ESCAPING OF LACKNESS TROUGH FICTION FOR DESIRE AND
EMPTINESS FULFILMENT
Tomi Arianto1
Putera Batam University, Batam, Indonesia
Email: tomi.arianto@puterabatam.ac.id
Ambalegin2
Putera Batam University, Batam, Indonesia
Email: ambalegin@puterabatam.ac.id

ABSTRACT
Popular fiction is a work that can not be released from the audience and
special formulas so that it can be a place of escape from all human
fatigue in all forms of activity. This research aimed to find the
phenomenon of escaping lackness trough popular fiction. By using a
popular fiction approach Cawelty (1976) and Adi (2011) combined with
the concept of psychoanalysis, the researchers tried to explore the
passion and emptiness in popular iron man 3 movie through characters,
settings, and plots in the story. By using the audience analysis approach
in descriptive qualitative method, there were several factors that form
the formula in this action iron man 3 story to fill the audience's dreams
and fill the emptiness in the audience so that the achievement of
popularity can be achieved. The results of this study showed that Stark
as the protagonist was described as a special genius who could develop
knowledge and technology to respond to natural phenomena that had
not yet occurred. The ability of producer to create images of the desires
of technology power with the needs of the community made this film
successfully debuted. Spiced up with the story of romanticism Stark and
his lover add to the surprises that were generated in accordance with
the desire that involves the audience immersed in the story.
Keywords: desire;
psychoanalysis

emptiness;

Iron

Man

3;

popular

fiction;

1. Introduction
Popular literature is a work of
literature in great demand by many
people. Its contents tend to be mild and
follow the tastes of the people at that
time. Unlike the noble literature whose
creation is influenced by certain values,

the popular literature is more concerned
with market tastes. This is not surprising,
because basically the creation of popular
literature is only for entertaining, not to
apply certain dogmas like noble
literature.
49 | P a g e

Popular literature consists of various
forms, can be essays and some are
fiction (Adi, 2011). Popular fiction can be
interpreted as a fictional or imaginary
work that is the result of the imagination
of the author. Of course the imagination
was not born without inspiration from
the real life of the community, but then
in the hands of the authors it was
combined so that it gave birth to an
interesting and not boring work.
At the beginning of its appearance,
popular fiction was considered as a petty
work, a lowly work because it contained
only entertainment and did not contain
the social values of society like noble
literature. But in its development, this
assumption began to disappear by itself;
it is caused by the high acceptance of
society against popular fiction. According
to (Adi, 2011), it cannot be released with
content contained in a popular fiction. It
looks like the language is natural, easy to
understand so that it can be enjoyed by
any levels of society.
Public acceptance is higher when
popular fiction becomes an industry and
evolves which initially only took the form
of text turned into films, soap operas,
and drama. These changes make popular
fiction easier to enjoy. Because basically
people prefer things that have been
visualized rather than having to read the
text and then imagine it themselves.
The film "Iron Man 3" by director
Shane Black is one form of popular
fiction that is very accepted by the world
community is no exception in Indonesia.
It is could be proved by the amount of
revenue in the first week of the
screening of the film "Iron Man 3" which
reached $ 195.3 million obtained from
42 different countries (Azmil, 2013).
According to the Disney studio that
circulated the film, the biggest opening

weeks were in Argentina, Hong Kong,
Indonesia, Vietnam, Taiwan, the
Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore
(Huda, 2013). In Indonesia the number of
viewers of the film "Iron Man 3" is more
than the film "Fast and Furious 6", as
revealed by coorporat cinema 21 that
the film "Iron Man 3" is able to bring 3
million viewers while "Fast and Furios 6"
brings
2
millions
of
viewers
(hot.detik.com). The two projects
showed how the audience is influenced
by the concept of future technology
depicted in the film "Iron Man 3".
The combination of advanced
technology displayed in the film has also
influenced many people, especially
experts engaged in the IT field. This is
proven by the development carried out
by the American defense department in
collaboration with Raytheon Sarcos.
They developed clothes that are similar
to those in the film. The suit allowed the
soldiers who use it to lift weights of up to
70 kg without the slightest effort and can
even break four layers of wood with just
one blow (Sartika, 2013). In addition to
clothing, the Lockheed Martin Company
is also developing an outer frame project
that can help soldiers lift weights of up
to 400 kg with a maximum speed of 100
miles / hour in a long period of time
(Unknown, 2013). The two projects
showed how the audience is influenced
by the concept of future technology
depicted in the film "Iron Man 3".
From the facts above, it appears that
this movie has brought its audience to
the dreams of the future. They are
helped to realize things that they cannot
currently get in the real world. So that
this film becomes a kind of impingement
on what cannot be obtained in the real
world. In Lacan's perspective, this
happened because while watching the
50 | P a g e

film he found a solution to meet what
had so far been unfulfilled in him.

