Peter: I was planning on getting you each a mug, but this was the only one they had left. But I’m sure you guys can take turns. After all, sharing is caring-
Tony: BITCH GET YOUR TREMBLING FINGERS OFF MY MUG
Stephen: THERE’S ONLY ROOM FOR ONE #1 DAD IN THIS HOUSEHOLD, AND IT’S GONNA BE ME
Okay here’s why Tony Stark is my favorite character and why i’m so proud of Marvel. There aren’t a lot of movies or shows that portray anxiety as well as they did in the Iron Man movies.
When i first watched Iron Man 3, I cried because of how realistic and how on point they were with their portrayal of anxiety and PTSD. They didn’t shy away from his panic attacks. They didn’t give him an easy way out. Because it’s not easy. As much as he loves Pepper, she can’t fix it. As much as he relies on Rhodey, he can’t fix it.
Watching a character I love dearly go through what I’ve gone through was such an amazing experience. I saw a superhero have the same problems I have. I saw a production company not shy away from a real problem.
When Tony had panic attacks out of no where because of the slight mention of the Incident, I could relate. People were angry because they didn’t think that was realistic. It happens that fast people.
During his first panic attack when he ask JARVIS what was happening, he thought he was dying. That’s what a panic attack feels like.
Mental illness sucks. I cannot thank RDJ, the Iron Man team, and Marvel enough for helping someone with anxiety and PTSD help heal and cope because of those scenes.
So one of the things I really love about Robert Downey Jr. is when he meets a sick child (usually has a serious illness, in/out of the hospital, etc) it doesn’t stop with a photo-op.
He continues to keep in touch with them afterwards.
EXAMPLE #1: Brock Johnson, whom he started interacting with in ~2014
RDJ continued to keep in touch with him and his family for well over over a year – e.g. here’s the two of them at RDJ’s house, and also
This went on until Brock’s untimely passing and beyond. RDJ is actually still in touch with Brock’s family even over a year since then – e.g. three months since his passing, and as recently as a month ago.
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EXAMPLE #2: Ryan Wilcox.
Gwyneth Paltrow first got in touch with Ryan and then she brought him to RDJ and Chris Evans’ attentions, culminating in a much-reported visit to Ryan’s house in San Diego back in May 2016.
Three months later, RDJ continues to be in touch, via Facetime
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EXAMPLE #3: Kiel Lampman, whom RDJ started interacting with last month.
From that news article (specifically the pic’s caption), it sounded like RDJ has called him a few times (usually after treatments).
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There’s a couple more that we’re aware of but I just don’t have enough info to include it in this list – e.g. this comment.
And that’s another thing: with the exception of the Ryan Wilcox one (which was much publicized because Goop), all of these had near-zero media publicity.
In fact, honestly, the only reason why we know of these is because some of us tend to obsessively scour social media for anything related to him. He himself has never talked or hinted at doing these things. Ever.
And you know, he’s a busy dude – one of the biggest movie stars in the world; has a company that has been trying to get projects off the ground for years, but also has non-film pursuits; has two little kids under the age of five and an older son whose band performances he wouldliterally fly to middle Americafor, just to watch. Yet he takes his time to do all of this.