Post 1, Group B - Character arcs in The Incredibles, by Jared Islas

The movie I decided to watch for this assignment was Pixar’s 2004 film, The Incredibles, which was written and directed by Brad Bird. Not only did I want to rewatch it in preparation for the long awaited sequel coming out this summer, but also because this movie was a huge part of my childhood. I remember playing "The Incredibles" at recess with my friends and even dressing up in a Mr. Incredible muscle suit for a birthday party. Oh, and I even downloaded one of the songs from the film’s score because I like it so much.

After superheroes are forced to go into hiding and live their lives as normal citizens, Bob and Helen Parr (Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl) have three children and have reacted to their newly established “normal” lives completely differently. Throughout the movie, both Bob and Helen go through complex character arcs that see them switching perspectives in a way.

Bob is shown as extremely depressed, working at an insurance agency in a tiny cubicle. He is shown trying to help his clients (against his company’s best interests) by offering under-the-table services much to his bosses dismay. This reminds the audience of how important it is to Bob to be helping others. Helen, on the other hand is extremely happy as a stay at home mom. It helps that Holly Hunter, who voices Helen, has the most perfect, stereotypical suburban mom voice.

Both of these characteristics can be seen at the dinner scene at the beginning of the movie. The scene starts with silence as the whole family is gathered around the table eating. Helen breaks the silence by telling Bob that their son, Dash, got sent to the principal’s office. His initial response, “Really? That’s good,” shows just how out of it he is. This also shows how Helen is really trying to get Bob to engage with his family. Helen is most likely telling Bob this in hopes that he will be able to talk to Dash and get him to stop getting into trouble.

When Helen tells Bob what Dash did (use his super speed powers to put a tack on the teachers chair), Bob instantly lights up and is extremely proud of his son. Bob, wanting just a dose of “superhero-ness” from anything differs greatly from Helen who is trying to put the fact that the family has super powers in the past.

These dynamics continues through most of the film— 

• Bob and his friend Luscious (Frozone) jump into action to save people from a burning building
• Bob is eager to accept a mission from Mirage to defeat a giant robot
• Helen is in denial of Bob’s increasing disappearances believing that he at a business conference or bowling
• Helen seems reluctant to even say her superhero name, Elastigirl to Edna Mode
• Helen is mortified that Edna Mode had created new supersuits for Bob, herself and her three kids
• Helen instructs Violet (their daughter) on what to eat for dinner, what time to go to bed, etc. before setting out to go try and find Bob

It is at this point in the movie where Bob and Helen’s roles switch, or at least even out. After missiles sent by Syndrome (the bad guy) hit the plane that Helen is flying and that Dash and Violet have sneaked onto, Bob (who is under interrogation and locked up), is obviously devastated.  For the first time in the movie, it is evident that his actions and his desires to be a superhero again have lead to what he though was his family’s death.

Luckily, they survived the fall because Helen stretched out like a parachute and landed them safely in the water… and then stretched into a boat in which Dash acted as a propellor for… This isn’t really important, I just think this scene is funny and these images are funnier. Especially, Violet just chilling in the "boat."

Anyways, eventually Helen and the kids arrive at the island where Bob is and Helen sets out to find him. The following video shows a scene that I find particularly interesting. 

It is the first time in the movie where Helen has been shown exclusively as a superhero, rather than a mother or a mother who happens to be a superhero (as seen in the parachute/speedboat scene). The scene shows Helen (Elastigirl) using her powers, finding her way through a series of hallways and well, being a badass. 

The rest of the movie is pretty “normal” for a superhero movie, so I won’t bore you with describing it in depth, but they defeat the bad guy and save the day.. cool! 

One last important scene was right before the final battle of the film and after Helen, Dash and Violet save Bob from the island. Bob tells Helen and the kids to stay behind while he fights off the giant evil robot. It is at this point that Bob and Helen’s character arcs come full circle.

Helen is telling Bob that there is no way she is going to stay on the sidelines while he goes out to fight by himself. Similarly, the reason Bob wants to fight by himself is because he says that he doesn’t want to lose her. Here, Helen is seen as more eager to be a hero and Bob is seen as wanting to protect their family.

I feel like I barely scratched the surface with this movie as there are similarly complex character arcs in other characters in the film. There are also really complex storylines in the movie (especially for one aimed at kids), that I hadn’t noticed until I got older including suicide, murder and extramarital affairs.