2. Literature Review
2.1. Psychoanalysis and Popular Fiction
The approach used in this is the
Audience Analysis approach. This
approach used to see how the cultural
differences of connoisseurs of popular
fiction give the same or different
impression on it when it enjoys a popular
fiction. The theory of psychoanalysis can
be used to see the relationship between
audience and popular fiction, because in
discussing film we must look at the
relationship
between
human
psychological
factors
and
the
representation of a film. This theory is a
systematic comparison between film as a
spectacle and individual structure that is
built socially and psychologically (Adi,
2011).
Psychoanalysis used in this paper is
Jacque Lacan's psychoanalysis. Lacan's
psychoanalytic theory considers the
human subconscious always in a state of
"lacking", so that there arises the desire
to continue to cover up these
shortcomings, rediscover what is lost,
make humans return complete, perfect,
and whole, find their identity, become
himself again (Faruk, 2012).
In describing Lacan psychoanalysis
has three concepts called mirror
concepts:
1. The real, is methafore as when a
new baby is born. Basically at the
beginning of human life is only
driven by needs so that it will be
difficult for him to recognize as a
part of other complete elements. In
fact, it is difficult to distinguish
between himself and the objects he
faces. So that in this period, we
don't see loss, lack and lack. In other

2.

3.

words at this time a person is still in
its original condition without
influence from the outside world.
The Imaginary, is at the start of the
mirror stage. That is when the baby
begins to see his image in the mirror
and recognize the image as himself.
The image is no longer fragmented
as before; the shadow is believed to
be me.
The Symbolic is when the hidden
desires begin to be owned by the
child. This desire can arise at any
time in the form of behavior and
language.

2.2. Popular Fiction
The term popular fiction is derived
from the term mass culture contained in
the categorization of culture into elite /
high culture (high) and mass culture
(low). Neuburg, (1977), in the book
popular literature a history and guide,
based on the development of popular
literature in England in the 19th century,
defines popular fiction is what the
unsophisticated reader has choosen for
pleasure. Thus, according to him popular
fiction is the reading of readers from
ordinary circles for entertainment.
Among a few theories about
formulas in popular fiction, the theory of
John G. Cawelti turned out to be the
most widely read and used as a
reference in discussing popular fiction of
the century. In his book titled Adventure,
Mystery, and Romance Cawelty (1976)
stated that the understanding of
formulas in popular literature is the
same as the term genre in the discussion
of high-level literature or classical
literature. Cawelty (1976) said that the
formula is the combination or synthesis
of several specific cultural conventions

51 | P a g e

with a more universal story form or
archetype.
If in the discussion of classical
literature, it knows the division of genres
such as fiction, drama, and poetry, then
in popular literature there is adventure,
action, mystery, romance, alien being
and state, and melodrama or tragedy.
Judging from this understanding, action
is one part of the overall popular
literature. By using the popular fiction
approach, the disclosure of formulas and
archetypes can be explored further.
2.3. Synopsis of “Iron Man 3” movie
The film "Iron Man 3" began with
Tony Strak's meeting with a scientist
named Aldirch Killian who invited him to
work together at a company called
Advance Idea Mechanic (AIM), then
Stark promised to follow him 5 minutes
later. However, it turned out that Stark
forgot his promise because he was
tempted by a beautiful scientist named
Maya Hansen, and they spent the night
together. Due to the incident, Killian was
disappointed and held a grudge against
Stark.
One time after the events of The
Avengers, Tony Stark made some Iron
Man clothes at his house. His hobby led
to a dispute with his girlfriend, the new
Stark Industries chairman Pepper Potts.
In the United States today, a series of
bombings carried out by Chinese
terrorists confuses intelligence agents
because there is no forensic evidence.
After Stark Industries security chief
Happy Hogan fell victim to one of his
attacks, Stark rose and threatened
Mandarin on television. Mandarin
responded by destroying Stark's house
using armed helicopters. Potts and
Hansen, who came to warn Stark,
survived the attack. Likewise, Stark

