Pixar’s Cars analysis

analysis
#101

As long as we’re looking at the PSR, going back to our original storyform and comparing OS Signpost 1 (Obtaining) Decision vs. Action:

Action Driver gives us: Investigation, Appraisal, Reappraisal, Doubt

While Decision driver gives us: Value, Confidence, Worry, Worth
… which pushes me more toward thinking that our story form is correct, just with a Decision driver. I don’t see much about the Action set, but for Decision:

Value - The Piston Cup is the most important car race in the world

Confidence - LM’s overconfidence causes him to blow a tire.

Worry - After the race, the interviewer says (sorry dialogue from memory): “hey McQueen, weren’t you worried when you lost the tire?” And he says “Nah, it’s no fun if you win by more than a lap.”

Worth - How much wooing Dynaco Worth to the characters? Enough to drive overnight to get to California first?

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#102

I don’t remember if I looked at that, or didn’t like it. But seeing it now, I can see valuing speed,being over confidant, worrying about blown tires, and worth being about a one-man show. Gaaaggghhh! This is making my brain hurt!!

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#103

And going on from that, if we accept a Decision driver, for IC Signpost 1 we get Preconscious as it relates to Rationalization, Commitment, Responsibility, Obligation

… which sounds like it fits The King’s short speech to LM:

The King:

Hey, buddy. You’re one gutsy racer.

Lightning:

Oh, hey, Mr. The King.

The King:

You got more talent in one lug nut than a lot of cars has got in their whole body … But you’re stupid … This ain’t a one-man deal, kid. You need to wise up and get a good crew chief and a good team. You ain’t gonna win unless you got good folks behind you, and you let them do their job, like they should. Like I tell the boys at the shop… - A good team … If you figure that out you just gonna be OK.

Lightning:

Oh, yeah, that… That is spectacular advice. Thank you, Mr. The King.

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#104

So, my take on it is thus:

Obtaining: The problems occur because the characters are focused specifically on a particular goal. What they do to get there doesn’t matter so much, and even if they were to take the path of least resistance, they would still have problems and conflict because of what they’re after.

Doing: The problems occur not so much due to what the characters are after, but more from how they go about it. That is to say, there isn’t really any “path of least resistance” when the source of problems results from Doing.

The difference, in summary, as I see it, is that problems sourced from Doing are sourced from how while problems sourced from Obtaining are sourced from what/why.

In other news, I’m still working on Illustrating the Signposts. I’ll get back when I can.

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#105

Hmm. That makes sense in theory.

So in the case of Cars – in the first Signpost, the problem stems from the fact that they’re trying to win the Piston Cup.

In the last Signpost, it’s more about the way in which they go about the pursuit – are you going to race like a jerk, or are you going to do the right thing? (Of course, the OS goal is still Obtaining, so it still applies).

Does that make sense?

#106

So much to read. Can’t get to bottom of page haha but it seems that action or decision was still in the conversation? I hope. Anyways after reading this comment I was thinking Of switching those two: MC and IC throughlines since to me LM’s problems stem from his attitude about everything that isn’t speed. He wants to get everything done fast. And the Universe situation that these cars are on the forgotten town as paved away by the highway or freeway or whatever. I honestly haven’t given it much thought but just from my initial reminiscning about the film: The four signposts work Well: with LM going through conscious, subconscious and preconscious and BECOMING the champion or the king . Which leaves the town in universe as being concerned with something about time. Anyways. In case the action driver is still under consideration. This is what I was feeling too:
I can’t remember what happens in the beginning (maybe simply winning the race makes him a qualifier) but at the end LM wouldn’t have made the decision to go back for the dude if that guy didn’t become a total car wreck in the first place. So my thought is that decisions stem from ACTIONS. Maybe because his action of having to go on the road makes him decide to pull an all nighter? Take a different route? I forogy.

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#107

Okay, this has come up a few times now, so maybe we should give it some consideration.

The idea that Radiator Springs is kind of a collective IC in Universe is appealing. But is there any way to justify LM as a Be-er?

The other problem is that putting him in Mind screws up our OS Signpost order.

#108

Yes, that seems to be darn appealing at first glance.

However, if we’re going to consider changing the Domains, then the question we need to answer is this: Is it really Lightning’s Mind that is the source of his personal Angst? Maybe…

However, to put Lightning in Mind would require that he try to solve problems internally, first. We would need to show instances that indicate that this is his preferred approach. I can’t come up with even one, where he prefers this approach. However, every time it has come up, it has been in the sense of his attitude. Perhaps, then, we might consider whether Physics and Obtaining are sources of internal struggles for Lightning, since Attitude is a possible Issue there.

Finally, this is clearly subject matter the narrative regards, but is it really the theme that the narrative explores?

It seems to me that the overall message of the narrative is mostly something along the lines of: “You’ll feel better if you help/support others around you, rather than run over them to achieve a shallow dream.”

The immediately suggested arrangement by this idea seems to me to be:

  • OS: Universe/The Future (putting Consequence in Subconscious)
  • MC: Physics/Obtaining/Attitude (giving personal issues for Help/Support/Oppose/Hinder)

This arrangement also keeps the Stop dynamic and forces the following Domain/Concerns/Issues:

  • RS: Mind/Subconscious
  • IC: Psychology/Becoming/Obligation

In any case, I still can’t see Lightning as a Be-er…

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#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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