[lbo-talk] Re: I Heart Huckabees

[Michael Dawson]

Wow, do I disagree with you here, BCD!  I thought it was the crudest piece
of right-wing crap since "Top Gun."  The heroes are out of business because
of excessive lawsuits?  Dad wanders around in self-pity, ignoring emotions
and seeking self-aggrandizement.  Mom, with her southern accent, keeps it
all glued together and generally takes Dad's bullshit without complaint.
The boys do all the heavy lifting and the girls clean up the messes.  And
the villain is bad because he's jealous of the Incredibles and hates them
for what they are?  And none of this does proper justice to how crassly
sexist and pro-war-on-terror the actual dialogue is.  I was hopping mad when
I left this movie.

BTW, the insurance company represents bureaucracy, not capitalism, in this
movie.

The plot is this:  Our freedom and individuality and commitment to our
traditional roles is what makes us so great and so happy.  Our enemies at
home try to stifle and distort all this with bureaucracy, rules, and
lawsuits.  Our enemies at home can't figure out how to copy us, so they hate
us for who we are, and are busy trying to destroy our ability to be who we
are.

I'm just glad my son is still a sweet third grader, so all the politics went
over his head.  Utter, utter trash, IMHO.

-----Original Message-----
From: lbo-talk-bounces at lbo-talk.org [mailto:lbo-talk-bounces at lbo-talk.org]
On Behalf Of Brian Charles Dauth
Sent: Saturday, November 20, 2004 11:08 AM
To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org
Subject: [lbo-talk] Re: I Heart Huckabees

Dear List:

Yoshie writes:


> The Incredibles (Dir. Brad Bird, 2004) is animated by
the dream life of people who brought you George W.
Bush's second term: rich, white, and educated men in suburbia.

The Incredibles is actually anti-capitalist.  Mr. Incredible is
shown telling customers how to circumvent corporate rules in order
to get their claims paid (he works as an insurance agent).

The film is also pro-queer with an Edith Head character who is
fantastic.

Finally, the goal of the villain Syndrome is to SELL his inventions
to the public, playing off their desires to be the same as everyone
else.

The Incredibles stand in opposition to this "equality through
comsumption."  Rather they represent equality through justice.
Both positions are anathema to Bush and his administration.

Brian Dauth
Queer Buddhist Resister

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