realized that he was in rural Tennessee
after the JARVIS artificial intelligence
program carried out the flight plan he
had compiled earlier to track Mandarin.
Stark's battle suit force is not enough to
return to California, so the world
believes Stark was killed.
Along with Harley, a curious 10-yearold boy, Stark investigated remnants of
explosions in the city that are similar to
the Mandarin attacks on Los Angeles. He
discovered that the explosion was
carried out by soldiers from the Extremis
program, a trial that allowed its users to
recover from severe injuries. However, if
the user's metabolism is unable to
absorb Extremis, his body will heat up
and explode. After the veterans began to
become unstable and explode, their
deaths were used to cover Extremis's
failure by compiling terrorist plots. Stark
first saw Extremis when Mandarin
agents, Ellen Brandt and Eric Savin,
attacked him.
With the help of Harley, Stark traced
Mandarin to Miami. Stark infiltrated the
headquarters using various homemade
weapons. There he learned that
Mandarin was actually a British actor
named Trevor Slattery who was not
aware of Mandarin actions. Mandarin is
actually the imagination of Killian. Killian
used Hansen's Extremis research as a
remedy for his limitations and developed
the program so that it could be used by
wounded war veterans. Killian reveals
that he has kidnapped Potts and put him
into the Extremis program with the aim
of giving Potts super abilities and fighting
Stark so that Killian gets Stark's help to
fix Extremis's flaws.
Killian has also manipulated US
intelligence agents about the location of
Mandarin by trapping James Rhodes, a
former War Machine user, now changing
52 | P a g e

his name to Iron Patriot so that his armor
can be stolen. Stark escaped from his
custody and meets Rhodes. They learned
that Killian would attack President Ellis
on Air Force One. By controlling Iron
Man remotely, Stark managed to save
the passengers and crew but failed to
stop Killian. They tracked Killian to the oil
drilling rig. There Killian would kill Ellis
directly in front of the camera. The Vice
President would be made a puppet
leader who obeys Killian's orders in
return for healing his daughter's
disability by the Extremis program.
On the bridge, Stark rescued Potts,
while Rhodes saved the President. Stark
mobilized all his Iron Man clothes
remotely controlled by Jarvis as
reinforcements. Rhodes secures the
President, while Stark discovers that
Potts survived the Extremis procedure.
However, before Potts could be saved,
the bridge collapsed and he fell from a
height of 60 meters. Stark was forced to
fight Killian trapping him in an Iron Man
suit that could explode on its own. Killian
survived the explosion of the shirt, but
was killed by Potts who was saved by his
Extremis power.
After the battle ended, Stark ordered
JARVIS to destroy all of Iron Man's
clothes as a sign that he wanted to spend
more time with Potts. Both the Vice
President and Cassidy were arrested.
Potts underwent surgery to remove the
effects of Extremis and Stark underwent
removal of broken iron near his heart. He
then throwed his heart reactor into the
sea, but still considers himself an Iron
Man without a battle suit.
2.4. Previous Study
Journals that discussed the study of
popular in fiction are still rarely done.
This approach can be said to be still new,

looks simple, but produces analysis that
is often beyond the study in general.
Behind all that, there were some studies
that were contributive enough to be a
state of art in this study.
Scopus indexed research written by
Ohmann (2019) could be used as
reference. Ohman discussed how to read
in a new dimension using a popular
fiction approach to Harlequin's novels
and other popular books. He discussed
how reading the romance: women,
patriarchy, and popular literature. In
contrast to what is done by researchers
from this journal, researchers focus on
the relationship between formulas and
the archetype of action films related to
the expectation horizon owned by the
audience as a form of fulfilling desires
and emptiness. Along with it, Mcrobbie
(2004) also provided an insight into the
relationship between feminism and
popular literature. Through the reading
of Giddens and Beck, Mcrobbie
understood post-feminism to refer to an
active process by which feminist gains
from the 1970s and 80s come to be
undermined.
The article of Keshner (1989) which
made references to the application of
Bakhtin theoretical concepts in popular
works to uncover the facts of joyement,
apparent awareness, and popular
literature can also be used as references
in the development of popular fiction
themed article ideas. Keshner believed
that the joyce attitude towards popular
literature was not as simply scornful as
dismissive as the migh imply episode.
Along with the same publication, Fahs
(2001) contributed to develop an idea
about the analysis of fiction that were
popular during civil war in America.
Stories like Harper. Godey, Frank Lesley,
Nixnext, Budget of fun, etc. in addition to
53 | P a g e

