In an office discussion of Pixar’s latest, _Cars_, Jason and I professed our mutual live for _The Incredibles_, which I’d count as Pixar’s finest and most complex work to date. But Christina had a different take, coming away from the movie with the message that some people are more “super” than others, we must accept our lot in life, and personal growth, struggle, and achievement are not meaningful substitutes for innate abilities. The villain of the piece, Syndrome, was entirely self-made, and obviously incredibly brilliant, but of course along with such brilliance inevitably came insanity, as it does for all of our villains, who have psychological illnesses or physical deformities and are getting back at society and super heros for casting them down or for some other harm, real or perceived, done to them, rather than ever being in the position to use their cunning and intelligence towards *good* ends. In contrast there are the Incredibles, among others, superheroes who spread destruction and chaos on their quests to right the world’s wrongs. Were the actions of society in _The Incredibles_ of banishing super heroes to live out their lives as normal members of society an embracing of mediocraty and spurning of innate talents, or was it rather the dismantling of a fundemntally out of control institution?

These questions echo the _X-Men_ movies: there society fears super-powered freaks who may or may not be well meaning but who certainly have the ability to inflict far more destruction than any “normal” human, and who are very difficult to predict and contain. In _The Incredibles_ the supers are well-meaning but bumbling and annoying and destructive. They serve to bring evil master-minds to the fore rather than pushing them to more productive and socially beneficial pursuits. They cause untold property damage, they disrupt lives, they add unpredictibility and choas to an already chaotic world. In _The Incredibles_ society doesn’t fear the super heroes — it loathes them.

But in the end, the super heroes, who, we musn’t forget, are fallible, are forced back out of hiding to save the day once again, and, as the film ends, are again, at least for the time being, thoroughly embraced by society. And of course, within minutes, another super villain has appeared to wreak additional chaos, and the heroes must once again spring into action. What is the message here? What is the theme Brad Bird and the other creators of the movie are trying to convey? Certainly the message is not a simple one, and I must confess that as of now I cannot decipher it. This deserves some more thought. And also another watch of the movie — this time with the DVD’s director’s commentary track turned on.