Griffin Conboy
Professor Jackson
October 31st, 2016
Intro to Composition
The Not-So-Incredibles
The Incredibles is the one of the greatest children’s movies of our generation. It’s timeless nature still touches most of America’s youth today, as a family of five unites to fight against the forces of evil. However, if one takes an in depth look at The Incredibles, it’s easy to see that there are many character flaws, and imperfections in the plot as a whole. This forces a person to ask this question: is The Incredibles suitable for children to watch?
In the beginning of the film, the basic plot and conflict are laid out. Mr. Incredible and Elasta-Girl take on the pseudonyms of Robert and Helen Parr, as they are joined in marriage. Life is tough, as Robert Parr dreams day in and day out of reliving the glory days. Meanwhile, he is stuck doing a pencil pushing job as an insurance agent. After throwing his boss through several walls, his employment is terminated quickly. However, he lands a new job doing superhero work for a long lost fan-boy, Buddy, who now takes the villainous name of Syndrome. Trapped in a desolate and volcanic island, Mr. Incredible is tracked down by his wife, unexpectedly accompanied by two of her children, Violet and Dash. Syndrome captures the rest of the gang on the island while the, for lack of a better word, incredible family is trying to fight off the forces of Syndrome. In an attempt to become super, Syndrome wreaks havoc on a nearby city with a new invention, and one that he thinks he can easily defeat. To no surprise, his own creation puts him out as the Parr family makes their way back to the city to eventually defeat Syndrome's machine, and live in peace as an obvious sequel set-up occurs.
A viewer can obviously see the common themes of reliability in the film. Through the thick and the thin, the family overcomes the oddities that entail being a superhero, and they do it by sticking together. In a world where superheroes are rejected, the family never gives up, and they are relentless in making the world a better place. The common themes for children here would be to never give up, no matter what happens. Even if they feel that they are left out in the world, they can never give up on their beliefs or values, because it will get them nowhere in life.
However, I feel that the negative messages outweigh the positives in the movie. In the beginning of the movie, Mr. Incredible is caught lying to his wife, and telling her that he got a promotion instead of getting fired. I can’t even begin to describe the negative implications that telling children "it's okay to lie to your spouse" brings. Also early on in the movie, Dash is in trouble at the principles office, and gets away with the trouble because he was too speedy, even after he was caught on tape. After the meeting, Helen tells Dash, "Everyone is special Dash."
To which Dash replies, "Which is another way of saying nobody is."
This tells children that they can't be special unless they have a superpower. This calls for them to not feel good enough to do anything because they aren't gifted, which has lasting effects on their mental health. Finally, throughout the entire movie, every problem the extraordinary family has is solved by violence. This is a terrible message, because children have to know that all of their problems should never be solved through violence, rather, they should talk to someone about it and express their feelings.
All in all, I believe that The Incredibles should not have been a children's movie. The film relays predominantly negative messages towards adolescents, and should not have been rated the way it was. Although it was a smash hit among the youth of America, the picture it painted was a negative one. From lying, degrading self-worth, and violence, The Incredibles is not a suitable movie for audiences under 12 or 13.
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