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Virtue Reanimated
Collin Garbarino on the Subversive Conservatism of Pixar
Pixar might be the most subversive force for good in contemporary American popular culture. Since the release of its first feature film, Toy Story, in 1995, the studio has been creating superb animated films, with innovative computer animation, engrossing storylines, tightly knit plots, likeable characters, and compelling themes. Where other studios rely on celebrity voiceovers and pop culture references to entertain the teens and parents during an otherwise banal kids' movie, Pixar weaves seamless narratives that appeal to both children and adults. But it does not merely provide stylish entertainment; in most cases, these films identify some form of cultural cancer and attempt to remove it.
Pixar did not begin as an edgy, countercultural media outlet. Its subversive tendencies have grown as the studio has matured. The early movies each brought something fresh to the screen visually, but the stories all emphasized a common theme: the importance of relying on friends and family when one is faced with challenges that demand personal growth. Though this theme remained prominent in subsequent Pixar movies, other, more controversial ideas began to be added.
With the release of The Incredibles in 2004, Pixar began getting a little edgy. This movie critiqued our culture of mediocrity and sense of entitlement by showing that, contrary to what is taught on Sesame Street, not everyone is exceptional. This theme is also expressed in Ratatouille (2007), which taught that not everyone can grow up to be a master chef.
Cars (2006) showed children the dangers of careerism and attempted to redefine the American idea of success by questioning America's nomadic spirit and emphasizing community over the individual. WALL-E (2008) indicted the culture of consumerism, while Up (2009) both portrayed the joy of a faithful marriage and condemned the American tendency to segregate the generations.
I like to think of Toy Story 3 (2010) as a cultural apologetic for the existence of God. The toys are trying to stay faithful to their owner in a fallen world, while Lots-O-Huggin' Bear sounds like a New Atheist: "But we don't need owners here at Sunnyside! We own ourselves! We're masters of our own fate! We control our own destiny!" At the climax, Lotso asks, "Where's your kid [owner] now, Sheriff?!" The film portrays a true test of faith.
This brings us to Pixar's two most recent offerings, Brave and Monsters University. While critics largely approved of both movies, they didn't think they compared well with Pixar's earlier films. Many thought Brave too much a typical princess movie, and complained that Monsters University didn't break new ground. But both of these critiques are meritless.
A Princess Tale
Brave, coproduced with Disney, introduces audiences to Merida, a headstrong Scottish princess. The genre of the modern princess film is a familiar one by now, having been pioneered by Disney's The Little Mermaid in 1989. Brave, however, contains some very subversive ideas, which are subtly woven into a traditional film about a Disney princess.
The movie begins by posing the question, "What does it mean to be brave?" The narrator tells the audience that bravery means "changing your fate." So what is the fate that Merida needs to change?
The audience knows how things should go. Like Ariel in The Little Mermaid, the princess must feel trapped by societal or familial expectations, and she must throw off those expectations and finally achieve happiness by following her heart.
Merida's story follows this pattern to a certain extent. She does indeed long to lead her own life instead of the one society expects of her. She takes after her jocular father rather than her more staid mother. She rides her horse with abandon, becomes an expert with the bow and arrow, and even brings her weapons to the dinner table. She's appalled at the prospect of becoming like her mother, the queen, and resents the training that her mother has given her to prepare her for marriage.
In short, she's a headstrong girl destined for an arranged marriage, and she decides she needs a way out. So it seems that an unhappy marriage is the fate that Merida must change.
By the time her suitors arrive, mother and daughter are fighting as only mothers and daughters can. Merida defies her parents and humiliates her (admittedly unsuitable) suitors. Is this the beginning of her bravery?
Actually, it's the beginning of her fate. As each quarrel and misunderstanding leads to the next, we begin to see that Merida's fate is not an unhappy marriage. Rather, she's fated to rebel against, and perhaps destroy, her family and her people. She's headed for disaster, and makes a selfish choice that brings havoc upon her family. She needs bravery to change this fate.
The Anti-Little Mermaid
An encounter with the demon-bear Mor'du, who, years before, had torn his own family and people apart, provides a warning to Merida, showing her the consequences of her actions. Bravery is not avoiding marriage; it takes bravery to avoid becoming a monster. Being brave means that Merida must, in fact, imitate her mother in dealing with quarreling nobles. Eventually, she realizes that her mother had been training her for a purpose greater than self-actualization: she had been preparing her to hold a kingdom together. At the movie's climax, Merida tearfully apologizes to her mother, admitting that she was wrong. Her true act of bravery is confessing her sin to her mother.
Disney princesses do not apologize. In this regard, Brave may be thought of as the anti-Little Mermaid.
The princesses in both movies, Ariel and Merida, have red hair and fiery spirits. Both run away to escape oppressive familial expectations. Both seek the aid of a witch to change their situations.
