Pixar's "The Incredibles" comments on the philosophy of Everybody and Everything being "Special"

[KoolHndLuke]

I saw this article today. I haven't ever seen the movie because I thought it was just more political correctness wrapped in kid movie. You know, to teach our children about the "right" way to think and treat others, blah..blah...blah. But it would seem the writers had something interesting to bring up.

 

As you can see from the article, there are three instances where the dialogue in the film ponders some very fundamental philosophical questions. The theme of these three (or more?) conversations between the (super!!) family members seems to be centered around this; If everyone and everything is special, then nothing and no one is!!

 

This made me remember watching an American football game some years ago. In the game, a wide receiver catches a deep throw to score a touchdown and then does a little dance in the end-zone to celebrate. When he goes to the sidelines, his coach yells at him for it saying "What the hell are you celebrating, Idiot?!! You're getting paid a helluva lotta money and we're still down by two scores!!!". 

 

This is important in many respects as far as I can see. One, should we be celebrating winning a battle while we're losing the war? Two, why are we celebrating in the first place? I mean isn't it expected of us to achieve as students or to do our jobs? Is this setting up our young for unrealistic expectations in their life when they are rewarded for basically just doing what they're supposed to be doing in the first place?

 

My opinion is that people- especially young ones- lack a comprehensive sense of reality, feel that they should be rewarded every time they do something correctly- let alone doing it very well, great, or with any originality, and with such a readily available reward/support system in place they will ultimately be at a disadvantage when facing the constant daily problems with family, work, and social life- let alone the exponentially greater demands of tomorrow. We cannot all be winners! In the "game" of life (and love especially) there are winners and there are losers.

 

So where does this leave us? What was the purpose of this kind of thinking in the first place? In order to first entice, then subjugate the young masses, the "somebody in charge" must influence a new kind of thinking so as to make every citizen feel "equal" among each other and for they to reject any who might think or dare say otherwise. In essence, they are the new regime and will enthusiastically (and dutifully) crucify anyone that does not believe in the ""We are all equal" ideal.

 

WE ARE NOT ALL EQUAL!! We are ALL unique. We are not even equal in our uniqueness. For example, no matter how much you may want to be as good as the next person at a particular activity or ......something, no matter how much you may practice or study- you may NEVER be considered their equal and maybe not even be very good at all. And there is no balance either, meaning that you may try and try to excel at something or anything and NEVER achieve the same level of expertise, skill and subsequent recognition that the next person can- in any field of knowledge or skill. And this is not even taking raw talent into consideration.

 

So, if we are NOT equal and never will be, then where does that leave us both collectively and as individuals? If we are not ALL "special", then I think that leaves much room for us- as an evolving species- to constantly aspire to much, much greater things and to try and improve or perfect the things that we already know/practice...... rather than sit and laud our meager achievements as anything other than "par for the course" and sometimes not even worthy of recognition, let alone any deluded, self-serving celebration.

 

No! You do NOT deserve a "cookie" for anything. Especially not in a "world class game" that we are already losing by two scores. A simple reward system might work to teach your pet not to shit on the rug or to learn a new trick, but for people it will just leave them to be blind-sided with their inevitable failure at some things in life eventually and not have a clue about how to deal with it.

[Guest]

watch Fight Club we are all equally worthless,in my day ( generic response ) special meant something else eg fucking retarded.George Carlin's stuff is so priceless " at what stage do you go from being special....to  being not so special,so the whole definition is useless

 

People are special to their relatives etc...but to me they are the worthless,brutal truth, unless you know the individual they mean nothing to you...there's nothing political about it, show me were The Communist Manifesto,Socialism, Communism endorses this " I'm Special shit "  this crap comes from free speech right wing....you have rights, bullshit...you don't you have rights you have privileges

 

In fact left wing tends to treat others as equals but clamps down hard on this " I'm an individual " crap,look at China clampdown on Muslims and reeducation camps

 

As for thought, that's an individuals interpretation of certain facts or beliefs

 

 i may not have made much sense in this topic due to alcohol however once i sober up....perhaps i can offer a better debate

 

Fairly certain you've read 1984

 

The right way to think.....what's that ?

[Reepa7]

When everyones special....no one will be...

[Resdayn]

Does this mean the first movie? Sorry articles tend to way more shitty in ad sense me to bother them too much.

 

I thought that was the antagonist motive and plan, Syndrome effectively killed all "unique and inviduals" aka the super heroes to make everything else capable to do that, thus destroying the special part of the super powers.

 

In Second movie? Well dunno honestly antagonist was meh, and hole thing wasn't that interesting as firs tone I hoped  

[KoolHndLuke]

1 hour ago, 000rune000 said:

All the movies have ruined themselves with the special snowflake nullshit. 

It's nauseating because it's indoctrination. It might have sounded good when I was a kid, but I would have soon realized it was a lie.