presenting a slick story and everyone's
interest also gave a spirit of patriotism
for the citizens of short America to
continue to fight during the civil war.
Contemporary analysis written in
the article Linda (2018) which raised the
formulas and archetypes in popular
literature in Walt Disney movie
animation can also be used as a
reference. There is a production that
actually makes no sense in Disney stories
but on the other hand it makes no sense
the story makes it interesting so that it
can be accepted by the audience.
Arianto (2019) also contributed in
analyzing two Japanese heroic stories
Miyamoto Musashi and Rurouni kenshin
using an approach Cawelty (1976)
related formulas and archetypes in the
action story. The results of the study
indicated that the two action legends
generally have the same action story
formula as the cawelty formula, story /
narrative structure, and similar motives
for action. Arianto (2018) also analyzed
an ideological formula of romanticism in
Whitman's Walt poems. Romanticism in
the sense not as stories of romance and
romance, but an understanding of great
ideas about maintaining the freedom of
individuals,
sovereignty,
and
independent of human rights.

3. Research Method
This research is used the method of
desriptif qualitative trough Audience
Analysis technique. This approach used
to see how the cultural differences of
connoisseurs of popular fiction give the
same or different impression on it when
it enjoys a popular fiction. The method
that was used in this research was library
research and close reading. Qualitative
research is best suited for fictions
phenomena because literature is a world

of words and symbols that are full of
meaning.
Literature
is
not
a
phenomenon that easily calculated like
the phenomenon of natural science
(Ratna, 2004). An important feature of
qualitative research in literary studies
according to Endraswara (2011) are: 1)
researchers are a key instrument will
read carefully the fiction, 2) research
done on a regular basis descriptive,
meaning decomposes in the form of
words or images if necessary, not a
number, 3) preferring process rather
than result, because fiction is a
phenomenon
that
invites
many
interpretations, 4) inductive analysis, 5)
meaning is the mainstay. This research
was done through two stages, namely
data collection and data analysis.
However, before the two stages of the
research were described, it was
necessary known place of research,
population, sample, and data in this
research.

4. Result and Discussion
As explained above, basically the
human subconscious is always in a state
of inadequacy, so it requires others to
fulfill it. This fact is related to the results
of research conducted by Radway in
(Adi, 2011) that women who read
popular novels are a reflection of the
needs, desires and haroas or dreams
they do not get from their husbands or
partners even though they have a happy
family. From this fact, it can be
concluded that it is not only women who
need an escape to seek an end, but also
applies to humans in general. And not
only for novels, it is could be found in the
form of a film.
What is felt by women also applies
to humans in general. They watch
movies to find fullness and satisfaction.
54 | P a g e

This can be seen from the author's
observations in several online media that
include how they think of the film "Iron
Man 3", it can be concluded that in the
film there is an answer to the search
conducted by people in general.
In "Iron Man 3" movie described
that Tony Sark is a genius and has a fairly
large company. Not surprisingly with the
wealth he has he is able to buy
everything he wants. Luxury cars,
sophisticated gadgets and even houses
complete with facilities that are certainly
very luxurious. And don't forget,
beautiful women always accompany him.
From the scene it is very clear that
the film "Iron Man 3" presents things
that not all of them can be realized in the
real world. Thus the audience will
compare what happens in the film with
the
conditions
they
experience.
Therefore, the film is interesting for him
because it can show what is not in his
real life. So that the scene continues to
haunt him and give the dream desire to
the audience. According to Lacan it is
human nature to look for what is not yet
present in him.
Thus, between popular fiction and
dreams provide indirect satisfaction
aimed at the desires of the reader when
reading or watching a popular fiction
(Adi, 2011). So, every time someone
watches popular fiction in which there
are dreams that unconsciously want to
be fulfilled, then he likes to watch
movies even though for a long time.
While watching ‘Iron Man 3, the
features a scene of Stark has been a
sophisticated armor. The robe is
controlled by a soft set called JARVIS.
JARVIS can do whatever commands are
instructed by Stark. So he does not need
to bother to know the events that occur
outside his home. JARVIS is also used by

