Mistreatment. MCU Tony Stark's reaction. Part 1 (Iron Man)
Note: Before reacting negatively or writing a comment, please read the Intro.
0:07:17 In public, Rhodes aggressively pushes Tony's hand away with enough force to throw dice out of his hand.
Mistreatment: disrespectful offensive behavior - public humiliation with physical attack.
Tony's reaction: plays along and pretends that this is how it should be (to avoid engaging into the conflict); remains silent about the fact of mistreatment and never goes back to it.
0:13:27 Rhodes' derogatory public comment about diapers and babysitting.
Mistreatment: disrespectful offensive behavior - public belittling (verbal humiliation).
Tony's reaction: again, pretends it's normal. Ignores the mistreatment to extinguish the conflict. Remains silent about it and never brings it up.
0:16:09 Stane's clearly dismissive behavior when Tony asked him a question about his gift.
Mistreatment: emotional disregard and intentional communication neglect (which in normal circumstances results in a breach of trust).
Tony's reaction: completely ignores the fact of mistreatment as something he is used to.
Kidnapping, wounding and torture.
Mistreatment: the whole situation is one big mistreatment stretched out over three months. What's inside: physical and emotional harm, neglect and disrespect of all kinds, cruelty, humiliation, placement in a hostile environment, threats, intimidation, verbal attacks, punishment for refusing to cooperate which would in itself be mistreatment (exploitation to harm someone else), deprivation of freedom, disregard for choice, etc.
Tony's reaction: remains mostly silent and does not attempt to defend himself or attack back (even after returning home), with the exception of the torture scene, where he tries to stop the torture by resisting. All other types of reactions (actions against the Ten Rings) occurred because someone else was mistreated, so they will not be counted here.
0:18:45 Experimental surgery (plus, partially without anesthesia), with implantation of a crude foreign object in the chest.
Mistreatment: although Yinsen saved Tony's life, what he (and The Ten Rings) did was essentially a traumatic experiment with body modification on a living person without his consent. What's there: emotional and physical offense and harm, disregard, cruelty, intentional exclusion from an opportunity to refuse experimental "treatment", forcing a patient to undergo a procedure for which he (and the "medical personnel") was not adequately prepared.
Tony's reaction: at first, freaks out (briefly and quietly) about the fact of body alteration. Then draws the attention of the "perpetrator" to the fact by asking a reasonable question. Having received an answer, remains silent (does not question the methods, accepting them as "life-saving" and actually feels gratitude). Says nothing about the surgery without anesthesia.
0:20:51 Terrorist pushes Tony hard to get him to move.
Mistreatment: unreasonable, intentionally derogatory and offensive behavior with disregard for safety through physical assault.
Tony's reaction: unlike Yinsen - zero reaction. Apparently expecting nothing else, Tony accepts the mistreatment as a given and ignores it.
0:45:57 Stane interrupts Tony's speech and pushes him away from the microphone.
Mistreatment: disrespectful interruption with disregard for choice, violation of personal space and public belittling with the purpose of eliminating the opportunity (to speak for oneself).
Tony's reaction: does not recognize the act as mistreatment (and most likely expects such behavior). Withdraws to avoid creating conflict. Soon after, even apologizes himself.
0:47:49 Stane's disregard for Tony's health and his only interest in the reactor in his chest.
Mistreatment: Obadiah never bothered to ask Tony how he was. But he was very interested in the reactor sticking out of Tony's chest. What it is: thoughtlessness, neglect, invasion of personal space and exploitation.
Tony's reaction: again, does not recognize the act as mistreatment, despite the attitude of Obadiah being clear. By this point, we can already recognize a pattern that tells us that this behavior was normal in Tony's life.
0:48:47 Hostile reaction from media.
Mistreatment: harmful (emotionally, reputationally, and financially), disrespectful, abusive behavior in the form of verbal attacks with public humiliation and simulated physical assault. Disregard for choice in order to continue exploitation and return to a position that may cause harm to others.
Tony's reaction: none. He is silent, although he knows what is happening.
Pepper, Rhodey, Stane, and the media treat him like he's insane.
Mistreatment: disrespectful and offensive behavior, including harsh language and derogatory comments, emotional neglect, disregard for choice, and exclusion.
Tony's reaction: acknowledges mistreatment but remains silent in most cases, except for 1) the scene with quitting Pepper (because others' lives were at stake). In that case, he defends himself by explaining his motivation. 2) the charity event he attended in response to TV comments (non-hostile defense).
0:53:46 - 0:53:58 Rhodes' attitude at the Air Force Base.
