IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 43

people, and whisk the injured off the battlefield by tossing
one or two men on his back. They asked for the suit to
support more armor, rendering men impervious to enemy
fire. They even wanted it to make soldiers jump higher.
They wanted Iron Man. [35]
DARPA signifies a heavily-funded, American government agency with the power to develop technology
toward its own ends, signaling theme 1. In line with
theme 2, the "average" soldier is afforded superior
strength, endurance, and agility to the point of seeming
like an immortal, "impervious to enemy fire" [35].
Superheroism, theme 3 rhetoric is celebrated overtly
with a direct reference to "Iron Man" [35]. The "want[ing]"
of Iron man assumes the audience needs little or no
explanation. Further, the story title "Man of Steel,"
alludes to the fictional character Superman [35].
Interestingly, theme 4 rhetoric appears in a follow-up
Letter to the Editor responding to the "Man of Steel"
story [35]; a reader fears for the "average soldier":
The futuristic dream of "Man of Steel" appears entirely possible, but the suit's hydraulics and fragile computer systems are completely exposed. It seems to me
there would be almost no way to protect the suit from
bullets without adding enormous weight. [36]
Transhuman ideology necessitates what Braidotti [9]
calls "a shared sense of vulnerability and fear of imminent catastrophes" to generate the required rhetorical
urgency. In the above passage, the imaginary soldier of
the future is worried over [36]. The language raises dangers over the promise of future innovation. References
to actual warfare (e.g., dates, places, combat missions,
enemies) are left off from the discourse.
Popular science journalism alleviates the grim reality
of these inventions and frontloads the more exciting, cinematic tone through fictional representations and allusions. The assumption is that contemporary war is an
ever-present reality, that these innovations are necessary, and that we are vaguely but perpetually vulnerable.

Science Fiction Film
Fictional exoskeletons are depicted in many large-budget science fiction films, including: Aliens (1986), The
Matrix Revolutions (2003), G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
(2009), Elysium (2013), After Earth (2013), Pacific Rim
(2013), Iron Man series (2008, 2010, 2013), Edge of
Tomorrow (2014), The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014),
Ant-Man (2015), The Avengers series (2012, 2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016). Limiting them to a smaller set for this study, we clipped and archived key scenes
from specifically Edge of Tomorrow (2014), Elysium
(2013), Iron Man (2008), (2010), (2013), The Avengers
(2012), and Pacific Rim (2013). Although theme 3 rhetoric or superheroism dominates, these films also rely
on dystopian foreboding and vulnerability (theme 4).
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In these fictional scenarios, the exoskeletons become
the protective shield for humanity that is threatened
and vulnerable, necessitating a military solution.
Michael and Michael [14] make the point that sci-fi
genres shift cultural values through predictions that
spark the imagination, influencing the trajectory of personal technologies. The discursive presence of these
fictional characters in mainstream news or science
journalism, oftentimes fun-loving fan-based allusions,
points to vulnerability and fear, playing into militarism
as a latent, but seemingly normal societal value. We
cannot provide full analysis of these films in the scope
of this article, but we can point to how transhumanism
grounds the plot in a few cases, and feeds ethical
ideas about the tech.
The Iron Man character, celebrated across both the
Iron Man and The Avengers film franchises epitomizes the boldest cinematic portrait of a human hero
wearing an exoskeleton. He also represents libertarian
values by making Tony Stark's feats of (super)human
progress seem unequivocally warranted and heroic.
Originally an arms dealer, Stark is a scientist and a
mechanic, emerging out of military industrial complex
entrepreneurship (Theme 1). However, Stark as Iron
Man is also a superhero extraordinaire (Theme 3). Paradoxically, however, the character's exoskeleton is an
overt reminder of humanity's weakness (Theme 4).
There are few scenes in superhero film lore that garner such an all-encompassing sense of relief as the
moment in Iron Man 2 (2010) [37] when Pepper Potts
passes Tony Stark his suitcase at the last moment as
he is challenged by his villainous nemesis, Whiplash.
The suitcase holds the Iron Man exoskeleton. As Stark
waits for Potts, he is distraught, anxious and utterly
vulnerable. Once in his hands, the Iron Man suit intuitively covers his body fortifying every inch with nickeltitanium. Charged with masculine vibrato, the scene
segues quickly to an epic fight between the two. The
suit transforms Tony Stark into a transhuman ideal,
whose representation sheds any trace of his previous defenselessness.
Several recent films have depicted exoskeletons amid
militarized, dystopian worlds. Elysium (2013) is a critical
dystopian film foregrounding capitalism's failure by illustrating the horrific economic, political and technological
conditions for most citizens [38]. Donned by the antihero Max Da Costa, the Elysium's exoskeleton enables
him to survive and carry out his mission as he dies of
radiation poisoning. Unlike Tony Stark's, the Elysium
exoskeleton is implanted into Max Da Costa spine and
skull in a garage-style surgery, performed by members of
the underground resistance. Gone is Iron Man-style,
light, polished silver and red metal; the Elysium exoskeleton is clunky and mechanical looking. It functions in a

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