Pixar’s Cars analysis

analysis
#109

Yeah I agree – it’s hard to see Lightning as a Be-er. The only possible one I can think of would be in the visualization scenes (“I am speed”) but that seems a little weak.

On reflection, I am still pretty comfortable with the OS in Physics. I don’t really see the whole story as a Universe story as far as I understand that. The conflict doesn’t really seem to arise from everyone being stuck in a situation, or there being some kind of imbalance or injustice in the world that needs to righted.

Also, looking at it again, our working storyform sets LM’s Issue as Preconception:

a prejudice that prevents one from entertaining information contrary to a held conclusion. When one shuts one’s mind to additional data, there is no way to realize that the conclusion might be in error. Contradictory observation no longer becomes part of experience, so experience ceases to grow. Obviously, this can lead to all kinds of actions and attitudes that work to the detriment of oneself and others.

I think this actually is what we’re seeing when we’re thinking of Mind and/or Attitude for McQueen (and the OS Issue is Attitude anyway).

I’m starting to think Occam’s Razor applies here – we found a storyform that fits almost everything, and it would make sense that a movie like this would be in Physics, with Action drivers. I still haven’t gone back to encode the signposts though.

#110

Stepped away from this thread and movie for a bit hoping to clear my mind of it and make a new start of it. Got to the point where I could argue out of any point, but not into any of them. What I’d like to do (and don’t steer the conversation in a different direction for this, keep looking at Sign Posts and such, i’m just putting this out there) is start with just figuring out what makes Obtaining and Future problematic for these characters. I’m looking for something like “Attempting to Obtain the Piston Cup is a problem because…” I’m not sure at the moment how to answer that question. “Because Chick Hicks keeps causing everyone to crash” doesn’t feel particularly problematic at this level.

I just watched the opening scene again, by the way, and here’s what I noticed. The first time I saw anything that looked problematic was when Lightning was about to pass Chick, so Chick pushed him off the track and caused all the other cars to crash. This did not appear to be a particularly bad problem for Lightning. “How’s he going to get through there?” the other characters ask, because it is clearly meant to be a problem. But Lightning easily weaves through the wreckage before using the wheels of an overturned competitor to spring to safety. Doesn’t seem like it was much of a problem at all…for Lightning. However, Chick and some of the other cars pulled into the pit. Only Lightning stayed out, and now he is the lead car. An attempt by Chick to hinder Lightning seems to be problematic because it actually allows Lightning to take the lead.

I’m not sure what that means for the Storyform yet, but again, just putting it out there.

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#111

The second problem is Lightning’s blown tires. His crew calls for new tires but he refuses them (seems like non-acceptance from a character level, possibly Approach at an Issue level. Could it be seen as hindering himself?). This is a problem because his tires blow and it almost causes him to lose. This is Lightning’s problem, but is it OS Lightning’s problem, or MC Lightning’s problem? Also, is it a Do-er thing to keep racing on old tires to get a bigger lead, or a Be-er thing to not change tires that are getting worn out?

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#112

This is where I get confused on dynamic pairs. It seems to me that at the most obvious level, Lightning is refusing Help, the Solution. But refusing Help is not the same as Hindering someone (the Problem). In Dramatica terms, you stop doing the Problem (Hinder) and start doing the Solution (Help). In layman’s terms, you just stop refusing Help and start accepting Help. Is refusing Help the same thing as Hindering yourself?

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#113

It doesn’t really come off as Lightning hindering himself for me. If it’s MC Lightning’s problem, it feels more like taking a risk causes his problem. Not sure what element would best describe “taking a risk” but probably not hindering.

Having said that, I guess I could see it like the Storymind is saying Lightning is unknowingly hindering himself or his team rather than being consciously driven to hinder, and that’s what causes the problem. I think that reasoning is valid, but it feels a bit like reaching to make it work in this case.

#114

Huh. Just watched that scene…again…and that works pretty well.

So is refusing to be hindered by tire changes a Do-er thing or a Be-er thing, and why? I don’t see any emotional effort to adapt in that scene (just like I didn’t see hinder very well until a few minutes ago) so I’m thinking that he is adapting the environment to his need to be fast in that the environment calls for a change in tires, but he is using old ones instead.

Going by that alone, what would Lightning’s Universe problem be in that scene? Or is that still an OS scene?

#115

Can it be both?

  • OS in that it stops him from winning the race
  • MC in that it leads to his crew quitting (which illustrates his personal alienation of “being a one-man show”)
#116

If it’s an MC/Do-er/Universe scene, what would his Universe problem here be? If it were an MC/Be-er/Mind scene, I’d say his fixation on being as fast as he could be was the Domain problem, but I just don’t know what Universe problem he’d have. If it’s strictly an OS/Physics scene, it’s probably fine with an OS Physics Gist of trying to win the race and this OS SP has two examples of Hinder in it.

#117

Could “Being Isolated” be a gist for Universe? (I see that “Being Alone” is).

Certainly the MC Universe argument seems more clear once he gets stuck in Radiator Springs.

#118

Hey guys, I don’t think I ever saw the whole film so I’m just chiming in with a few ideas after I saw the cool question about Help / Hinder. (I did read a synopsis on IMDB)

First, could Lightning’s Universe problem be “I’m stuck with a lame sponsor and crappy pit crew that’s not worthy of my awesome talents”? That might motivate him to skip the pit stops.

