The Incredibles

Taylor Dennis

Blog 4

The Incredibles

           

            The Incredibles is a Disney movie that was released in 2004. This children’s film is about a family with super human powers who has given up the life of defending the world to live a normal life. The two older children, Dash and Violet, struggle with living a normal life and hiding the powers they secretly have. After figuring out that their parents, Mr. Incredible and Elasta Girl, have secretly been taking jobs where they can use their powers, the children decide to follow them on their next mission. On this mission, Mr. Incredible runs into a surprising enemy, a fan from his past. This film takes you on a journey with the family as they try to reign in their powers, become closer to one another, and save the world from evil villains.

            One negative message within the film is Mr. Incredibles treatment of his young fan, Incredible boy. In the beginning of the film, there is a scene where a young boy dresses like Mr. Incredibles sidekick and asks to accompany him on a police chase. Instead of acting like a gracious and nice super hero like many comics like to portray, Mr. Incredible is extremely rude and kicks the young boy out of his car, crushing his dream. As the film goes on, you realize that this young boy was very hurt by the way his idol treated him. The anger he felt through these incidents led him to change his mindset from wanting to be a super hero to wanting to be a super villain. I think this portrays a negative message for what “super hero’s” should be. Children look up to super hero type figures and we expect them to be an excellent role model. These scenes give the impression that it is okay to treat others who do not have the same talents as you as less than yourselves. While Mr. Incredible does make up for his actions as the film goes on, I do not think that this is the way that super heroes should treat others.

        

            A positive message within the film is women superhero’s being as strong and powerful as the male superhero’s. In many cases, the women have the position as side kick or helper. In The Incredibles, both the daughter and mother have very strong superpowers that are just as useful as the males powers. Through out the film, they show that women can beat just as many villains as the father and son. In the beginning, Violet struggles to be confident as a person and with her invisible abilities. After being tested like never before, Violet is able to tap into her inner powers with a force field and help to save her family.  Violet learns to embrace her powers and change from the shy, timid girl to one that embraces her powers.  She uses her tallents for good and becomes a strong women figure in the film. Both Violet and Elasta Girl are positive role models for young girls. They represent what young girls should look up to, super women who use their powers for good and make names for themselves away from their male counterparts.

            I think that the message of strong women characters is the most prominent in the film. Usually, films relating to super hero’s are targeted to boys and men. This film is not directly targeted to boy or girls, but shows girls what a strong super women character looks like. Violet and Elasta Girl’s characters prominently portray what super powers a women can have, which are equal to the super powers a man can have. I think that these characters send a positive message to young girls.

~Taylor Dennis