But here their stories diverge. Ariel makes a huge mess and sits back while other people sacrifice to clean it up. Even so, at the end, everyone apologizes to her, and she gets to live happily ever after. Merida also makes a huge mess, but realizes it is all her fault. To restore order, she must start becoming the woman her mother prepared her to be. She admits her wrongdoing, thus bringing about reconciliation. Even so, Brave's conclusion isn't quite a fairytale ending. Merida's people still expect her to marry one of the comical suitors, but one of them will have to win her hand through love rather than through a test of strength.
Brave thus presents a new understanding of a princess's duty. A challenge to Ariel was long overdue. It was about time someone warned our children of the dangers they risk when they follow their hearts, because too often our hearts desire wrong things.
An Underdog Tale
In Monsters University we become reacquainted with our old friends Mike and Sully from Monsters Inc. Critics have a natural bias against sequels, so it is unsurprising that many prejudged this prequel.
The freshness of the original Monsters Inc. came from putting a twist on a tried-and-true children's movie theme: don't be afraid of the Other, because maybe the Other isn't that scary after all. But instead of a movie about children learning not to fear monsters, Pixar made a movie about monsters learning not to fear children. The film also contains a secondary theme that is equally recognizable: maybe there's a better way to do things than the way we've always done them.
Monsters University also takes up a familiar theme, that of the underdog, and puts a twist on it. This film follows the young Mike Wazowski as he heads off to Monsters University. His life's ambition is to become a "scarer": a monster who risks danger to power the monster world with the screams of human children. Mike dreams of becoming a top-notch scarer, but the rest of the world is skeptical that he has what it takes. Nevertheless, he goes to college, majors in scaring, and works harder at his studies than anyone else. His friend Sully, by contrast, plans to coast through school without studying, letting his natural talent see him
through.
Both Mike and Sully get kicked out of their major, but Mike won't give up. He strikes a deal to be readmitted to the major if he can prove himself in the university's annual scare competition. To succeed, he and Sully will need to assemble a team, so they join the campus's least cool fraternity.
The film seems to fulfill every element of the underdog script: Mike's wide-eyed innocence ensures that the audience will be pulling for him. The injustice and ridicule that he suffers increase our desire that he "show them all." His team of underdogs comically stumbles in the beginning, but when they learn teamwork and creativity, they prove to be fierce competitors. Finally, in a pitch-perfect scene that surpasses any bottom-of-the-ninth home run, last-second basket, or successful Hail-Mary pass, Mike proves that he does have what it takes. The little guy wins.
A More Truthful Message
Or does he? It turns out that the movie doesn't end here, and we learn with dismay that Sully had cheated on Mike's behalf, making his victory a sham. Mike does try again to prove himself, but this time with disastrous consequences. Sadly, we discover that the rest of the world was right: Mike doesn't have what it takes to be a scarer.
With Monsters University, Pixar attacks a cherished American bromide. It's a commonplace to tell our children that if they're determined and hard-working enough, they can accomplish anything. Monsters University tells them that this platitude is false. No matter how hard they practice, ninety-nine percent of Little Leaguers won't play major league baseball. No matter how hard they study, most freshmen pre-med majors won't make it all the way through medical school. But we tell our kids otherwise to protect their feelings, or maybe because we want it to be true for them since it wasn't true for us.
The Incredibles and Ratatouille also attacked the notion that all children are exceptional. But Monsters University doesn't merely tear down this notion; it also offers a positive, more truthful message.
Mike will never be a scarer, but he does have other talents. By the end of the movie, he realizes that he can profitably employ his more ordinary talents for good. Meanwhile, Sully, the naturally talented scarer, learns how to use his talents properly. When both monsters accept their proper roles, they together accomplish more than they ever could before.
Moreover,love becomes the catalyst for their transformation. The two monsters realize how to fulfill their proper roles through their affection for each other. This makes the movie's message resemble Christian teaching concerning vocation. God has called each person to fulfill particular roles in society, within our families, the Church, and the workplace. Love of neighbor motivates the fulfillment of these callings, however high or low they may seem.
In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul talks about the body of Christ being made of many parts. He admonishes every member of the church to embrace and fulfill his particular calling. Do we do this solely out of duty? No, the very next chapter contains the most famous description of love ever penned. Love for each other makes the fulfillment of our vocations possible.
Preparing Children's Minds
Our children desperately need to hear the subversive messages contained in Brave and Monsters University. They have heard all their lives that they need to follow their hearts and that if they try hard enough they can accomplish anything. These messages ignore our fallen condition. Through sin our hearts are depraved and our bodies frail. Our desires tend to lead us in the wrong direction, but learning the truth about bravery, vocation, love, and sacrifice can help set us on the right path.
C. S. Lewis believed that his Narnia stories would prepare a child's mind to recognize the truths of Christianity. I think Pixar's movies could do the same thing, for they do not merely have high production values but also give audiences glimpses of the good, the true, and the beautiful. At the very least, they may spur a cultural revival of Judeo-Christian ideals. I wouldn't mind seeing a Pixarification of the culture wars. •
Collin Garbarino is an Assistant Professor of History at Houston Baptist University. He lives with his wife and four children in Sugar Land, Texas.
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