Although it’s fine to have smaller examples of the domain that fit under the big “stuck situation” or “bad state universe”, we do need to be careful here. For an MC in Universe they need to have one thing that they’re stuck in or with from the beginning until the resolution of their throughline. (I asked this very question here.)

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#119

That’s what I’m looking at. He doesn’t get stuck in Radiator Springs for a few more scenes. There’s a gist along the lines of “Being the new person” for Universe, and Lightning is a rookie, but I don’t know if he has problems from being a rookie. It’s tempting to look at the blown tire problem as an MC Lightning problem, but may work better to think of it as an OS Lightning problem.

I guess it could be that being a rookie is a problem because it means making dumb choices about tire changes, but I don’t feel like I’m getting that message from the movie.

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#120

How about, having to live with subconscious guilt for standing (driving) by while The King suffers the same fate as Doc?

Well, the conflict in OS Signpost 1 is that they had a race to settle on a winner and they didn’t get a winner out of it! That’s a total obtaining conflict. Take away the need to have a winner (like once of those toddler soccer games where no one keeps score) and this signpost 1 conflict is gone.

Maybe the OS Signpost 4 of Doing is telling us that by the final act there’s conflict coming from more than just obtaining – objectively, winning the cup isn’t all they’re worried about or driven by anymore. It’s this whole activity of racing that’s causing trouble – the fact that you can get damaged/injured, the idea of needing to be sportsmanlike even while you’re trying to win, etc. Maybe even, not being able to enjoy the racing or do well at it without your friends alongside you. That kind of thing.

(Feel free to toss any of my ideas since I only read the synopsis; just thought you guys could use some support as it seemed you got a good storyform and then started to doubt it!)

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#121

I was thinking it might be time to “phone a friend” on this :slight_smile:

I think (correct me if I’m wrong @Gregolas and @Hunter) - we’re all pretty good with OS of Physics, Failure/Good, Change character.

And I think at the element level Help/Hinder make a lot of sense.

There have been some questions of whether the MC might be in Mind rather than Universe, since it does seem that he has kind of fixed attitudes about a lot of things. I am not convinced, mainly because I have trouble seeing him as a Be-er. In our original (MC in Universe) storyform, we have his Issue in Preconception, which I think kind of covers the things that might look like Mind issues.

But that still leaves us with the question of how to illustrate how his personal issues are in Universe, from the very beginning of the story.

And the Decision vs. Action driver which we never resolved.

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#122

That works for me! I think it fits the whole thematic argument of the movie too.

#123

Mmmaybe? Except, I don’t really see how having a lame sponsor is a problem. The closest it gets it “I don’t like rusty cars, but being the spokesperson for Rust-eze means being around rusty cars.” I guess that’s a problem, sort of, but…hm. And it’s never really said that he has a crappy pit crew, or that the crew is causing him problems. It’s more like his attitude that he is a one-man show causes his crew to get angry and quit. It’s also suggested several times that no one wants to work with him because he thinks he’s a one-man show.

#124

I think it may be starting to click for me after reading through some of your suggestions. If the Goal is to Obtain the Piston Cup, then OS SP 1 probably isn’t also Obtaining the cup, but, rather, obtaining first place. I can see that as being problematic because every time someone does something to get in the lead (first Chick, and then Lightning) it ends up with them falling behind (when Lightning doesn’t pit and gets into first, and then when Lightning passes on tire changes and lets Chick and the King catch up). So that does feel like Obtaining (Goal) through Obtaining (Sign Post). And then SP 4 problems are less about trying to get into first and more about dealing with being pushed off the track and drifting and driving backwards. (Again, hindering Lightning by pushing him off the track isn’t a problem for Lightning who drifts into first place, but a problem for Chick who is then in third). So that could be Obtaining through Doing.

#125

So still thinking about MC in Universe, I looked back at the theory book.

If the Main Character’s Througline is Situation … questions like the following would arise: What is it like to be in my situation? What is my status? What condition am I in? Where am I going to be in the future? What’s so special about my past?

Thinking aloud:

Lightning is driven by his self-perceived status; his desire for status and his attitude toward it creates all of his problems, and that starts at the beginning of the movie. He thinks he’s above everyone, especially his crew, which is how missing the first pit stop is an MC issue as well as an OS one. As an OS character, his goal is to win the Piston Cup. His personal goal, however, is to change his status.

#126

This still feels very internal to me. But I can see that there is some status there with him being the rookie and the media flocking to him after the race rather than Chick and wanting to see the bolt.

But if everything in the first race were OS, then it shouldn’t matter that Lightning isn’t having Universe problems because at that point he would be an OS character and not the MC character, right? On the whole, I want to say he has more Universe problems than mind problems, but those Mind problems still feel very present. If lots of other people are also feeling this Universe/Mind mix, maybe that could be part of the reason for the lower RT score (though I think it has more to do with that slow SP 3).

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#127

Don’t forget that both Issues we’ve chosen (Attitude and Preconception) are Mind-oriented Variations.

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#129

This thread just keeps on going, doesn’t it?

Okay, so I’ll start thinking of all the mind problems as being thematic in mature. Preconception/Attitude - “I’m a race car, dang it! Treat me like a famous person!”