[Jazzman]

 

The right way to think.....what's that ?

 

Well, when it comes to decision making it's to think twice and for yourself...

[Darkpig]

Hooo boy! That is a lot to take in. Well Luke I respect you but you sound like grand pappy. Football is never going to be the same again ever. People now control the game to a capital T. Football players are only a small part of the picture. grass condition, stand condition, advertising, player safety and many more things that football players are not in control of are part of the game. The world has gotten a lot more complicated and even the players have to be careful not to fall below humanities' never-ending quest for knowledge. Take food for example. A player has to keep track of their diets after all or else get sick for the big game. It used to be simple but now there are genetically modified foods, fats, subfat, mutant fats, chemical X, demonic spices and wow this food talk is making me hungry. Achievements have become harder for everyone to achieve. One touchdown is one small but substantial victory in the grand scheme of things.

[FauxFurry]

Another super hero series which comments on that concept in a slightly different manner is My Hero Academia. In that setting, 80% of the population suddenly develops a super power after an event marked by the birth of a luminous child.

Even when nearly everyone becomes 'special', the cream of the crop manage to hone their skills and develop their powers to become significantly more 'super' than everyone else. Inevitably, inequalities will arise no matter how hard one tries to level the playing field.

[Zoey McKenzie]

On 3/2/2019 at 9:08 AM, KoolHndLuke said:

No! You do NOT deserve a "cookie" for anything.

I deserve my cookie dammit!  

[Guest]

cranky George nailed it old video but the problems are still relevant as my sister carries on with this horseshit with her kids

 

 

[Miss AshleyJ]

I’m sure that if everyone was super, you would just end up with some people saying they were more super than others and the usual schoolyard nonsense only dialed up to 11 million.

[FauxFurry]

2 hours ago, KamenRiderzero1 said:

I’m sure that if everyone was super, you would just end up with some people saying they were more super than others and the usual schoolyard nonsense only dialed up to 11 million.

That's exactly what happened in episode 1 of My Hero Academia. The main character tries (and fails) to fight off super powered bullies as he was but a normal lad.

He didn't even have prep time and billions of dollars on his side like certain other non-super powered super heroes.

[Miss AshleyJ]

Well, what I meant was if everyone had a super power, some people with some powers would see their powers as better. 

 

IE "OH, you can stretch? take on my super strength powered fist!" That kinda BS. 

[FauxFurry]

34 minutes ago, KamenRiderzero1 said:

Well, what I meant was if everyone had a super power, some people with some powers would see their powers as better. 

 

IE "OH, you can stretch? take on my super strength powered fist!" That kinda BS. 

Yeah, that's one of the running themes of that entire series. I get the impression that the author thought about this subject from multiple angles over a long stretch of time.

[SkyAddiction]

1. No one is "special" in any way. The "young" which I assume to be millennials, are increasingly aware that they're kind of fucked, were sold a bill of goods that doesn't exist, and are angry because their lives have been mortgaged to corporations that don't give a shit about them. There are two principles which they increasingly espouse: a) everyone should be equal before the law, and b) everyone should have a chance to improve their economic standing.

As for winning battles as opposed to wars, you can't win wars without winning battles. History strongly suggests there is a direct correlation between winning battles and winning wars. Assuming from your writing and musings that you're American, the "young" have succeeded in ways their parents could never have dreamed possible: Gay rights, minimum wage, sexual inequality, environmental activism, etc. Our responsibility is to support them.

 

2. "Young ones" aren't responsible for any of our social ills The argument that we are is as old as Socrates. That's on us and our parents who were content to observe the faulty status quo in every way. We still have all the power, and we still have the means to change things.

 

3. Deviations from the "norm" tend to be financially secure and sheltered (still financially secure) children. Most millennials are terrified and angry, and with good reason.

 

Things millennials have done:

1.) Generally asked for a separation of corporate money and government.

2.) Asked that all citizens be equal before the law.

3.) Asked that we talk about socialism and what it might mean for our society. (We used to be the most progressive on this point, back in the 1840s, but we've repeatedly put it off due to wars and the ensuing conservative social order which preserved our society.)

4.) Have tried to induce the reintroduction of third party politics into our system, something which kept the parties in line with majority thought until about 1972.

5.) Have demanded we pay some attention to the issues that face them, like unending student loan repayment, rising housing costs, rising food costs, and static wages.

 

Turns out millennials are pretty attuned to the changes in the world, and since those changes are universally bad for them, they don't like them. Some time ago, previous generations thought society was inequitable, so they killed a king and queen, rebelled against unjust taxes, and generally caused serious havoc, and the values of two governments spread across the world. That was important, but governments failed to rein in corporations. And that? That's the sticking point. Corporations control things they shouldn't. Private enterprise can determine whether you live or die. That's inherently wrong, and we should oppose it at every opportunity.

 

Edit: Removed a cross-post that was intended for another forum.