Stark to track terror carried out by
Mandarin, he only instructs the robot to
display the holographic plan of the
scene, and finally can find out how the
exact conditions of the event along with
JARVIS analysis. Even JARVIS can also be
a friend to share without worrying about
being leaked to others
In the real world, every person
would want to have these devices, with
people no longer need to bother. If you
want something, it could be order the
robot to do it. So, it will be more
effective in doing the work. However,
again this has become a desire of
humans.
In the film also known as the term
Psychology of Empthy, it is emphasized
so that the audiences when seeing the
image feel emotionally and intrigued. By
playing the emotions of the audience,
their desires and subconsciousness will
feel different sensations when they see
the different scenes displayed in the film.
Some scenes that make the
audience's emotions melt in it, namely
when Stark had an affair with another
woman, even though he already has a
lover who is also the leader of Stark
Indutries named Papper Pott. This
sparked a dispute between the two,
Papper then left Stark. It is affected the
disapproval of several projects proposed
by Stark. At the same time, Strak also felt
frustrated at not being able to express
himself as before. To reduce his
emotions Stark refocused to develop his
armor. With the help of his homemade
serum, he can survive not sleeping for 72
hours. So that finally his body felt weak,
seeing this condition Papper returned to
the arms of Strak and helped him
recover.
The film has another effect on how
we see dreams. Psychologically, the film
55 | P a g e

can give viewers an idea to see things
from
a
different
perspective.
Psychological approach emphasizes how
the concept of one's consciousness in
forming a scheme about self or
theoretical ideas. It can be reflected
from how a pessimistic audience can be
optimistic after watching a film. The
ability of film directors to play the scene
gives a surprise to the audience. It is the
desire for satisfaction with surprise that
then awakens the emotions of the
audience. Thus, the emotional ups and
downs of the game bring different
psychological responses. One of them
when passing through conflict from
adversity into a victory. This indirectly
triggers the psychological change from
pessimistic to optimism after watching
the story.
Stark whose house was attacked by
terrorists and then through the Javis
system can escape. However, when he
realized he did not know where he was.
With the condition of the body full of
blood and navigation system Javis that
has been damaged resulting in it must
settle in a place that had never been
visited. He felt despair so he just kept
quiet and did nothing. Until finally he
met a child named Harley and found new
hope. Stark began to improve Javis's
navigation
system,
until
finally
everything returned to normal. And Stark
can find the terrorist who destroyed his
house.
On the other hand, Papper's
determination in serving Stark also
produced something extraordinary.
Initially he was just an assistant who took
care of all the needs of Stark. Stark often
behaved unworthily of him, but
eventually he became chairman of a
large Stark Industries company. Not only

that then Stark made him a lover and
promised not to cheat him.
The similarity of human desires is
also one of the reasons for the
emergence of popular fiction that
touches the reader's feelings, because
popular fiction provides a way out of the
desires that are found in humans (Adi,
2011). With the touch of a work on the
audience, it can be a way out for hidden
desires. So the film can become one of
the ways for people who want to express
their desires.
This is inseparable from the general
nature of human beings who have the
desire or dream to be able to live decent
lives, swaying wealth, all work feels easy
and of course to have a life partner. This
is evidenced by the high public interest
in watching the film "Iron Man 3". The
audience is generally interested in the
story line and social status shown in the
film. Another factor that makes this film
so popular is because this film displays
the technological sophistication of the
future. All the scenes are accompanied
by future technology shows which do not
exist in real life, so that it fosters the
desires and dreams of the audience.

5. Conclusion
The film "Iron Man 3" was
interesting because the scenes can fulfill
human desires in general. By using a
popular fiction approach developed by
Cawelty (1976) and Adi (2011),
researchers revealed a formula and
srketype in the film Iron Man 3. The life
of a man who is swarming with all the
luxurious amenities, along with the
technological sophistication displayed in
this film makes "Iron Man 3" quite worth
mentioning as a film that can fulfill the
desires and emptiness of the audience.
The story of the heroic action in the film
56 | P a g e

Iron Man was produced in such a way
with the aim of none other than to get
the maximum benefit even though many
elements
of
hypperreality
were
presented but as if heeded. Another
thing was precisely this work was so
accepted by the public to meet a lack of
achievement over the lack of viewers
and fill these gaps. Proven in this film
was one of the epic stories born
throughout the centuries and continues
in subsequent sequels with other
surprises of course by Marvel movie
production.

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