Hey guys,
Thought you could use some Help (lol) so I took the time to watch it. Didn’t quite have time to finish it all but I got 3/4 in, to the Fourth Driver. It’s a pretty good movie!
I definitely think you have the right storyform, the Hinder/Help is super strong and I definitely saw LIghtning as a Do-er. Oh, and his MC Focus/Symptom of Control is even illustrated right in the first frames where he keeps telling himself to “focus, focus, I eat losers for breakfast, wait maybe I should have had breakfast… no, stay focused!” Later of course, Control is being locked up in Radiator Springs, with his Uncontrolled response being his attempts to get free. Not to mention going wild (like when he originally destroys the road).
The one section of the movie that can kinda screw you up is the bit with the history of Radiator Springs and how the Interstate caused it to die, as that seems like a Situation-driven conflict. But all that happened a long time before the story started and I think the real conflict for the IC is the love of Radiator Springs (Mind / Subconscious) along with the rejection that it faces (Denial) when people just drive by on the Interstate.
As you might guess I feel strongly that several of the Radiator Springs folks (at least Mater, Sally, and Doc) are a combined IC, with Doc at the head as evidenced with the “You and I” moment in the garage (Lightning says “I’m a racecar, you’re… a much older racecar, but under the hood you and I are the same.”).
On the IC Symptom/Response, they all see Lighning’s disapproval of the town (Oppose) as a problem, but they nurture the littlest bit of effort he shows by commending his efforts (Support) and find ways to support him in his punishment (e.g. Sally offering him a place to stay).
Also, when Lightning paves the road too fast and makes a huge mess of it, Doc sees LIghtning’s denying the terms of his punishment (Oppose) as something he needs to fix, so what does he do? He finds a way to get Lighning to agree to (Support) the terms! (the race bet)
Meanwhile, I think Radiator Springs does take part in the OS when they’re worried about their businesses making money (Obtaining). You can see Oppose/Support there when the lost couple comes through, showing disapproval of the town but everyone tries desperately to get them to support the town anyway.
On Driver, I definitely feel Decision is right. I wrote these out in myself first without checking back, and turns out they’re the same ones you guys saw, e.g. in this post.
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First Driver is Lighning’s decision not to change tires, which forces the three-way-tie. Zoomed out like @Gregolas suggests, which I think is the best way to look at it, it’s “the race ends in a non-decision” Decision.
(Note: in the middle of Act 1 we have another instance of Decision driver, Lightning’s decision to make Mac keep driving through the night, which forces the shenanigans of him falling out and ending up in Radiator Springs.) -
Second Driver (approx 33 minutes in) is the court’s decision to give Lighning “community service”.
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Third Driver (approx 1:03) is Lighning’s decision to stay in town when he’s given enough gas to leave. They really focused on this, showing how he could have left but decided to go with Sally instead. (Although this was preceded by discovering Doc is the Hudson Hornet, that did NOT drive his decision, or turn the plot at that point.)
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Fourth Driver (revealed approx 1:31) is Doc’s decision to betray Lightning to the media. Big plot turner, and though Lighning finding out about him may have influenced this, I definitely would NOT say it forced it. (he easily could have left things alone)
What do you guys think?
