The Hidden Message in Pixar’s Films
As anyone who has read this blog for any length of time knows, I am fairly well obsessed with Pixar. Eleven movies, eleven #1-hits. But more than that is the way they are successful: exerting extraordinary focus on crafting each story.
Here is some interesting analysis of Pixar’s approach to storytelling, an article in — of all places — Discover magazine. It’s called: The Hidden Message in Pixar’s films and it not only talks about the company’s approach to storytelling, but also some potential societal implications from the apparent messaging emerging in text and subtext from their movies. Some key excerpts:
Buried within that constant and complex goodness is a hidden message.
Now, this is not your standard “Disney movies hide double-entendres and sex imagery in every film” hidden message. “So,” you ask, incredulous, “What could one of the most beloved and respected teams of filmmakers in our generation possibly be hiding from us?” Before you dismiss my claim, consider what is at stake. Hundreds of millions of people have watched Pixar films. Many of those watchers are children who are forming their understanding of the world. The way in which an entire generation sees life and reality is being shaped, in part, by Pixar.
What if I told you they were preparing us for the future? What if I told you Pixar’s films will affect how we define the rights of millions, perhaps billions, in the coming century? Only by analyzing the collection as a whole can we see the subliminal concept being drilled into our collective mind. I have uncovered the skeleton key deciphering the hidden message contained within the Pixar canon. Let’s unlock it.
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Taken together as a whole narrative, the Pixar canon diagrams what will likely be this century’s main rights battle — the rights of personhood — in three stages.
First are the Humans as Villain stories, in which the non-humans discover and develop personhood. I mean, Buzz Lightyear’s character arc is about his becoming self-aware as a toy. These films represent nascent personhood among non-human entities. For the viewer, we begin to see how some animals and items we see as mindless may have inner lives of which we are unaware.
Second are the Humans as Partners stories, in which exceptional non-humans and exceptional humans share a moment of mutual recognition of personhood. The moment when Linguini realizes Remy is answering him is second only to the moment when Remy shows Ego around the kitchen — such beautiful transformations of the Other into the self. These films represent the first forays of non-human persons into seeking parity with human beings.
Third, and finally, there is The Incredibles, which turns the personhood equation on its head. Instead of portraying the struggle for non-humans to be accepted as human, The Incredibles shows how human enhancement, going beyond the human norm, will trigger equally strong reactions of revulsion and otherization. The message, however, is that the human traits we value have nothing to do with our physical powers but are instead based in our moral and emotional bonds. Beneficence and courage require far more humanity than raw might. The Incredibles teaches a striking lesson: human enhancement does not make you inhuman — the choices you make and the way you treat others determines how human you really are.
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The message hidden inside Pixar’s magnificent films is this: humanity does not have a monopoly on personhood. In whatever form non- or super-human intelligence takes, it will need brave souls on both sides to defend what is right. If we can live up to this burden, humanity and the world we live in will be better for it.
It’s an interesting article with a lot of analysis to buttress the writer’s argument, definitely worth the read. And thanks to my lovely wife for surfacing this link.
