Movies Lie to You

Spoiler Alert: If you haven't seen Avengers: Age of Ultron yet, you might not want to read any further than the first paragraph.

This weekend was special in a couple ways. The first is that Joe made a huge breakthrough. He invited his friends over for a sleepover, and not just one friend, but 3. The second is that I got to take them to the Avengers movie, which I hadn't seen yet. And the theater we went to has been newly renovated, and the seats were huge leather recliners. Ohhh, it was awesome.

Yes, the movie was full of explosions, destruction and implausible mayhem. But it stayed true to usual Avengers theme of teamwork. This villain, Ultron isn't even human, but AI (artificial intelligence). He comes into his "awareness" when Tony Stark says "peace in our lifetime" or something like that. This AI, made from the Mind Stone (one of 6 Infinity Stones) in Loki's Scepter (named Chitauri, for you Greek myth enthusiasts), is exceptionally sentient, and he/it makes the decision that for there to be peace, mankind has to be eradicated, starting with the Avengers.

The plan is basically the same simple plan Loki used in the first film: tear the Avengers apart from within. Make them beat the crap out of each other and they'll lose the cohesion that makes them effective.

So Captain America and Iron man go at it, Hulk and Iron Man go at it, Natasha and Hulk go at it in a different way but don't go at it after all, and basically Ultron's plan seems to work. Hawkeye is the one in this movie that seems the most grounded, revealing he has a pregnant wife and kids, hidden pretty anonymously in a country house in the middle of nowhere, which shows another aspect of teamwork: family.

This movie also introduces two new characters, Pietro and Wanda, two freak teenagers who may be X-men. Pietro has high metabolism and is blindingly fast, and Wanda can manipulate minds and matter, and it is through her meddling in the minds of the Avengers that first starts to rip them apart.

Iron Man, Black Widow, Captain America and Thor are the ones affected by the mind play. Thor sees a glimpse of something, and decides he has to go somewhere else with that cool flingy hammer trick to figure it out, which he does.

So the team is splitting apart at the seams. More destruction, more mayhem, more implied but not directly seen death, and probably a stock market crash after Hulk goes berserk and destroys a whole city while Iron Man tries to stop him.

Yeah, I drooled a little over Thor and Cap'n, but you men can't blame me. You know you drool over Black Widow and Jane.

Anyway, teamwork is definitely more effective than flying solo in the Avenger films. I think it's the same way in real life. A baseball team needs players with unique talents to win. Your own body is a team, too. Your heart can't be a toe, and your brain can't be an eye or an ear. If a line of offense twiddled their thumbs after hiking the ball, the quarterback would be toast. Each part works together to make a whole.

To me (and Marvel), a team is a group of people who have each other's backs. They are a group of people working together toward a common goal. Ultron saw that the Avengers were a formidable team when they worked together, but if they worked against each other, they were vulnerable and easier to defeat.

Some might say all of mankind is one team. I don't know. I think that's an idealistic thought, a good thought, but I'm not sure it's true or even possible. Wars begin when teams split apart and try to assimilate or destroy the other. When a war starts, some people are not simply bad team players, they are 100% not on your team anymore.

I want people on my team that are not bent on destroying me. I want people on my team to have my back, not claw it apart. I want people on my team to work toward a common goal we all share whether it be making a good dinner, saving a life, or world peace.

Forrest wrote that movies lie to us. I agree, but they also sometimes hint toward a form of higher truth. The Avengers is no exception. Each Avenger has a valuable ability to contribute. When they form a circle and face an enemy, they can't be beat. If one link in their chain breaks, they all go down in flames. No one part is greater than the whole. We may not have super powers, but we're all super. We're all important. We're all somebody.

Ultron was right--peace in our lifetime is probably impossible. But Vision (who is the new Jarvis, I think? that part sort of lost me), lifted Mjolnir, Thor's hammer. He was worthy, which was a metaphor for hope. I think. That's what I got out of it, anyway.

Thor's adorably amused when no one else can lift Mjolnir.

And, my mind is beginning to whir with a seed of thought about how I can contribute to something whose back desperately needs to be watched...Earth's. The thing is, I can't do it alone...