, she has short hair and wears a bold blue and yellow skating costume – standing tall and proud on the ice. 

Tonya at a younger, more innocent, less controversial time in her life (I, Tonya, Gillespie, 2018)

​Her bright-colored costumes, which she wears throughout the film, reflect her confidence in her own skill as a skater - which the judges and more traditional members of the figure skating community see as such an affront. However, as she struggles to be accepted by this group, she tries to acquiesce. When Tonya leaves her mother, she cannot afford the expensive costumes she needs for performing. She sews a pink skating outfit that she thinks looks more like what the other skaters wear. (But it still gets that special Tonya touch – she sews a butt bow on it.) 

​Tonya – wearing her pink skating outfit –  is shocked by her low scores (I, Tonya, Gillespie, 2018)

However, even after all her hard work training and sewing, she does not get the scores she thinks she deserves. It’s even implied that her handmade costume loses her points. Those go to her contemporaries who toe the party line a bit better – for example, Nancy Kerrigan…
I, Tonya subverts audience expectations by choosing not to pit Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding against each other. Instead of going for the cheap thrill of a catfight, it makes things more interesting. A “Man vs Society” conflict drives Gillespie’s film: Tonya vs the corrupt, classist, sexist, system of the late 20th-century US figure skating scene. Nancy and Tonya were both entangled in the machine, but Nancy could work the system better than Tonya because she typified its ideals. She does not have a strong presence in the film. Her most standout moment is, of course, the iconic scene post-knee-bashing. As she grips her leg and wails “Why?” she wears a white lace skating costume reminiscent of a young girl’s First Communion dress. The media – and the movie - used this image for juxtaposition. Now Nancy Kerrigan was the Cinderella of the skating world, and Tonya was just the ugly stepsister. She should have stood out for her ability, but she was cast out for not fitting the mold. 

Tonya, tasting success, with no idea that she'll have it all taken away very soon.... (I, Tonya, Gillespie, 2018)

It wasn’t just Tonya’s style that limited her success. Her behavior set her back as well. Frequently in I, Tonya, instead of just taking her scores and leaving, she confronts the judges over their biased treatment, even calling them out for the classism inherent in the sport. The way she does this – directly, on the ice, instead of speaking to them in private after her skate – and calling definitely contributes to the judges’ collective dislike. In one scene, Tonya confronts a skating official after a competition in a parking garage, accusing them of treating her poorly. In response, he tells her that their negative feelings towards her come out of not wanting to promote her because of how she diverges from their wholesome, all-American girl model.  This hurts her not only in later competitions, but also when the Kerrigan controversy breaks. It’s possible to argue that if Tonya was more well-liked, they wouldn’t have gone after her so aggressively. While Tonya does not have to serve jail time for her alleged involvement in the attack, she does not escape punishment. She gets put on probation for three years and sentenced to 500 hours community service on top of fines. This seems like punishment enough for her role, but the US Figure Skating Association takes it one step farther, banning Harding from skating professionally… for life. Instead of accepting her punishment and (in the words of Dylan Thomas) “going quietly into that good night,” Tonya tries to protest: “All I did was the hindering of prosecution. What, you're never gonna let me skate again? I mean, I'd rather do the jail time. Please, they only got eighteen months. They got eighteen months, I'll do that. Your honor, I don't have an education. All I know is skating. That's all I know. I am no one if I can't skate….I mean, I'm not some monster. I'm trying to do my best. It's like you're giving me a life sentence if you do that, you can't do that.” Instead of rewarding Tonya’s feminine vulnerability, the judges hold to their initial decision, and wash their hands of her forever.
Over 20 years have passed since Tonya’s last skate, and much has changed about the figure skating world that was so hostile towards her. While still primarily a domain of wealthy whites, minority skaters have made their mark – for example, Kristi Yamaguchi and Michelle Kwan. Black women still do not have a significant mainstream presence in American figure skating, but there have been some talented black American female skaters, like Debi Thomas and, most recently Starr Andrews. Catherine Machado is a two-time Olympic bronze medalist and was the first Latina woman to represent the US in the Olympic Games in 1956. On the men's side, we have openly gay figure skaters like Johnny Weir and Adam Rippon. At the same time as all this diversity has been introduced, much has not changed. Skating is still tied to the thin, ultrafeminine ideal and is more high-cost than other sports. It’s curious to see if these things will ever change, but these developments give us hope. It’s too late for Tonya Harding, but perhaps not for a similar girl in the future. 