Mistreatment: refusal to help with offensive, derogatory comments that show disdain, with the intent of returning the opportunity for exploitation. The scene ends with an exclusion (apparently, until the recipient changes his decision).
Tony's reaction: after the first comment, he remains silent (acknowledging but ignoring), then attempts to explain himself. Faced with resistance in the form of verbal attack, he chooses to disengage and remain silent until Rhodes calls him later (where Tony briefly calls his attention to the behavior). In any case, the mistreatment is quickly forgotten.
0:58:28 The board of directors wants to lock Tony out.
Mistreatment: disregard of choice with deliberate lack of communication, intervention through exclusion due to the loss of ability to exploit.
Tony's reaction: briefly brings attention to the fact of mistreatment and attempts to defend himself by explaining his actions. Seeing no understanding, withdraws, returning to work in his lab. Remains silent, but later uses another opportunity to defend himself by showing that he is okay and there is no basis for an injunction (the Gala).
1:06:50 Not invited to his own gala.
Mistreatment: unreasonable disrespectful exclusion with lack of communication and disregard for choice (no one even asked).
Tony's reaction: briefly draws attention to this fact by making a remark to Stane, but otherwise remains silent.
1:12:05 Christine's comments and attitude at the Gala.
Mistreatment: verbal attack with denigrating comments. Holding responsible for wrongdoings he never committed due to bias and lack of communication.
Tony's reaction: 1) says nothing; 2) tries to turn it into a joke and get out of the conflict situation; 3) responds by drawing attention to the unfairness of the treatment.
1:13:14 Stane's revelation at the Gala.
Mistreatment: intervention through intentional exclusion. Disregard for choice, lack of communication and misinformation. Belittling with insincere concern. By this point, Obadiah is so relaxed because of the fact that his mistreatment of Tony does not result in any negative consequences for himself (and is either not noticed or easily forgiven) that he simply blurts it out.
Tony's reaction: and guess what? Exactly. Tony doesn't do anything to him. But at least the fact of mistreatment becomes obvious.
1:23:06 Jets attacking Tony, who is not attacking or showing hostility.
Mistreatment: harmful behavior in the form of physical attack with disregard for safety (putting him in a situation where he was in danger and endangering others). Even if they had the legal right to do so, it was still mistreatment. Especially after they realized it was a person and not a drone.
Tony's reaction: tries to disengage, saves the pilot who attacked him, then remains silent (partially acknowledges the fact of them being at fault for the plane crash, but doesn't proceed and ignores everything else).
Stane's assassination attempts, physical attacks, threats and insults.
Mistreatment: well, they speak for themselves. Harmful and cruel physical and verbal attacks, endangerment, belittling, exploitation, violation of personal space, disregard for choice, theft, holding responsible for expectations without providing them through intentional lack of communication, unwarranted interference with attempts to intentionally exclude from any opportunities (through death), etc. etc.
Tony's reaction: remains silent (and I'm not talking about the scene in the screenshot where he couldn't speak at all). Reacts with defensive measures only to protect other people under threat. In the deleted extended scene on the roof, even tries to save the bastard's life.
1:54:03 S.H.I.E.L.D.'s attempt to hush the situation up.
Mistreatment: intervention with disregard for choice. Attempt to deliberately exclude from activity and take away the credit. Request (order) to lie or withhold the truth.
Tony's reaction: remains silent about the fact of mistreatment but does not follow instructions to break the cycle of misinformation.
2:05:32 Fury broke into the house and hacked J.A.R.V.I.S.
Mistreatment: disrespectful and unreasonable violation of personal space (property), unauthorized access to the computer that in this case can be considered assault, lack of proper communication and disregard for choice (no one asked him for proper communication, but instead his home was invaded and he was not given a choice whether he wanted to have a conversation or not). This stupid behavior led to a breach of trust that could have been easily avoided.
Tony's reaction: first draws attention to the fact by asking, "Who the hell are you?" Having received a response, he takes the mistreatment for granted. Never complains about it or future similar property-based violations of personal space by Fury or his agents.
Conclusion:
Here we will compare actual behavior with expected (taken from the poll).
Reactions to 19 cases of mistreatment in total:
Insults - 0 (0%)
Fights - 1 (~5%)
Tantrums - 0 (0%)
Withdrawals - 4 (~21%)
Revenge - 0 (0%)
Making it public - 0 (0%)
Ignoring the fact - 6 (~32%)
Making fun/jokes - 1 (~5%)
Drinking binges - 0 (0%)
Seeking help - 0 (0%)
Taking on someone else - 0 (0%)
Remaining silent - 16 (~84%)
Non-violent defense - 8 (~42%)
