I noticed something after watching ‘Avengers 2’ a few months ago. Tony Stark can’t do anything right until somebody gives him a pep talk. This seems to happen in every Iron Man and Avengers movie. I’ll admit that Captain America got one in his first movie, but he never seemed to really need it again on his sequel. Meanwhile, Tony becomes Major Screw-up until he gets verbally smacked upside the head. Seriously, the only villain he isn’t responsible for is Loki right now. Not sure where I’m going with this, so I’ll get to the original point.
The Stirring Speech is a grand tradition in fiction that appears in every medium and genre. These are moments that people remember and stir your main heroes into action for the final act. Also this tends to happen a lot in sports movies, especially football. Anyway, the best example of a fictional speech I can think of is the following:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oj16vfbsM9A
Personal feelings about the movie aside, that is an amazingly well-written speech. You awaken the emotions not just from the other characters, but the audience as long as they’re into the scene. That’s part of the trick, right? Not just the speech, but laying the groundwork and tone for it. You need this moment to have impact and make sense in terms of what has happened and what will happened. Typically, you have a catalyst that leads into speech. Most times this is a loss for the hero.
It’s an interesting scene that many people call cliche even though these things happen in real life. Besides, would you rather your heroes get rallied by a grand speech or simply told ‘Get out there and do things’.
So, what do you think of the Stirring Speech? Do you put them into your own works?
Legends of Windemere 
I like the stirring speech. A moment of drama can reinforce the stakes right before the big battle.
LikeLike
It’s definitely a memorable event. Yet I do think it shouldn’t happen too often in a series. Like I mentioned, it struck me as weird that nearly every movie with Iron Man has this speech directed at him having to put on his big boy hero pants. When it happens with Nick Fury randomly appearing in a barn then the scene might be getting a little stretched.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ah, I get your point. It isn’t the same problem for those who write stand alone stories. I don’t believe you can go to this well very often in a series. In fact it might be a one time deal.
LikeLike
I will say that in an ensemble cast, you can do it a bit more often. As long as you have a different target for the speech.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s interesting. We are kindred spirits, but face different challenges. Always interested in learning this stuff.
LikeLike
The Independence Day speech is the best all time “call to action speech.” By the way, I clicked on the restaurant Scene so a click should register. (This is a test)
LikeLike
Don’t see anything except somebody clicking on an old picture in another post. The one about Runestones.
LikeLiked by 1 person
So the metric means nothing
LikeLike
I tend to get tired on these stirring speeches in movies and books, but they really are just a part of normal life. Only God knows how many “pep talks” I have given my kids in their lives. It really seems like that is all I’m doing in one way or another, i.e. threatening or encouraging. So when I see them in entertainment vehicles I grin and bear them.
LikeLike
Good to hear that parenthood eventually has speeches of encouragement. Seems we always have to threaten the 6-year-old with punishment.
Thinking of all those office speeches I sat through during my cubicle monkey days. Those things are really unavoidable.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love a good motivational speech, even when they’re predictable and a little corny – they always seem to work! I don’t use them a lot in my work, but I guess I’ve had characters like Tony who need a kick up the butt from time to time! 😀
LikeLike
My heroes seem to need them a few times. There’s a lot of worry and doubt that grows in the series. Especially after they learn at least one will die and they don’t know who.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s bound to be tough – and fear breeds doubt.
LikeLike
To be fair though, Tony Stark has never been held truly accountable for his shenanigans and mess ups until now though. He is basically a grown man learning as though he’s an elementary student in need of a good ‘consequences’ speech. As an upper elementary teacher and now sub at the Middle School, I can tell you that those guys need that speech at least once a week usually!
As for the stirring speech in general…I like them as long as they are well placed and not used as a meaningless trope when the writer has been cornered by the actions. A short, to the point, line from a stirring speech that immediately came to mind for me, even though I’ve only seen the movie once and hate football movies on principle, is “We ARE MARSHALL!”
LikeLike
I agree about Stark, but I do think it gets a little old when it happens every movie. You’d think a smart guy like him would learn after the first Avengers movie.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I AGREE!
Though he is charismatic, I think Tony is a lot like several geniuses and just plain smart people I’ve met in that they don’t pay much attention to other things.
Between social anxieties, never learning proper social interactions, or never caring about them anyway, and brains full of much more important things…sometimes they just don’t pay attention to what’s going on.
LikeLike
I always thought he was a rich genius who was pampered for too long. So he falls into a mentality where he either doesn’t care or thinks things aren’t worth paying attention to.
LikeLiked by 1 person
He is, of course, entitled, but he has a lot of the same ticks and avoidances that autistic (not saying he is!) and anxious people exhibit when they don’t know how to react. His responses are very overt…he expands, talks more loudly, runs away, blows things up…typical extroverted responses when you were never taught how to interact well. And his money definitely probably has a lot to do with it.
LikeLike
Interesting. Never thought of it that way due to knowing him from the comics first.
LikeLike
That’s me as well, always just thought of him as a privileged brat (even though he’s been a favorite for most of my life!) but then 1) I became a teacher with a background not just in lit and music, but in integrated special students. A lot of them have very similar traits due to lack of comfort or understanding of human interactions. and 2) Robert Downy Jr. brought Tony to life so amazingly that little things you don’t notice in the comics are kind of brought to the forefront. Even in the comics, though, he’s been alone a lot. He didn’t interact with many other children, etc. I just never noticed until recently.
LikeLike
Pearseus has plenty of speeches, but not before a battle. I’m planning my very first one for Endgame, though!
LikeLike
The pre-battle speech is a fun one. Some ways the easiest to do, but that also means it’s the most likely one to be overused.
LikeLiked by 1 person