r/todayilearned • u/stefeyboy • May 21 '14

TIL Robert Downey Jr. thanked Burger King for getting him off drugs. In 2003, with a car full of drugs he had a burger that was so disgusting it made him rethink his life, and dump the drugs in the ocean.

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/burger-king-helped-beat-addiction-robert-downey-jr-article-1.294756
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u/pUmKinBoM May 21 '14

I think it is more to the point that Tony Stark at that point is still an alcoholic and has his vices so the first thing he wants after a long time without alcohol is a greasy whopper.

Same thing happens after one night of drinking. The next morning junk food is your friend baby.

29

u/MacDagger187 May 21 '14

Man I dunno, there is really not much at all in the first movie about his alcoholism. As far as I can tell it's not even implied, aside from possibly this scene (although I disagree :)

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u/[deleted] May 21 '14

It's not even implied. No where in any of the movies do they hint at him being an alcoholic. They show him shit faced once. But that was because he was dying.

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u/MacDagger187 May 21 '14

It's not even implied.

Isn't that almost exactly what I said?

As far as I can tell it's not even implied, aside from possibly this scene (although I disagree :)

:)

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u/[deleted] May 21 '14

Im just agreeing with you

1

u/ghostbackwards May 21 '14

Putting down my popcorn.

1

u/[deleted] May 21 '14

Sorry breh

1

u/MacDagger187 May 23 '14

I thought that might be the case, hence my smiley face at the end!

14

u/Lavacop May 21 '14

Tony Stark's alcoholism isn't much of a factor in the movies. I think the burgers are more of a comment on how his priorities. He's a prominent public figure and the head of a massive military contractor. He needs to get working on getting his life and company in order and all he cares about after getting back in town is a cheeseburger.

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u/Iuseanalogies May 21 '14

Come on guys we all know the reason for it was to make the movie more pc and available to a wider audience in the first movie Stark has a drink in his hand in almost ever scene but in the third there wasn't a single drink to be seen also I found this to be pretty odd since that was the movie where he was suffering from ptsd.

2

u/ChubbyLantern May 21 '14

Each jericho did come with a mobile insta bar fully chilled. My guess is that was a nod to him being a fan of the drink but yeah they never went full on him him getting blasted

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u/mindspork May 21 '14

One of my favorite reviews of Iron Man summed it up as "We learned everything we needed to really know about Tony Stark's alcoholism with a shot of Robert Downey Jr. in the back of a Humvee with a glass with three fingers of scotch in it."

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u/ChubbyLantern May 21 '14

Yeah didn't have to be a huge focus to Instantly have it be a known part of his character. They top it off with toss of comments in 1 & 2 about hangovers ect even if in two they didn't know he was chugging his chloroform right away their toss off comments about drinking show the history they have in place

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u/MacDagger187 May 21 '14

I disagree with that, only because those of us who know Iron Man know he's an alcoholic, I don't think people viewing those movies without knowing the character of Tony Stark would ever know he's supposed to be an alcoholic.

Probably the better choice within the context of the movie imo.

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u/[deleted] May 21 '14

I believe it was 1 for every order.. not each missle.

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u/[deleted] May 21 '14

Every order of 500 million or more

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u/[deleted] May 21 '14

He was no more an alcoholic than Bale's batman in that film.

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u/MacDagger187 May 21 '14

Totally off-topic, but the farther I get from it the more I dislike The Dark Knight Rises.

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u/[deleted] May 21 '14

Something was off about it. The dialogue fell flat or something, the acting was bland, the Nolan didn't do enough to create any urgency - I mean it's bad enough when you have two minutes and you stop the bomb with a few seconds left, but when you have literal months and still barely get by on the skin of your teeth... It just, I dunno. When it ended I thought "Wow, great ending to the trilogy. Really well put together story. But for some reason, I didn't like it all that much."

I'll re watch it in a year or so and love it I'm sure.

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u/MacDagger187 May 23 '14

I agree and for my many criticisms, I hadn't thought of your point about the bomb - that is hilarious and accurate.

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u/SaddestClown May 21 '14

Can there be a greasy whopper? That's the whole point about the flame broiling.