Fortress Of Good Fortune

Repeats of LSH and The Batman today, but I did see an ad for a new Teen Titans’ show (December 1st, WB, 9:30 A.M.). They look cute! :) I saw Robin, Starfire, Raven, and Cyborg advertised but didn’t catch any others. I certainly hope Speedy is among them! :)

I thought I’d put out a few thoughts on The Incredibles. I watched it on Thanksgiving night with my undivided attention, and tonight it’s background noise as I sit here at the computer.

Some observations:

Very cute! :) I like the humor in this movie. It’s mostly ‘clean’ humor, too, and kids and adults can enjoy it.

I like the elements from various comic superheroes and situations: Superman, Batman & Robin (sidekicks), the Fantastic Four, etc.

Bob Parr (Mr. Incredible) has that urge to help, just as Clark would. Which, IMO, is the reason Clark works with the Government in The New Frontier. Can you imagine Clark not using his superpowers? But of course the Government doesn’t know he’s on the inside as Bruce works on the outside. :)

The theme of superheroes having to give up what they do echoes the situation in The New Frontier, except that the Government is not the persecutor here but actually helps the heroes relocate and stay hidden whereas in The New Frontier, they imprison, kill, or force the heroes to go underground.

It also echoes Marvel’s Civil War arc as the Government was forcing heroes to register their secret identities.

Mediocrity: as Bob and Helen’s son Dash says, "When everyone’s special, no one is."

There should be a middle ground between the old way of crushing kids’ self-confidence (what if a kid has no special physical or artistic gifts or has brains and never wins at anything?) and making kids feel as if they’re God’s gift by giving everyone trophies for essentially doing nothing!

Society has grown increasingly scornful of the exceptional. Everyone has to be in the same cookie-cutter mold or they aren’t ‘with the program’.

And how American is it that the downfall of the superheroes was litigation? A guy saved by Mr. Incredible from killing himself sues him! And then the lawsuits really start coming after that. The Government doesn’t have to lift a finger to control superheroes. The lawyers do it for ‘em!

Edna is a wonderful character. However, I disagree with her disdain for capes. I find capes to be wonderfully dramatic and a great accessory aesthetically. Superman and Batman without capes? Heresy! And Nightwing needs a cape! ;)

The retro ‘60s/James Bond music and Supervillain-With-The-Secret-Hide-Out-Numerous-Henchmen-And-Rocket is a delight. The ‘60s had a special optimism and flair that is difficult to capture in the present. Far from a perfect era (what era is?) it still gave us a bon vivant spirit from the days of the New Frontier of the early part of the decade to the mid-years and the spy craze and psychedelic trappings. The latter part of the decade got gloomier, though there was still the enthusiasm of Woodstock and the good parts of the counterculture (undermined by the drugs and other liabilities) before the debacle in Vietnam crushed an optimism that Americans had lived with for much of their history. It’s not coincidental that Steve Rogers gave up being Captain America soon into the new decade after Watergate and people just didn’t trust Government much after that, eroded from the Kennedy assassination through all the lies of the war and Watergate.

So when you get a chance to celebrate the fun and style of the decade of the 1960s, it’s a hoot! :)

I also like the theme of how the heroes are special, as Edna says she once "designed for gods" instead of the stupid little stick-figure models she designs for now.

All the fight scenes were great, including the final battle scene with the entire family saving the world, and the baby Jack-Jack? The whole thing reminded me a lot of Letitia Lerner, Superbaby's Babysitter! ;)

And I did like the homage to Robin-style masks as the family used domino masks.

The only part that vaguely disturbed me was the murder of nearly every superhero by Syndrome. It just is incredibly sad that there’s so very few heroes left.

But at least we have so many positive themes, such as heroes will always be true to themselves in the end, rising to the challenge to serve and protect.

And secret identities are a big part of that! As Elastigirl says, protect your identity at all costs!

Frozone is one cool character! ;)

And as the kicky theme and clever credits roll, it’s a great ride! :)