​A part of Japanese culture that plays a major role throughout Your Name is the “red string of fate.” The legends behind it say that people connected by it are irrevocably tied to each other through a vein that starts at someone’s heart, passes through the pinky, and to another person’s heart (American culture represents this myth through the “pinky promise”). Though the string can lengthen or tangle, it can never break (Monasterio, 2015). In the film, Mitsuha wears a red string as a hair tie. A flashback/dream sequence depicts Mitsuha reaching out to Taki using the string, trying to connect with him. Taki is also shown wearing a red string, using it as a bracelet. Mitsuha’s grandmother Hitoha (Glynis Ellis) reiterates the ideas behind the red string of fate when talking about “Musubi” or the flow of time and how all things in the universe are connected. The cords of the universe, as she says, “converge and take shape. They twist, tangle, sometimes unravel, break, and hone connect again.”

Your Name is a heart-warming, hopeful story about friendship that literally transcends time and space, and a recommended watch for fans of Japanese animation and movies in general.

Source Cited:

Monasterio, Lucia Ortiz, "The Legend of the Red String in Japan" Faena, 6 Nov 2015, http://www.faena.com/aleph/articles/the-legend-of-the-red-string-of-japan/

The complex
politics of this situation are hinted at during Kobayashi’s late night decree when the Mayor allows for political dissent. Dr. Watanabe, of the science party, makes a brief statement in which he bluntly states that the dog flu is not a danger to humans and abandoning man’s best friend is a mistake. Kobayashi’s supporters just ignore him. Doctor Watanabe continues to fight for dogs during the film, even going so far as to find a vaccine to dog flu. This accomplishment results in him receiving some poisoned sushi. His dissent is ultimately silenced. Sensing malicious intent of the government, a group of pro-dog students resists Mayor Kobayashi’s anti-dog rhetoric. According to dramatist Kenneth Burke’s theory of representative anecdote, films reflect societal fears and concerns. The drama of a movie is often representative of the current political climate of the society in which the film is created. In today’s political climate, a film which depicts the politically motivated and government sanctioned oppression of dogs (man’s best friend), is most certainly relevant. The only real difference between the government of our nation and that of Megasaki, is that in the end, the corruption of Kobayashi is admitted by the man himself and order is restored. The real world never seems to dispose of its trash quite as easily.
Beneath the political drama that forces dogs onto trash island and pervasive governmental corruption, lies a simple story of a boy, his dog, and the space between them. This relationship really is the crux of the story and the most heart-wrenching element. The audience needs to see the reunification of this boy and his dog. Isle of Dogs is a love letter not only to the unique relationships that we form with our pets, but also to Japanese film and culture. The deep reds, purples, and greens that shine in the futuristic city of Megasaki remind us of the Tokyo of today, while the symmetrical compositions and ordered set design are reminiscent of Japanese auteurs like Kurosawa. Anderson has often been criticized for his insistence in form over function, but in a society which focuses on balance and symmetry, his style feels right at home. If you are looking for a bit of escapism, I cannot think of a better film

Sources Cited:

Amidi, Amid. "Pixar Announces Day of the Dead Film 'Coco'" Cartoon Brew.  https://www.cartoonbrew.com/pixar/pixar-announces-day-of-the-dead-film-coco-117684.html

Ramirez, Margaret. "'Saint Death' Comes to Chicago" Chicago Tribune. ​http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/death-chicago-08-story.html